A major challenge that Safe Haven teachers face is the lack of available resources relevant to the specific needs of refugee claimant students. This may leave teachers with two less-than-ideal options: developing their own materials from scratch, which can be time-consuming, or using general ESL lesson materials that are often unsuitable for the learning needs or life circumstances of RC students.
On the following pages is a list of some classroom materials, including lesson and module plans and real-world tasks (including some password-protected lesson collections indicated by bold text), which, while not specifically designed for refugee claimants, are nonetheless relevant to some of their common learning and settlement goals. These resources are not intended to be mandatory, static or universal; rather, teachers should conduct initial and ongoing needs assessments, and use professional judgement to choose, modify, or otherwise adapt these materials to best suit students’ diverse learning needs.
Following the list of lesson resources, teachers can find further resources for training and professional development, as well as other valuable resources for supporting refugee claimants beyond the classroom.
Download: Resources for Safe Haven Teachers
Download: Safe Haven Lesson Plan Template
Watch: BC Safe Haven Building Accessibility in EAL
Task Packages for Safe Haven Teachers
Additional Resources:
Teacher Training & Guidance:
- Mental Health Toolkit for Refugees and Refugee Claimants (BC Refugee Hub, online toolkit)
- The Immigrant and Refugee Mental Health Program (CAMH, online training resource)
- Trauma-Informed Practice (My Training BC, downloadable workshop packages)
- Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (CAST, guidelines)
- ISSofBC Digital Literacy Resources (ISSofBC, best practices & password-protected lessons)
- LGBTQ+ Canadians: Queer- and Trans-Inclusive Teaching English as a Second Language (BC TEAL, manual)
Refugee Claimant Support Resources:
- Refugee Hearing Preparation Guide (MyRefugeeClaim.ca, multi-lingual booklets)
- Interim Federal Health (IFH) for Refugee Claimants:
- Info Page (Canada.ca)
- Providers by Province (IFHP page)
- Queer Refugee Hearings Toolkit (Capital Rainbow Refuge, downloadable & interactive toolkits)
- Refugee Claim Process Toolkit (BC Refugee Hub, multi-stage toolkit)
- Migrant Worker Hub (AMSSA, digital resource centre)
