This session includes the various procedures of female circumcision, traditional beliefs, and misbeliefs among groups who engage in the ritual, the resulting harm to women and children, current legal issues, and the implications for communities resettling refugees from cultures where it is practiced. This demonstration presents practical techniques schools can use to facilitate refugee student adjustment and achievement. The presenters address strategies for developing literacy skills and encouraging home and community involvement. These include components of a school training program for users and providers of interpreter services and sample intervention tools. To be successful personally and on the job, students need competence in a broad range of writing genres from accident reports to complaint letters.
Participants discuss how to select appropriate writing tasks using authentic materials.
Then, they explore techniques for adapting those materials to their classrooms. Discussion leaders discuss their first hand experience as refugees and the impact of resettlement, adaptation, the special needs of children and the effects of trauma. Yet this structure is mirrored in many of life's experiences. This discussion groups seeks to infuse excitement and creativity by exploring the positive aspects of these types of programs. The facilitators outline the difficulties unique to pre- and begging literate learners.