Abstract

Based on research presented at the TESL Ontario Conference in November 2020, the authors "examine here the challenges, innovations, solutions, and opportunities in education that have grown out of the sudden disruption and constraints due to COVID-19. We first set the background in a global context; then report on the impact, challenges, and needs in LINC programs in Canada.  We then discuss an in-depth case study of a LINC educator’s experiences based on her own teaching and teacher development work during this time. We conclude by discussing lessons learned  from these COVID-19 experiences and recommend ways forward."

Findings

"Although our forced rush into pandemic online teaching has been extremely challenging, these efforts may have helped forge a path into the future. Technology-mediated approaches offer unprecedented opportunities for our students to communicate and collaborate with others in linguistically and culturally rich communicative contexts. They can also help students further  develop the critical digital literacies needed to communicate effectively in today’s technology-mediated societies (Kessler, 2018). As highlighted here, effective technology-mediated language  teacher education is at the core of forging this path ahead."

[pdf-embedder url="https://km4s.ca/wp-content/uploads/Teaching-in-COVID-19-Times-Challenges-innovations-solutions-and-opportunities-2021.pdf" title="Teaching in COVID-19 Times - Challenges, innovations, solutions, and opportunities (2021)"]

Overview

"Newcomers to Canada face linguistic and cultural barriers in accessing health and social services. The National Newcomer Navigation Network (N4) is a national network for the diversity of  professionals who assist newcomers in navigating the complex Canadian health and social services system. To inform the development of its N4 Platform and online certificate program in  newcomer navigation with Saint-Paul University, N4 undertook a pan-Canadian needs assessment of both sectors."

Findings

"The N4 team met with 401 stakeholders from 125 organizations, including children’s hospitals/rehab centres, general hospitals, newcomer clinics, community clinics, and settlement organizations, among others. The provincial umbrella organizations for settlement and national partners in healthcare provided strategic level guidance around N4’s outreach approach and facilitated some connections and meetings.

In the healthcare sector, newcomer navigation work was typically completed by many members of the team, alongside their regular job duties. Their common challenges to ensuring health equity included a context of inconsistent access to interpretation services, knowledge of how to deliver culturally safe care, and provider referral refusals due to concerns over financial compensation or lack of access to other supports needed by newcomer patients. The settlement sector was challenged by uncertain or short-term funding models,  tensions over mandates and lack of consistency in staff on-boarding for service delivery. Successes included ingenuity in forming partnerships, problem solving, increased awareness and implementation of trauma informed care, diversity among settlement teams, and wrap-around services. Strong partnerships existed between regional newcomer clinics and settlement organizations, but lacked in other areas. There was a consistent desire to build cross-sectoral partnerships at all levels (regional, provincial, and national).

Participating settlement organization had developed a number of educational resources for staff, to assist them in their newcomer navigation work. In particular, many duplicating development of resources related to introductory information to trauma-informed care and cultural competency. Participants voiced a desire for a wider breadth of educational topic including partnership development, cultural competency, trauma-informed care, vicarious trauma, and best practices in newcomer navigation. As it pertains to resources, common requests included a guide to IFHP billing, templates to advocate on behalf of clients and families, and client facing handouts in multiple languages. Data collection, specific to newcomer clients, varied by organization. Participants from healthcare were  interested in collecting additional sociodemographic data about patients as well as service-utilization data. All participants were interested in data sharing and learning how interorganizational  comparisons could be developed. There was also interest in learning more about the programs and services provided by other organizations, standard length of appointment times for initial healthcare assessments, and provision of trauma-informed care.

