"The World is ours” Anything and everything is possible
By Mark Harris
The focus of this study was refugee education.
The hypothesis of the study was:
The emotional, social and learning needs of students from refugee backgrounds who attend NSW public schools will be more effectively met and their teachers better supported if NSW adopts and integrates into present programs some of the successful refugee programs, strategies and practices operating in two other Australian states and two other countries.
The purpose of the study was to:
- identify programs, strategies and practices that have been successfully implemented in a range of NSW primary and secondary schools and in some Victorian, Tasmanian, Canadian and Finnish primary schools and high schools to assist students from refugee backgrounds achieve high-quality emotional, social and learning outcomes
- develop a set of interrelated best-practice programs, strategies and practices that, if adopted, would assist NSW students from refugee backgrounds achieve outstanding emotional, social and learning outcomes
- identify school leader and teacher professional development opportunities and resources that could be provided to NSW school leaders and teachers to further develop their knowledge, skills and abilities to assist students from refugee backgrounds achieve outstanding emotional, social and learning outcomes.
Interrelated focus areas
This study identified 14 interrelated focus areas that may enable NSW schools to assist its students from refugee backgrounds achieve outstanding emotional, social and learning outcomes.
These areas were based on the:
- factors that research shows have greatest impact on the emotional, social and learning development of students from a refugee background
- programs, strategies and practices that were being successfully used in some of the schools that participated in this study
- author’s professional experience as a leader of a school with a significant number of students from refugee backgrounds.
