Observation
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
Creative (en)counterspaces: Engineering valuable contact for young refugees via solidarity arts workshops in Thessaloniki, Greece
This article explores the role of non-formal arts education in Thessaloniki, Greece for fostering contact considered valuable by the young refugee community. Drawing on accounts of their daily life, gathered over eight months of ethnographic fieldwork for a project on their post-15 educational participation, the article details how around the city, young refugees (aged 15-25 years) experience conflicted encounters involving…
2023
Where do Critical Pedagogy and Language Needs Analysis meet? English as an Additional Language for Adult Refugees and Migrants in Greece: A Case Study
Background. Language classes organized for adult refugees and migrants are heterogeneous. Students in these educational settings differ across a number of various aspects, including language competences, educational background and levels of literacy. Seen through the Critical Pedagogy lens language is considered not simply as a means to express or communicate, but as a product constructed by the ways language learners…
2023
Restoring Children’s Right to Education during and after War The Case of Ukraine
The need to protect children in armed conflicts has become urgent, especially since the 1990s , is now outstanding in the war in Ukraine. Among the violations against children in Ukraine that were identified by the UN Secretary General in 2005, were attacks on schools , hospitals. This article discusses the question of how the violation of the right to…
2023
Implementation and quality of an early childhood education program for newly arrived refugee children in Germany: an observational study
Early childhood education [ECE] can foster the social-emotional adjustment and development of young refugee children. Still, the large numbers of newly arriving refugee families challenge the ECE capacities of host countries. In Germany, state authorities have subsidized flexible ECE programs for refugee children in response to this situation. The goal of this study was to examine the implementation and quality…
2023
The role of emotions in educational work with asylum-seeking and refugee children in culturally diverse classrooms
This article examines the role of emotions in educational work with asylum-seeking and refugee children by studying a specific case of teaching in culturally diverse classrooms. Using empirical data from various classroom contexts in Denmark based on teacher interviews and participant observations, the role of emotions is examined through a relational approach informed by, among others, Sara Ahmed. The analysis…
2023
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
Educators’ interactions with refugee pupils: knowledge, attitudes, and practices
The value of school for refugee and asylum seeking children is well established, in terms of their right to education under international law, their socio-emotional well-being, and their adaptation to living in a new country and culture. Yet there is a critical gap in our understanding of refugee education from the perspectives of educators – the people who interact with…
2022
Music facilitator experiences of working in asylum seeker centres: Complexities, dilemmas and opportunities
Accommodation centres for those seeking asylum present particular contexts in which to facilitate music making. Contextual and systemic difficulties abound. An exploration of a music project within six asylum seeker centres in Ireland is presented with a focus on the experiences of the four facilitators involved. Data are presented from facilitator reflective logs, researcher observations and recorded professional development sessions…
2022
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
An ecological, multilingual approach to language learning with newly reunited refugee families in Scotland
Although academic literature and Scotland's refugee integration strategy recommend multilingual, decolonising approaches, language classes for refugees in Scotland usually focus only on the target language (English) and are predominantly teacher-led. This paper argues that newly reunited refugee families can be better supported through an ecological, multilingual approach by presenting empirical data from a five-month teaching study using qualitative methods (semi-structured…
2022
The Life of Syrian Asylum-Seeking Children in a Temporary Shelter Centre in Turkey: An Ethnographic Study on Primary School Education
This research aims to describe primary school children’s life and education experiences who escaped from the war environment in Syria and took refuge in Turkey. The study was conducted with an ethnographic research design. The study participants comprised fourth-grade students, teachers, parents, and the close social circle of Syrian nationals who stayed in the temporary shelter in Turkey. Observation, interview,…
2022
Extending organizational socialization theory: Empirical evidence from volunteer work for refugees in France and Australia
How are volunteers who provide assistance to refugees socialized into their organizations? Known as the process through which newcomers evolve from organizational outsiders into insiders, socialization is particularly crucial among volunteers, as they often help vulnerable groups such as refugees. To examine this issue, which is critical to both scholars and practitioners, we draw on a large-scale qualitative study conducted…
2022
Feasibility of a randomised trial of Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) with refugee youth: results from a pilot of the Swedish UnaccomPanied yOuth Refugee Trial (SUPpORT)
Background: Although post-traumatic stress is prevalent among unaccompanied refugee minors (URM), there are few evidence-based psychological interventions for this group. Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) is a brief, manualised intervention for trauma-exposed youth, which has shown promising results in exploratory studies. The aim of the present study was to assess the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the…