The site visit data greatly informed the development of the N4 online platform. The sharings of the professionals from the health and settlement sector pointed to their desired opportunities for  intersectoral learning, connection and collaboration. The needed education and resources identified through this needs assessment have informed the learning framework that guides the  eLearning resources available on the N4 platform. By providing one platform in which to eLearning across both sectors, partners can easily search for and find support through curated quality  offerings, avoiding duplication of efforts and easing access. N4 will then focus its efforts in new educational offerings to leverage subject matter experts to fill any gaps observed, again  promoting efficiency in knowledge mobilization for both sectors. Findings have also been used to codevelop an online newcomer navigation certificate program, hosted by Saint-Paul  University. The N4 CoP Model will provide facilitated data driven projects to solve some of the system level challenges identified in this report. Finally, N4 aims to address some of the  challenges identified regarding data access, collection and usage through the database component of the platform."

[pdf-embedder url="https://km4s.ca/wp-content/uploads/Newcomer-Navigation-from-Coast-to-Coast-Pan-Canadian-Needs-Assessment-2020.pdf" title="Newcomer Navigation from Coast to Coast- Pan-Canadian Needs Assessment (2020)"]

Abstract:

"The social inclusion of newly resettled refugees is a significant issue confronting both refugees and their host societies. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly  viewed as a useful resource in programs that provide settlement services or promote participation in society. This paper moves beyond the conventional discussion on the digital divide to  explore what people are actually able to do and achieve with ICTs. We draw on an analysis of the use of ICTs for particular purposes by more than 50 resettled refugees to develop an explanation of the process by which ICT use contributes to their social inclusion. We propose that ICT constitutes a resource from which a set of five valuable capabilities is derived:

1. to  participate in an information society,
2. to communicate effectively,
3. to understand a new society,
4. to be socially connected, and
5. to express a cultural identity.

In realizing these capabilities through ICT use, refugees exercise their agency and enhance their well-being in ways that assist them to function effectively in a new society and regain control over their disrupted lives."

The Capability Approach

"Identifying exactly how ICTs contribute to a process such as social inclusion represents a challenging analytical exercise. Sen’s (1999) capability approach, which conceptualizes development as individual freedom, has been suggested as an alternative conceptual apparatus to analyses of economic impacts or digital divides (Kleine 2013; Zheng and Walsham 2008). Sen (1999) is interested in “the ‘capabilities’ of persons to lead the kind of lives they value—and have reason to value” (p. 18). His approach shifts our focus from the resources that a person has access to,  toward the uses that a person can make of the various resources available to them (Clark 2005). Sen (1999) refers to these uses as functionings: “things a person may value doing or being” (p.  75). Capabilities are the set of alternative functionings from which a person is substantially free to choose (Sen 1999). Capabilities can be thought of as the potential functionings that a person values, but they must represent real opportunities or freedoms to achieve particular functionings (Alkire 2005). The existence of capabilities presupposes the availability of resources, which  provide the means to achieve an end. Whether people are able to realize particular functionings depends on a range of personal, social, and environmental factors (including social structures and cultural values) that influence both their substantive freedom to do so (their capability set) and the choices that they make (Clark 2005; Robeyns 2005; Zheng 2009)...

Our focus on social inclusion links refugees’ use of ICT with their capabilities to participate in society in ways that they value. We take as our starting point Wilding and Gifford’s (2013) concern with the potential of ICTs to empower refugees “in their quest for agency and control over their current and future circumstances” (p. 497). We argue that, for our participants, social  inclusion is the extent to which they are able to effectively participate in their new society and regain control over their lives. We are concerned with how ICT use contributes to their capabilities to achieve such a life...

Thus, the focus of our empirical research is on exploring resettled refugees’ actual ICT use, how this is of value to them in their lives in their host country, and what this suggests about how such use contributes to their opportunities for social inclusion."

