Educating Students with Refugee and Asylum Seeker Experiences

This book discusses the educational systems into which students with refugee backgrounds are placed when relocated into many of their new homelands. It discusses the current climate of neo liberalism which pervades schooling in many western countries and the subsequent impact on curriculum focus and teaching strategies. It proposes ways in which these students, who are currently the most vulnerable students in school, can be educated with policies and perspectives which respect the diversity and uniqueness that characterises the world today as the result of the global unrest and subsequent diaspora. The impact of power, politics, people and pedagogies on the prospects of these is investigated and a model for holistic education, which includes the wisdom and care of pedagogical love is discussed as way in which a more human and compassionate approach to education for these and all students of difference can be integrated into school communities despite neo liberal imperatives in education. Research indicates that schools which are spaces of safety and belonging, through leadership of care and empathy, can provide successful educational opportunities for students who have asylum seeker and refugee backgrounds and experiences

Educating students with refugee and asylum seeker experiences. A commitment to humanity

This book discusses the educational systems into which students with refugee backgrounds are placed when relocated into many of their new homelands. It discusses the current climate of neo liberalism which pervades schooling in many western countries and the subsequent impact on curriculum focus and teaching strategies. It proposes ways in which these students, who are currently the most vulnerable students in school, can be educated with policies and perspectives which respect the diversity and uniqueness that characterises the world today as the result of the global unrest and subsequent diaspora. The impact of power, politics, people and pedagogies on the prospects of these is investigated and a model for holistic education, which includes the wisdom and care of pedagogical love is discussed as way in which a more human and compassionate approach to education for these and all students of difference can be integrated into school communities despite neo liberal imperatives in education. Research indicates that schools which are spaces of safety and belonging, through leadership of care and empathy, can provide successful educational opportunities for students who have asylum seeker and refugee backgrounds and experiences. (DIPF/Orig.

Educating Students with Refugee and Asylum Seeker Experiences

This book discusses the educational systems into which students with refugee backgrounds are placed when relocated into many of their new homelands. It discusses the current climate of neo liberalism which pervades schooling in many western countries and the subsequent impact on curriculum focus and teaching strategies. It proposes ways in which these students, who are currently the most vulnerable students in school, can be educated with policies and perspectives which respect the diversity and uniqueness that characterises the world today as the result of the global unrest and subsequent diaspora. The impact of power, politics, people and pedagogies on the prospects of these is investigated and a model for holistic education, which includes the wisdom and care of pedagogical love is discussed as way in which a more human and compassionate approach to education for these and all students of difference can be integrated into school communities despite neo liberal imperatives in education. Research indicates that schools which are spaces of safety and belonging, through leadership of care and empathy, can provide successful educational opportunities for students who have asylum seeker and refugee backgrounds and experiences

Educating Students with Refugee and Asylum Seeker Experiences

This book discusses the educational systems into which students with refugee backgrounds are placed when relocated into many of their new homelands. It discusses the current climate of neo liberalism which pervades schooling in many western countries and the subsequent impact on curriculum focus and teaching strategies. It proposes ways in which these students, who are currently the most vulnerable students in school, can be educated with policies and perspectives which respect the diversity and uniqueness that characterises the world today as the result of the global unrest and subsequent diaspora. The impact of power, politics, people and pedagogies on the prospects of these is investigated and a model for holistic education, which includes the wisdom and care of pedagogical love is discussed as way in which a more human and compassionate approach to education for these and all students of difference can be integrated into school communities despite neo liberal imperatives in education. Research indicates that schools which are spaces of safety and belonging, through leadership of care and empathy, can provide successful educational opportunities for students who have asylum seeker and refugee backgrounds and experiences

Becoming Australian: a review of southern Sudanese students’ educational experiences

This research presents a review of the literature around meeting students’ learning needs in Australian schools. It is referenced to one group of students with refugee experience who have been in Australian schools for over 15 years; students with a background of oracy from Southern Sudan. The development of psychological health and literacy competencies are two of the most critical and complex responsibilities undertaken by education, and, in the case of these students two of the most significant when considered in relation to successful settlement, acculturation and assimilation. In presenting this literature, the bigger picture of how schools can fail, not only these students, but for any number of students from diverse backgrounds, becomes startlingly obvious, as do the ways in which the current political agenda inherent in the public education system in Australia privileges students of specific class and culture. Finally, recommendations are made regarding the development of policy and the concentration on pedagogical practices which acknowledge and respect the strengths and capabilities of this group of students

