Reflective Case Study of a Literacy Instructor Teaching English to Refugee Adult Learners

Abstract

The United States has been the global leader resettling refugees since the 1970s; its resettlement program is the largest in the world. The state of Texas has a high number of admissions and longstanding refugee programs which makes it a strategic site for research. This article reports findings of a reflective case study within an open enrollment literacy program in Central Texas. It describes the experiences of a literacy instructor teaching English to refugee adult learners for six years. The research questions guiding the study are: (1) what are the experiences of a literacy instructor teaching English to refugee adult learners? and (2) what can other English language instructors transfer from this reflective case study to their classroom settings when teaching refugee learners? To document the case study, it was important to keep a systematic account of facts and reflection. Thus, the instructor kept a reflective journal for a semester and participated in a series of conversational storytelling interviews to generate data for the study. Thematic analysis procedures guided the data analysis process and allowed for identifying five major themes to report study findings. These are: (1) traumatic stress, (2) classroom dynamics, (3) active listening, (4) flexibility for teaching and learning, and (5) curriculum challenges. Study findings provide examples and narratives that can be useful to practitioners interested in this topic. This article is an invitation to instructors of adult refugee language learners to engage in reflection and become more aware of their teaching practices.