2022
Educators’ positive practices with refugee pupils at two schools in England
Extensive evidence indicates that education is an integral part of the settling in process for refugee and asylum-seeking children. Furthermore, it has been suggested that positive teaching practice with refugee pupils should be asset-based and holistic in nature. The present study examines educators' positive practices with refugee pupils and explores factors that shape these practices. Data were collected through participant…
2022
The effects of COVID-19 on young refugees’ education and wellbeing: Insights from practitioners
This report presents practitioner-based insights from REUK’s experience supporting over 550 refugee and asylum-seeking children and young people through the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative consultations took place with 10 frontline staff members, who shared their observations on the educational and wellbeing challenges facing refugee students, aged 14-25. The report aims to highlight the experiences of refugee students to ensure that their…
2021
‘Refugees here and Finns there’ – categorisations of race, nationality, and gender in a Finnish classroom
Schools represent a central meeting place where societal inequalities are reproduced and questions of social justice become important. This study focuses on categorisations related to race, nationality, and gender in interactions in Finnish teaching environments, as well as teacher reflections on these situations. We discuss the implications of the categorisations on social justice and the role of the teacher in…
2021
Happy 18th? Unaccompanied minors and the transition to adulthood. An Italian case study
This qualitative study considers the interaction between the Italian migration regime and young male African migrants (age 14-21) who have made the precarious, illegalised journey to Italy, where they are bureaucratically labelled as ‘unaccompanied minors’. The thesis focuses in on what happens when these children become legally adult; examining how the idealised concept of ‘childhood’ has a bordering effect, dividing…
2021
The interaction between identity preservation and linguistic integration of immigrants: The case study of Eritreans in Switzerland
This study investigates the interaction between identity preservation and linguistic integration of Eritrean immigrants in the French speaking part of Switzerland. The focus is put on Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers, who have been in Switzerland between six months to three years. This research is guided by three main research questions: a) what are their language use? b) what are…
2021
School caringscapes: Understanding how time and space shape refugee and immigrant adolescents’ caring practices and wellbeing in Danish schools
Schools are increasingly cited as spaces of support for learners facing adversity. It is therefore not surprising that recent migration flows have contributed to a mushrooming of school-focused policies and interventions looking to promote the mental health and wellbeing of refugee and immigrant learners. In response to a research focus on how teachers, schools and school-based interventions care for the…
2021
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
Empowerment of the refugee migrant community through a cooperation project on art education in Greece
This article contributes to the inclusion of the refugee community located in Polykastro (Greece) through an art cooperation project between the University of Seville and the NGO Open Cultural Center. We suggest that art education promotes the full development of the individual and the community. This study examines the identification stage which took place in October 2019. Using a Logical…
2021
Linking refugee families with the host societies. A mixed-methods evaluation study of family education programmes in Germany (Creando vínculos entre las familias refugiadas y las sociedades de acogida. Una evaluación de métodos mixtos sobre los programas de educación familiar en Alemania)
This article examines the situations faced by refugee families in Germany and analyses the role of family education programmes in supporting their inclusion in society. We focus on two internationally implemented and licensed family education programmes, HIPPY and Opstapje, and an adapted three-month bridging format known as Welcome with IMPULS (WmI), all of which involve home visits and group meetings.…
2021
Schooling contexts of refugees at primary schools in two hotspots: comparison of italy and turkey [İlkokullardaki̇ mülteci̇leri̇n eğİti̇msel bağlamlari: İtalya ve türki̇ye karşilaştirmasi]
This study aimed to investigate refugee pupils’ schooling contexts, their social relationships with teachers and native peers in math, social studies, and native language courses at primary schools. The research is a combination of two parts that originated from the observations in Italy to highlight the refugees’ schooling contexts in classrooms, then followed by the part that took place in…
2021
Practicing critical media literacy education with/for young migrants: Lessons learned from a participatory action research project
During settlement, migrant youth negotiate between various transitional spaces, which include educational, mediated and transnational spaces. To what extent can critical media literacy education acknowledge and strengthen young migrants’ resilience? In this article, we evaluate the Netherlands-based participatory action research project Critical media literacy through making media. Gathered empirical data include participant observation in two classes, in-depth interviews with 3…
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
The role of civil society organisations in labour market integration of young immigrants in Sweden: An analysis of the organisation Right To Play
