ESOL classes as trauma-sensitive physical spaces

Abstract

I have worked in ESOL for the best part of 15 years now in the west of Scotland in a number of educational contexts engaging learners with ESOL needs from a variety of backgrounds. I have often thought of working in ESOL as akin to completing a 1000-piece jigsaw; having to work with an infinite number of variables, fitting together all the parts, coping with the continuous stream of missing pieces, and needing the emotional strength to withstand the occasional knocks to the table.