This alternative dissertation explored the multifaceted roles and experiences of multicultural liaisons in refugee education through a qualitative case study focused on a single participant, Amira, an Arabic-speaking liaison with refugee background. Whereas the body of research studies focused on child cultural brokers is extensive there is a notable gap in studies focused on adult multicultural liaisons, particularly those employed within educational institutions. These individuals play a critical role in bridging cultural and linguistic divides, yet their contributions and expertise are often underexamined. This dissertation is guided by the theoretical lenses of Community Cultural Wealth and Translanguaging, and seeks to address three research questions: 1) How do school multicultural liaisons describe their work's capacity to foster positive relationships between families and schools?, 2) In what ways do multicultural liaisons utilize their CCW to support the educational integration and success of families with refugee backgrounds?, and 3) How can asset-based approaches, such as CCW and Translanguaging, enrich our understandings of multicultural liaisons' roles in aiding families with immigrant and refugee backgrounds within educational settings?
The dissertation consists of two unpublished manuscripts with the first entitled, "Building Bridges, Reframing Narratives: Insights from an Arabic Liaison's Experiences with Community Cultural Wealth," which employed Tara Yosso's Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) model to examine Amira's cultural brokering endeavors. The findings underscored Amira's cultural and linguistic skills, which led to intentional relationship-building between families and schools. The second manuscript, "In Her Own Words: A Translanguaging Exploration of a Multicultural Liaison's School Role and Experience," focused on issues of methodology and proposed a translanguaging lens to co-construct data analysis with the participant. The findings from this study examined the potential for including multiple languages in a cross-linguistic research setting, enhancing participant engagement, and ensuring the authenticity of narratives in a multicultural and multilingual educational research context. Together, both manuscripts seek to expand the perspectives on inclusive and linguistically diverse educational research and practices. They highlighted the importance of recognizing the cultural and linguistic assets of multicultural liaisons, like Amira, as well as examine the tensions reflected in the complexity of her position, thereby contributing to a rich descriptive case study of one.