Findings:

"We approached the identification of capabilities associated with refugees’ ICT use by examining what our participants reported they were actually able to achieve (and valued achieving) using ICT. Our analysis highlighted five categories of achieved functionings and their corresponding capabilities that ICT use offers refugees:

1. To participate in an information society. Being able to use ICT in everyday activities in a purposeful and selective fashion gives many of our participants a sense of accomplishment and a  degree of control in managing the day-to-day aspects of their lives. The importance of this capability is reflected in the emphasis that various participants placed on themselves and their  children becoming integrated into a global information society (Mansell 2002).
2. To communicate effectively. A lack of proficiency in the English language represents the largest barrier to the majority of our participants’ effective functioning in New Zealand society  (see Caidi et al. 2010). E-mail offers a communication channel that reduces both the possibility of misunderstanding and the stress involved in everyday interactions in the English  language. Online tools and resources were proactively used by some participants to improve their competence and confidence with the English language, arguably signaling a desire to be  able to participate more fully in New Zealand society.
3. To understand a new society. ICT offers access to orienting information that can assist newcomers in transitioning and integrating into a new environment. As Lloyd et al. (2013) note, “A  prerequisite for social inclusion is knowledge about the social, economic and community dimensions through which any society is constituted” (p. 122). Such ICT use can suggest a desire for a deeper understanding of and engagement with a new society.
4. To be socially connected. Our participants use a range of ICTs to communicate with family and friends in New Zealand and other countries, to seek and obtain information on the fate and  lives of persons important to them, and to interact with others from their ethnocultural background in formal and informal social and support networks. The maintenance of transnational  ties is a source of emotional support and psychological comfort that reduces emotional stress and social isolation in a new environment (Benítez 2012; Caidi et al. 2010; Hiller and Franz  2004). Such ICT use alleviates the burden of forced displacement and disrupted lives (Gifford and Wilding 2013), enabling refugees “to better link together the places and communities that have become fragmented through their movement” (Wilding 2012, p. 503). ICT also plays a role in establishing new relationships and support networks that contribute to refugees’  ability to become integrated into and function in a new environment (Caidi et al. 2010; Hiller and Franz 2004). Participation in these transnational and local networks speaks to a human  need for relatedness and a sense of belonging to a social group (Vansteenkiste et al. 2008). Such networks play a critical role “in maintaining a ‘good life’ and in structuring the meaning  of inclusion and participation” (Cass et al. 2005, p. 551).
5. To express a cultural identity. Our participants still identify as members of the communities from where they originated and found ICT a valuable means of maintaining attachments to  their cultural backgrounds. While mindful of their current circumstances and trying to respond to the challenges of life in a new environment, the disruption and displacement in their lives spurs a desire to maintain bonds with their past and reaffirm who they are. This need for cultural belonging is manifested in the consumption of online cultural content and news in their  own languages, strengthening cultural values and creating a symbolic closeness with their countries of origin (Benítez 2012; Caidi et al. 2010). Such ICT use fulfils a need for individuals  who have resettled in an unfamiliar cultural environment that does not necessarily offer all that they may require. It enables adjustment to the new environment and “a sense of rebuilding  by emphasizing continuity between the new and the old” (Hiller and Franz 2004, p. 741). Similarly, an online forum or website offers an outlet for the creation and expression of cultural  identities, enabling refugees “to expand their social space and by so doing challenge the restrictive boundaries imposed by dominant host societies” (Panagakos and Horst 2006, p. 118).  While the use of ICT to express a cultural identity in these ways could be viewed as backward-looking, it helps refugees to resist assimilationist pressures that may accompany their  settlement in a new society (Gifford and Wilding 2013).

While “the sort of participation people are likely to value is  unlikely to fall into neat, separate categories” (Notley 2009, p. 1211), we feel that collectively, these five categories of functionings and their corresponding capabilities are a good reflection of  the multidimensional nature of social inclusion for these potentially disadvantaged people."

