Radical acceptance: teachers who support students with migrant, refugee, and asylum seeker backgrounds

Abstract

ABSTRACT The importance of preparing teachers to support the cognitive, social, and emotional success of students with migrant, refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds cannot be overstated. It is a universal concern. The recommendation presented are based on evidence provided by teachers and executive staff of one school with a reputation for exemplary practices in supporting the students, parents and wider communities of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers as part of a larger qualitative study. The information provided by the teacher participants illustrated the incorporation of a critical foundation of reflection and reflexivity. The specific content in professional learning includes knowledge of the neuroscience of trauma and its potential impact on learning, the importance of language for integration and criticality of retaining heritage culture and customs in identity formation, developing critical capacity and professional experiences are not discrete, but are interpolated into an overall perspective that reflects the deliberate, focused development of the capacity for radical empathy. Distinct from other types of empathy, radical empathy requires not only practice and purposefulness but a deep critical knowledge and acceptance of self. It demands judicious examination of the deeply held attitudes, values and beliefs that are held by individuals preparing to support these students.