Non-formal education
Conceptual metaphors, plurilingualism and second language acquisition: a refugee education case study
The purpose of this study is to explore the use of equivalent conceptual metaphors and the correspondent linguistic expressions in refugee students’ L1s and L2s and examine the possible positive effects conceptual metaphors can induce for vocabulary learning and retention in second language learning. Moreover, another aim of the research is to investigate the use of conceptual metaphors as a…
2022
Sustaining Non-formal Refugee Education Programs in a Covid-future World
In this discussion essay, characteristics of the provision of formal and non-formal education for refugee children in Greece will be explored through a comparative approach. The comparison reveals aspects of the social environments in the lives of refugee children. These will be examined through the lens of Uri Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1986) ecological systems theory as a means to understand the…
2022
The dynamics of recent refugees’ language acquisition: how do their pathways compare to those of other new immigrants?
Do the processes underlying destination-language acquisition differ between recently arrived refugees and other new immigrants? Based on a well-established model of language learning according to which language fluency is a function of efficiency, incentives, and exposure, this study addresses general processes of language learning as well as conditions specific to refugees. Longitudinal data on refugees (IAB-BAMF-SOEP Sample of Refugees in…
2022
PARTICIPATION OF REFUGEE YOUTH IN GERMANY’S VET SYSTEM: REAL-WORLD LABS AS OPPORTUNITIES FOR CO-CONSTRUCTIVE KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND INNOVATIVE PRACTICE TRANSFORMATION
Germany has become the most important destination country for young refugees in Europe (Destatis, 2021). Vocational education and training can make an important contribution to overcome educational barriers and gain participation in society (Will & Hohmut, 2020). Since 2015, rural regions have faced new challenges in establishing effective support systems for young apprentices with forced migration experience (Ohliger et al.,…
2022
Understanding the learning experiences of highly educated refugees from Iraq and Syria en route to economic integration in Luxembourg
This qualitative exploratory study sought to understand highly educated Iraqi and Syrian refugees’ perceptions of their learning experiences during economic integration in Luxembourg. This research sought to elucidate how these new migrants learned to integrate in a country with a long tradition of migration but little exposure to Arabic-speaking groups. Further, it sought to explore participants’ experiences of what knowledge,…
2022
Educators’ perspectives on translanguaging schoolscape and language education for refugee students in Greek educational settings
The past and current situation in Greece regarding the refugee crisis has created educators’ need to apply new educational strategies to address refugee students, such as the use of translanguaging, linguistic landscape and schoolscape as pedagogical tools. That is why the present study attempts to reveal the degree of educators’ employment of practices such as translanguaging and inclusion of students’…
2022
The Rights Hero - Serious Games for Human Rights Education and Integration of Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe
Following the rise of migrant inflows in Europe since 2015, more than 210,000 unaccompanied children have arrived in Europe. This article argues that serious games can in principle fill the gap of human rights education that these children face and ultimately help them develop, but important issues and challenges need to be considered. The article follows the design and development…
2022
Education and Employment of Refugees and Migrants in the Formal Elderly Healthcare Sector: Results from an Online Survey in Italy
The increase in older people with long-term care needs and the shortfall in the formal elderly healthcare workforce are questioning the healthcare system sustainability in Italy. Migrants have been employed for many years in the informal care sector as live-in carers often experience unfair working conditions. Appropriate training can help migrants and refugees enter the formal care sector, improve their…
2022
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…
2021
Previous experience, trickle-down training and systemic ad hoc-ery: educators’ knowledge acquisition when teaching refugee pupils in one local authority in England
Schools play a key role in the lives of young refugees and asylum seekers, yet it is unclear to what extent educators are prepared to effectively teach this population. In this study, we examined how educators acquire knowledge relevant to teaching refugee pupils through a survey (n = 295) and nestled case studies of 17 teachers at two schools in England. Educators…
2021
How a School Setting Can Generate Social Capital for Young Refugees: Qualitative Insights from a Folk High School in Denmark
Many of the refugees who have recently arrived in Denmark and other European countries are young people. In order to support refugee youth, it is important to understand how institutions and initiatives in the receiving countries may best facilitate their social inclusion. Drawing on the concept of social capital, this article explores school practices supporting refugees through a qualitative case…
