Day 10 Prac EDB031 ED90 sem1 2005

I went to the "new arrivals" class today. "New Arrivals" means refugees.The teacher in charge tends to also take on a social worker role. She seems to have a lot of visitors in the morning. Mostl of them being parents or volunteers who want to assist in one or another. While she was talking to the visitors, Samuel a student from Barundi picked out a book to read. I urged him to read it to me. He was a bit shy but he seems to be able to complete the task and comprehend what the book was about. I then did some flash card words with Juma another African kid and Nagis the bright Afghan 4th grader. After that, we continue on with the multiplication table. During this time, the kids go in and out to their mainstream class for music. They are reluctant to do so. I found this strange as kids from these cultures should be really into music. I spoke to the ESL teacher about this later and she said that our music is a bit different from theirs. Their music is more hands-on and emphasis is more on beat and rhythm - the way music should be. I have to agree with her on that.

The process in which these people come into the country is through The Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). They are first interview by The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Once they are on the short list they are then screened for any medical problems and character checks are performed on the adults. If they are medically unfit such as mentally handicapped then they are rejected purely for the reason that they will be a financial burden on the host country. However, if it is just minor physical impairment then that can be overlooked.

On arrival, they are located in temporary housing owned by DIMIA for four weeks until they find permanent housing. The housing cost is subsidised and they will have to pay back the loan in the future. During that four weeks, the parents can choose to either send or not send their kids to school. The Multicultural Development Association (MDA) is subcontracted by DIMIA to established these people by registering them with Centrelink; obtaining a bank account, medicare etc. Trauma counselling is referred to the Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma (QPAST). QPAST also perform a physical and mental health check on these people upon arrival.

The New Arrivals Program has been operating since three and a half year ago and has recently received it's eighty-third student. fifty percent of those are from Africa. It operates from the morning to lunchtime. In the afternoon, the kids stay in their mainstream class. This is all part of mainstreaming. The family are welcome to visit and are encouraged to do so by the teacher. This holistic approach is so that the parents can become involve in their children's schooling. In the past during the assimilation era, parents of refugee children were not so involve in the schooling of their children. The long term effect of this combine with the assimilist policy is that there is cultural clashes leading to the displacement of identity of the children. Another positive component of the program is the support staff. They either have the refugee experience or they bring with them a similar culture to the children which the main teacher do not have. The children's original cultures and languages are valued. A lot of these chidren may speak up to five languages, however they may be illiterate as they may not have formal schooling. In Africa itself, the languages are mainly oral. The children stayed in the New Arrivals Program until they reach bandscale 3 or up to the teacher's jurisdiction before going into an ESL class. In the first few weeks of ESL class, the ESL teacher usually take them on a one-to-one basis until she feels that they are ready for group instructions.

School uniforms, lunchboxes, schoolbags and basic needs are either donated or taken from the New Arrivals Program's budget. ESL is available for these children for the first three years.

Within these kids, some of them are actually quite gifted in the areas of art, music or sports. The teacher detects these talents and placed them in a selected multiple intelligence (MI) program. To further nurture their talents, the school may arrange to sign them up to a club.

ESL is interesting in that we can make shitloads of money out of teaching in rich country or we can assist displaced people coming into our own country. In return for the latter, we continually grow to become better people.