• Scaffolding of tasks and organisational skills (e.g. finding worksheets).
• Consistency across classrooms.
• Implementing restorative approaches to addressing challenging student behaviour.
• Using multicultural education aides, professional interpreters and translations.

• Facilitating and scaffolding group work.
• Supportive teacher–student relationships (e.g. regular check-ins).
• Linking new students with a buddy.
• Linking students to services and agencies.
• Bridging programs between English language school/centre and mainstream school.

• Providing flexible pathways and transitions support.
• Facilitating work experience and traineeship opportunities.
• Engaging parents and carers with students’ learning and career planning.
• Creating opportunities for students to hear from positive role models and advocates of alternative pathways to universities

• Celebrating students’ successes
• Teachers providing EAL support across the curriculum
• Promoting student voice, agency and leadership
• Opportunities to share culture: food, music, history
• Educating on human rights and women’s rights (including reproductive rights)

Experiences of persecution and human rights violations combined with settlement challenges can profoundly impact young people’s perceptions of the world and their place in it.

Senior students especially question why violence and other threats occurred, and experience the sense of injustice that accompanies this.

‘Why me? Why my family? Why my community? Why my country? Why my race? Why my religion?’

Parents might shield younger children from some of these questions, but it is not possible to do that with older teenagers, who will try to make some meaning of what has happened.

They may end up wanting to retaliate, or they may feel they have got to make reparation for what has happened.

What you can do

• Promote connections with peers through a range of activities.
• With the appropriate curriculum, assist students to develop their understanding of the political background of violence and human rights violations.
• Consider how students might find meaning through their participation in group advocacy activities in the school setting and beyond.
• Provide opportunities for students to participate in student voice, agency and leadership activities that provide a valued purpose.
• Engage parents and carers with students’ learning.
• Engage students with positive role models.

Young people who have experienced violence may blame themselves for what happened, or blame themselves for having failed to do something to prevent harm coming to others.

Excessive blaming of others can be a way of managing unrealistic guilt, e.g. that resulted in losing family members.

Students’ feelings of shame may be further compounded in Australia when they encounter racism and negative stereotypes about refugees.

Manifestations of guilt and shame may include:

• Revenge fantasies to repair damage done during traumatic events.
• Self-destructive behaviour.
• Avoidance of others due to shame.
• Inability to participate in pleasurable activities.
• Aggressive feelings towards oneself.

What you can do to reduce shame and restore dignity

• Promoting experiences of social inclusion at school.
• Listening in a non-judgmental way when feelings of guilt are expressed by a student
• Identifying and confidently addressing racism, stereotyping and other forms of prejudice
• Encouraging students and staff to own multicultural principles and take responsibility for demonstrating them
• Establishing group programs that include discussion of political causes of violence.

• Support social and emotional learning around respectful relationships.
• Enable students to self-regulate their behaviour and contribute to the improvement of their learning outcomes.
• Counteract the ‘wait-to-fail’ approach of restrictive frameworks and move your school to a prevention-based approach to inappropriate behaviour.
• Promote human rights and social justice across the school.

What you can do

• Get to know your students and what may trigger behaviours.
• Explicitly acknowledge appropriate behaviour.
• Use a calm voice and validating language.
• Avoid power struggle – look for win/win outcome.
• Try to counteract the ‘wait-to-fail’ approach of restrictive frameworks and move your school to a prevention-based approach to inappropriate behaviour.
• Link fundamentals of the whole-school approach to positive behaviour with the curriculum wherever possible, for example, as part of the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships curriculum.

You should anticipate ‘trauma reactions’ from senior students of refugee backgrounds to present in a variety of behaviours, and be prepared to calmly respond.

Students’ feelings of intense anxiety and fear relate to their prior experiences of ongoing danger.

You may notice students:

• Becoming highly irritable and unable to tolerate frustration
• Showing reduced control over impulsive and aggressive behaviour
• Withdrawing and disengaging.

Various things can trigger trauma reactions: sudden loud noises, confined spaces, unexplained routine changes, and authoritarian and threatening behaviour.

‘After the teacher yelled at me I decided that I would never say anything again in his class’. (Year 10 student)

Tip: Depression is particularly evident among senior students who have been exposed to multiple traumatic events and human rights violations.

Feelings are not usually expressed directly and can be masked by:

• Poor learning ability.
• Drug and alcohol abuse.
• Precocious sexual activity.
• Rebelliousness.
• Bullying.
• Risk-taking behaviour.

