Difficulties That Teachers With Immigrant Student Encounter And Solution Strategies

Abstract

Considering the impact of immigration, it is reasonable to state that immigration influences both the immigrant and the immigrant's new society. The aim of this study is to determine the difficulties that teachers encounter when they have immigrant student in their classrooms, and to suggest solution strategies for them. The study sample consisted of 15 branch teachers who had immigrant student in their classes and who work at 30 August Public Elementary School in Mamak, Ankara. The study was designed with the descriptive analysis method, a qualitative research method. A demographic information form and a semi-structured interview form were used as data collection instruments of this study. The semi-structured interview form was designed from the literature findings and experts' opinions, and given to the participant teachers. The study findings suggest that the participant students did not often encounter difficulties with immigrant student in their classes. When faced with challenges or difficulties, the participant students tried to find solutions for problematic behaviors with individual efforts and with the help of counseling and guidance services at schools. Teachers had difficulty communicating with these students. They frequently made use of body language to communicate with them. With the aim to overcome this communication problem, it is recommended that these students should receive language courses in a separate classroom, and that this process should be organized by supreme institutions rather than by teachers. The immigrant student were observed to have low academic success because they do not know the language. The participant teachers were seen to make individual efforts to improve these students' academic success, which clearly indicates the necessity of teaching the language to immigrant student. On the other hand, some teachers were observed to put no effort to improve these students' academic success because they had difficulty communicating with them. Because the Turkish National Education Ministry does not have a specific education program for immigrant student, these students attend normal schools, which they do regularly. After they enroll at the schools, they are placed in classrooms for their age and peer groups. The participant teachers experienced classroom management problems with these students. However, teachers have not asked for any in-service training or courses regarding immigrant student. The teachers also encountered difficulties in communicating with the parents of the immigrant student. Additionally, these students were not able to communicate with their classmates, so they constitute groups within themselves. Therefore, teachers need additional educational programs for these students. It was found that the teachers did not experience any problem behaviors from these students. This study is of importance because teachers can provide these students with more effective educational opportunities and the problems they encounter can be minimized through the suggestions made in this study.