How to build trust with refugee and migrant learners

Trust is not a given in an ERM classroom.

Your learners may have had difficult experiences with authority figures, institutions, and strangers. Some will have travelled through countries where officials were dangerous. Some will have been let down repeatedly by systems that were supposed to help them. Some will simply have had no positive experience of formal education.

Walking into your classroom takes courage. Your job is to make it worth it.

Start before the lesson begins

Greet students at the door. Learn their names and practise pronouncing them correctly – asking for help with this signals respect, not ignorance. A moment of genuine human connection before a lesson starts sets a tone that no activity can replicate.

Make expectations transparent

Uncertainty breeds anxiety. Tell learners what you're going to do and why. Explain the structure of the session. If you're going to ask them to speak in front of the group, prepare them in advance. Remove as many surprises as you can.

Give learners control where you can

Choice is powerful, especially for people who've had little of it recently. Let students choose their seats. Offer options within activities. Ask for their input on topics. When learners feel agency over their experience, their engagement deepens.

Respond to what's in the room

Some days your lesson plan won't survive contact with reality. A student might arrive distressed. The group might be tired or anxious. Something may have happened in the news that's affecting everyone. Read the room and adapt. Flexibility isn't weakness – it's responsiveness.

Acknowledge effort, not just accuracy

In ERM classrooms, turning up is an act of resilience. So is attempting a sentence in a new language when you're exhausted, grieving, or frightened. Recognise the effort, not just the outcome. It builds confidence and it builds trust.

Trust, once established, changes everything. Learners take risks with language. They support each other. They come back next week.

It's the foundation everything else is built on.

We'll help you teach English to refugees and migrants

Join our September course, starting 14th September 2026. Run by an expert tutor, with engaging, interactive tools and lots of opportunity to connect with fellow practitioners, exchange ideas and build community.

"A really fascinating, relevant and helpful course... I cannot recommend it highly enough." — Jane E

"A really enjoyable and useful course. I found that I could use much of what I learned immediately the next day in college." — Participant, South-West TERM course

"The course has been extremely useful and I am already using things I have learnt in the classroom." — Jenny J

Book our course

Sign up to our newsletter below for monthly updates on upcoming courses, plus news and advice on teaching English to refugees and migrants.