Treating refugee kids with respect
BY ROISIN DE ROSA
Little Amato stepped forward, all three feet of him, put out his hand
and said, with great handsome eyes full of life, full of confidence,
eye to eye, ``Yes. I am very pleased to meet you. How do you do. You
are welcome.'' A big welcome. All over the classroom there are signs in
different alphabets and languages, which the kids had written up, in
Russian, Arabic, Romanian, Bulgarian, French, and Irish, saying
`welcome'.
These were the kids at Plás Mhuire Boys National School. They come
from all over the world - Belarus, Nigeria, Russia, Bulgaria, Kosova,
Hong Kong, Macao, Sierra Leone. In their school they have a support
teacher under the Refugee Support Service (RSS) Programme which the
Department of Education runs in 21 schools in Dublin City and County
and in Ennis, County Clare. There are a large number of kids in these
schools whose families are exiled here and who do not have English as
a first language. Some don't know any English at all.
The RSS Programme is designed to give help with language. But it is of
course much more than this. It's a programme of anti-racism, which
helps all the children to understand about other countries, to respect
and learn from their different cultures, and to welcome and be glad
about these kids being here.
It took a campaign to get the programme, which is an extension of a
scheme that the Department had in place for refugees from Bosnia and
Vietnam. Teachers needed help to deal with classes where sometimes
half the children simply didn't understand English. ``They needed a
programme which would counter racist attitudes to ethnic minorities
and teach the values of multiculturalism in a whole school approach,''
says Gregor Kerr who was amongst the first teachers to campaign.
The whole school campaigned. ``In the end we went on a one-day strike,
parents and teachers took part. It taught us how if you fight for
something that people really need and want, then you can win,'' Finian
McGrath, the school principal explains. The campaign drew teachers and
parents together. And they won. Now the Department has 15 support
teachers, some of them supporting a couple of schools.
``We have a parent's hour when parents drop in and find out about the
school and the Irish education system, but also it helps to overcome
their isolation and difficulties in integrating into a strange
community. Soon we hope to get an after school project with classes
for parents started with computer training, or language, or whatever
they want. All the parents have been 100% supportive,'' says Gregor.
``One parent turned out to be a professional soccer coach. He comes in
to train the kids. We had a World Cup Tournament, with 10 different
nation teams. The kids took on to play for different countries. It was
great. The kids loved it. It was global in a real sense. Little
children playing for, and shouting for Romania, or Nigeria, in the
final.''
Gregor tells how one kid stole a cap from another kid. ``Who stole it?
The kid described him, what he was wearing, how tall he was, and so
on. But he never even thought to mention he was black. Nobody has ever
met a two-year-old child who hates another for the colour of his skin.
Racism is something which is taught. Similarly anti-racism and the
benefits of a multicultural society can be taught.''
d that is just what Gregor and the other 18 staff in the two
schools, with over 200 boys and girls, are doing in St. Mary's Place
N.S. Says one teacher, ``It is an example to all primary schools of how
teaching `Walk Tall', the new primary education curriculum, can
succeed. These children learn self esteem and respect for each other.
Above all, they learn to talk about their feelings and what happens to
them in their lives. It's an education to watch.''
``Gregor's class is model for `Walk Tall', where the kids are happy,
laughing, attentive, excited, and learning much more than language
from each other and from an outstanding teacher. It is one of the best
primary schools in Ireland, even though it is situated in what is
classified a disadvantaged area.''
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