Türkiye
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
Opening Pandora’s box: a culturally relevant perspective on elementary teachers’ approaches to educating immigrant and refugee students in Turkey
Given the influx of immigrants and refugees in Turkey and across the globe, our study aims to examine how elementary teachers in Turkey are responding to the growing needs of immigrant and refugee students. Drawing on culturally relevant pedagogical frameworks, we interviewed 21 teachers to highlight if and how they build on cultural and individual strengths to reimagine educational contexts.…
2023
The mediating role of intercultural communication apprehension in the relationship between ethnocentrism and attitude towards asylum-seekers of nursing students
Background: In order to provide culturally appropriate care, nursing students' intercultural communication anxiety, ethnocentrism and attitudes towards refugees should be examined. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the relationship among ethnocentrism and attitudes towards refugees in nursing students and to determine whether intercultural communication apprehension could mediate the relationship between ethnocentrism and attitude towards asylum-seekers. Design: A cross-sectional, descriptive design.…
2022
The marginalised few: reflections from the lived experiences of forced displaced academics in Turkish academia
During the last decade, there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of Syrian asylum seekers, including forced displaced academics (FDAs), in Turkey. Along with providing essentials, there is the issue of social integration for these people. To efficiently deal with this problem, Turkish authorities have developed both educational policies and some legal arrangements to accommodate the employment process…
2022
The first stop of transit migrant students on the road to Europe and America: The Turkish education system
There have been forced migrations from one country to another due to wars, conflicts, and various reasons within and among countries. Turkey is a transit point from Asia to Europe. Accordingly, this study sheds light on experiences the refugee students have in the Turkish Education System. Therefore, this study is meant to be based on a qualitative approach as a…
2022
Post-migration ecology in educational leadership and policy for social justice: Welcoming refugee students in two distinct national contexts
Utilizing the post-migration ecological lens and the synthesized model of culturally relevant leadership formed by the authors, we aim to compare and analyze the policy outlines and school leadership responses to refugee education in Turkey and Germany; as the two main hosts of the largest number of refugees. Through comparative phenomenology, we draw on the semi-structured interviews, observations, and document…
2022
Nursing students’ perspectives and care giving experiences with refugees: A qualitative analysis
Background: It is crucial to determine the intercultural sensitivity of nursing students who will provide care to refugees in the future and to examine their perspectives, experiences, and views on providing care to refugees. Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe nursing students' perspectives and caregiving experiences with refugees in Turkey. Design: This study was conducted with a…
2022
Determinants of Refugee Children’s Social Integration: Evidence from Lebanon, Turkey, and Australia
This paper investigates the determinants of refugee students’ social integration in Lebanon, Turkey, and Australia. This paper seeks to understand how legal status and the corresponding length of refugee asylum shape refugee children’s social integration. The three host countries offer refugees different legal statuses ranging from short-term in Lebanon, medium-term in Turkey, and long-term in Australia. Therefore, our data collection…
2022
Change or continuity? A comparative study of the immigrant integration models of Turkey and Germany after the Syrian Crisis
This study aimed to explore the effects of the Syrian refugee crisis on the immigrant integration policies and hence the national models of Turkey and Germany. It tried to assess whether there is a continuity or divergence in the policies after 2011. It also tried to match the two countries with one of the immigrant integration models discussed in the…
2019
Teacher’s beliefs and flexible language strategies in a monolingual preschool classroom
This study aims to examine teacher’s beliefs about Syrian children’s Turkish language learning and teacher’s language strategies in a monolingual preschool classroom located in a multilingual city, Siirt Turkey. This ethnographic study was conducted between October 2019 and January 2020 in a multilingual city. The data included fieldnotes kept during participant observations of children’s interactions and interviews with the teacher.…
2022
A multicultural education approach to Turkish picture books written for Syrian refugee children
Syrian refugees worldwide experience many difficulties, including integrating into the host country. Turkey host most of the Syrian refugees, but limited studies examined Syrian refugees’ transnational experiences in children’s literature. In this study, I have examined the picture books written for Syrian refugee children published in Turkey through a multicultural education framework to highlight how microculture and macroculture relate to…
2022
Higher Education for forcibly displaced migrants in Turkey
Higher education (HE) provides a unique opportunity to accomplish social and economic integration and mitigate the impact of displacement for forcibly displaced migrants (FDMs) in the long run. Against this backdrop, the purpose of the study is to explore the HE experiences of Syrian FDMs in Turkey. Utilizing snowball sampling, 24 FDMs in Turkey were interviewed. The results suggested that…
2023
Political socialization experiences of Turkish citizen university students of Syrian origin
Sometime after the anti-regime demonstrations began in Syria in March 2011, there was a huge wave of migration to neighboring countries, including Turkey. Some of these fled youth who were forced to emigrate from Syria came to Turkey and later became university students and acquired Turkish citizenship. This qualitative study focuses on the process of political socialization and political resocialization…
2022
Summer Preschools for Syrian Refugee and Host Community Children in Turkey: A Model of Contextually Sensitive Early Intervention
Research Findings: This study evaluated the impacts of the Summer Preschools Program on 5-to-6-year-old Syrian refugee and local children from vulnerable communities of Turkey. Developed as a community-based contextually sensitive early intervention model, the program aimed to promote developmental well-being and school readiness of children from forced displacement and abject poverty backgrounds by supporting cognitive, language, and socioemotional development prior…
2022