Yes
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
Loneliness, lack of support, and educational challenges: Teachers’ experiences working with refugee children
For the first time, Lithuania has faced such a flow of refugee families with children, and it is natural that until now there is not enough experience and research in the education of refugee children in Lithuania. Until now, the focus has been on the integration and socialization of refugees, with very little attention paid to the education of refugee…
2025
Arrival infrastructures and refugee enrolment in higher education
Refugees enrolling in host country higher education can improve their position in the labour market. However, little is known about the patterns underlying enrolment, and existing studies have only examined explanations at the individual level. This is problematic because opportunities to enrol in education are also dependent upon structural factors, and by ignoring this, studies run the risk of depicting…
2025
Unpacking labels: A mental health perspective on refugee students in higher education and their geographies of belonging
The population of refugees and forced migrants is increasing worldwide, and there is an increasing portion who aspire to pursue higher education. This research paper highlights the gap in existing literature regarding the experiences of refugee students in universities and the best practices for supporting them. Utilising qualitative methods, this research includes media analyses and nine interviews from wellbeing teams…
2024
Imagining new ways of representing refugees – Teaching proposal
How to build an educational proposal that allows bringing awareness of the insidious influence of media imagery on our consciences? How to ethically apply this teaching proposal to the contemporary human odysseys of those considered “illegal”? I decided to create a teachingproposal with two goals: • Revealing the impact of mainstream images of migration in the minds. • Finding alternative…
2024
Education for late arrivals: Examining education provision for displaced young people arriving in the UK late in the education system
This report presents the ndings from a research study that examined the experiences of displaced young people, aged 13-19, who arrived in the UK late in the education system – referred to as late arrivals. The research study used a mixed methods approach and reected the experiences of more than 400 individuals, predominantly charity, education and local government stakeholders. It…
2024
Rupture, loneliness and education: Experiences of refugee and asylum-seeking people
This paper explores the intrinsic links between rupture, loneliness, resilience and agency within the experiences of refugee and asylum-seeking people, drawing on a wider study conducted in Scotland during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. The paper then posits education, in its diverse forms, as a potential anchor, providing a sense of structure, belonging and purpose, thus serving as…
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
Community building and integration through education
This chapter looks at different forms of integration in Germany and the ability of informal, less-traditional settings to facilitate individual connections and interpersonal exchange on an equal footing. The author draws on fieldwork involving speaking to newcomers, observing them in various settings, and conducting both formal and informal interviews. A language class, a community learning circle, and a walking tour…
2024
Problematizing integration
This chapter looks at the challenges currently preventing the implementation of integrative education in Cyprus. The ethnonationalist educational systems of North and South Cyprus are considered separately. Recent changes in political discourse and their distinct historical contexts, especially after the 1974 war, are described. The author also explores both authorities’ common use of history education as a political and ideological…
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
A day in the educational life of a teenage refugee in Thessaloniki, Greece
This chapter takes the form of a thought experiment, in which the reader is invited to consider the case of Rasoul, a fictional sixteen-year-old refugee in Thessaloniki, Greece. His narrative acts as an amalgamation of the findings from an observational study seeking to understand why only half of the eligible migrant youth population in Greece is enrolled in post-compulsory education.…
2024
Applied ethnopoetic analysis, poetic inquiry and a practice of vulnerability: uncovering and undoing the vulnerabilities of refugees and asylum seekers seeking access to Higher Education
This paper discusses the experience of four refugee and asylum seekers seeking access to Higher Education. The methodological framework intersects applied ethnopoetic analysis and poetic inquiry, underpinned by Freirean, Translanguaging dialogue. The approach foregrounds participants’ voices to address a structural refusal to recognise the repertoires of multilingual marginalised participants. The paper deals with two types of vulnerability: vulnerability imposed on…
2024
Safety, belonging and success in education for refugees in Europe: A systematic review
This systematic review aims to explore refugees' educational access, experiences and outcomes in Europe since 2015. The review follows a systematic process of reviewing and synthesising texts compiled in the Hub for Education for Refugees in Europe (HERE) Knowledge Base to fill gaps in knowledge about the educational trajectories of learners of refugee and forced migrant backgrounds who have arrived…
2024
Perceptions of Ukrainian and other refugees among eighth-graders in Slovenia: Characteristics of students towards inclusion of refugee students in mainstream schools
Background: There is a lack of empirical data on the school-age population's attitudes toward refugees. Despite this, the attention being paid to the integration of refugee students in schools worldwide is increasing. Objectives: First, the present study aims to explore the attitudes of eighth-grade students in Slovenia regarding refugees and to investigate whether there are differences in their attitudes based…
