Essay on Going to School as a Refugee

Canada, more than ever before, has come to be known as a land of refuge for those fleeing their homelands due to war, economic hardship, and environmental disaster (Government of Canada, 2016a). As of January 29, 2017, 40,081 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 2017). This number is mainly comprised of women and children and, in this context, the education of refugee children has become an important topic for the Canadian schooling system (Government of Canada, 2016b). Students from many different cultures enter mainstream classrooms in Canada. Significant numbers of these students are refugee students who have faced traumatic situations. These students generally spend most of their time in mainstream classrooms and yet their teachers are inadequately prepared to effectively meet their educational needs. This has a significant impact on helping refugee students to develop their learning. According to Ratkovic et al (2017), in Canada, limited studies focus on refugee children from war-torn countries and their transition to Canadian schools. Specifically, there is little research on refugee students in early primary grades of Kindergarten through Third grade ( ages four to eight). Since 2007, there has been a general increase in service models for British Columbia’s rapidly rising refugee child population and, in particular, an increase in Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs. These programs are, in part, a response to the nuanced issues faced by refugee children and their families. With further research in the field of Early Childhood Education, we can provide a rich context for better understanding the different ways that service models address the needs of this population (Navabi 2011). It should be noted that for this literature review, early childhood educators ( ECE), used interchangeably with early learning teachers, involve Kindergarten through Third Grade as this is the primary education subsect in Canada.

Recent studies have demonstrated that there are considerable gaps in the literature and policy addressing refugee students’ experiences in the Canadian educational system. Further research is required to fully understand the strategies early learning teachers use to ease the refugee student transition, empower refugee students, and inform policy development.

Since teachers spend the majority of the school day with students, their insights about how to serve these populations of children and adolescents are critical. With the increase in the number of refugee and immigrant children in schools, educational services will need to adjust and adapt to the needs that these children and families present to the educational system (Nwosu et al., 2014). School systems that fail to make this adjustment are likely to insufficiently attend to the needs of refugee and immigrant students, resulting in continued cycles of poverty and negative outcomes.

Teacher pedagogy related to teaching refugee early learners comprises a critical factor in facilitating student success in school. Pedagogy refers to the interactions between teachers, students, and the learning environment, and the learning tasks ( Farquhar 2003). This broad term includes how teachers and students relate together as well as the instructional approaches implemented in the classroom. Pedagogical approaches are often placed on a spectrum from teacher-centered to learner-centered pedagogy; though these two approaches may seem contradictory, they can often complement each other in the realization of educational goals. Pedagogical effectiveness often depends on ensuring that the approach is appropriate for specific school and national contexts.

This study will employ the Narrative Inquiry approach. Narrative inquiry was first used by Connelly and Clandinin (1998) as a methodology to describe the personal stories of teachers. Narrative researchers look for ways to understand and then present real-life experiences through the stories of the research participants. The Narrative approach allows for a rich description of these experiences and an exploration of the meanings that the participants derive from their experiences. It is a methodology in which the researcher attempts to illuminate the meanings of personal stories and events. Therefore, this Narrative Inquiry will aim to tell the stories of early childhood educators and reveal their pedagogical approaches to teaching refugee students. What will be uncovered in this study is yet to be determined. Throughout this literature review specific gaps in research and practice will be shared. The end goal is to build the significance for a study that examines how one of the main service provider's pedagogy (i.e., teachers) influences refugee early learners.

The literature provided in this Literature Review will help to determine the central research question: 1) How do early learning g teachers in mainstream classrooms ( K-3) develop their pedagogical approaches for teaching refugee students

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Why Early Learning Teachers?

Newcomer families with young children rely heavily on the expertise of early childhood educators to ensure their children are getting the very best start on their educational journey. ECE caregivers working in the immigrant and refugee serving sector require special skill sets. Kirova et al ( 2016). Education is a key aspect of refugee children’s social and emotional rehabilitation and healing (Sinclair, 2001). However, students are also dealing with feelings of grief and loss and may find it difficult to thrive in a school setting. As a result, the school experience can be a difficult transition for refugee children. Traumatic experiences that children may have gone through or witnessed can manifest as troubled behavior (Strekalova & Hoot, 2008). These behaviors may include explosive anger that is inappropriate to a situation, rule testing, problems with authority, age-inappropriate behavior, inability to concentrate, withdrawal, and lower academic achievement (Strekalova & Hoot, 2008).

