The K-12 education system is used in the US, Canada and other counties to support school grades before college. Emigrant children face various challenges when they join these schools, however, these challenges can be when the school environment is made positive alongside counselling programs to facilitate acculturation.
Immigrants experience language barrier, curriculum changes, discrimination all which negatively impact on their self-esteem. Creating a positive school environment helps the new learner’s overcome these challenge. The teachers can help create such a positive environment by adopting several best practices.
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The teacher must stay informed and also keep the learners informed about emigrants’ rights. He/she must ensure that all learners understand they all the children have a right to be at the school. The teachers should also give the students a voice by creating opportunities for them to express how they feel and talking about the feelings, for instance, by creating class projects that focus on emigrant issues (Eva, 2017).
It is also beneficial to create group connectedness through ensuring that all students in class and schools feel like members of the same group. This is achievable through circle rituals, active listening and shared identity exercises.
Reducing stress through de-stressing activities is also beneficial. This is because young children easily get stressed up, especially when they are in a new environment. De-stressing activities may involve counselling programs. Counseling is very helpful in negating the fears, feeling of being lost, culture shock, discrimination and other challenges that the children are likely to encounter (Aragón, 2017). Counseling also provides the children with an opportunity to talk about their feelings
Last, it is necessary to create support and encourage action. The student should support each other while the teachers should support all the students. These ensure joint action against discrimination, bullying and other negative activity that may affect both the immigrant student and the native ones (Aragón, 2017).
In a nutshell, it is thus necessary that school systems should find new ways to address growing diversity and support emigrants. It not only helps them to adapt to the new environment, but creates a future for them because they can develop themselves and are integrated into the new society.
References
Aragón, A. (2017). Immigrant Aid. ASCA School Counselor . May-June 2017 Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/PDFs/ImmigrantAid.pdf
Eva, A. L. (2017, March 27). How Teachers Can Help Immigrant Kids Feel Safe. Greater Good Magazine. Retrieved from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_teachers_can_help_immigrant_kids_feel_safe
Waldman, C. (2016, November 07). Four Elements for Creating a Positive Learning Environment. Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from https://www.all4ed.org/four-elements-for-creating-a-positive-learning-environment/
