Edith Lando Virtual Learning Grant
Primary Investigator — Anusha Kassan, PhD, RPsych
Let’s talk: A digital platform to share stories and promote dialogue among newcomer
and non-newcomer secondary students
Given that the number of newcomers to Canada is continuously growing, particularly amongst youth, increasing support is needed for this group during their process of school integration. Our research has found that positive school integration can play a key role in the academic success of newcomer youth, improving their sense of belonging and future growth in Canada.
To meet this growing need, grant recipient Anusha Kassan’s project is to develop a digital platform that will allow for in-depth, multi-layered, contextual understanding of newcomers’ experiences in schools. This platform will be used to train teachers to incorporate multicultural and diverse newcomer perspectives in their classrooms, and to facilitate dialogue between newcomer and non-newcomer secondary students. The platform will be accompanied by a “how to” guide, which will include instructions on ways to move through the content. This will help equip teachers to facilitate multi-faceted conversations with diverse students in the classroom.
The content of the digital platform and instructional guide will be informed by recent research findings pertaining to the school integration of newcomer youth. This two-year, SSHRC-funded, arts-based project led to an emerging model of school integration, which will be used as the basis for the digital platform and instructional guide. Accordingly, this project aims to: (1) increase understanding of the newcomer experience among both newcomer and non-newcomer students in the classroom; (2) provide teachers with a curriculum based digital resource to facilitate this learning in the classroom; and (3) build awareness of newcomer experiences to support the education system in becoming more culturally responsive and socially just in meeting the needs of this group.
Materials will be distributed through various public boards of education in British Columbia. Further, it will be available through the Edith Lando Virtual Learning Centre website as well as that of grant recipient Anusha Kassan.
