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Teaching Tolerance: Using Syrian Refugee Literature in Secondary English Classrooms

Weiss, Samantha B,
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu154238596399835

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, English.
In March 2018, the United Nations High Council for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that there are currently more refugees in the world than there have been since WWII (Woolley 377). Nearly 11.5 million of those displaced were forced from their homes by the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 (UNHCR). According to Aline Lo, despite the significance of this announcement and the growing disputes about asylum seekers admission to the United States, critical classroom discussions of refugee narratives are lacking in United States schools (3). As refugee crises increase around the globe, it is crucial that students are taught to critically and compassionately analyze refugee narratives. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) states that the main goal of the Standards is to develop independent thinkers, who will be successful in the globalized workforce and post-secondary institutions of the 21st century. The ability to grapple with a topic like refugees, on multiple fronts, is central to developing such thinkers. Despite this, the CCSS offers few incentives or instructions for teachers to use multicultural or contemporary literature in their classrooms. I argue that the use of Syrian refugee literature, specifically in a secondary English Language Arts classroom, fosters the development of critical thinking, source synthesis, critical empathy, and global citizenship: all of which help to prepare students for the world they will enter after high school. In this thesis, I propose an update to Critical Pedagogy, which I call Critically Reflective Pedagogy, for use when teaching this and similar topics. By combining the techniques of Critical Pedagogy with several situation-specific teaching methods, including Launching Lessons, Procedurally Directive Teaching, and Culturally Relevant Teaching, teachers can address the complex nature of the Syrian refugee crisis in constructive ways. The pedagogy focuses on personal reflection, source analysis, open discussion, and collaborative problem solving. Using postcolonial theory to analyze the texts, students are introduced to critical means of inquiry that can be used to understand the Syrian refugee crisis and other current events. The use of these methods helps to create an environment in which students can engage with challenging topics and make personal discoveries, in the service of developing a more empathetic and global perspective of Syrian refugees. I also include four lesson plans that can be used to teach the book Nujeen: One Girl's Incredible Journey from War-Torn Syria in a Wheelchair by Nujeen Mustafa with Christina Lamb. The goal of this pedagogy and the accompanying lesson plans is that they can be adapted to address other current humanitarian crises as they arise, such as the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, so students leave their language arts classes with the tools to handle complex problems outside of the school building.
Jolie Sheffer, Dr. (Advisor)
Siew Chat Burroughs, Dr. (Committee Member)
147 p.
American Literature
Multicultural Literature, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Language Arts Pedagogy

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Weiss, , S. B. (2018). Teaching Tolerance: Using Syrian Refugee Literature in Secondary English Classrooms [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu154238596399835

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Weiss, , Samantha. Teaching Tolerance: Using Syrian Refugee Literature in Secondary English Classrooms. 2018. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu154238596399835.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Weiss, , Samantha. "Teaching Tolerance: Using Syrian Refugee Literature in Secondary English Classrooms." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu154238596399835

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.