Ukraine’s Global Migration: The effect on Ukrainian bilingual education in Western Canada скачать в хорошем качестве

Ukraine’s Global Migration: The effect on Ukrainian bilingual education in Western Canada

Since February 2022, much attention has been given to displaced newcomer children from war-torn Ukraine in Canadian schools. In Western Canada, many newcomer families enrolled their children in Ukrainian-English bilingual schools in centres where these programs are offered. As newcomers arrived, bilingual schools welcomed the increase in enrolment. However, administrators and teachers soon discovered that they were unprepared for the rapid change in demographics. Differing language and learning needs, parental expectations, and staffing shortages emerged. After three years of newcomer arrivals, it is clear that several challenges are affecting the quality of bilingual programming and its future success. This presentation addresses four challenges: bilingual curricula, resources, teacher training, and parental involvement. Nadia’s teaching career began in the classroom as a K-12 bilingual teacher, followed by positions as a school division consultant, provincial government curriculum writer, and senior manager for English as an Additional Language (EAL) and heritage languages. From 2016-2025, Nadia was a course writer and instructor in EAL Education within the College of Education, University of Saskatchewan. From 2017 to present day, Nadia continues to be an Academic Affiliate of the Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage (PCUH) at St. Thomas More College. Her research focuses on Ukrainian Language Assessment and use of the CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.