Crises, continuity, and the refugee - Educational narratives of a Hmong father and his children

Educational biography is a narrative account of a life, which represents an d interprets an individual's educational experience, broadly defined. This article presents the educational biographies of three members of a Hmong re fugee family. Yong Lee is a Hmong refugee who has recently moved with his f amily to Michigan. He is unemployed, and he, his wife, his mother, and his children subsist on welfare. The first part of this article consists of the Lee family educational biography, as told through the narratives of Yong L ee; his daughter Males; and his eldest son, Jerry. The second part provides an interpretation of how crises and continuity shape the educational lives of the Lees as they negotiate the cultural borderlands of their situated a nd enduring selves. In the final part of this article, the author suggests ways in which such educational biographies can be used in the education of immigrants and all Americans.