1. Teacher Training Academy
ICEFIL – Using Innovative Learning to address 21st Century Challenges in Education
Teacher Training Academy
For Refugee Students
Target Region:
Europe, MENA

2. ICEFIL – Using Innovative Learning to address 21st Century Challenges in Education
Dr Sirkku Männikkö Barbutiu, PhD
Director of postgraduate studies, Dept. of Computer and Systems Sciences
Stockholm University
Bijay Dhungana
Vice-President - ICEFIL

3. Our Focus : Make education that works for inclusion and integration!
ICEFIL – Using Innovative Learning to address 21st Century Challenges in Education
Background:
Large number of refugees in Europe recently.
1, 400, 000+ since 2015 of which approximately 400,000 are children under 18 years.
Local authorities and teachers struggling to cope.
Language an issue - majority of new arrivals are Syrian, Afghan, Nigerian, Pakistani, Iraqi and Eritreans.
Refugee Students lagging behind in school:
Traditional teaching methods struggle to cope.
Special needs - highly marginalized, trauma, language support, stable education, etc.
Challenge needs to viewed as long-term and structural
Our Focus : Make education that works for inclusion and integration!
What is the situation for educating refugee students in Europe:
Some 1,400,000 refugees have arrived since 2015; of which approximately 400,000 are children under 18years.
The vast majority of these refugees are Syrian, Afghan, Nigerian, Pakistani, Iraqi and Eritrean.
The cost of educating these new arrivals has gone up dramatically; both in terms of teaching resources and also financial resources.
Traditional teaching methods struggle to cope: not only with the additional numbers but most of these new arrivals need additional support; not only to help them learn a new language but also to provide them stable education while they remain highly mobile, marginalized and may also suffer from trauma as well.
Teachers are incredibly challenged teaching refugee students but despite best efforts, (according to the OCED PISA study), these children are already lagging behind 3 to 4 years behind their European peers in reading and math by age 15.
Consequently and due to their inherent learning difficulties, the majority of the refugee often end up in schools with other disadvantaged students and are more likely than non-immigrant students to be in vocational schools further compounding the isolation and marginalization of these new arrivals
Two points:

4. ICEFIL – Using Innovative Learning to address 21st Century Challenges in Education
What is the situation for educating refugee students in Europe:
Some 1,400,000 refugees have arrived since 2015; of which approximately 400,000 are children under 18years.
The vast majority of these refugees are Syrian, Afghan, Nigerian, Pakistani, Iraqi and Eritrean.
The cost of educating these new arrivals has gone up dramatically; both in terms of teaching resources and also financial resources.
Traditional teaching methods struggle to cope: not only with the additional numbers but most of these new arrivals need additional support; not only to help them learn a new language but also to provide them stable education while they remain highly mobile, marginalized and may also suffer from trauma as well.
Teachers are incredibly challenged teaching refugee students but despite best efforts, (according to the OCED PISA study), these children are already lagging behind 3 to 4 years behind their European peers in reading and math by age 15.
Consequently and due to their inherent learning difficulties, the majority of the refugee often end up in schools with other disadvantaged students and are more likely than non-immigrant students to be in vocational schools further compounding the isolation and marginalization of these new arrivals
Two points:

5. ICEFIL – Using Innovative Learning to address 21st Century Challenges in Education
The Academy would develop specialized teacher training programs within the following type of Institutions:
Secondary Education
Higher Education
Adult Education
Special needs Education: This addresses challenges of teaching traumatized children and young adults, in addition to those needing special assistance within their communities.
The Academy would develop specialized teacher training programs catering to the above challenges within the following type of Institutions:
Secondary Education
Higher Education
Adult Education
Special needs Education: This focus is on the challenges of teaching traumatized children and young adults, in addition to those needing special assistance within their communities.

6. Objectives of Teacher Training Academy :
ICEFIL – Using Innovative Learning to address 21st Century Challenges in Education
Objectives of Teacher Training Academy :
Transition role of teacher to take on additional role of mentor or coach.
Support individual Teacher deliver ‘Personalized learning’ for each refugee student:
Continuous mentoring of their students who are highly mobile and marginalized.
Facilitate learning environment where students share/learn as much from their peers as teachers.
Reduce cost of individual support while permitting their ‘inclusion’ within local community.
Provide Online learning environment where teachers benefit from/share with other teachers (class contents, process, experiences).
What is needed is helping the teacher adapt to the new challenges based on ‘innovative learning’:
Enable them to provide effective help and support to each refugee student who is increasingly likely to change locations, schools or even countries.
Create an on-site and online learning environment where each student is encouraged to learn as much from their peers as they are from their teachers.
Transition the role of each teacher to take on additional role of mentor or coach.
Provide an onsite/online teaching environment facilitating their ability to collaborate and share relevant digital contents reflecting their new teaching environment.
Reduce the cost of educating a refugee student in terms of school and teaching resources thereby enabling them to teach additional refugee students; as the numbers are likely to go up every year.

