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Whilst teachers are increasingly being asked to provide ‘care’ for students in their classrooms, very little research has explored what care might look like for students with migrant or refugee backgrounds. This paper reports on the findings of a study conducted with children when they began school in Australia in the Intensive English Language Program (IELP), with a focus on how care might be provided and defined. Participants were 63 migrant or refugee children aged between 5 and 13 years of age (M = 7.40 years, SD = 2.39), and 14 IELP teachers. The aims of the broader study of which this paper forms one part were to explore experiences at school through a mixed-methods, participatory methodology. The current paper takes a deductive approach, and focuses specifically on the relationships between students and teachers as one dimension of care for students. We found that students had positive relationships with their teachers, and reported feeling safe at school. Teachers reported some challenges in relation to their relationships with students, particularly in the case of students with refugee backgrounds. We suggest that the concept of care for children with refugee and migrant backgrounds needs further work, particularly in mainstream education settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents the 2010 Australian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) related to the engagement of higher education students and teachers on effective educational practices. The survey aims to develop an evidence-based conversations to improve the higher education experience of students. It mentions various instruments used to gather information such as Staff Student Engagement Survey (SSES) and Student Engagement Questionnaire (SEQ) for online completion.