In the last months winds of change have blown in across Europe, with vast crowds fleeing from war and terror. We have all witnessed how they pour in across borders in search of a refuge where they can settle down. The status of the refugees we have in this country needs to be clarified, and if they are allowed to stay, they must urgently learn the language so they can take care of themselves.
Based on the experience we have in this area, we wondered why the language training of these refugees, most of whom come from war and destruction, apparently does not take this trauma into account in the way of teaching. It is expected that they can learn languages as if they had not been exposed to the often inhumane horrors.
Surprisingly, the language teachers, who are often not equipped to work with trauma, are expected to be able to teach traumatized people. Society expects that these traumatized individuals then be easily connected to the labor market - although they do not know the culture or the language. Research suggests that due to their state of stress and trauma, they will not be able to learn for a period.
Yet the focus is on as quickly as possible to get refugees to work, instead of thinking about 'the whole person'. And although research (e.g. in the form of earlier integration projects) has shown that the involvement of the health aspect in the classroom can be a very good investment, this is not the language teachers’ responsibility. Their only focus in connection with the integration of all these refugees appears to be on the linguistic dimension.
In order to learn more about the reality and the challenges language teachers encounter in everyday life, we visited three different language schools in Nordjylland.
In our thesis, we will focus on different ways to think about learning, especially in connection with the teaching of traumatized refugees - and which aspects are worth taking into account. Due to the complexity of the problem, we have chosen to make use of two paradigms - not by mixing them, but almost like a ballet in which two dancers together, and in turn, elegantly complement each other. Using such a 'pas de deux' we will bring these paradigms together so that they, in each their own way, can enlighten the chosen problem.
Since our education is interdisciplinary, and our ultimate goal of the thesis is not first and foremost is to describe existing conditions, but rather to be seen as a call for critical self-reflection in connection with the ways of thinking about learning in teaching traumatized people - we do not find that this combination is problematic. Most brain researchers, working from a natural sciences position, maintain two description levels, one for the mind and one for the brain. This is, according to neuroscientist Damasio, simply a matter of "intellectual hygiene" - and we will do likewise.
We will also try to bring ancient, long-dead (and almost forgotten) philosophers, “alive” again, so that they can dance the ballet with the latest brain research. In this 'academic' dance ethics, wisdom and aesthetic learning processes – will confront cognition and consciousness research, memory, trauma and sleep research (i.e. emotion research) - and the knowledge in this way we reach, we will subsequently thinking into the teaching of subjects in the three language schools we have visited.
The thesis will consist of an interaction between cognition and brain research to highlite the trauma aspect, and the humanities in terms of philosophy of language and 'existential philosophy of life' to clarify the value of the wisdom that has stood the test of time.