The affective component in effective education

This study investigated eight and nine year old children's capabilities to develop skills in the intrapersonal intelligence domain as defined by Howard Gardner. A group of twenty-seven, seven to nine year olds were introduced to a program specifically designed to foster their self-knowledge as learners and their self-management skills in the English learning environment. The students were introduced to activities that would help them to identify their own relative strengths and limitations and use this knowledge to negotiate a learning environment that would best suit their own learning needs. This program included developing skills in goal setting and identification of personal learning strategies. It also sought to improve work habits and student on- task behaviours and encourage self-monitoring, self-evaluation and self-reflection. The results obtained evidenced a considerable improvement in the students' self knowledge and how this impacted on their perceptions of themselves as learners. The students grew increasingly aware of their own relative strengths and used this information to negotiate their learning environment, to identify strategies that worked for them and to take increasingly more responsibility for their own learning. As a result of the findings of this study, there are clear implications that if students are provided with opportunities to develop accurate intrapersonal intelligence, this improved awareness of 'self' can have an impact on successful learning. This study indicates that if teachers provide students with opportunities to investigate and learn about themselves as learners, to build skills in goal setting and to identify personal learning strategies, then an increase in self-knowledge and self-management will impact positively on the students' capacity to learn successfully.;Consequently, programs and strategies designed to promote students' intrapersonal intelligence may become a valuable part of school practice and curricula

Intrapersonal intelligence, executive function and stage three students

This study investigated the capacities of ten to twelve year old students to develop the cognitive capacity of intrapersonal intelligence as defined by Howard Gardner. A group of forty, ten to twelve year old students across three Stage Three New South Wales classrooms were introduced to an Intervention Program specifically designed to foster their self knowledge as learners and their capacities to use this knowledge to develop the knowledge, skills and understandings collectively known as 'executive function'. The Intervention Program incorporated the theoretical foundations of the Multiple Intelligences perspective of executive function as defined by Moran and Gardner. The students were engaged in self selected learning tasks in the key learning area of English with the intention of helping them to identify their own relative strengths and relative limitations in this curriculum area. The program included a variety of activities and procedures including those that required students to determine their own learning goals, engage in reflective journaling both during the tasks and at the conclusion of the tasks and identify, plan and implement their own learning strategies in order to achieve their learning goals in English. The three participating teachers undertook to provide information related to the students' work habits, on task behaviors, self monitoring strategies, the students' capacities to improve their cognitive strategies when working on their self selected tasks and the students' abilities to use these skills, knowledge and understandings to improve their learning outcomes in English. The results obtained evidenced a considerable improvement in the students' intrapersonal intelligence, most especially in the knowledge, skills and understandings identified as 'executive function'.;The students became increasingly competent in the skills of planning, implementing and self monitoring; identified by Moran and Gardner as the 'hill' the 'will' and the 'skill'; in relation to their self selected learning goals in English and began to take increased responsibility for their own learning in English. In this way, they began to exhibit the distinct characteristics of the 'apprentice stage' of 'executive function' as described by Moran and Gardner. As the result of the findings of this study, there are clear implications that if students are provided with opportunities to develop their intrapersonal intelligence as learners, this improved awareness of 'self' as learners can be translated into improved skills in the understandings, knowledge and skills that comprise 'executive function' from a Multiple Intelligences perspective and result in improved learning outcomes. This study indicates that if teachers are able to provide students with the opportunities to know themselves better as learners, have some choice in determining the tasks that best suit their learning preferences and determine their own learning strategies, then the impact on students' capacities to 'learn how to learn' effectively is positive. The findings of the study also indicate that programs designed to support student learning through improved intrapersonal intelligence also supports teachers' attempts to implement differentiated programs of work effectively in their classrooms and to meet the learning needs of all their students in the context of a rapidly changing twenty first century world and its ever increasing demands on the teaching profession. As a result, programs such as the one designed and implemented in this study may become a valuable part of school practice and curricula

Exploring executive function: multiple intelligences' personalised mapping for success

The accelerated rate of change that typifies today's society has resulted in educational systems and educators being confronted with the challenges of educating students for a world characterised by social mobility, globalisation and technological challenge: a world in which students have to assimilate, assess and integrate more information from diverse sources within increasingly short periods of time. This paper discusses the unique characteristics of Gardner's Intrapersonal intelligence domain and assesses its potential in comparison to some other "self" theories commonly found in educational theory and practice. It then argues that the concept of the executive function of intrapersonal intelligence provides a relatively unexplored notion of self that has the potential to empower all those engaged in educational pursuits, irrespective of their diversity. As executive function brings together and interpolates the commonly identified characteristics of successful learners, it is argued that one of the most inclusive ways in which educators can improve student outcomes, build knowledge, skills and strategies that promote personal achievement and prepare young people for the complexity of their world, can be found by exploring this specific aspect of the renowned Multiple Intelligences (MI) paradigm and ways in which it may be enhanced