7. ICEFIL – Using Innovative Learning to address 21st Century Challenges in Education
Focus of Teacher Training Academy – Empower Teachers to develop individual ‘personalized learning’:
Introduce mixture of classroom and online learning - cope with overcrowded classrooms that now also have huge diversity among the new influx of pupils.
Developing and applying differentiation to cater to the different and individualized needs.
Being made aware as how to recognize, teach and counsel traumatized students in their class.
Share with and learn from their peers – applies to both teachers as well as students
It is targeted at qualified teachers who already have teaching experience in their respective communities/countries. In other words, the focus will be to empower these teachers to teach this challenging new school population.
The Academy program would be facilitated by ‘innovative learning’ (blended learning) to train Teachers teach refugee students and other highly mobile or marginalized members of communities.
It would teach Teachers how to set specific learning objectives for their students within a complete blended learning environment addressing some of these new challenges caused by the new influx of students:
Being aware as how recognize, teach and counsel traumatized students in their class as the number of these cases are quite high.
Developing individual ‘personalized learning’ involving a mixture of classroom and online learning to effectively cope with overcrowded schools and classrooms that now have huge diversity among the new influx of pupils.
Developing additional teaching supports (classroom and online) to many of these new students that do not speak the local language.
Developing and applying differentiation to cater to the different and individualized needs of these students who are highly mobile and marginalized and who also need to frequently leave and move-on to other schools and/or local communities.

8. ICEFIL – Using Innovative Learning to address 21st Century Challenges in Education
Focus of Teacher Training Academy:
Individual Teachers – 1 Week Course:
Dealing with huge diversity among the new influx of pupils through ‘personalized learning’ (classroom and online).
Introduction to didactic principles of innovative or blended learning.
Teach them how to apply differentiation to cater to the different and individualized needs of their students.
Help them be aware as how recognize and/or counsel traumatized students in their class.

9. ICEFIL – Using Innovative Learning to address 21st Century Challenges in Education
Focus of Teacher Training Academy:
Train the Trainers – 3 Week Course
Week 1: Same as basic course
Week 2:
Provide in-depth teaching on didactic principles of innovative or blended learning.
Show them how to teach other teachers design an effective innovative learning environment to design their own programs. (Application and Creation)
Week 3:
Advanced module as to make Teachers be aware as how to recognize, teach and/or counsel traumatized students.
Help them structure (contents, tools, process) to teach and support other teachers.
This 3-week Advanced course has the following deliverables:
Week 1: Enrolled teachers would do the same Week 1 – Basic course.
Week 2: Focused on delivering the following:
Provide in-depth teaching on the didactic principles of innovative or blended learning. This will entail delivering additional principles behind innovative/blended learning (based on constructivism and “lifelong learning” principles). (Knowledge acquisition)
Help teachers design an effective innovative learning environment for their students and use such an environment effectively to design their own programs. (Application and Creation)
Week 3:
Deliver an advanced module as how to be aware as how recognize, teach and/or counsel traumatized students in their class as the number of these cases are quite high among refugee students.

10. ICEFIL – Using Innovative Learning to address 21st Century Challenges in Education
Benefits:
Teacher(s) cope with overcrowded and diverse pupils in their classrooms:
Differentiation to cater to individualized needs.
Develop (and share with other peers) teaching supports (classroom and online) to students that do not speak the local language.
Possibility to continue remote mentoring/counseling to a student in his/her class throughout the school year; even if the student moves to another school/region.
Impacted school and teachers develop communal expertise to help their peers be aware as how recognize, teach and/or counsel traumatized students.
Shift emphasis of student learning to remote mentoring and counseling - Opportunity to significantly reduce the use of school facilities by their students.
Better integration and less marginalization of student within host community.
Benefit to Institutions:
It will help impacted school(s) or groups of teachers within a school develop expertise to help their peers be aware as how recognize, teach and/or counsel traumatized students in their class as the number of these cases are quite high.
There is an opportunity to significantly reduce the use of school facilities by their students i.e. shift emphasis of student learning to remote mentoring and counseling so better use of existing school facilities to service a larger group of students.
This in turn will enable each school/municipalities to support more students with existing pool of teachers and existing school facilities. In addition, there will be better integration and less marginalization of student within host community.
Benefit to Teachers:
Empower teacher(s) to teach using a mixture of classroom and online activities.
This will include individual ‘personalized learning’ involving a mixture of classroom and online learning to effectively cope with overcrowded schools and classrooms that now have huge diversity among the new influx of pupils:
Teachers learn the possibility to apply differentiation to cater to the individualized needs of these students who are highly mobile and marginalized and who also need to frequently leave and move-on to other schools and/or local communities.
Teachers will also gain insights as how to develop additional teaching supports (classroom and online) to many of these new students that do not speak the local language.
Teacher also have possibility to continue to provide remote mentoring/counseling to a student in his/her class throughout the school year; even if the student has moved to another school/region.

11. ICEFIL – Using Innovative Learning to address 21st Century Challenges in Education
Reaching Out to colleagues and distinguished guests:
Need to establish ‘Proof of Concept’ with one or more interested municipalities here in Europe.
Need to take ‘Proof of Concept’ to adjust for regional/national delivery:
Ensure scalability to other regions where needs/shortage of teachers are more critical.
Ensure sustainability - Adapting to suitability of existing local technology.