Beyond COVID-19: Renewing Best Practices and Relationships among Newcomer Students, Their School, and Community

Abstract

Immigrant and newcomer students often experience challenges as they seek to assimilate in the new country. As such, this theme remains significantly under-researched and continues to hinder our understanding of newcomer students’ most urgent needs. This article focuses on the perspectives given by newcomer high school students as they discuss, through open dialogue and social media, their main challenges living in a new country. The scholars employed a collaborative action research approach and were guided by two questions: (1) How can newcomer students’ lived experiences inform best practices in the field of education? and (2) How did the social isolation brought on by COVID-19 affect the mental health/well-being of newcomer students? The results highlighted the racial, cultural, linguistic, and religious challenges these students face in their education as well as the considerable mental/emotional impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on this demographic. The data hold major implications for best practice in the field of education, with specific emphasis on newcomer students.