Some students and families report being confused by the ways schools manage student behaviour. It is vital your school explains to families that discipline is bound by Australian laws, which prevent physical punishment.

You should also carefully outline your school’s behaviour management approach, along with its alignment with student engagement and wellbeing.

What you can do

• Provide students with clear teaching of appropriate behaviour and how it builds positive learning and social skills (e.g. Respectful Relationships program).
• Engage Multicultural Education Aides (MEAs) to assist with communicating expectations to students and families.
• Provide interpreted information sessions to reassure families that their children will not become ‘uncontrollable’ if corporal punishment is avoided.
• Distribute translated information about your school’s policies on student engagement and behaviour management.
• Be aware that families may feel their child’s lack of understanding of English or cultural norms could prevent schools from offering them fair treatment.

Schools see good outcomes when they provide senior students with flexible career pathway options and learning supports. Flexible pathway options support trauma recovery and empower students by restoring their sense of safety and control, meaning and identity, dignity and value.

What you can do

• Explicitly teach various pathway options during Years 7–10.
• Offer three-year courses in VCE VM/VCE/VET.
• Present VCE VM as a suitable pathway to further education that is not inferior to VCE.
• Offer an EAL VCE VM program at foundation, intermediate and senior levels.
• Create opportunities for students to hear from positive role models and advocates of alternative pathways to universities.
• Assist access to out-of-school-hours learning support and social activities.
• Establish a team of professional career practitioners who understand the impact of refugee experiences.
• Build industry and employer partnerships to increase Year 10 work experience options.

Examples of alternative VCE/VCE VM/VET programs

• Bendigo Senior Secondary College EAL Program
• Werribee Community College VCE VM
• Templestowe College Flexible Learning Environment
• Careers Education Funding is available for all students in Years 7–12 in Victorian Government schools.

Other pathway options 

• Structured Workplace Learning – SWL State-wide Portal 
• MMVLLEN information
• Inner Northern LLEN

‘Careers information is new for people from my country because there was no such thing there.’ (Parent)

You can support families to help their children by running regular career pathway information meetings (with interpreters available).

What you can do

• Start talking with families as early as Year 7 about Senior School pathway options for their children (re VCE VM/VCE and VET).
• Carefully explain terminology such as pathways, VCE, VET, VCE VM and SBAT.
• Explain to families the importance of work experience and volunteering as pathways to employment.
• Involve multicultural education aides (MEAs) to engage families.
• Provide Interpreter support at family career information evenings.
• Allocate rooms for different language groups, provide interpreters and rotate subject staff around the rooms.
• Have translated copies of handouts and slides available for families.
• Provide opportunities for families to hear from past students of culturally diverse backgrounds who successfully took alternative career pathways.

Helpful resources

• Engaging Parents in Career Conversations (EPiCC) is an excellent online resource that schools can use to conduct career conversations with families.
• Brunswick Secondary College offers careers information and resources for families 

Your senior students may face a range of compounding barriers in pursuing their career and further education aspirations, including eligibility, difficulties navigating admission processes, financial challenges, English language competencies, family responsibilities, and complex personal, health and legal issues.

‘I like school because it is the way to the future, but I must help my family.’

‘When I finish school I have to look for job to help my sister in the refugee camp.’

‘I have to pay off debts to get here [Australia] and send money to family overseas.’

‘I’m out till two o’clock working and then coming to school the next day.’

‘In my culture, you get married, you’ve got your husband and he will take care of you .’

Considering young women’s experiences

While young women may have high career aspirations, adult-like responsibilities at home, such as caring for siblings, impacts on their capacity to achieve goals.

Young women may judge getting married and having children as their most important life goal, and intend to marry and have children shortly after finishing school.

‘In my culture, you get married, you’ve got your husband and he will take care of you.’ (Year 11 student)

The failure to meet family and community obligations can have major adverse effects on their wellbeing.

Some young women may be facing forced marriage and find it hard to tell you about their situation.

What you can do

• Regularly check in with your students.
• Provide supports that remove schooling barriers (e.g. stationery/books, laptop, Myki pass, access to social worker, life skills development).
• Set up staff care teams for students.
• Listen in a non-judgemental way when feelings of guilt are expressed by students.
• Celebrate students’ successes (e.g. results, birthdays, family reunions, citizenship).
• Establish peer or older-student mentoring groups and relationships.
• Engage parents and carers with students’ learning and career planning.
• Refer students to support services and agencies.
• Link students to learning supports and tutoring programs.
• Start career discussions with students as early as Year 7 about the education options available to them post-secondary school, with particular attention to the eligibility requirements for students on temporary visas.
• Assist students to navigate course application processes (including Special Entry Access Schemes & scholarships) and provide support letters as appropriate.
• Engage in advocacy with further education institutions to support students to negotiate flexible pathways and supports.