2021
An Informal Education Intervention in Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic: Homework Mentorships in a Berlin Refugee Shelter
The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting damage is often portrayed in staggering numbers and statistics. This article offers, by contrast, a personal and qualitative account of employees, volunteers, and young residents at a refugee home in Berlin, Germany. Through the story of a boy who has spent the past 4 years in several of Berlin’s 84 remaining refugee accommodations, we examine the…
2021
Recognising refugees' non-formally and informally acquired vocational skills for use in Germany’s labour market
The influx of asylum seekers into the European Union (EU) in 2015-2016 has turned the recognition of non-formal and informal learning (NFIL) into an integration priority and challenge. In EU terminology this process is called ‘validation’. Already in 2012, the Council of the EU had urged member states to create mechanisms for the validation of NFIL by no later than…
2020
Educational pathways for refugee students: Comparing higher education interventions for refugees in Germany and Lebanon
The aim of this study was to understand how refugees go from acquiring education in the form of non-formal educational training to transitioning into formal higher education in accredited, degree granting institutions. Among all refugees on the globe today, only 3% will manage this pathway and successfully go on to tertiary level studies. That is a shameful fact when considering…
2020
Barriers to accessing education
The right to an education is a universally recognized right, protected in multiple international and national conventions including the Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. For displaced children growing up in informal camps in Northern France, there are numerous barriers in place which prevent them from accessing education. This short briefing, published by…
2020
The digital literacy practices of newly arrived Syrian refugees: A spatio-visual linguistic ethnography
This doctoral research project is a visual linguistic ethnography that provides thick descriptions of newly arrived Syrian refugees’ smartphone-mediated digital literacy practices. The study investigates how three male newcomers to Leeds, Rojan, Aban and Mamoud, utilize mobile technologies and online resources, such as multilingual Facebook groups and smartphone applications, to instigate and support processes of settlement and belonging. To trace…
2020
A place called home: the meaning(s) of popular education for newly arrived refugees
In this article, we direct our focus on some of the recent activities undertaken by popular education institutions in Sweden in relation to the refugee challenge in 2015. The aim is to analyse how these popular education activities are shaped as specific communities of practice, through the ways they are described by those who organised these, and what meaning newly…
2020
Professional Narratives in Refugee Education: Volunteer Teachers’ Challenges, Needs, Skills, and Accomplishments within the Framework of Non-Formal Education
This paper, which adopts a narrative and autobiographical narrative inquiry, aims to highlight the meaningful stories of four volunteers, including the researcher herself, who have offered language support to refugee students at a refugee camp in central Greece. Narratives are a crucial feature of human existence since they determine our traits, values, and worldviews. The individual stories of a small…
2020
A Professional Narrative about Refugee Education in Non-Formal Education Learning Centers in Athens
This article is about where I saw myself in taking Refugee Education challenges as a teacher in a non-formal education center. I will also reflect on the required types of responsibilities and skills in the Refugee Education field as well as my main accomplishments as a Greek language teacher. I am going to analyze the precarious-transit status of refugee students…
2020
Gendered Spaces and Educational Expectations: the Case of the Former Refugee Camp “Elliniko” in Athens
This article examines the subjectivity of refugee women regarding education while in a state of prolonged “transit” in squalid conditions and within a context of limited agency. Specifically, we discuss the experience of forced migration and displacement of refugee Afghan women through a focus on processes of education in the context of their “temporary” accommodation in the former Elliniko camp…
2020
Refugee children’s integration in Greece: training future teachers to face new educational challenges
The aim of this paper is to present an action research project focusing on refugee children’s integration to the formal Greek education system as it relates to their mothers’ Greek language learning. Drawing on the interrelation between formal and non-formal education, this project took place at the Open Reception facility of Eleonas in Athens and addressed graduate and postgraduate students,…
2020
Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Minors, NGO cooperation, Teaching Materials – National Roundtable of Bulgaria 2019
