Teachers will play an especially meaningful role in the lives of incoming refugee students. In my previous post I highlighted the necessity for teachers and faculty to be sensitive and educated when dealing with this particular crisis.
The school setting may be the first stable environment for these children, or at least a stark contrast from their journey to Australia. Providing a safe and structured environment will make children feel safer and more at ease. Only when they are comfortable will they be able to flourish. A sympathetic teacher could be an important person for many of these students, academically and personally.
Teachers will face challenges from this too, as they may hear of the children’s trauma or have difficulty with language barriers. Teachers must be strong in these moments as our perseverance will hopefully alter their futures for the better.
Some children will have experienced trauma in their lives, and for this reason it will be very important for schools to provide some sort of counselling service. Current counsellors would do well to educate themselves on the crisis; perhaps school districts could host a workshop guiding teachers through this change. Crisis counsellors or specialists could be brought to schools which have a particularly high incidence of refugees.
Translators and ESL professionals may be necessary for a time in schools, to communicate with students and their families. Some school systems will have to re-evaluate budgets and perhaps allocate temporary funds to these sorts of professionals.
School staff at a local, state and national level will need to be committed toward the betterment of refugee students. This will most likely require change within our current setting, if not temporarily.
thelearningjournal2015 