Creating Spaces of Wellbeing and Belonging for Refugee and Asylum-Seeker Students: Skills and Strategies for Classroom Teachers

Creating Spaces of Wellbeing and Belonging for Refugee and Asylum-Seeker Students: Skills and Strategies for Classroom Teachers outlines the ways educators can support positive educational and social outcomes for the most vulnerable children in their communities. Each chapter briefly outlines the relevant theory, expanding on this through vignettes from research and analytical reflection, helping the reader identify and apply the differentiated pedagogical understandings in their own classrooms. Providing insights from educators who are doing this work successfully across the globe, the book highlights the challenges and considerations that teachers face in multilingual, multicultural classroom environments where students’ common experience is trauma and loss and guides them towards effective practice. This book is intended for use in schools by school leaders and classroom teachers and by educational professionals engaged in supporting schools with students with refugee backgrounds.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1. The global refugee crisis and educational implications 2. Trauma and its Impact 3. Learning the Language and Differentiation 4. Communicating Effectively 5. Numeracy 6. Personal Development 7. Exercise and Sport 8. Science and Technology 9. Social Studies and Diverse Perspectives

About the Author :
Maura Sellars, PhD, has three decades of experience as a teacher and member of school executive teams, and almost two decades as an academic, specialising in differentiation strategies. As an inclusivist, her current research, books and articles focus on authentic school inclusion for students with refugee and asylum seeker experiences. Scott Imig, PhD, is a former primary and middle school teacher. He has spent much of his university career studying the qualities of effective and engaging classrooms. His current research focuses on understanding and helping school communities support the integration of families with refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds. Professor John Fischetti started his career in refugee education working with Haitian and Cambodian refugee children in the United States. His current work focuses on school and leadership transformation, advocating for changing the role of the learner, the role of the teacher and assessment simultaneously to promote learning equity.

Review :
'Poverty, famine, lack of opportunity, climate change, and armed conflict among other factors have created the largest global diaspora that the world has ever seen. Millions of children with refugee and asylum seeking experiences, many who have experienced devasting and traumatic losses, currently attend schools in their new countries. This valuable book includes interviews with primary and secondary teachers in five English speaking countries who have worked successfully in educating these students, and shares the teachers’ reflections and practices that are linked to their success in educating these students. The authors connect the teachers’ stories to the theories and research that supports them. This book is a valuable resource for both teachers and the teacher educators who prepare them to teach.' Ken Zeichner, Boeing Professor of Teacher Education Emeritus, University of Washington, USA. 'It is a shocking fact there are upwards of 84 million refugees and asylum seekers across the world. This ambitious, profound and humane book provides powerful evidence on the best ways of educating displaced children and young people. It looks through the lens of science and mathematics education alongside the vital need to focus on students' growth and personal development with a deep understanding about the roles and responsibilities of teachers. Refugees are not a burden but a massive asset to societies. As the book concludes, teaching is the profession that can make a difference in both securing society's inclusion of refugees and asylum seekers and in enabling society to understand that it is enriched by their diverse ways of knowing and understanding.' David Edwards, PhD, General Secretary, Education International.