Forum: cultural identity and (dis)continuities of children of immigrant communities

Abstract

Susan Harper’s study centres on ‘funds of knowledge’ as a pedagogical resource for the development of a science curriculum, drawing on Karen refugee parents’ cultural knowledge and identity. She argues that engagement in this process helps the parent generation of this community to ‘rebuild their cultural resilience’ and cope with the resettlement process (p. 43). Drawing on our own research with Somali, Sierra Leonean and Nigerian diaspora communities in London, the following article extends this discussion with a particular focus on the intricate intergenerational dynamics between children and their parents’ generation in relation to cultural identity development though engagement with education.