The National Round Table (NRT) 2019 program was structured around 4+1 topics related to educational integration of refugee children. The 4 main topics were chosen by the participants in the NRT 2018 in Sofia as the most relevant nationally. To take advantage of the pan-European nature of the SIRIUS Network and its spin-off projects, a special focus was put on…
2019
How Social Media Can Play a Role in an Educational Context, in an Informal Refugee Camp in Europe
European policy on migration does not safeguard the rights of refugees as they travel into and across European State borders (Rygiel, Ataç, Köster-Eiserfunke, & Schwiertz, 2015). Furthermore, refugees currently in transit through Europe have little or no access to media platforms. Mainstream media frames the current migration flow into Europe with narratives of charity, sympathy, and criminality (Rettberg & Gajjala,…
2019
Refugee women, possible selves and higher education
Possible selves, both feared and desired, are greatly affected by transitional life periods. There is, however, an absence of research on the impact of migration on possible selves where previous selves have been rendered impossible through the processes of forced displacement. This chapter draws on detailed biographical interviews and informal conversations with eighteen refugee women who, through participation in three…
2018
Enhancing the awareness of emotions through art and drama among crisis-affected Syrian refugee children in southeast Turkey
By learning to identify feelings and express emotions, children can better cope with the difficulties they face, as well as increase their personal resilience. As the Syrian crisis has entered its seventh year, it has had a negative effect on vulnerable populations, especially children. It should be noted that while not all children have been traumatised, many have experienced conflict…
2018
Strategy development in the context of quality frameworks for education in emergencies - The case of British Council in Greece
Strategy Development in the context of Quality Frameworks for Education in Emergencies can be a great tool for education providers for supporting refugee children’s integration to formal education and society in Europe. In this MA thesis, the aim was to identify existing quality assurance frameworks, evaluate them and apply the most relevant one to a case study; the British Council…
2017
Non-formal education: a way out - The realisation of the right to education of refugees through non-formal education activities in Greece
Education is a human right to which any child should have access; yet, the provision of education in emergency situations is particularly difficult and education is often left behind. This holds true when dealing with refugee children´s education as well: for those children, education is a key element that enables their protection and development. Education goes beyond formal and institutionalized…
2017
Online digital mentorship: How might a digital communication tool facilitate informal learning and integration of newly arrived in Sweden
The arrival of large groups of refugees is one of the great challenges in Europe today. In Sweden around 100 000 new immigrants is expected to arrive from Syria only during 2017 and there are large groups from various countries already staying in Sweden that are not properly integrated. There are no quick and smart solution to solve the inclusion…
2017
‘The other brick in the wall’: Integrating and empowering refugee students through intercultural education; a case study from greece
The refugee crisis, the largest migratory wave since the Second World War, has constituted a challenge for European societies, at an economic, social, but also moral level. In times of frustration, when European values appear more fragile than ever, education can play a key role in the management of the crisis and the prevention of discrimination. Greece has been one…
2017
Syria’s lost generation: Refugee education provision and societal security in an ongoing conflict emergency
Education policy is uniquely placed to address the soft security concerns of refugee resettlement, with educators equipped to recognise, react and respond to the unique education needs and welfare of the Syria’s next generation. An appropriate education policy response to the refugee crisis can reduce the risk of stigma, isolation, intra-community tensions, marginalisation and even radicalisation. The protracted nature of…
2016
Towards a well-being focussed language pedagogy: enabling arts-based, multilingual learning spaces for young people with refugee backgrounds
Abstract: The following article explores the conceptual background and pedagogical realities of establishing a well-being focussed language pedagogy in the context of an informal educational event called ‘Language Fest’. The event was organised as part of the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded large grant project ‘Researching Multilingually at the Borders of Language, the Body, Law and the State’ –…
2016
Migration and validation of non-formal and informal learning in Europe: Inclusion, exclusion or polarisation in the recognition of skills?
This article explores (1) the degree to which immigrants can be considered dominant groups in the area of validation of non-formal and informal learning and are subject to specific validation measures in 33 European countries; (2) whether country clusters can be identified within Europe with regard to the dominance of immigrants in the area of validation; and (3) whether validation…
2015