AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHY OF MY EXPERIENCE NAVIGATING THE UNITED STATES EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AS AN IMMIGRANT: INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES AND CULTURAL ASYNCHRONIZATION

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to share experiences as an immigrant student and answer the following question: What does my personal life history reveal about the importance of intercultural communication in the U.S. educational system? Immigrants leave their countries of origin and migrate to the United States for various reasons. Many are traumatized when they enter the country due to civil unrest in their native countries. Immigrants arrive with their children, who join a school system that is generally unprepared to meet their needs. In order to document immigrant experiences, the researcher utilized an autoethnographic approach using counter-storytelling from Critical Race Theory and Intercultural Communication Theoretical Frameworks. Data were collected from personal journal entries, photographs, and letters and analyzed using tools from Schultz’s Keys to Identifying Prototypical Scenes and Alexander’s Primary Indicators of Psychological Saliency. As a result of this study, the researcher concluded that adjustment and adaptation are difficult for immigrant students because of ineffective intercultural communication within the school system