Türkiye
Yet another crisis? Syrian refugee children and Turkish education system in turbulence
This study aims to explain the current and future situations of Syrian refugee children (SRC) in the Turkish education system in light of the views of teachers and administrators. The focal point in the study is to ascertain the situations that affect and are affected by the involvement of Syrian refugee students in the Turkish education system. In addition, findings…
2024
Report on analysis of out-of-school children in the national population: Türkiye country report
This report on Türkiye highlights significant challenges that remain in access to education for Turkish children despite substantial progress in primary and secondary education. Vulnerable groups, including children with disabilities, those involved in child labour, victims of early and forced marriage, and those affected by migration and refugee crises, face persistent barriers to education. Since 2011, the influx of Syrian…
2024
Experiences of Syrian refugee students in Turkish higher education
This chapter is drawn from an ethnography chronicling the experiences of a group of Syrian young adults enrolled in Turkish universities while under temporary protection status. The author uses excerpts from an in-depth interview with a participant enrolled in Gaziantep University to illustrate different stages that young Syrians go through when entering Turkish tertiary education. These include entering Turkish society,…
2024
Career aspirations of refugee women in Turkey within the context of higher education
Access to higher education for refugees remains a focal point in discussions concerning human rights. In the aftermath of the Syrian civil war, Türkiye has become a significant host country for forcibly displaced individuals. While the Turkish government has implemented an open-door policy toward refugees, the actual participation of women in higher education and the workforce falls short of anticipated…
2024
Lives in limbo: Syrian youth in Turkey
More than a decade since the start of the war in Syria, Turkey is home to almost four million of that country’s displaced citizens. Youth is one of the most vulnerable groups within the refugee population, as they struggle with language and education barriers and demands on them to assimilate while retaining their own culture. Lives in Limbo gives voice…
2024
Exploring the educational frontier: Teachers’ perceptions of refugees in Turkey
This study aims to identify teachers’ perceptions of the concepts of ‘refugee or refugee people’ through a metaphorical study. The study uses descriptive research employing metaphors to determine teachers’ perceptions of these concepts. Study participants were 320 teachers who worked in different parts of Turkey during the 2023–2024 academic year. The results showed that most teachers feel sorry for refugees,…
2024
No country for young refugees: Barriers and opportunities for inclusive refugee education practices
The recent refugee crises in Ukraine (2022) and Syria (2011) have created millions of refugees, 40% of whom are children. The education systems of countries hosting refugees struggle to integrate such large populations. In addition, language barriers and the stigma associated with refugees hamper inclusive and equitable education opportunities for these children. There is thus a risk of “lost generations”…
2024
The relationship between teachers’ cultural intelligence and multicultural education attitude: The mediating role of intercultural sensitivity
In this research, the relationship between teachers’ cultural intelligence and multicultural education attitude was investigated with the mediating role of intercultural sensitivity. The main research aim was to contribute to the cultural intelligence and multicultural education literature. The research was conducted with a cross-sectional correlational method, and the data was gathered from 600 teachers working in the six of the…
2024
Linking with technology in the education and adaptation processes of refugee children
In this section, the needs of refugee children are discussed within the framework of Maslow's hierarchy and family systems theory, and explanations of children's participation in educational processes, the use of technology in educational processes, and teacher guidance are given. In addition, the study aims to determine the knowledge, awareness, and experiences of preschool teachers in Turkey about integrating technology…
2024
Exploring preservice teachers’ social domination orientation and prejudice toward Syrian refugees: The mediation of empathy
With the global increase in refugees, understanding and improving the educational experiences of refugees has received more attention in academic research. This study aims to investigate the perspective of preservice teachers (PSTs) towards Syrian refugees, who are one of the largest groups of refugees in Turkey. The study explores the relationship between PSTs’ empathy, their social dominance orientation (SDO), and…
2024
Revisiting education resilience of Syrian children in Turkish education ecosystem
Resilience is studied by researchers from various disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry and biological disciplines. Though the resiliency literature has expanded to a considerable extent, only a few studies have examined the resiliency patterns in child asylum-seekers/refugees. Using the constructivist perspective, the aim of the research to identify whether Syrian asylum-seeker children are able to develop resilience in Turkish education…
2024
Integration of displaced students into the culturally and linguistically different school environment
The rapid increase in the number of refugees arriving in the last decade and the discussion about the integration of Syrian refugees into Turkish society has received special attention. As an important tool of socialisation in childhood, the educational system and school environment need to be structured using refugee-friendly and equity-based methods to meet the needs and expectations of refugee…
