Teaching for Refugee Students

1. Teaching for Refugee Students Chloe FelminghamKate ChiappaloneToby MaherKeenan Synnott

2. Overview Refugee and humanitarian entrants by state or territory of settlement,2006-07 to 2010-11 Refugee Council Of Australia 2012

3. Overview • The area of which this case study will focus on is teaching for diversity, in particular teaching refugee students. • Diversity is one of the key concepts to address when teaching refugee students, since there are a variety of countries from which these students arrive from. • ‘Some schools may decide to conduct a small group program specifically for refugee background students who may have recently arrived’ (Torture, 2011) • Within this environment they can also tackle issues such as the trauma in which the students have experienced and also how their schooling is being affected as they are an ESL (English as a Second Language) student.

4. Overview

5. Overview • These groups aim to break down barriers by focussing on ‘recovery goals of restoring safety and trust, building dignity and self-esteem, building social and emotional skills, discussing resettlement issues’ (Torture, 2011) and setting goals for the future. • ‘These programs have a higher therapeutic component, as they often incorporate sections about journeys and loss specifically related to the refugee experience’ (Torture, 2011),

6. Overview • For ESL students access to proper ESL learning is subject to ‘the numbers of ESL students at the school, the particular needs of the students, and the priorities and resources of the school.’ (Torture, 2011) • Through experience during practicum these students are very difficult to teach within the set curriculum. Without an aid or a separate program to cater for the student’s needs, they often become lost in the set tasks and are constantly falling behind. • However in many schools this problem is managed by implementing a variety of programs utilising the availability of an ESL teacher. Such as Team Teaching, Parallel Teaching and Similar Needs Classes.

7. Teaching Strategy #1 Group Work • Groups of three • With straws work together to build a structure that will support an empty water bottle • When finished give a brief presentation to the class explaining your choices and any problems you may have faced. Show how the structure works to the class.

8. Teaching Strategy #2 Cloze Activity • Complete cloze worksheet on school and classroom environment • Students may work in pairs if they require help

9. Why Group Work? Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Inc. 2000

10. What is a Cloze Activity? Why? • “Cloze procedure is a technique in which words are deleted from a passage according to a word-count formula or various other criteria. The passage is presented to students, who insert words as they read to complete and construct meaning from the text. This procedure can be used as a diagnostic reading assessment technique.” (Saskatoon Public Schools) • to identify students' knowledge and understanding of the reading process • to determine which cueing systems readers effectively employ to construct meaning from print • to assess the extent of students' vocabularies and knowledge of a subject • to encourage students to monitor for meaning while reading • to encourage students to think critically and analytically about text and content

11. Cloze Worksheet

12. Key points to be taken from this task… • Refugee students need to be taken into account when putting classroom activities or lesson plans together in order to maintain an effective learning environment for everybody. • Diversity is one of the key concepts to address when teaching refugee students. These refugee students will come from many different backgrounds and have various life experiences upon entering your classroom. • Three main issues to be addressed are diversity, trauma and their progress in ESL. • Encouraging diversity in the classroom can enhance not only your own outlook into the world but also broaden the horizons of your other students.

13. Refugee students may require a slightly different teaching approach on your behalf, whether that be your teaching strategies or your general attitude and communication skills in the classroom. • Refugee students will generally respond well to group work, as it encourages them to work as a team and solve their problems as a collective rather than individually, this can lead to developing friendships within the school environment. • Cloze activities can be used to identify pre-existing knowledge that students possess as well as determining what reading and writing skills they have. • An effective teacher is someone who is able to ‘teach for diversity’. Essentially being able to manage a classroom with a range of different students from different backgrounds. All students deserve the right to an education irrespective of where they have come from and that is important to keep in mind the next time you teach a class.

14. Bibliography • Australia, R. C. (2012, May). Statistics on Australia's current Refugee and Humanitarian Program. Retrieved January 17, 2013, from Refugee Council Of Australia: http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/r/stat-rhp.php • Saskatoon Public Schools (2004-09), 'Cloze Procedure', Instructional Strategies Online. Retrieved January 19, 2013, from Saskatoon Public Schools: <http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/pd/instr/index.html> • Statistics, A. B. (2013, January 18). ARTICLE – HUMANITARIAN ARRIVALS. Retrieved January 18, 2013, from Australain Bureau of Statistics: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/1301.0Main+Features592012 • Torture, V. F. (2011). School’s In For Refugees: a whole-school approach to supporting students. Brunswick, Victoria, Australia.

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