The Teacher Educator

Preparing Teacher Candidates to Serve Immigrant and Newcomer Students in a Changing World

There is an urgent and ongoing need to ensure that immigrant and newcomer students including refugees, asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors, and undocumented youth have access to safe, inclusive, and high-quality educational experiences. In general, our readers are interested in these key topics related to immigration and teacher education:

• Current challenges in preparing teachers to support immigrant and newcomer students globally

• Best practices for effective teacher preparation for those working with immigrant, refugee, and undocumented student populations

• Future trends in teacher education as global migration patterns continue to reshape classrooms worldwide

More specifically, we have identified several current issues related to immigration and teacher education you might consider addressing such as:

1. Equity and Access: Immigrant and newcomer students often face significant barriers to full and equitable participation in schooling, including language barriers, documentation status, interrupted schooling, and systemic bias. How can teacher education programs prepare future teachers to recognize and actively address these equity and access challenges in their classrooms and schools?

2. Integration of Technology: Digital tools—including translation applications, AI-powered platforms, and remote learning environments—offer new possibilities for supporting immigrant students. How might teacher preparation programs equip future educators to use these tools effectively and ethically, while also addressing digital equity concerns and the risks of surveillance technologies for vulnerable student populations?

3. Trauma-Informed and Healing-Centered Teaching: Many immigrant and newcomer students arrive having experienced significant trauma, displacement, and loss. Teacher preparation programs increasingly recognize the importance of trauma-informed approaches, yet not all teacher candidates feel equipped to implement these practices with care and consistency. How can teacher education strengthen preparation in trauma-informed and healing-centered pedagogies for working with immigrant youth?

4. Interdisciplinary and Holistic Approaches to Supporting Newcomers: Supporting immigrant students well requires collaboration across disciplines—connecting language development, social-emotional learning, family engagement, legal literacy, and academic content. What ideas do you have for encouraging and supporting interdisciplinary approaches within teacher education programs that prepare candidates to serve the whole child within the broader immigrant experience?

5. Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy and Community Engagement: Teacher preparation must include substantive engagement with the cultural assets, languages, and lived experiences that immigrant students and their families bring to schools. How can teacher education programs effectively prepare candidates to practice culturally sustaining pedagogy and build authentic partnerships with immigrant and newcomer communities?

6. Global and Geopolitical Contexts of Migration: Immigration and forced displacement are shaped by complex geopolitical forces—including conflict, climate change, economic instability, and shifting national policies. How should teacher education programs help future educators

understand the global dimensions of migration so they can better contextualize and respond to the diverse circumstances of their immigrant students?

7. Assessment and Documentation Challenges: Immigrant students are often subject to assessment processes that fail to capture their full range of knowledge, skills, and prior learning—particularly students with interrupted formal education or those navigating multiple languages. How can teacher education programs better prepare teachers to use flexible, asset-based, and linguistically responsive assessment practices that support rather than marginalize immigrant learners?

8. Addressing Xenophobia, Nativism, and Misinformation: In an era of rising nationalism and widespread misinformation about immigration, educators must be prepared to create safe and affirming learning environments while also developing students’ capacities for critical thinking about media, policy, and civic life. What suggestions do you have for enhancing teacher education programs to help candidates confront anti-immigrant bias, challenge stereotypes, and promote informed and compassionate dialogue about immigration in their classrooms and communities?