2024
Vocational education and training: A pathway for refugees’ integration in the labour market? Lessons from Syrian refugees in Tarsus, Turkey
Vocational education and training (VET) has been promoted as a key strategy for refugees' integration into the labour markets of their host societies, with the expectation that it would provide refugees the skills that are necessary to access better employment in their host countries. Nevertheless, evidence from both high-income and middle-income countries (MICs) shows that refugees predominantly work in labour-intensive…
2024
The right to higher education for refugees and forcibly displaced people: Briefing note compendium
The following briefing note compendium reflects wide-ranging analysis and insights of the various barriers that refugees and forcibly displaced people experience in accessing, progressing, and completing higher education. At the same time, the briefing notes present considerations that States and other higher education stakeholders should take into account to defend and promote the right to higher education for this equity…
2023
Being a mathematics teacher in schools in temporary accommodation centres: Turkish teachers and Syrian students
In the study, the difficulties faced by mathematics teachers in schools in Temporary Accommodation Centers in Türkiye and ways of coping were investigated. In this sense, it is focused on the experiences of mathematics teachers working in the schools in the Temporary Accommodation Center, and it is aimed to contribute to the understanding of the teaching processes. The study data…
2023
Hometown conflict and refugees’ integration efforts
How does violence in origin areas affect the educational outcomes of refugees in their destinations? Using administrative panel data, we find that heightened violence in the hometowns of Syrian students leads to improvements in their school outcomes in Türkiye. Turkish language and Math scores of refugee students improve, with larger impacts on Turkish scores. There is no impact on naturalized…
2024
Refugees’ gendered experiences of education in Europe since 2015: A scoping review
This scoping review aims to explore the role of gender in refugees' educational access, experiences, and outcomes in Europe since 2015. Gender can act as a significant barrier to education, and gender stereotypes and bias can affect learning opportunities and outcomes. As a response, a scoping review was conducted to explore the role of gender in refugees' educational access, experiences,…
2023
Stigmatisation and othering: The case of Syrian students in Turkish schools*
In the last four years, with the implementation of the policy of integration of the Syrian refugee students into the public schools in Turkey, there has been a significant rise in the number of Syrian students in mainstream classrooms. Based on the analysis of the discourses of Turkish teachers and students about Syrian students, this study examines the ways in…
2023
Barriers to higher education in displacement: Experiences of Syrian refugee students in Turkish universities
Many refugee youth aspire to complete higher education in order to pursue personal development, obtain secure employment, facilitate socio-economic integration, and build more stable futures in their new communities. However, they often face intersecting legal, economic, linguistic, psychosocial, and structural barriers to accessing higher education. Based on thematic analysis of in-depth interviews, this chapter examines the experiences of a group…
2023
Integration
Strategic temporality permeates the integration experience of Turkey’s Syrians in a number of ways. First, given their temporary legal status, there is a grey area between reception and integration, which is highly symbolic of ambiguous inclusion (Kaya & Nagel, 2021). Until recently, there has been no publicly announced national integration policy; instead, there was only a discourse about uyum (social…
2023
Becoming a teacher: The liminal identities and political agency of refugee teachers
This paper engages with the experiences of refugee teachers through an identity-based conceptualisation of the capability approach to explore these teachers’ social environment, working conditions, values, and lived experiences. The research builds on the teachers’ capabilities literature to argue that norms, dynamics, and identities shape their political agency, opportunities, and constraints, providing nuanced understandings of their experiences as refugee teachers.…
2023
Multicultural learning environments in Turkey: A new challenge about refugee education
Due to globalization, migration trends, refugee crises, and global media during the past few decades, social and cultural components of societies have undergone significant change. New multicultural societies have a big effect on daily life, culture, and education by bringing new perspectives about being local and universal. Including refugees in the school system creates a new learning environment for local…
2023
Are Syrian children integrated into our education?: Turkish teachers’ perspectives on the inclusive education project
Integrating Syrian children into the Turkish national educational system has been one of the most recent and significant discussion issues in educational research and policy making areas. With a primary objective of alleviating Syrian refugees’ linguistic difficulties, a nationwide inclusive education project; Promoting Integration of Syrian Kids into Turkish Education System (PIKTES), has been implemented since 2016 in 26 cities…
2023
Development of a refugee education competency framework: Turkish context with Syrian refugee students
This study was based on the current Turkish education system, which attempts to integrate nearly one million school-age refugee children into regular schools. Although the activities carried out in Turkey point to positive developments regarding the integration of refugee students, some of the problems observed in refugee education still exist. The current research, which aims to develop a ‘framework of…
