Meeting the needs of migrant and refugee students by EUN Partnership aisbl

Opinion

elockhar — 2022-05-23 12:55:01 UTC

Trauma and language support are both important. A supportive society that makes sure their basic needs are covered is essential if we want these learners to have a chance to succeed in life and in their studies.

Györgyi: To be accepted

2022-05-23 16:10:32 UTC

My refugee student has the same language but with some regional, minor differences. That can cause funny situations in class. He does not want to be laughed at. I have to deal with these situations in class. He needs support in academic skills, he did not learn the same things in his home country. He wants to be a friend of somebody in class.

Opinion

2022-05-23 16:38:06 UTC

I agree with the fact, that most of all a trauma support and a language support is needed. This language support is very important to get to know refugee students with their life experiences, social background, capabilities and also dreams. This is the central basis for integrating them successfully into our classes.

Eylem/TURKEY

sustainablesifekills2024 — 2022-05-24 07:01:28 UTC

I think the most important need of my refugee students is language. When they have difficulty in expressing themselves, they become angry and angry. It goes as far as disrupting the existing order in the classroom. But it is very important to approach them with understanding and even to adjust the tone of voice. They care a lot about my facial expression. They are calmer when I smile. That's why I tell my other friends that they should be more tolerant of these students. Although I don't know exactly what they are going through, I have no difficulty in guessing. That's why I always go down to height levels and make eye contact with my students and make a lot of effort to understand them. They are moderate and understanding and have no difficulty in participating in activities.

social acceptance

fusuntufan — 2022-05-24 09:18:10 UTC

I think that the most important needs of immigrant and refugee students in schools are language, communication, social acceptance and friend support. Once these needs are ensured, it will be possible for them to continue their education and adapt.

Cristina Dias - Portugal

2022-05-24 17:09:49 UTC

The main needs of my students vary according to the reason that led them to leave their country. Although, they all have an urgent need to learn portuguese to facilitate communication and in some cases english. There are also some difficulties related to food habits. Traditions associated to religion are kept and respected. Migrants who arrive for economical reasons are very well supported by local organizations and we, at school, are very attentive to their needs. There is a really good support for them and most of them accept all the help they can get.

Kateryna Bilyk - Poland

kbilyk — 2022-05-24 17:22:11 UTC

My refugee students are from Ukraine, so their culture is similar and the language is similar but this similarity isn't enough to function well on school lessons, especially in high school. It means that it is important to give language support and explain differencies between cultures as well. There were some conflicts between Ukrainian and Polish students. The conflicts were solved after me and school psychologist listened to both sides, I translated everything (I speak Ukrainian and Polish), then the students realized that it had been language and culture misunderstanding.

My newly arrived refugee pupils from Afghanistan

2022-05-24 17:31:57 UTC

At the beginning of this school year we received 8 Afghan pupils aged 17 to 21 at our senior high school in Athens, Greece. They had all had their formal education disrupted for over four years and some had even had only four years of schooling! Their set of needs consisted of LANGUAGE NEEDS (which we tried to address with translanguaging and intensive language peer-learning), MENTAL FIRST AID (which we intended to provide with peer-support mechanisms) and ORIENTATION in the school and local community (again ideally pursued in cooperation with parents and local organisations). Sadly, it turned out to be impossible to sensitise other teachers, local authorities and parents to embrace the refugee pupils and their families and it is thanks to the empathy of few native pupils that we managed to carry out our action plan for inclusion.

My newly arrived refugee pupils from Afghanistan

ssoubassi — 2022-05-24 17:33:49 UTC

Carlos Sousa, Portugal

carlosdsousa28 — 2022-05-24 18:11:44 UTC

At the moment, at my school we solve the language issue, taking into account whether the student speaks English. If you don't know, we use your cell phone or computer to do the translation at the same time.
In the case of refugees and migrants, we use our Teachers, Employees and Technicians - Psychologist, Social Educator or Social Worker for close monitoring without entering the private sphere of students and their families. We look forward to collaborating.
The school social action covers school supplies, school books and even free meals. When there is a need for clothing or footwear, the School's internal support network takes care of it.

İrfan Yakın

irfanyakin — 2022-05-24 19:18:55 UTC

I work at a secondary school (upper) providing vocational and technical education. I believe students (aged between 14-18) give social activities much importance in their lives. Implementing hobby or activity clubs and gathering "all" students may help refugee and immigrant students learn the 'target' language & culture in an easier way and, let the local/host* students have an emphatic view..

*I'm not sure if it is the right word or not.. couldn't find a better one.. post can be edited, if it seems wrong..

Basics. Gemma F. Barcelona

gfontova1 — 2022-05-24 20:40:39 UTC

For me, the first thing is to integrate to the society. So it's important some basics of language (presentation, school vocabulary, shopping, etc) to communicate with other students and people. Also it's important some needs like how to move in the city, where is the doctor, where they can ask documents, how to enroll to other studies, etc
In this process we must not forget their trauma and we have to create spaces to speak about their country, about all the things they miss. For teenagers it's very difficult because they miss the friends and the family. In my case I have lot of students from Central and South America and they have 2 main problems that it's important to pay attention. First one, they begin to live with the parents but they have lived in America during years with grandparents or other relatives, so they have to adapt them. Second one, they have lived many situations of violence, with bands or guns. So they can block in some situations. The emotions are very important and it's good to create good atmosphere in classroom. Some kids they worry a lot about the economical situation of their parents.

