The research will investigate barriers to learning experienced by humanitarian settlers from the Sudan. It will also outline features of informed classroom management practices that enable teachers to address these barriers for this specific group of learners. Classroom management practices include groupings of learners, selection of learning activity types, the classroom environment, time management. These practices will be seen in the context of other non -educational issues such as cultural, social and psychological for this learner group. The findings relevant to Sudanese refugee students may also be applicable to other groups of humanitarian settlers.
1. What are the background factors that adversely affect the ability of humanitarian settlers from the Sudan to learn in an Australian formal learning setting?
2. What classroom management issues* are teachers having difficulty in resolving in relation to humanitarian settlers in mixed adult literacy/numeracy and language learning groups? *Classroom management includes groupings of learners, selection of learning activity types, the classroom environment, time management.
3. How are these issues currently being approached?
4. What recommendations can be made regarding good practice classroom management to enhance the participation of Sudanese (and other) humanitarian settlers in formal language, literacy and numeracy tuition and what recommendations can be made regarding classroom management practices that are inappropriate for Sudanese survivors of trauma and torture?
The study will commence with desk research involving an environmental scan of the background experiences of Sudanese refugee, relevant research and available resources for teachers. A questionnaire for teachers currently teaching groups which include Sudanese refugees will provide qualitative data on the kinds of difficulties they are facing, and classroom management strategies they perceive to be successful. This data, once analysed and ordered, will be brought to consultations with Sudanese community leaders in Australia, and professionals in related fields for their input. The research report will include a set of informed recommendations for LLN teachers as to classroom management practices which are likely to enhance the learning success of Sudanese survivors of torture and trauma.
Data Sources/organisations/key people to be targeted
* Members of the project team will arrange to distribute an electronic questionnaire to approximately fifteen sites from NSW and approximately five sites from Western Australia. Respondents will be reflective of current provision namely English language and adult literacy and numeracy.
* Consultation will occur with experts from other disciplines for example the Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning Program Victoria, The Sudanese Organisation NSW, Migrants Resource Centres in NSW and WA, the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors, the Victorian Foundation for the Survivors of Torture, Counsellors, and relevant Health professionals.
* Sudanese learners may be interviewed depending on advice from experts from other disciplines such as Sudanese community representatives. If interviewed, learners would be informed through an interpreter (if necessary) that they were under no obligation to be interviewed. Interviewees would be informed that the interviews would be recorded. Interviewees would be informed that anonymity would be maintained by names and places being omitted. Permission to access learners would be sought from the relevant providers.
Data Analysis
Questionnaire summaries and telephone interview data will be coded and analysed to determine the factors impacting on classroom management and to identify features which constitute good practice.
Research questions 2 and 3: data will be gathered, collated and documented from teacher questionnaires. The information will be summarized in preparation for consultations with other discipline professionals/community representatives.
Research question 4: community representatives/other discipline professionals, teacher feedback and learner comments (depending on advice from community representatives), data from other current research projects (DEST and NCVER) will be analysed and developed into guideline strategies for classroom management to successfully enhance the participation of Sudanese humanitarian settlers.
Report writing and feedback
The draft guideline strategies, considerations for identifying appropriate strategies and recommendations will be distributed to all respondents for feedback.
The relevance of the considerations for identifying appropriate strategies and the guideline strategies developed, will be evaluated and validated by representatives from the Sudanese community, other discipline professionals, researchers from other current NCVER and ANTA research projects and a focus group (via teleconference) of representative teachers (one focus group per State). Where possible teachers participating in the teleconference will have Sudanese and refugees from other backgrounds in their classes to maximise the applicability of the recommendations. Feedback will be incorporated into a guide for teachers incorporating the considerations and guidelines for classroom management. The research team will produce a draft report.
Oksana Hull and Ursula Burgoyne have extensive experience as teachers, resource developers, project managers and researchers in the adult English language, literacy and numeracy education fields.