During the year of 2015 and the large migration wave that hit Europe, many unaccompanied young refugees came to Sweden. For this particular group, the challenge is to become integrated to the labour market in order to receive a permanent residency permit in Sweden after they graduate their upper secondary education. Over the past few years, it has become more…
2020
Between being and longing: Young former refugees’ experiences of place attachment and multiple belongings
This thesis focuses on young former refugees’ lived experiences of and reflections on processes of place attachment and negotiation of belonging in Norway. The analysis draws on a postcolonial understanding of migration and belonging, and is inspired by post-structuralism and critical phenomenology. The thesis analyses belonging from two perspectives: as a personal relationship to people and places, and as relationally…
2020
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
Young refugees’ pathways in(to) education. Teacher and student voices: Challenges, opportunities and dilemmas
This report addresses the findings of the qualitative research project Educational and psychosocial transitions encountered by young refugees upon resettlement in Norway (TURIN). The TURIN project is a substudy (3a) of the Nordic research project ‘Coming of Age in Exile’ (CAGE) (2015–2020) and has been conducted by researchers from the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS) and…
2020
Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children: Childhood, agency and integration
This thesis investigates the practices and understandings of integration of asylum-seekers, under 18, who arrive in the UK without parent, guardian or carer. The recognition of children as active participants in society is widespread across the social sciences, yet this critical enquiry into the integration of unaccompanied minors brings new understandings concerning the form and complexities of agency. Unaccompanied minors…
2020
Critical perspectives on social inclusion in integration education programs for adult migrants
This thesis explores the process of social inclusion of adult migrant learners enrolled in integration education programs. It reveals the Inclusectionalities denoting the intersections of inclusion and exclusion through which liminal spaces are revealed that position migrant students as between and betwixt belonging and othering. The study is based on research findings obtained during multiple case study fieldwork in Finland…
2020
Curriculum
Cognitive learning & development
Finland
Interview
Adult education & training
Integration & assimilation
Teachers & educational staff
Inclusion
English
Racism & discrimination
Equity & equality
Formal education
Tertiary education
Narrative analysis
Language education
Case study
Observation
Welcome and välkommen school administrators in the U.S. and Sweden responds to unexpected numbers of refugees in their rural communities
This exploratory, comparative study focuses on the leadership challenges encountered by American and Swedish school superintendents in communities that experienced an unexpected increase in the number of refugees being placed their towns. We focused the study on two small communities in northern Sweden and two communities in northern Vermont. Our study draws on social ecological systems theory to examine the…
2020
‘I can’t sit here and cry with you, I have to play’. Strategies by very young children in refugee collective accommodation
Little is known about the everyday life of very young children in refugee collective accommodation centres, hosted together with their parents. Access to high-quality provision of early education and care is not implemented. Against this background, the paper explores young children’s everyday life practices in these specific centres. This paper presents findings from an explorative ethnographic research project in refugee…
2020
Teaching practices, materials, and classroom climate in L2 classes offered to adult refugees and migrants in Greece
The present study aimed at investigating the teaching practices and materials, the challenges, as well as the classroom climate in Greek classes offered to adult refugees and migrants in three different regions in Greece. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the students and their teachers and classroom observations, which were analyzed through the content analysis method, in the…
2019
Use-values for inclusion: Mobilizing resources in popular education for newly arrived refugees in Sweden
In times of market reforms and international migration, the Swedish welfare model has been seriously challenged. In the context of the arrival of refugees in 2015–2017, the state turned to civil society in facing up to the challenges. In this article, we direct our attention to the Workers’ Educational Association’s (ABF) state-funded work with refugees, with a specific focus on…
2019
Jihadists and refugees at the theatre: Global conflicts in classroom practices in Sweden
In democratic societies schools have an obligation to address complex societal issues such as ethnic/religious tensions and social conflicts. The article reports an exploratory study of how theatre plays were used in upper-secondary schools to generate pedagogically relevant platforms for addressing the current Middle East conflicts and their impact on European societies in the context of religious education and civics.…
2019
The linguistic integration of refugees in Italy
The creation of laws regarding the linguistic integration of migrants has contributed to the change in Italian language teaching, which has had to adapt its materials and methodology to migrants. However, the specific case of refugees has not been specifically assessed, with the exception of experimentation with the Council of Europe toolkit for refugees. This paper aimed to study the…
2019
A bespoke model of inclusive education for new arrivals
