LEARNING CHALLENGES:
multicultural issues
Many school boards in Ontario serve large numbers of students from a variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. School psychologists assist educators in understanding how second language acquisition, prior stressors such as armed conflict in the country of origin and current stressors such as feelings of alienation in a new culture, economic instability, and conflict between traditional values and Canadian norms, affect school learning. A variety of direct interventions are undertaken to assist students and families including such things as support groups for adolescents, parenting courses and conflict resolution. For students with learning problems, school psychologists work with community resources to assess functioning in a culturally and linguistically sensitive way which also takes into account the prior educational and social history of the child and family.
Useful Resources:
National Aboriginal Clearing/Connecting House on Disability Issues
Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence
Center for Applied Linguistics
National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition
