Are We Ready? Examining Teachers’ Experiences Supporting the Transition of Newly-Arrived Syrian Refugee Students to the Canadian Elementary Classroom

The Syrian refugee crisis has prompted more than 39 000 refugees to make Canada their home, many of them children who have become a significant part of our classroom populations (Government of Canada, 2017). This study aimed to explore the question “How are teachers supporting the transition of Syrian refugee students into the elementary classroom?” Given the emergent nature of this topic, little literature exists on the pedagogies that will best support these students, though educators might learn from the negative experiences that past refugee student groups had within the Canadian education system in order to guide their teaching (Yau, 1995; Young and Chan 2014). Using semi-structured interviews based on qualitative research protocols, this study found that the ability to support newly-arrived Syrian refugee students was affected by (1) the different experiences that Syrian refugee students have had, (2) teacher ability to build positive student-teacher relationships, (3) teacher knowledge of English language learner (ELL) pedagogy, and (4) teacher readiness. In order to address the needs of newly-arrived Syrian refugee students, educational stakeholders will have to re-evaluate the financial and practical resources – such as training workshops – made available to teachers welcoming Syrian refugee students to their classrooms