Supporting Newcomers’ Social Emotional Learning
Introduction
I encountered the following question on an ESL Teachers Facebook group:
Help
Does anyone have a newcomer toolkit that they use for new students to the country or the district? That can support the SEL needs of a newcomer student, their classmates, teacher, and family. Books, resources, ect? How do you support classmates welcoming a new immigrant into the classroom or the school?
Goals:
Create a Newcomer SEL Toolkit with resources to support:
· The immigrant student with direct instruction regarding support at school, school norms, etc…
· The receiving class and teacher with activities to promote understanding, empathy, and cultural competency
· Families as we partner with them to learn about the school system and resources available in the community
As an ESL teacher, this looked like knowledge I should be aware of as well, so I did some research and found some resources that address this question according to the question’s goals.
This article presents different resources available to help support Newcomers’ Social Emotional Learning (SEL). It provides links, summaries, and advice on how to use each resource. Under each resource is a summary of how ELs, teachers, and EL families can be supported in SEL. The reader can then dig deeper into the resources that look to be beneficial for one’s school and newcomers. Of course, more could be written on any section of this topic, but gathering resources is a good first step.
Journey to Refugee
Overall Site: https://coe.ksu.edu/about/publications/journey-to-refuge/
Book: https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/26/
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siISepu7-ts
Summary: The site states that its resources “have the singular goal of expanding the knowledge base of teachers, other educators, and volunteers who work with newcomer students, especially refugee children and adolescents.”
How to Use: The 314 page book can be used as a reference to learn more about newcomers and to gain more context behind EL’s SEL. There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter as well as videos which could be used in a professional development.
EL Support: Teachers can look at the table of contents to find sections particularly relevant of interesting to them. For example, an art teacher or teacher who enjoys incorporating art in the classroom would find “Chapter 11 Best Practices in Art Education: Journey Through Creativity” enlightening. If a teacher wants to learn how to better teach newcomers, “Chapter 14 Teach Your Heart Out: Strategies That Work” should be examined.
Teacher Support: Teachers and staff can watch the film to gain a better understanding and empathy for ELs.
Family Support: Interspersed throughout the book are stories of educators connecting with families to gain better understanding. However, the focus of this book is on the classroom setting and general understanding of refugees.
US Department of Education Newcomer Tookit – particularly chapter 4
Summary: This toolkit discusses Newcomers broadly, which includes “Chapter 4: How Do We Support Newcomers' Social Emotional Needs?”.
How to Use: This 158 page document can serve as a reference. The outline at the beginning can direct you to relevant information.
EL Support: Chapters 3 and 4
Teacher Support: Chapters 1 and 2.
Family Support: Chapter 5 of the Newcomer Toolkit specifically talks about how to support EL families.
Social and Emotional Learning for English Learners
Summary: Colorado’s 2016 Teacher of the Year, Leticia Ingram, shares her SEL tips.
How to Use: This article does a good job of explaining the importance of SEL and how it can be particularly relevant to ELs and their ability to learn English.
EL Support: The article highlights low self-confidence, high anxiety, and a sense of “otherness” as areas of SEL need. Solutions include promoting pride in EL cultures, pair ELs with non-ELs, and provide realistic practice like taking students to the grocery store. Links are provided in the article to delve deeper into these topics.
Teacher Support: The article and its links make a strong case for using SEL with ELs. For example, the affective filter due to high-anxiety, lack of self-confidence, and other SEL issues reduce language acquisition ability. This information can be used to get teachers on board and understand its relevance.
Family Support: N/A
Social & Emotional Support for ELLs and Immigrant Students (Landing Page for many Colorín Colorado articles on SEL)
Two of the articles are summarized below, but more articles can be viewed within the link above. These articles give better understanding and strategies to educators and administrators.
Social and Emotional Support for Refugee Families: A School Psychology Perspective
Summary: This article provides a good summary of the thought processes of ELs, teachers, and EL families, which provides good background for someone trying to understand more about overall context.
How to Use: This article provides the reader a better understanding of refugee families, ELs, and the overall cultural context and how it interacts with the school context. It is less of a “do-this” guide and more of an “understand-this” guide. Some key quotes are provided below:
EL Support Quote: “It is especially helpful if there is an individual who can navigate both cultures – that of the refugee and of the majority population. This person can be invaluable in helping to reduce or eliminate misunderstandings very quickly.”
Teacher Support Quote: “If they believe they have some knowledge, it seems to empower them a bit to move forward. They have also appreciated having a network of people that they can call for support and advice. I think having additional training once they have had a chance to work with students is also helpful so they can continue to grow their knowledge and refine their interventions.”
“These are very complicated cases and required good data gathering, especially from parents. Sometimes the answer was quite simple. A student was out of his seat constantly and a teacher was very frustrated. Once she talked to his parent, she found that he was trying to please the teacher by being helpful and that this was something that was done within his own culture. With that different framework, the problem didn’t seem so bad anymore.”
“As parents felt included, they tended to reach out more and want to come to school, to observe in the classroom, and be a part of their children’s education.”
How to Provide Social-Emotional Support for Immigrant Students
Summary: This article provides strategies for addressing SEL.
How to Use: Teachers can use these strategies to structure their classes so that they are more conducive to SEL.
EL Support: Some strategies include
maintaining routines
listening to students and tips for encouraging conversations between teachers and students
Providing ways students can express their emotions and manage stress
ELL administrator Kristina Robertson writes
One of our after-school workers said she has many bilingual students (mostly boys) who get into fights across cultures because they just don't have the words to express their frustration or needs, so their anger builds. How can we think about ways to intentionally teach language about feelings and appropriate ways to express emotion? We are so focused on teaching academic language and basic needs of following rules in a classroom that we overlook the need to learn how to express our emotions. This is a terrible feeling for a student who is sad or angry.
Teaching empathy and appreciation
Incorporating books that encourage sharing thoughts, feelings, and experiences (links to book lists are provided)
Teacher Support: In the section titled “Take a closer look when you notice changes in a student’s behavior” it provides ways to gain a better understanding of the context behind a student’s behavior.
Family Support: The very last section “Learn how your families approach social-emotional health” provides conversation topics to get a better understanding of ELs and their families.
SEL Curriculum for Class
If you are looking for SEL curriculum for class, my high school will begin using Character Strong. My district uses Second Step for the elementary and middle school levels. The ESL coaches scaffolded the lesson for ELs and provided training for the teachers.