This chapter begins with a portrait of life at Fern College, a bespoke post-16 provision for refugee and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. The chapter then explains the context for the development of this full-time provision, which is a pilot project whose holistic curriculum was heavily influenced and shaped by the theoretical concepts of safety, belonging and success. The chapter then analyses…
2020
Education and the search for safety
The chapter opens with an extract from Gare’s story, which illustrates the importance of the concept of safety through education for one refugee child. The chapter then offers a descriptive case study of Larkspur School, focusing on the practices and organisational structures that are in place to help refugee children experience a sense of safety. The case study portrait draws…
2020
Cooperative learning in swedish classrooms: Engagement and relationships as a focus for culturally diverse students
The ongoing refugee crisis makes intercultural competence and culturally responsive education crucial issues in schools. At the same time, increased migration poses new challenges for social cohesion in countries around the world. How schools and classrooms can be fair and inclusive in terms of experiences and outcomes for migrant and refugee students is therefore a key question. This paper will…
2020
Possibilities for a liberating pedagogy: A critical exploration of an Icelandic course for asylum seekers
Second-language learning courses that are often offered to asylum seekers provide a unique opportunity for a pedagogy of critique to be implemented. However, there is essentially no existing research in Iceland, and very little internationally, that considers the practicality of implementing a pedagogy of critique within second-language classrooms for asylum seekers. Moreover, the experiences of teachers and students within these…
2019
Critical inquiry into the education for refugee and migrant pupils: The construction of primary teachers’ practices in one city in Scotland
Schools and teachers play key roles in promoting positive re-settlement outcomes for refugees and migrants. As such, this requires schools and teachers to identify and respond to their diverse linguistic, cultural and emotional needs (Pastoor, 2015; Block et al., 2015; Hek, 2005). As a result, teacher roles can stem beyond their traditional expectations when presented with refugee and migrant pupils…
2019
Identiti(es) and investment in learning English: An ethnographic study of Syrian refugees in the UK
This PhD project explored the experiences of 14 adult Syrian refugee language learners, recently arrived in the North East of England, as they learned English and negotiated their sense of self in their new environment. It sought to uncover the ways in which identities, identity transformations, and relations of power were implicated in the Syrians' investment in learning English. Further,…
2019
In a new land: Mobile phones, amplified pressures and reduced capabilities
Framed within the theoretical lens of positive and negative security, this paper presents a study of newcomers to Sweden and the roles of mobile phones in the establishment of a new life. Using creative engagement methods through a series of workshops, two researchers engaged 70 adult participants enrolled into further education colleges in Sweden. Group narratives about mobile phone use…
2018
Denied inclusion of migration-related multilingualism: an ethnographic approach to a preparatory class for newly arrived children in Germany
This article reports on the initial findings from an ethnographic study conducted in a preparatory class for young refugees in Cologne, Germany. Focusing on the current language policy which aims to integrate newly arrived children into the German society through language assimilation in schools, this study examines how such policies (re)produce the monoglossic hegemony. We hold that language policies at…
2018
A case study of English-speaking native-born German public school educators’ experiences with refugee and immigrant students
Teachers worldwide are adapting to meet educational needs caused by increased immigration. Germany has many immigrant students and ranks high in international education. This case study investigated experiences of English-speaking native-born German educators in Germany’s public primary schools when responding to refugee and immigrant students. Experiences when responding means how educators interact with immigrant students in school settings and perceive…
2017
At the bridging point: tutoring newly arrived students in Sweden
In Sweden, tutoring in the mother tongue is a special support measure primarily intended for newly arrived students to facilitate their transition into the Swedish school system. Tutoring is premised on the collaboration between the class teacher, responsible for subject-related expertise, and the tutor, who contributes with knowledge of the student’s mother tongue and previous context of studies. In this…
2017
Turkey’s progress toward meeting refugee education needs the example of Syrian refugees [Türkiye’nin mülteci eğitimini karşılama düzeyi suriyeli mülteciler örneği]
Problem Statement: Historically, Turkey is an immigrant country. It has experienced various migration waves from Asia, Awrupa and Africa. Recently, Turkey has confronted a huge wave of migration. Turkey tries to meet many needs besides the educational needs of refugees, but there is not enough study on refugess in the field of educational sciences in Turkey. Purpose of the Study:…
2016
Shaping a future: An analysis of interaction in career counselling conversations with young migrants [Att skapa framtid: En analys av interaktionen i studie- och yrkesvägledande samtal med unga i migration]
This is an empirical study that aims to contribute to knowledge about the opportunities the career counselling conversation offers young migrants in shaping their future. Conversations play a central role in career counselling activities in Swedish schools; furthermore, the question of how the Swedish society promotes the inclusion of its immigrants has become an increasingly urgent issue. The study draws…
2015