Hope for the Embattled Language Classroom

Book excerpt: Learning, as it is being increasingly recognized, is centrally predicated upon students’ well-being. Research findings indicate that in the instances of wounding and trauma, students’ capacity and ability to learn can be severely compromised. This understanding applies particularly to the immigrant students in the language classroom, many of whom are refugees bringing with them past experiences of privation, violence, wounding and trauma. Since teachers often find themselves wearing multiple hats, not only as instructors, but also as friends, philosophers, guides, confidantes, and counsellors to their refugee and immigrant learners, addressing those students’ trauma with compassion, and employing appropriate pedagogical practices to mitigate their suffering should be of great relevance and inform the teachers’ praxis in the classroom. This book takes an interdisciplinary look at trauma from the vantage points of critical language theories, neuroscience, psychotherapy, and Buddhist psychology, and suggests pedagogies for well-being and trauma healing that utilize contemplative ways of education. The practical aim of this book is to support teachers in addressing trauma in their classrooms.