2023
Examining the contribution of social studies course in the integration of asylum-seeking students into society, according to student opinions
In this research, it is aimed to examine the contribution of Social Studies course in terms of social integration of students living as an asylum seeker in Turkey and continuing their education in schools in Turkey, according to student opinions. The research was carried out with the qualitative research method and the research participants were determined by the criterion sampling…
2023
Depictions of refugees in children’s picturebooks in Turkey
The United Nations’ announcements of a rise in the number of refugees have led to questions on how refugees are portrayed in children’s picturebooks. Works that introduce children, at a young age, to the concept that there are other societies and cultures besides the one in which they currently reside have the potential to broaden their worldview and provide them with…
2023
Building responsive education systems toward multiple disruptions in refugee education: Turkey and Germany as cases
Refugee students’1 education is disrupted by multiple spatial and temporal transitions – no matter where they come from, where they go, and what cause their forced migration. The first major disruption occurs with their flight from origin countries due to security or other reasons. The COVID-19 pandemic led to another dramatic disruption with a heightened risk of weakening hard-earned progress.…
2023
Education and language policies toward Syrians in the Turkish state: Incorporation of former imperial subjects into the Neo-Ottomanist political regime
With its imperial past, nationalist tradition, past westernization attempts, inverse ori-entalism toward populations from the East, and current neo-Ottomanist policies, Turkey presents an interesting case in which to examine the ideologies underlying its education system. Turkish schools began receiving a large number of Syrian refugees following the outbreak of the Syrian War in 2011. How does Turkey seek to absorb…
2023
Journeys to higher education in displacement: A narrative portrait of Syrian refugees in Turkish universities
Despite high aspirations to pursue personal development, self-sustaining employment, socio-economic integration, and stable futures in their host, origin, or resettlement countries through higher education, intersecting legal, economic, linguistic, and sociocultural barriers severely constrain refugees’ options. There is limited research on how refugee students overcome these barriers to access higher education, particularly in displacement settings like Turkey, which perpetuates a deficit…
2023
Countering the deficit: A policy critique of the Syrian refugee education response in Turkey
Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees of any nation globally, and the influx of Syrian refugees has placed massive strain on the Turkish education system. In response, the Promoting Integration of Syrian Children to the Turkish Education System (PICTES) program was implemented to help strengthen the Turkish public-school system and increase education access for Syrian refugee students. This chapter…
2023
Syrian refugee students’ sense of school belonging and educational aspirations
This study investigated the Syrian refugee students’ sense of school belonging and educational aspirations in Türkiye. The study used a mixed methodology. The sample consisted of 318 Syrian students in middle (grades 5–8) and high schools (grades 9–12) in a metropolitan municipality located in a large city in central Anatolia in the fall of the 2021–2022 academic year. The quantitative…
2023
School integration of Syrian refugee children in Turkey
There is little evidence based on large-scale representative data on the school integration of refugee children—many of whom live in low- or middle-income countries. This study focuses on Syrian refugee children in Turkey and examines the underlying causes of native–refugee differences in school enrollment using the 2018 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey. Accounting for a rich set of socioeconomic variables,…
2023
Psychological and pedagogical aspects of adaptation of displaced Ukrainian children to the educational environment of another country
The sudden and unexpected war in Ukraine led to a large flow of citizens displaced abroad. Almost half of them are preschool-and school-age children. The peculiarities of their adaptation to the educational environment of another country necessitates the study of the main aspects of adaptation in these conditions. The aim is to identify the psychological and pedagogical aspects of adaptation…
2024
Examination of the relationship between Syrian refugees’ spiritual level and socio-cultural adaptation
This study aims to examine the relationship between the spirituality level of the Syrian refugees and their sociocultural adaptation and to determine which demographic characteristics these two variables differ according to. The relational survey model, which is one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the research. The Spirituality Scale developed by Şirin, the Sociocultural Adaptation Scale adapted to…
2024
The effect of health literacy and self-efficacy levels of Syrian refugee university students on quality of life
Aim: According to studies, self-efficacy and health literacy impact Syrian refugees’ quality of life. However, it is unclear how these factors influence quality of life for Syrian university students. This study aims to determine health literacy, self-efficacy, and quality of life for Syrian refugee students and investigate how health literacy and self-efficacy affect quality of life. Methods: This cross-sectional study…
2024
Teacher opinions on problems resulting from individual and cultural differences in the adaptation class of students from different nationalities