Cummins (1994) suggests that teachers have a critical role in the schooling experience of refugee students, as the values and attitudes expressed by teachers impact students’ sense of belonging within the learning community. Teachers are often responsible for identifying the unique challenges and needs of refugee students resulting from possible traumatic experiences in the premigration and migration periods; they are also expected to provide the necessary support to these students in the classroom and school (Strekelova & Hoot, 2008). In her study of refugee students from a Manitoba school, Stewart (2012) found that due to limited resources, training, and understanding, teachers often lack empathy and do not want refugee students in their classes. Furthermore, she found that teachers were not able to differentiate refugee students from other immigrant students and believed that they shouldn’t be given preferential treatment. Overall, Stewart ( 2012) found that teachers feel overwhelmed and under-prepared to teach refugee students. Facing children with limited English and academic skills, at the same time as dealing with trauma, leaves teachers desiring professional development to help them best serve the refugee students in their classrooms.

As an educator, I know that a caring environment that is supportive and secure is important for all students, including refugee students. Unfortunately, I also feel that this is becoming more difficult to provide due to strenuous curriculum expectations and increasingly tighter budgets. Refugee students need to have environments and early learning teachers who are capable of addressing their trauma and helping them work through it. As an educator, I feel that the biggest impact I have on students is through the relationships I have with my students. If educators can maintain relationships with non-refugee students in their classroom, then it seems plausible that these relationships can be extended to refugee students as well. According to Stewart ( 2012), relationships are crucial to the success of refugee students. Therefore, early learning teachers must form meaningful and trusting relationships with students, families must be included in their children’s education, and the community surrounding the school has to be given positive experiences with refugees ( Stewart 2011). This point is further enhanced by a study done by Navabi ( 2011). She states that it is important to establish a supportive environment for refugee children and their families. This will enable children and their families to feel emotionally supported and to feel that the program applies to their lives It will enable children and their families to develop knowledge and skills to thrive in their new context and increase opportunities for children and their families’ learning. As a leader and educator myself, I also wonder if all these strategies will allow all staff to develop flexibility and resilience to deal with issues as they arise. However, as noted below, much will be dependent on the early learning teacher's knowledge.

Early Learning Teacher's Knowledge

Investigators in the area of early learning teachers’ knowledge include in their discussions such concepts as teacher beliefs, narratives, attitudes, and practical knowledge.

According to Elbaz (1983), a teacher constructs practical knowledge through observation, experience, and engagement with students. Grossman (1990) pointed out that research on teacher education has been prescriptive and focused primarily on behaviors and not on teacher knowledge. Grossman (1990) delineated four areas of teacher knowledge: “general pedagogical knowledge; subject matter knowledge; pedagogical content knowledge; and knowledge of context” (p. 5). In addition to these Carter (1990) referred to a category known as teacher practical knowledge. She defined practical knowledge as referring to “knowledge teachers have of classroom situations and the practical dilemmas they face in carrying out purposeful action in these settings” (p. 299). Similarly, Connelly and Clandinin (1988) define personal (teachers’) practical knowledge as “a term designed to capture the idea of experience in a way that allows us to talk about teachers as knowledgeable and knowing persons” (p. 25). In the same way, Johnston (1992) refers to teachers’ practical knowledge as “knowledge teachers use in their classroom situations, with an emphasis on the complexities of interactive teaching and thinking in action” (p. 124).

As the literature points out, there is a lot of overlap in the approaches of various researchers to this concept of teacher knowledge. However, one approach used by Schön (1983) is the epistemology of practice and is the approach that connects well with early learning teachers. This approach separates theoretical knowledge and formal knowledge from practical knowledge and is useful in examining teacher practices/pedagogy. Formal knowledge is the concept of knowledge as it appears in conventional behavioral science research. Practical knowledge includes practical, personal, situated, local, relational, and tacit knowledge. According to Schön (1983), the everyday activities of the professional depend on knowing- in action. Reflection-in-action is one step beyond. While “doing,” the practitioners start asking themselves questions about what they are doing. This occurs particularly when there is some unanticipated event or difficult phenomenon with which the practitioner is confronted. When looking at my own experiences, this could occur with events such as a young child not wanting to leave their parent(s) during the school day. As a mainstream early childhood teacher, I can employ various techniques to help this child adjust. However, this may not be suitable for my refugee students who have come from many traumatic situations. Reflection-in-action often results in a change to knowing-in-action. Reflection-in-action refers to the way teachers think on the spot. This reflective thinking helps to guide teachers in making informed decisions about their teaching. Researchers view reflection-in-action as a way to improve pedagogical practice within the context of the classroom and can aid in this research by providing insight into determining if reflection is used. For example, if I take the above scenario of a child not wanting to leave their parent, I could employ various techniques that are suitable for young children such as engaging in quick goodbye routines or distraction. However, through reflection in action, I will in the moment, come to realize that these most likely will not be successful for refugee students and will require me to change regular practice.