‘Waiting for school’: English Language Teaching resilience for newly arrived children

The ‘Waiting for School’ 2022–2023 project explores English Language Teaching (ELT) provision for children from refugee and newly arrived backgrounds who are waiting for a school place, or who are newly arrived to school, in three areas of the West Midlands, UK. Underpinned by a social-practice perspective to language learning and teaching, the project expands understanding of wider interconnecting factors, such as conditions resulting from temporary accommodation, that shape the learning environments of children experiencing mobility. The project foregrounds the perspectives of 14 diverse practitioners including: primary and secondary school teachers; teachers in a Council-led transitory education provision; council professionals in English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher advisory roles; and refugee third sector practitioners working with newly arrived families in Birmingham, Sandwell, and Wolverhampton. The methodology drew on a participatory action research (PAR) approach, with the aim of supporting practitioners to shape and have some ownership of the research agenda and outputs. In this case, the participatory approach sought to foreground the experiences of professionals working across the schools’ sector, third sector and local government, to establish a broad picture of ELT practices and to conceptualise ‘newly arrived ELT resilience’ across different spaces, which come together in a hybrid third space. Overall, the project collates cross-sector expertise and effective practice to address identified gaps in professional development for supporting newly arrived children, including a selection of key recommendations for ELT practice.

Citation

Puttick, M. R. (2024). ‘Waiting for school’: English Language Teaching resilience for newly arrived children. British Council. https://doi.org/10.57884/RZM7-1989

Type

Research report

Language

en

Description

© 2024 The Authors. Published by British Council. This is an open access research report available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.57884/RZM7-1989

ISBN

9781915280404

Collections

Institute for Community Research and Development