Supporting Teachers of Students with Experience of Migration

PROJECT UPDATE DECEMBER 2024

STSEM – introducing a new guide for educators

A new situation arose in Europe following the Russian invasion of Ukraine: a huge migration of European students, nationally and internationally. Even teachers with experience with migrant students confronted new challenges.

We brought together teachers from Ukraine, Poland and Sweden to explore both the challenges and the opportunities and created a collaborative project STSEM– Support for Teachers of Students with Experience of Migration funded by the Swedish Institute.

The project grew out of the Make Education, Not War (MENW) initiative, which was launched just two months after the invasion, in April 2022 Global Action Plan International with the collaboration of Legacy17 among others. MENW’s goal was to support Ukrainian teachers whose students were scattered across Europe. 

Building on those experiences, STSEM has been built on exchanges between teachers from Ukraine, Poland, and Sweden. In the project, we have met and worked both online and in person, nationally and internationally. In September 2024, an international conference was held at Maria Curie-Skłodowska  University, and a wealth of practical experience was gathered. The key outcome was the creation of the Education with Migrant Students – a Teachers’ Guide, which includes effective tools and strategies for educators. The guide draws on case studies from teachers from the participating countries, providing concrete examples of successful practice. It also introduces trauma-informed pedagogy, with the aim to help teachers support students dealing with the psychological impact of conflict and displacement.

A second publication, Teaching with Empathy, focuses on Saturday Teams for migrant students. It offers guidance on how to create additional learning and support spaces for displaced children outside of regular school hours.

The project also highlights important insights, such as the unique situation of Ukrainian migrant students, who often expect to return to Ukraine soon, and the evolving policies around migrant education in countries like Poland. These findings are explored in the guide and are expected to benefit educators and policy-makers working with migrant students for years to come.

Contact: annika@legacy17.org