This article addresses issues of teaching about refugees in initial teacher education and professional development for practicing teachers. We respond to the who, what, where, when, why and how of teaching about refugees and developing culturally responsive pedagogy in contexts of politicised transnationalism, where the wider politics around integrating Syrian refugees have significant implications for the ways Canadian education systems respond to refugee issues more broadly. Two of the authors are teacher educators working in different universities and the third author is a teacher leader in the largest school district in Canada. Using narratives generated within a self-study approach, we compare and contrast our experiences working with different teacher groups to promote resiliency and language learning among war affected and refugee children and youth.