Culturally Responsive Teaching: Innovative Pedagogies of Reconnection

Building on shared strong foundations, refugee education researchers have established a strong body of evidence that attests to the myriad and often bespoke challenges that SRABs face in accessing, participating and succeeding in education across the life course.

What we know less about, however, is the strategies, approaches and hard-learned lessons that our teachers use to create culturally inclusive, strengths-based classrooms. In particular, the ruptures caused by COVID-19 have magnified the endemic and structural barriers to educational participation, such as the digital divide, access to resources (financial, space, time), language proficiency and dis/connection, but have also provided opportunities for a shift to ‘business as usual’ and have thus given birth to new possibilities for teaching and learning with SRABs.

These challenges and opportunities certainly provide a warrant for further attention from teachers at the chalkface, researchers, advocates, service providers and other stakeholders.

The Refugee Education Special Interest Group (RESIG) and the Education for Social Justice and Inclusion (ESJI) Group, School of Education, Western Sydney University (WSU) are therefore pleased to announce a one-day symposium that will focus on ‘good practice’ teaching strategies for SRABs in a variety of contexts and across the educational life course — from early childhood to tertiary/ adult education.

This blended symposium will be held both in-person and online, and is scheduled to fit in with the 2021 Refugee Alternatives Conference and will be held at the WSU Parramatta South Campus on Monday 5th July from 10–4pm.