Humanizing Education for Immigrant &amp; Refugee Youth

Bartlett, Lesley; Bajaj, Monisha

doi:10.1590/2175-6236136077vs02

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Sumário

OTHER THEMES • Educ. Real. 48 • 2023 • https://doi.org/10.1590/2175-6236136077vs02 copy

Humanizing Education for Immigrant & Refugee Youth

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

In 2023, 184 million immigrants lived outside their country of nationality, including 1.3 million immigrants living in Brazil. Immigrant and refugee children have the right to attend school, yet too often public schooling does not foster success of immigrant students. This article highlights four key principles and related research-based strategies that educators can use to foster achievement, agency, and engagement in school for immigrant and refugee students: situate students’ histories, families, languages, and knowledges as assets, not as deficits; recognize that immigrant students lead transnational lives; develop a culture of belonging and strong relationships with teachers and fellow students; and provide specific supports to immigrant students.

Keywords
Immigration and Education; Refugee Education; Humanizing Education

Processes	Strategies
Collaboration	• Bring newcomer families and school staff together to co-construct meaningful communications and resources for families and to collaborate in the delivery of learning and support activities for families; • ensure newcomer families are represented on parent associations and school committees.
Capacity Development	• Build staff capacity to challenge deficit mindsets; shift towards an assets-based orientation or “community cultural wealth” model (Yosso, 2005YOSSO, Tara. Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v. 8, n. 1, p. 69-91, 2005. Available in: https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006. Checked on: 11 set. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341... ); • create family welcome kits (in students’ home languages) with information about school (e.g., parent/guardian rights and responsibilities; school schedules/calendar, procedures). Consider alternative formats for parents/guardians with limited literacy levels.
Assets Orientation	• Understand the cultural orientations and perspectives towards school in students’ home cultures; draw from their backgrounds to establish culturally congruent family engagement approaches; • incorporate the cultures, histories, and realities of families into the school curriculum and activities.
Multimodal Communications & Language Supports	• Use multiple methods (e.g., newsletters translated into languages spoken by families, telephone trees, text threads/WhatsApp groups, website, family liaisons, etc.) and structures to communicate; • ensure adequate language supports are available for all families to be able to engage; • create a buddy system for new families to pair with continuing families at school (or families of alumni) from similar linguistic backgrounds to ask questions and integrate further into the school community.
Continuous Improvement	• Create mechanisms in different languages for families to provide feedback (suggestion boxes, surveys, short interviews) on school issues, and for continuous improvement of engagement strategies; • consider how family involvement may be weighed against competing demands (work schedules, etc.) and strive to facilitate engagement that is supportive of and responsive to families.

Dimension	Objectives	Sample Activities
1. Academic Progress	Ensure regular attendance and academic persistence, and that adequate academic progress is being made towards high school graduation/completion of requirements.	• Reviewing attendance, progress reports & grades regularly; • addressing any obstacles to completing homework and assignments; • liaising with other teachers if needed.
2. Advocacy	Advocate for additional services and supports within the school and/or refer the student to out-of-school services if required.	• One-on-one check ins and monitoring of overall well-being; • referrals to school social worker, legal aid, health, or other services; • engage in school- or district-wide efforts to support students, such as advocating for sanctuary or safe haven policies.
3. Socio-Emotional Support	Utilize a trauma-informed approach to engage students and foster open communication with each student.	• Regular check-ins with advisory students to identify any challenges; • activities in advisory such as journaling, art, or movement exercises that can address complex emotions.
4. Connection	Build a sense of group identity and camaraderie within the advisory group to allow for a strong peer support network, especially for students who may not be part of an already established peer social group at school.	• Participate in a group activity as a collective (e.g., a field trip, create a group name, a collective bulletin board, shared playlist, etc.); • celebrate each advisory student’s birthday as a group; • rotate days on which students can share a talent, a story, a photo, music, or a recipe/food item.
5. Information Sharing	Allow time for advisor and students to share information with each other during the advisory period about, for example, community resources, internships, social services such as free internet programs, etc.	• Have time for announcements and information sharing during advisory; • create an email list or a text/WhatsApp thread for advisory students to share information with one another.
6. College/Career Preparation	Dedicate time during advisory for future-oriented planning to ensure all students are aware of deadlines and opportunities.	• Structure time in the upper secondary grades to walk students through applications to two- and four-year colleges; • go on a field trip to a local college as an advisory group; • track scholarship, internship, and college application deadlines and have students work on applications during advisory period.

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - Faculdade de Educação Avenida Paulo Gama, s/n, Faculdade de Educação - Prédio 12201 - Sala 914, 90046-900 Porto Alegre/RS Brasil, Tel.: (55 51) 3308-3268, Fax: (55 51) 3308-3985 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brazil
E-mail: educreal@ufrgs.br

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[1] Lesley Bartlett é Professora e Diretora de Estudos de Políticas Educacionais na Universidade de Wisconsin-Madison. Sua pesquisa e ensino se concentram em letramentos multilíngues, migração, métodos de pesquisa e desenvolvimento profissional de professores. É autora, coautora ou editora de nove livros, incluindo Humanizing Education for Immigrant and Refugee Youth (2022) e Rethinking Case Study Research (2017).