Pejic Vanja, Russo Kristin, Milord-LeBlanc Rhode, Mehjabin Parr Kayla, Whitcomb Sara, Hess Robyn S
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Independent Researcher, Boston, MA 02124, USA.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2025 Sep 14;15(9):1254. doi: 10.3390/bs15091254.
More than 5 million students in U.S. public schools are immigrants or the children of immigrants, highlighting the urgent need for educational practices that honor their lived experiences and promote both emotional and academic growth. This article details a collaborative effort between a school-based psychologist and two high school English teachers to co-design a 12th grade English Language Arts curriculum responsive to the unique strengths and challenges of immigrant youth. Grounded in transformative social and emotional learning, trauma informed principles and culturally sustaining pedagogy, the curriculum weaves together themes of hope, identity, social determinants of health, and agency. The co-development process involved aligning clinical and educational expertise, adapting trauma-informed principles for the classroom, and centering student experience throughout design and implementation. Students reported high satisfaction with the curriculum. Teachers observed stronger student engagement and deeper, more meaningful relationships, attributing these outcomes to the curriculum's relevance to students' cultural and community contexts. This case study illustrates the promise of cross-sector partnerships and provides recommendations for creating learning environments where immigrant students can reflect, heal, and thrive through both academic content and emotional connection.
美国公立学校中有超过500万学生是移民或移民子女，这凸显了迫切需要有尊重他们生活经历并促进情感和学业成长的教育实践。本文详细介绍了一位学校心理学家与两位高中英语教师的合作，共同设计一门针对移民青年独特优势和挑战的十二年级英语语言艺术课程。该课程以变革性的社会情感学习、创伤知情原则和文化维持教学法为基础，将希望、身份认同、健康的社会决定因素和能动性等主题交织在一起。共同开发过程包括整合临床和教育专业知识、将创伤知情原则应用于课堂，并在整个设计和实施过程中以学生体验为中心。学生对该课程表示高度满意。教师观察到学生参与度更高，关系更深厚、更有意义，并将这些成果归因于课程与学生文化和社区背景的相关性。本案例研究说明了跨部门伙伴关系的前景，并为创建学习环境提供了建议，在这样的环境中，移民学生可以通过学术内容和情感联系进行反思、治愈并茁壮成长。
