Think back to one of your most influential school memories. Perhaps you remember a school dance, a failed test, or a class project that inspired a career.
For me, there’s one particular 1st grade memory that I can’t shake. I was attending school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after having recently arrived from Chile, when my English teacher forced me to stand up in front of my classmates and agree that I’d never learn English properly.
The guilt and inadequacy associated with not only agreeing to this assertion but also being belittled by an adult authority figure who was clearly in the wrong shadowed me long into adulthood. It followed me as I immigrated to the U.S. as a nine-year-old and struggled to adjust to an American classroom. I had panic attacks throughout elementary school and often did not know the reason. It took many years and some thoughtful educators who tapped into supportive strategies to reverse the lack of confidence I had in my writing and English ability in general, and to find my voice in the classroom.
In the United States, of course, the challenge experienced by newcomers is not an isolated phenomena—a 2014 study found that 29 percent of foreign-born adolescents experience trauma while migrating to the U.S., making the transition into the classroom even more difficult.
But, as ASCD author and education consultant Louise El Yaafouri, who was herself a newcomer, writes in her new book Restoring Students’ Innate Power: Trauma-Responsive Strategies for Teaching Multilingual Newcomers, “if a reservoir can be exhausted, it can also be filled.”
So, what can educators do to help recently arrived emergent multilinguals (RAEM)—a term coined by El Yaafouri to name students learning English in the United States—regain a sense of power as they adjust to the classroom?
Navigating Power Loss Amid New Surroundings
According to El Yaafouri, the mere act of recently arriving anywhere and having to experience “change, uncertainty, [and] feeling like an outsider” can lead to transition shock and, therefore, a loss of self-belief among multilingual newcomers.
Educators can try to tap into children’s resilience—their ability to thrive despite challenges—to mitigate transition shock and navigate adversity, trauma, tragedy, and other sources of stress. As a report from the American Psychological Association points out, resilience can be taught. But educators, according to El Yaafouri, should not rely solely on resilience—which often places the onus on the child to counter stressors. “Unfortunately, the modern concept of resilience has undertones that are inconsistent with culturally affirmative principles.” Instead, she suggests driving the conversation as a restoration of power, centering the individual as architects of their own plan.
If a reservoir can be exhausted, it can also be filled.
Louise El Yaafouri
To help imbue a sense of power in newcomers and negate the effects of transition shock, El Yaafouri outlines four main pillars that educators can home in on.
1. Building Connections: Authentic Relationships with Students
When I arrived in the U.S. in 3rd grade, my homeroom teacher had good intentions: She paired me with another Latinx student, hoping we’d share a language and common culture. But not all newcomer students share the same origin—in this case, my peer was born in the United States to Mexican parents and didn’t speak Spanish (while I was born in Chile and spoke mostly Spanish). We were fundamentally different in many ways, and it puzzled me as to why my teacher insisted on our pairing for every activity. In hindsight, many of these interactions did not set us up for success as each was unplanned, high-risk, and exposed to too much stimuli.
To cultivate authentic relationships among students and educators, El Yaafouri recommends facilitating a safe space, integrating small and purposeful blocks of interaction, and carefully listening and noting when a student appears uncomfortable, disengaged, or unsure of what to say. In this way, an educator can establish a foundation of structure and routine, but work toward student agency by introducing elements of student choice. A “good” pairing is not one based on assumptions of common culture, but instead attuned to the right moment and environment for interaction.
To achieve this environment, educators can replace competitive activities with ones that encourage communication and authentic connection. El Yaafouri provides a full list of sample activities in her book.
2. Establishing Protection: Cultivating Trust and Safety
As El Yaafouri writes, “trust is central to safety.” For multilingual newcomer students to feel protected in their new environments, they must have trust in themselves, in their peers, in their surroundings, and in the process of learning, failing, and growing. Establishing a bond of trust also builds connections and relationships.
Building trust is not the only factor in feeling protected, however. El Yaafouri points out that the quality of a student’s home life greatly impacts academic achievement. Having a positive connection to nurturing caregivers and access to basic needs outside the classroom will significantly raise a newcomer’s feeling of protection in school. A violence-free environment with equitable access to translation services and mental health supports will make a difference as well. The community at-large also plays a role in embracing a “village mentality” and advocating for nondiscriminatory district policies and state laws.
3. Cultivating Respect: Fostering Student Voice, Choice, and Collaboration
I’ll never forget what one of my elementary teachers asked me one day: “Esteban, I find your name difficult to pronounce—can I call you Steven?” As I was not in the habit of saying no to teachers and had not yet found my voice in this country, I agreed, though I felt deeply uncomfortable about it. For the rest of the year, I was Steven in her class. Every time the teacher called on me, I felt ashamed that I couldn’t stand up to myself and correct her.
This speaks to El Yaafouri’s third pillar for helping students navigate transition shock, which puts respect front and center. This means taking steps to eliminate our biases as educators. Understanding that forcing a label on someone can backfire is key to this process. So is understanding that each newcomer will require a different approach. As educators, we must take the time to reflect on hard questions about how we are supporting or, conversely, potentially negating students’ identities.
“Students’ various cultural reference points and lived experiences belong in the classroom and school,” El Yaafouri writes. This energy, when validated and valued, fosters student voice, choice, and collaboration.
4. Redirection: Facilitating Self-Efficacy and Sustainability
El Yaafouri’s final pillar, redirection, is aimed at taking the lessons learned from the other three pillars and using them for sustained success. In essence, it’s about redirecting negative stimuli toward a culture of student self-efficacy and support. To keep this pillar in mind, she recommends that educators focus on reiteration of routine and predictability, which establish a safety net from which newcomer students can gradually open up.
Reflection is integral to the pillar of redirection (El Yaafouri provides numerous activities to spark student reflection in her book). Setting clear goals and reflecting on one’s strengths will empower newcomers to chart their own progress and experience success.
“When we talk about empowering students, it’s important to remember that the power isn’t coming from us. It belongs to our students, and they’ve owned it all along.”
More on Supporting Newcomers
Transition shock contributes to a sense of diminished power among newcomers. Louise El Yaafouri's book describes how educators can restore that power, beginning today.