Turkey_Öykü

oykuucozzz — 2022-05-26 19:03:52 UTC

Our refugee students are mostly from Syria and they share similar cultures especially with the south of our country. In the videos I watched, I realized that refugee children are unaware of some basic life skills and school culture. We did not experience such big differences in refugees coming to our country, but it was clear that some students had high levels of anxiety due to the traumas they experienced.

Hacer Sezen / Turkey

sznhacer — 2022-05-27 18:58:34 UTC

Some of the problems I have experienced are as follows: 1- Not knowing the language 2- Being away from school for many years 3- Losing family members.

Cathy (Aikaterini) Sider, Greece

kate_sideri — 2022-05-29 10:24:31 UTC

Most of the migrant and refugee children reaching our school face the trauma of their violent uprooting from their country, so they feel insecure and scared. They also have to deal with even more pressing everyday needs, like housing, food, clothing, medical care, everyday expenses, etc. Most of them live in refugee camps and they are provided with some material help, but when some urgent needs appear, they ask for help from their closest person at school, maybe a teacher or a social worker. This cry for help comes only if they feel certain enough that they are going to be heard and treated accordingly. That makes us, the people of the school community even more responsible and sensitive towards their issues, our issues.

Isabel Quirino, Portugal

2022-05-29 16:47:00 UTC

In my school we have different kind of migrants and refugees - some come from countries where people do not speek portuguese (or english), so most of the time we observe a problem with language. But even when students talk portuguese, (Ex. Brasil) there are some situations that represent communication dificulties. I think it is a good strategy to use all ways to communicate (ex: use other migrants to translate), so we can FULLY UNDERSTAND the particular situation of each child or young person. It is very important to listening with real intention of understand - only that way we can discover the needs of each of our students. It is also important to have a whole person vision, to get to know whar kind of needs are we talking about. Having artners in community is essential to reach all those needs.

Migrant students needs (Cristina Murcia, España)

2022-05-29 18:31:52 UTC

First of all, it is necessary to highlight that, surprisingly, immigrant students usually arrive at school after a very hard migration process, but they usually come to class with a good attitude and enthusiasm for learning. However, the case of refugees (I am talking especially about students coming from Ukraine at the present time) is different, because they do feel comfortable at their new location and, since they think their situation is temporary, they are not motivated to learn the language or to gain other knowledge. In the latter case, the needs of the students are mainly emotional and affective. Therefore, the first step is to offer them support, help and take an interest in them. Secondly, it is essential to proceed with teaching the language so that communication is more effective.

Sezin Teacher - Turkey

hediyesezinsen — 2022-06-01 10:34:11 UTC

First need : langage

2022-06-01 12:27:58 UTC

The first need of our young pupils (in primary school) is to be able to communicate with others and to be understood by the teacher.

Recep ÖKDEM-Türkiye

recepokdem15 — 2022-06-01 18:45:01 UTC

The basic needs of students are shelter, nutrition, health, education, clothing and communication. They need money, help, tolerance and empathy to meet their needs. They need help with language support.

Müzeyyen Durgun/Turkey

muzeyyenmiray55 — 2022-06-01 19:49:37 UTC

I think that refugee students have language and adaptation problems. I have a Syrian student in my class. He adapted to his friends in a short time, but we have problems adapting to the school culture. Such as not attending the classes, not listening to the lectures, not attending the class...

ruqaya-jordan

thesmurfsteamt — 2022-06-02 17:31:33 UTC

The basic needs are to provide a safe school environment.
It takes into account individual differences between students and their learning styles.
The integration of students into the school community is an essential pillar.

VOICU CORINA, ROMANIA

corina_v1978 — 2022-06-02 19:25:12 UTC

The most important needs are: security, peace, food, financial situation.

Sema Özkılıç/Turkey

2022-06-03 12:11:46 UTC

I think the biggest problem of refugee students is loneliness and past traumas. This is followed by language learning and adaptation problems.

Cornelia Alina Moţ, Romania

corneliamot79 — 2022-06-03 16:20:11 UTC

I agree with the fact that these students need language support, but also counseling from authorized persons. Language support is very important to know the students and their level. This is the central basis for their successful integration into our classrooms.

ahmetbulut_1907_ab — 2022-06-03 19:55:02 UTC

I think that refugee students have language and adaptation problems. We have a Syrian students in our school. They adapted to their friends in a short time, but we have problems adapting to the school culture.

Ana Patrícia Almeida - Portugal

anapalmeida1 — 2022-06-04 21:18:55 UTC

Thinking and reflecting about the greatest needs felt by migrant and refugee students, I find that the greatest needs are associated with a sense of security and emotional stability. It is true that language support facilitates the bonding and comfort they need, but if they feel welcomed and loved, everything else is facilitated. Just think of Maslow's pyramid and how the needs at the base of the pyramid are fundamental to the higher level needs.

Ayşegül USTA/TÜRKİYE

akavaslar1 — 2022-06-05 20:09:44 UTC

I think the biggest problem with refugee students is the need to belong. The world is our home and we all belong here.

Andreea Cristina Mihai

mihaiandreea990 — 2022-06-06 07:22:05 UTC

Our refugee are from Ukraine.

Petrina from Albania

2022-06-08 12:23:25 UTC