Effective Strategies For Working with Refugee Students
Description
Creating trust with refugee students and building trusting relationships with refugee students is critical to refugee students’ success in the classroom. Refugee students come to the United States to flee traumatic situations in their homeland. Because of the trauma that they have suffered, refugee students lack the ability to trust adults and struggle to build trusting relationships with adults. These same students enter classrooms not feeling that they are safe and welcomed. Teachers are faced with the task to create safe and welcoming classrooms for the students. Not only do students lack the ability to trust, but parents of refugee students lack the ability to trust as well. As a consequence, parental engagement and involvement is low. Schools need to build a trusting relationship with the parents as well, in order in increase engagement. This project focuses on a strategy handbook to assist staff members at Burton Middle School while working with refugee students in building trust, building trusting relationships, creating safe and welcoming classrooms, building community within the classroom, and creating parent involvement and engagement. PURPOSE: The purpose of this project is to create a strategy handbook for the staff at Burton Middle School to refer to and use when working with refugee students in the building. Staff members are not trained to handle trauma and do not have the strategies that are needed to establish trust and relationships with refugee students. Through the development of this handbook, staff members are given a plethora of strategies to refer to and use/adapt for use with students in the classroom. PROCEDURES: In order to develop a handbook of effective strategies to use when working with refugee students, particular areas of concern needed to be identified. Through my experiences in working with refugee students, the following areas were identified: creating a safe and welcoming classroom, building trust and building trusting relationships, building community and the use of Restorative Justice, and encouraging parent engagement and involvement. Using these areas, I then researched strategies that are being used elsewhere and considered how those strategies could be implemented at Burton Middle School. I read several articles and publications in regards to strategies that are being successfully implemented and considered how those would fit into the culture of Burton Middle School. I then organized the strategies into the proper categories and developed the strategy handbook. My plan is to present this strategy handbook as part of the staff PD that is held at the beginning of the 2010-2022 school year, as well as offering my support to any staff members that would like assistance and support. OUTCOME: The outcome of this project is a detailed handbook of strategies that staff members can use when working with refugee students. This handbook provides staff members a variety of strategies to use, as well as examples and resources where staff can go and read more about each strategy. Staff members can use any of the strategies in the handbook and adapt to the needs of the individual classrooms and students. This handbook also provides strategies to involve parents in school functions and to encourage parent engagement in the classroom and within the school community. Through this project, I offer staff members my support and assistance with the use of strategies by opening my classroom for observations. IMPACT: Refugee students come to the Unites States dealing with trauma. Refugee students enter our classrooms and bring this trauma with them. Staff members need the resources to be able to effectively work with those students. Many times, these resources are lacking due to the overload of duties that staff members already have. This handbook will provide staff members the strategies and resources that are needed to effectively work with refugee students in the areas of building trust, building trusting relationships, creating safe and welcoming classrooms, building community within the classroom, and creating parent involvement and engagement. This handbook will also help to lessen the stress and the load of work that teachers deal with when attempting to figure out how to work with refugee students in the classroom.
Effective Strategies For Working with Refugee Students
Creating trust with refugee students and building trusting relationships with refugee students is critical to refugee students’ success in the classroom. Refugee students come to the United States to flee traumatic situations in their homeland. Because of the trauma that they have suffered, refugee students lack the ability to trust adults and struggle to build trusting relationships with adults. These same students enter classrooms not feeling that they are safe and welcomed. Teachers are faced with the task to create safe and welcoming classrooms for the students. Not only do students lack the ability to trust, but parents of refugee students lack the ability to trust as well. As a consequence, parental engagement and involvement is low. Schools need to build a trusting relationship with the parents as well, in order in increase engagement. This project focuses on a strategy handbook to assist staff members at Burton Middle School while working with refugee students in building trust, building trusting relationships, creating safe and welcoming classrooms, building community within the classroom, and creating parent involvement and engagement. PURPOSE: The purpose of this project is to create a strategy handbook for the staff at Burton Middle School to refer to and use when working with refugee students in the building. Staff members are not trained to handle trauma and do not have the strategies that are needed to establish trust and relationships with refugee students. Through the development of this handbook, staff members are given a plethora of strategies to refer to and use/adapt for use with students in the classroom. PROCEDURES: In order to develop a handbook of effective strategies to use when working with refugee students, particular areas of concern needed to be identified. Through my experiences in working with refugee students, the following areas were identified: creating a safe and welcoming classroom, building trust and building trusting relationships, building community and the use of Restorative Justice, and encouraging parent engagement and involvement. Using these areas, I then researched strategies that are being used elsewhere and considered how those strategies could be implemented at Burton Middle School. I read several articles and publications in regards to strategies that are being successfully implemented and considered how those would fit into the culture of Burton Middle School. I then organized the strategies into the proper categories and developed the strategy handbook. My plan is to present this strategy handbook as part of the staff PD that is held at the beginning of the 2010-2022 school year, as well as offering my support to any staff members that would like assistance and support. OUTCOME: The outcome of this project is a detailed handbook of strategies that staff members can use when working with refugee students. This handbook provides staff members a variety of strategies to use, as well as examples and resources where staff can go and read more about each strategy. Staff members can use any of the strategies in the handbook and adapt to the needs of the individual classrooms and students. This handbook also provides strategies to involve parents in school functions and to encourage parent engagement in the classroom and within the school community. Through this project, I offer staff members my support and assistance with the use of strategies by opening my classroom for observations. IMPACT: Refugee students come to the Unites States dealing with trauma. Refugee students enter our classrooms and bring this trauma with them. Staff members need the resources to be able to effectively work with those students. Many times, these resources are lacking due to the overload of duties that staff members already have. This handbook will provide staff members the strategies and resources that are needed to effectively work with refugee students in the areas of building trust, building trusting relationships, creating safe and welcoming classrooms, building community within the classroom, and creating parent involvement and engagement. This handbook will also help to lessen the stress and the load of work that teachers deal with when attempting to figure out how to work with refugee students in the classroom.