Strengths and Concerns: After watching the first video, it is clear to me that Mrs. Janes knows very little about Salim and his background. The principal comes with Salim to meet Mrs. Janes, presumably for the first time. All that Mrs. Janes knows at this point in time is that Salim and his mother are living on 7th avenue in a hotel while waiting to hear about their refugee status. The principal even admits that she knows very little about Salim’s background, and the conversation with Mrs. Janes suggests that Salim and his mother have very recently arrived in Canada.
After seating Salim with three of her other students, Mrs. Janes notices that Salim doesn’t immediately engage in the work of the class, and instead moves to a different seat and begins spinning in place. From the first video, I was not given the impression that Salim is interested in the academic portion of being at the school nor is he immediately interested in socializing with the other students. From the video, it is unclear whether or not Salim can speak English.
In Mrs. Janes’ position, I would really want to know – as soon as possible – about Salim’s past school experiences, his level of English fluency, as well as his past life experiences in his home country. I would characterize Mrs. Janes’ impression of Salim as mostly one of concern. She knows very little about him after the first encounter, and is likely looking for ways that she can start learning about him.
Step 2: What might be happening and why: Generating hypotheses
The two videos from this case study provide little insight into Salim’s life story, but there were many suggestive statements made in the video to imply that Salim and his mother came to Canada in a hurried way, perhaps to escape troubles in their home country. Mrs. Janes may be able to learn about Salim by looking for answers to some of these questions:
1. Could Salim be still affected by things he witnessed before coming to Canada? Was Salim involved in a civil war?
2. Where is Salim’s father? Does this play a role in current refugee situation? What role does Salim’s father play in Salim’s life?
3. Why did he and his mother move to Canada? What is the nature of their refugee claim?
4. Does Salim come from a country where English is spoken? Does he have any experience speaking English?
5. Has Salim attended a school before? If he has attended a school prior to coming to Canada, what was that experience like? How often did he attend?
6. What is Salim’s family history? Does he have siblings that didn’t accompany him to Canada?
7. What was Salim’s and his mother’s motivation in coming to Canada? What is their plan for the immediate future?
8. What is Salim’s mother’s impression of living in Canada? Does she have a particular opinion about her son attending school in Canada?
Step 3: What you need to find out: Checking hypotheses by collecting more information
In an ideal situation, Salim and his mother would be capable and willing to answer most or all of these questions. Like the other teacher mentioned in video #2, the local immigration center could provide a translator to help in these conversations, if neither Salim nor his mother speak English. Likewise, Salim and his mother’s immigration proceedings are all well documented, and if shared, these documents would also make clear some of the factors and influences that brought Salim and his mother to Canada.
However, refugees to Canada could be sceptical and distrustful of Canadian governmental authorities, and may not want to share too much personal information if he or she gets the impression that someone in Canada may use that information against them. Because some of these questions and their answers lie not in Canada, but in Salim’s birth country, it may not be possible to seek out accurate or trustworthy information to fill in as much of the picture as Mrs. Janes would hope.
Step 4: What you think is happening: Arriving at tentative judgements
I’m not exactly sure what judgements you could arrive at before having some of these basic conversations with Salim and his mother. Having a conversation with another teacher – like video #2 – can give Mrs. Janes a good understanding of what might have been Salim’s life back home. This is assuming that Malik and Salim are even from the same country. And if this were true, which I’m assuming it is, (why else would it be included in this case study), it doesn’t necessarily mean that the two students led equally difficult lives before coming to Canada. Trying to assess Salim’s English ability could be useful, but I believe it would be far more beneficial to begin learning about who he is, and what his life was like up until coming to Canada. In conversation with Salim’s mother, I also think a great deal can be learned about how the two of them feel about living in Canada, and what their goals for being in Canada really are. Once Mrs. Janes can understand what factors from the list are relevant to Salim and his mother, she can begin the work of inviting Salim and his mother into the school in a manner that has meaning to both of them.
Hey Martin,
ReplyDeleteSalim’s Case
For some reason, I found this case difficult to grasp and write about. After reading your perspective on the videos I started to view the case with Salim differently, more specifically, I started to think more about why Salim and his mom are living in a motel. From the general knowledge that I have regarding immigration, I thought that it was a relatively long process and allows one to plan ahead. Yet the transients of the situation suggest otherwise. I am not a primary school teacher but I would assume that part of the job is to assist student’s emotional needs as well as learning. For Salim that would mean really learning what has happened in his past. What if you cannot find that information? I know that in some cultures, single mothers are deathly afraid to speak with male teachers due to sexual abuse. What if this is the case with Salim’s mom? How could you as a male teacher reach out to her? How would approach Salim’s situation if there was no way of knowing what has happened to him prior to arriving to Canada?
Sorry I have bombarded you with questions, but please, these questions are just out of interest.