"Our research has a number of implications for policy and programs on social inclusion. First, social inclusion is a multidimensional, relational, and dynamic process, in which the agency of  those to be included is a central concern. Interventions that ignore this are susceptible to the imposition of dominant societal norms and values in ways that do not recognize diversity in human  lives. Second, any consideration of social inclusion in an information society needs to include the ICT-enabled capabilities that individuals value in constructing meaningful lives. Third, for  many individuals in contemporary society, ICTs facilitate the maintenance of transnational connections and identities that matter to them. The promotion of social inclusion for such people,  therefore, needs to recognize that their lives are not restricted to their local context. Fourth, the social inclusion of displaced people such as refugees is more than an information problem; it  involves communicative and expressive activities that repair disrupted social and cultural lives."

[pdf-embedder url="https://km4s.ca/wp-content/uploads/Information-and-Communication-Technology-and-the-Social-Inclusion-of-Refugees-Diaz-Andrade-Antonio-and-Doolin-Bill.-2016.pdf" title="Information and Communication Technology and the Social Inclusion of Refugees Diaz Andrade, Antonio and Doolin, Bill. 2016"]

What is this research about?

This research builds on PeaceGeeks' previous Settlement 2.0 project focused on innovation and technology adoption. In this phase, researchers sought to validate previous findings and explore new themes by taking a deeper dive into regional and small centre perspectives.

What do you need to know?

Settlement 3.0 is an expansion of Settlement 2.0, with the additional lens of how COVID-19 has impacted innovation, collaboration, and technology adoption in the sector. COVID-19 shifted the landscape of the settlement sector and how how it provided services, forcing innovation where it may not have naturally occurred, and making all service providers embrace technology in order to continue delivering services. This research built on this unique lens to look at Settlement 2.0 innovation and technology findings in this context, as well as the context of smaller and rural centre service providers from across the country.

What did the researchers do?

The research included two phases:

Phase 1 expanded on Settlement 2.0’s original situational analysis, specifically consulting with Service Providing Organizations (SPOs) in the Prairies, the Territories, the Atlantic Region and smaller, rural, and remote communities across British Columbia.  This included conducting a survey of key literature and recommended reports from the Prairies, the North and Atlantic Regions, and conducting 29 interviews with settlement sector stakeholders including frontline service providers and employees at  IRCC.

Phase 2 sought to understand, from both those providing and receiving services, what conditions need to be in place to encourage innovative and collaborative work in the sector. Twelve focus groups with 70 participants were conducted. These focus groups explored opportunities and generating insights on ongoing innovative work that can be built upon in the sector.

What did the researchers find?

The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed a number of enabling factors for innovation. In the face of this crisis, the sector and its main funder prioritized flexibility, collaboration and a dynamic rethinking of how to serve newcomers in new ways. At the centre of many of these responses were newcomers themselves, who used ingenuity and resilience to design and implement creative solutions to meet community needs.

There are 2 overarching priority recommendations and a number of specific recommendations and sub-recommendations are organized in a “Now, Next, Then” framework. The 2 overarching recommendations are:

1. Empower newcomers to be agents of innovative practices and drivers of their own settlement journeys. More work can be done across the sector to put newcomers at the centre of sector  innovation efforts. This goes beyond centring newcomers as clients, to centring newcomers as experts in understanding their needs and strengths, and sources of innovative solutions to meet those needs, regardless of whether they access formal settlement services or not.
2. IRCC should create a National Small Center Working Group (as part of NSIC) made up of sector and IRCC representatives from all regions. This project has identified the many things  smaller centres across the country have in common with each other, as well as particular strengths and innovative strategies—often born of necessity—that could benefit larger centres and national conversations. There is value in bringing their collective voices, experiences, and innovations together. This brings small centres to the table at the national level, highlighting and prioritizing the small centre lens in NSIC conversations.

Additional recommendations that have sub-recommendations organized in the "Now, Next, Then" framework:

1. Create clear and commonly accepted working definitions of innovation and outcomes
2. Encourage and support customization & localization of program delivery models across different regions and varying population demographics
3. Build and resource more innovation-focused, flexible funding arrangements to allow for hypothesis testing and responsive/adaptive programming
4. Allocate technology as an operational rather than administrative cost (this recommendation aligns with the Settlement Sector & Technology Task Group’s findings)

How can you use this research?

