Collaboration Between Local Community and Teacher Education Program: Supporting Immigrant/Refugee Children and Future Teachers’s Growth Through After School Programs

Conference: The Asian Conference on Education (ACE2022)
Title: Collaboration Between Local Community and Teacher Education Program: Supporting Immigrant/Refugee Children and Future Teachers’s Growth Through After School Programs
Stream: Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Authors:
Gumiko Monobe, Kent State University, United States
Haoting Cui, Kent State University, United States
Bee Viton, Kent State Unievrsity, United States

Abstract:

According to UNICEF (2022), 36.5 million children were displaced from their homes in 2021. Such children are from complex diverse backgrounds, who "locate" intersections of races, languages, nationalities, religions, sexualities, politics, genders, and socio-economic status. Previous research has suggested the importance of trauma-informed pedagogy, culturally, linguistically relevant pedagogy/curriculum, and collaborations with the parent(s)/caregiver(s). However, there is a gap in planning in the teacher educator field when it comes to helping future teachers prepare themselves to work with these populations. In this presentation, we share on-going collaboration between a local Teacher Education program at a state university and local institutions, an elementary school and a family resource center, in the Midwest, USA. Each child ages 5-10 are matched with a Pre-service teacher one hour a week for individualized help. In this program, we have two goals: 1) support local refugee and immigrant children in the area providing individualized support through after school programs, and 2) provide future teachers experiences to work with these populations of children and families while they are taking a culturally linguistically sustaining pedagogy course. The data analysis of students’ journaling, conversation in class, and course work show:1) shifting from fear of unknown to joy of working with children 2) increasing confidence as a teacher working with children from diverse backgrounds, 3) Increase understanding of the child complexly/holistically, beyond English acquisition and Academic grade levels 4) Use of observation and self-reflection to move beyond ‘what is supposed to be taught’ to supporting the child.



Conference Comments & Feedback

Place a comment using your LinkedIn profile

Comments

Share on activity feed

Powered by WP LinkPress


Share this Presentation