Abstract
By the end of 2019, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported over 80 million displaced persons worldwide: 50% being children and youth below the age of 18 (2020). Of those displaced persons, 20.4 million fall under UNHCR’s mandate, which protects individuals who have well-founded fears of being persecuted in their country of origin. UNHCR refugees are eligible for permanent resettlement. When resettled, children and youth are quickly transitioned into schools where educators and school communities have the potential to stabilize their lives, provide them with safe spaces, and offer them rich learning opportunities. Pre-service and in-service teacher professional development, however, does not adequately address the psychosocial and social-emotional needs of refugee newcomers who have experienced mass violence. Creating spaces that support students’ sense of safety and belongingness in the school and classroom will support mental health and well-being. When war-affected students feel safe and a sense of belonging in their schools and classrooms, they are more likely to voluntarily share details of their lived experiences during pre-, trans-, and post-migration. This chapter discusses an educator’s role when faced with a student’s trauma story.
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Notes
- 1.
In Ontario, Canada English Literacy Development (ELD) courses are designed for English language learners with limited prior schooling who have not had opportunities to develop age-appropriate literacy skills in any language. The courses acknowledge students who have experienced significant gaps in their education and require more intensive supports to catch up on language skills and knowledge. The five ELD courses (levels A through E) are based on students’ literacy development and English proficiency and not on age. For more information on each level’s specific learning outcomes, please consult the Ontario Curriculum Grades 9–12: English as a Second Language and English Literacy Development document (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2007).
- 2.
The observational data was collected as part of a larger research project that explored the print literacy development of students with limited or interrupted schooling in an English Literacy Development Program (Montero et al., 2014).
- 3.
Over the last decade, approximately 86% of all resettled refugees were welcomed by the U.S., Canada, and Australia (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 2020).
- 4.
According to the Convention, a refugee is someone who “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his [sic] nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself [sic] of the protection of the country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it” (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), n.d., p. 14).
- 5.
The six submission categories are: (a) legal and/or physical protection needs; (b) survivors of violence and/or torture; (c) medical needs; (d) women and girls at risk; (e) family reunification and; (f) children and adolescents at risk (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 2011).
- 6.
A refugee who submitted an application for resettlement under the violence and/or torture category has experienced or may experience the following: (a) torture and/or violence either in the country of origin or the country of asylum; (b) lingering physical or psychological effects from the torture or violence, although there may be no apparent physical signs or symptoms; (c) further traumatization and/or heightened risk due to the conditions of asylum or repatriation; (d) require medical or psychological care, support or counseling not available in the country of asylum, or; (e) require resettlement to meet their specific needs (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 2011).
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Kristiina Montero, M., Al Zouhouri, A. (2022). Fear Not the Trauma Story: A Trauma-Informed Perspective to Supporting War-Affected Refugees in Schools and Classrooms. In: Pentón Herrera, L.J. (eds) English and Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education. Educational Linguistics, vol 54. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86963-2_6
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