According to researchers: "These recommendations have policy as well as practical implications, and require leadership from both settlement providers, and IRCC. They will only be realized when the sector and IRCC come together in conversation to create a future vision of settlement services." They have identified where a recommendation should be led by IRCC, the sector, or jointly for maximum impact.

As well, this research intersects and aligns with a number of other emerging (and historic) reports which together should form the basis for a broad policy and practice discussion within the sector.

Downloads:

• Settlement 3.0 project - English (2021)
• Settlement 3.0 project - French (2021)
• Situational Analysis - Sector Innovation & Iteration - Themes
• Settlement 3.0 interview themes
• Settlement 3.0: Cross-Regional Focus Group Report

 

What is this research about?

This study focused on how immigrant artists and creative sector workers are integrated into Toronto’s creative economy – and the services that help them do so. The study has two principal components: 1. Documentation of the services and programs offered to immigrants to Canada who may desire to integrate into Toronto’s creative economy, and 2. An analysis of the entry points used by immigrants to access Toronto’s creative economy.

What did the researchers find?

"The key objectives were to identify barriers that immigrant artists and creative workers experience in accessing employment in the Toronto creative industry; to identify current gaps in professional development and funding programs available to immigrants; and to identify successful programs that immigrant artists and creative workers have pursued to secure work and opportunities in Toronto’s creative sector.

Successful points of entry identified were mentorship, funding and knowledge sharing programs. Immigrant creative economy workers found the most success with programs that provided mentorship, or provided funding for the creation of new work, or programs that shared knowledge about the creative sector (e.g., mixers, meet-ups, workshops).

Key barriers that immigrants identified include lack of information, isolation, financial insecurity, age, and racism. Immigrant creative economy workers felt it was difficult to find information about their professional industries. The isolation from family/friends/community, financial insecurity and racism that were present because of their immigrant status lessened their likelihood to take career risks. Additionally, many felt that programs that would help them gain Canadian experience were focused on youth and they no longer qualified for such programming.

Gaps in the services currently offered identified included information/knowledge, new experience, access to space, and industry specific language training. Immigrant artists and creative workers desire programs that can share information and knowledge about their professional industries, help them gain new Canadian experience, assist in the access of space to do their work, and assistance in acquisition of industry specific language/terms.

Although some barriers faced by immigrant artists and creative industry workers have crossover implications with other immigrant/newcomer services (e.g., assistance with English language issues may be offered in non-art-specific capacities), there were desires for more specific creative economy assistance in mentorship, new experience (bridging education, internships), physical/rental space, and understanding industry language. The immigrants trying to access the creative economy did not feel that current organizations/resources addressed these needs enough—or that the knowledge of these resources was accessible to immigrants."

What is this research about?

Approximately one-fourth of Canada’s international students study in Toronto, and their presence adds to existing diversity on campuses and in communities. This report documents international student trends and to better understand their impact on Toronto’s economic, social and post-secondary educational infrastructure.

What did the researchers find?

Major findings: The educational, economic and social contributions of international students to Toronto’s postsecondary institutions and to Toronto are well documented. However, "several challenges were identified in this research that are holding these students back precisely at the time when many are making decisions about their futures and looking to contribute to the societies in which they live."

• the federal government recognizes the value of international students as future permanent residents, but the policies and supports to enable this transition have been slow to emerge.
• employment and immigration policies faced by graduating international students are among the most complicated of any group of immigrants to Canada, with frequent changes and limited resources available to students and recent graduates.
• responsibility for international students falls under different jurisdictions at different points in their journeys... there is no single ministry or agency responsible for international students, and as such the presence of intergovernmental, cross-sectoral collaboration and partnerships is key to meeting the needs of this group.