Helpful resources

• The Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY)’s Senior School and Post-Secondary Transitions resource provides guidance for school staff about how to have pathways conversations that are empowering for students of refugee backgrounds.
• Deakin CREATE’s Guide for Students from a Refugee or Asylum Seeking Background: Information on how to access and success in higher education in Australia provides guidance, case studies and pathways examples.

Thank you to the Refugee Minor Program’s Education and Trainer Advisors for their development of these case studies as learning resources for school staff.

Amina’s Story

Amina arrived in Australia from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the age of 15, with her younger sister and older brother. Amina’s education was disrupted by war, moving to another country, the death of her parents and at times, poor health.

Amina was well supported at school and comfortably passed Year 12 VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) Vocational Major. Her school assisted her to apply for a Diploma of Youth Work at a local TAFE. According to the TAFE, applicants need to have literacy and numeracy skills equivalent to Year 11. Amina’s school are confident that she will meet this criteria and be successful.

The TAFE confirms admissions the following January and rejects Amina’s application on the basis that she scored too low in the required online literacy test. Amina’s school is closed for the holidays and so unable to assist her. The TAFE offers Amina a place in a preparatory course (literacy and numeracy) at another campus, which is 1.5 hours away. The staff member Amina speaks to explains that the course will improve her skills but also that the course has “significant fees for overseas students”. The TAFE asks Amina for Identification Documents (ID) to enrol. Amina then realises that the immigration card she used in her initial application has since expired. Amina has no other form of ID.

Amina feels overwhelmed and disheartened.

Discussion questions

1. What challenges does Amina face in pursuing her desired pathway?
2. What supports could be introduced at the school to assist Amina with these challenges?
3. What services could the school connect Amina with in the local community to support with these challenges?
4. What processes could be introduced at the school to better support all students of refugee backgrounds with their pathways planning? Who could be responsible for these?
5. What supports and processes are in place at your school? What could be added to these?

Musharaf’s Story

Musharaf arrived in Australia from Afghanistan at the age of 16, with his uncle. His younger siblings and parents are still in Afghanistan. Musharaf arrived with very little English but his education in Afghanistan was uninterrupted. In Afghanistan, Musharaf was considered a highly capable student. His parents are well-educated professionals and they expected him to do well and go to university in the capital city, Kabul.

Musharaf is now 19 and finishing year 12.

It has been a hard year for Musharaf. A family member in Kabul was killed early in the year and since then, Musharaf consumes news daily about Afghanistan. He worries constantly about his family and has trouble sleeping. Musharaf has also been working weekends and evenings to contribute financially to his family. Despite these challenges and the difficulty in keeping up with the language demands of his subjects, Musharaf is just passing all his VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) subjects.

Musharaf meets with his school’s careers teacher, Mr Conner, and tells him that he would like to become a lawyer. Mr Conner explains that a very high ATAR is required to study law and that this is not a realistic option for Musharaf. Mr Conner suggests to Musharaf that he could study interpreting or social work and shows him some courses.

Mr Conner also tells Musharaf about something called an ‘Equity Access Scheme’. Musharef is told that he should write a statement about whatever has been difficult for him and that the university he applies for will consider this when looking at his application.

Mr Conner is friendly and reminds Musharef, “I’m here if you need me”. Musharef thanks Mr Conner but leaves the appointment feeling sad. He is embarrassed to tell his uncle and parents that he will not be able to become a lawyer. Musharef writes a statement about how it has been difficult to learn English and applies for a degree in social work. However, he starts to think that perhaps he should forget about studying and focus on working full time to better support his family financially.

Discussion questions

1. What challenges does Musharef face in pursuing his desired pathway?
2. What would you change about the conversation with Mr Connor? How might this result in a different outcome?
3. How could Mr Connor and the school better support Musharef to address the challenges he is facing?
4. What services could Mr Connor and the school connect Musharef in the local community to support with these challenges?
5. What processes could be introduced at the school to better support all students of refugee backgrounds with their pathways planning? Who could be responsible for these?
6. What supports and processes are in place at your school? What could be added to these?