Various problems experienced by children of foreign families who immigrated to Turkey from different countries for various reasons have been frequently discussed in learning environments recently. Among these, primary problems such as individual differences, cultural differences and language problems at school come to the fore. PICTES (Supporting the Integration of Syrian Children into the Turkish Education System) project (2016-present) is…
2024
Keeping refugee children in school and out of work: Evidence from the world’s largest humanitarian cash transfer program
This paper investigates whether unconditional cash transfers can keep refugee children in school and out of work. We raise this question in the unique context of Turkey, which hosts the world's largest refugee population (including 3.6 million Syrians). Refugees in Turkey are supported by the world's largest cash transfer program for refugees, the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN). We exploit…
2024
Trauma-sensitive school concepts for students with a refugee background: A review of international studies
Children and adolescents with a refugee background are at high risk for traumatization. Once they arrive in safe countries, schools are the institutions where teachers are responsible for caring for them sensitively and competently. Furthermore, schools are organized in learning groups consisting of multiple peers of the same age, which provides excellent opportunities for social learning and experiences of social…
2024
Teachers’ experiences on refugee education and their views on refugees’ social inclusion: Case of Turkey
This study had two aims: first, to reveal the experiences of educators who work with refugee students in Samsun (Turkey); and second, to divulge the views these teachers have on the social inclusion of refugees. The research was designed using a case study approach; 18 individuals participated in the research, who were selected from 12 schools within the criterion sample.…
2023
Inclusive education for refugee children: Preservice social studies teachers and their critical thinking skills
The purpose of this study carried out with preservice social studies teachers in the final stage of transition to professional life was to investigate the sources they used for information about recent refugee mobility in Turkey, and their way of questioning the reliability of these sources. The study also analysed their views on the subject, within the context of critical…
2023
Inclusion, exclusion and Syrian refugees in Turkey
Forced migration movements are changing the social, demographic and cultural structures of countries following political unrest, civil war, and international interventions in Syria. The immigration of Syrians to Turkey has required intensive work, particularly relating to the education of refugee children. A systems theory framework supports the evaluation of inclusive education practices directed towards Syrian refugee children and highlights exclusionary…
2023
“What doesn’t defeat me makes me stronger” A Qualitative Study drawing on the Perspectives of Syrian Refugee University Students in Turkey
Education is one of the most crucial instruments for refugee youth to remove the disadvantages and enhance their social and structural integration into society. However, the unequal education opportunities concerning the barriers avoid the integration of refugee students into society and make them prone to discrimination. This qualitative descriptive design study aimed at describing the experiences of the subjective perspectives…
2023
Child refugee’s social skills and resilience: Moderating effects of time in refugee camp, parental education, and preschool attendance
In this cross-sectional study, we examine the relationship between social skills and resilience and the moderating effects of time spent in a refugee camp, parental education, and schooling on Syrian children who have been forcibly displaced to Turkey. Five hundred and twenty-six preschool-aged children (56.3% female, M-age = 5.79) were recruited to participate in this research. The Turkish version of…
2023
Language ideologies and stancetaking in refugee identity negotiations: exploring multilingual refugees’ narratives of language use in Turkey
This study investigates the identity negotiations and language ideologies among/around Syrian refugees residing in Turkey by concentrating on the case of two multilingual, Syrian graduate students who have been forcedly displaced from Syria and resettled in Turkey. The study particularly explores participants' metalinguistic narratives of their language choices, multilingual repertoires and identity positionings. We argue that everyday talk about migration…
2023
The value of Catholic early childhood education – the role of parents and kindergarten as perceived by Ukrainian women
The article addresses the role of Catholic early childhood education, the parents and the kindergarten in setting the developmental background for the child's future life perspectives and personal development. This research subject is analysed in the context of the situation in Ukraine, and the article focuses on how the respondents - Ukrainian female refugees - perceive the value of the…
2023
Exploring the impact of teachers’ past migration experience on inclusive education for refugee children
Teachers play a key role in shaping students' experiences in the learning environment. Studies on inclusive education in forced migration contexts, however, rarely examine what determines teachers' positive behaviour and attitudes toward refugee students. This study examines how teachers' past migration and occupational experiences impact their attitudes towards students who arrived through forced migration and whether they rely on teaching…
2023
Struggles of Refugee-Receiving Schools in Turkey
A total of 82.4 million persons had emigrated from their countries by the end of 2020 because of global conflicts. A total of 3.6 million settled in Turkey, which became the most refugee-receiving country. Among those resettled in Turkey, the majority were school-aged children, and schools became an inseparable instrument in the adaptation process. Thus, schools play a vital role…
2023