This helps students to reclaim their identity. It’s important for everyone but especially refugees to have this support system in which others are listening and validating your feelings. In the process some lost their loved ones. Students have talked about their escape from their country of origin, stating the perilous routes and ways they took to reach America. It is cathartic when students ask to discuss their experiences by openly sharing the content of their writings in the class. The biggest and most important element is trust, which allows students to unleash their feelings as they recount the tragic events that have happened in their lives. I make assignments to provide an opportunity for everyone to write about themselves if they choose. To do my part as an instructor of refugee students, I make sure to provide a safe space for students to express themselves and tell their stories. An article by Christine Massing, assistant professor of education at University of Regina, in the International Review of Education included a collection of research writings on helpful strategies for refugee education. In an article for the British Educational Research Journal, notable refugee-education researchers Joanna McIntyre and Sinnika Neuhaus refer to a comment by Ravi Kohli in which he says that education is the “resumption of an ordinary life.” In the same article, they quote Maria Hayward saying that she feels schools are places of safety with the potential for providing spaces for healing. Research on refugee education also emphasizes the importance of providing a place of safety and belonging in educational institutions. When they come from situations like what has been unfolding in Ukraine, that role increases exponentially.
I am a professor with over 20 years of experience working with students from diverse backgrounds, including refugees from Eritrea, Afghanistan, Russia, Yemen, Iraq, Iran and now Ukraine. Compassion is the hallmark of a good educator, but with multiple crisis situations happening around the world, now more than ever educators need to focus their attention on compassion and kindness.