The researchers suggest a number of responses to the trends and challenges outlined in this report and identify actions during three key phases - During Study, Post Graduation, and Transition to Permanent Residence - that could be takento increase the chances of successful transition among international students.

What is this research about?

This report summarizes the findings of a year-long study of promising, new or innovative initiatives that can help connect SMEs with the skilled immigrant labour pool.

What did the researchers find?

The findings suggest that existing efforts targeted at large employers (such as online resources and service coordination) can be further targeted to meet the needs of SMEs. In particular, this study found:

• SMEs face challenges finding skilled employees – especially for those positions that require highly specialized skills or are temporary. Some SMEs are turning to social media to recruit skilled workers.
• SME must compete for skilled talent. Many SMEs cannot provide the same levels of compensation and benefits as larger organizations.
• SMEs are reluctant to train new employees. Many cannot afford the time needed to train a new worker. Others fear that their investment will be lost if the individual moves to a competitor.
• SMEs are too busy to attend HR training events, workshops or seminars. However, they are more likely to attend networking, professional training or business development events.
• SMEs trust business information and advice that they get from their peers and professional service providers such as accountants.
• SMEs perceive government programs as rigid and not flexible enough to meet their needs. They are wary of the costs involved in labour force programs – including the cost of applying and reporting.
• SMEs might be less familiar than larger companies with the business case for hiring skilled immigrants, as well as the demographic trends affecting their business.

What is this research about?

Settlement service organizations play an essential role in supporting newcomers to Canada; however, the processes that practitioners engage in when working with people navigating the refugee system remain understudied. This study explores the institutional ruling relations that regulate refugees’ settlement process in Toronto from the standpoint view of practitioners.

What did the researchers find?

"The findings indicate that practitioners strategize to meet refugees’ needs and engage in work outside of the system due to funding constraints... and indicate that settlement organizations need to respond to the funders’ demands and expectations, which has created an unstable, constantly fluctuating environment for service provision. Against this backdrop, significant emphasis is placed on practitioners’ capacity to identify and respond to refugees and newcomers’ diverse needs and establish connections internal and external to the settlement sector. Practitioners are working within funding constraints that have led to acts of resistance. Both practitioners and organizations choose between their internal mission and mandate, a personal sense of what it means to offer support, and funders’ agendas.

Major themes included:

• Identifying and responding to needs - The prioritization of specific needs over others is at the discretion of practitioners and informed by their knowledge of the settlement process.  Informants stated that the decision of which needs to prioritize depends on various factors such as location, community, country of origin, and language proficiency.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the settlement sector - Practitioners must have extensive and up-to-date knowledge of the settlement sector to ensure that service users are referred to services that meet their needs
• Funding governs service eligibility - A frequent theme was the impact that funding has on refugees’ eligibility for services. IRCC, on behalf of the federal government, is responsible for funding a large portion of settlement services. However, IRCC specifically funds services for permanent residents and convention refugees, which excludes a large portion of Canada’s newcomer population, leaving them without adequate support.
• Acts of resistance - Informants acknowledged that, at times, they operate outside of the structured institutional design. Some informants discussed how acts of resistance to the established  system and expected practices are necessary because of the settlement institution’s flaws.

What is this research about?

This research describes the experiences of refugee children campers, parents and staff who were part of Camp Cosmos in the summer of 2018, highlighting their perspectives on the Camp’s strengths and key benefits as well as areas of improvement.

What did the researchers find?

Researchers wrote: "There is very limited research on the sense of belonging held by refugee children and parents in early childhood educational and recreational settings. Assessments of integration often center on financial independence and access to rights and services. Sustainable integration, however, is much broader than economic participation; long-term integration consists of social, economic, cultural, and political participation in the host country while maintaining a relationship with the country of origin. For refugee children, participation in new educational contexts like Camp Cosmos typically creates a greater sense of belonging, which has been associated with lower depression and higher self-efficacy."

Findings included: