Teaching for Refugee StudentsChloe FelminghamKate ChiappaloneToby MaherKeenan Synnott

Overview

State/territory% national popn

2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 Total

Australian Capital Territory 1.6%

97 (0.8%)

180 (1.9%)

188 (1.6%)

119 (1.2%)

144 (1.6%)

728 (1.2%)

New South Wales 32.3%4,192 (34.2%) 2,958 (31.1%)

4,151 (35.6%)

3,180 (32.2%)

2,979 (30.6%)

17,278 (33.0%)

Northern Territory 1.0%142 (1.2%)

94 (1.0%)

108 (0.9%)

103(1.0%)

75 (0.8%)

522 (0.1%)

Queensland 20.2%1,398 (11.4%) 976 (10.3%)

1,159 (10.0%)

1,284 (13.0%)

1,354 (14.8%)

6,171 (11.8%)

South Australia 7.3%1,229 (10.0%)

835 (8.8%)

1,013 (8.7%)

952 (9.7%)

1,144 (12.5%)

5,173 (9.9%)

Tasmania 2.3%244 (2.0%)

237 (2.5%)

303 (2.6%)

399 (4.0%)

359 (3.9%)

1,542 (2.9%)

Victoria 24.9%3,311 (27.0%) 2,787(29.3%)

3,035 (26.1%)

2,670 (27.1%)

2,440 (26.7%)

14,243 (27.2%)

Western Australia 10.3%1,634 (13.3%) 1,440 (15.1%)

1,688 (14.5%)

1,149 (11.7%)

817 (8.9%)

6,728 (12.8%)

Total   12,247 9,507 11,645 9,856 9,130 52,385

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

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.

OverviewOFFSHORE VISA GRANTS, By top ten countries of birth—

2009–10Offshore 

visa grantsCountry of birth no.

Burma (Myanmar) 1 959Iraq 1 688Bhutan 1 144Afghanistan 951Congo, Democratic Republic of 584Ethiopia 392Somalia 317Sudan 298Liberia 258Sierra Leone 237Other countries 1 408

Total 9 236

Source: Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Fact Sheet 60. Australia's Refugee and Humanitarian Program, March 2011, last viewed August 2011.

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),

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.

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.

Teaching Strategy #2

Cloze ActivityComplete cloze worksheet on

school and classroom environment

Students may work in pairs if they require help

Why Group Work?

Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Inc. 2000

“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

What is a Cloze Activity?Why?

Cloze Worksheet

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.

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.

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.

The End