2024
ESOL classes as trauma-sensitive physical spaces
I have worked in ESOL for the best part of 15 years now in the west of Scotland in a number of educational contexts engaging learners with ESOL needs from a variety of backgrounds. I have often thought of working in ESOL as akin to completing a 1000-piece jigsaw; having to work with an infinite number of variables, fitting together…
2024
Performing the good (im)migrant: Inclusion and expectations of linguistic assimilation
This paper analyzes how language is framed as a route to full inclusion, particularly for unaccompanied asylum-seeking students labelled as disabled. It is based on a qualitative study carried out in the Italian city of Rome, which, although cosmopolitan, is often characterised by nationalistic political landscapes. The manuscript reveals how institutional biases (re: race, ability, and migration) about unaccompanied forced…
2024
School leaders’ experiences and perceptions of the movement of Ukrainian child refugees into Irish schools
In March 2022, Ireland's minister for education announced that Irish schools were taking in student refugees from the Ukraine. This study explores Irish school leaders' experiences of this transition through qualitative research incorporating semi-structured interviews with six school leaders. Findings reveal a phased process focussing initially on introducing students to the school community followed by the introduction of students into…
2024
Stuffing the refugee education pipeline: The integration process and the exclusion of refugees from knowledge production in a Western destination country
The number of forcibly displaced people, including refugees, has been increasing exponentially over the last few decades. Refugees settled in Western destination countries face several challenges in successfully accessing and participating in higher education and in becoming knowledge producers. This is in sharp contrast to uncritical assumptions that refugees settled in these countries are better off in terms of pursing…
2024
The social and linguistic integration experiences of Ukrainian refugees through community and urban education courses in Iceland
This study explores Ukrainian refugees’ perspectives on and experiences with courses aimed at developing L2 skills and facilitating social integration in Iceland. The theoretical framework draws on tenets of experiential education which emphasise learning through direct experience, active engagement, and reflection. The data originates from group interviews with seven Ukrainian refugees and individual interviews with two teachers of the courses.…
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
Responding to the needs of refugee learners in schools in Wales during the pandemic
This research investigated how schools and staff in Wales were able to respond to the needs of refugee learners and their families during COVID-19 school lockdowns. Interviews were conducted with a purposive sample (n = 12) of educators working with refugee learners in primary and secondary schools across Wales, including headteachers, class teachers, English as an Additional Language (EAL) specialists,…
2024
Experiences of language in migration: Communicating well-being in Finland and Germany
This study investigated adult learners’ experiences with the language of their new living environment. Migrants and refugees’ personal goals for language learning in their specific life situations were captured in in-depth interviews conducted as part of ethnographically oriented field studies in Finland and Germany. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was chosen as a structured approach to scrutinizing complex lived experiences. The…
2024
Biding time with close strangers: Teachers’ sensemaking of newly arrived refugee youths’ educational aspirations in the Norwegian context
There is a widely recognised disjunction between the policies and practices of inclusive education for minority-language students. Using interview data, we analyse how teachers mediate tensions between their newly arrived refugee youth (NARY) students’ aspirations for higher education and limited opportunities to tailor teaching within Norway’s unitary educational system. The teachers are sympathetic to their students’ struggles with past experiences…
2024
Asylum spaces as spaces of nonrecognition: The ambiguities of welcoming and educating asylum-seeking children in Norway
Asylum has historically been a refuge for the persecuted. However, it now faces a fundamental antagonism between asylum and law, which often overlooks the rights of children seeking asylum. This paper explores the historical concept of asylum law from its inception in antiquity and the Roman era and its entanglements with the education of children. It also examines asylum’s relevance…
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
English in displacement: Language learning and test preparation experiences of refugees and asylum seekers
In an effort to better support adult and refugee English language learners, this paper aims to focus on understanding the needs and experiences of one specific group, that is, refugee and asylum seeker healthcare professionals (RASHPs), based in the United Kingdom. RASHPs tend to be highly educated and experienced learners. One of their main objectives is to acquire high levels…
2024
Teacher voices on teaching students with a refugee background in Greece
Global developments on migration have created new challenges in many education systems with regard to the inclusion and education of students with a refugee background during the last decade. This study aims to investigate teachers’ experiences and views on teaching students with a refugee background in Greek public schools. Following a qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine teachers.…
2024
The Toisto-method: Language learning experiences of newly arrived Ukrainians in Finland
This study focuses on how newly arrived Ukrainian refugees to Finland have experienced learning Finnish language with a method called Toisto (’Repetition’). Toisto is a modeling-based method that was developed to enable volunteers to teach the basics of Finnish to newcomers, as linguistic first aid. The Toisto-method is built on the ideas of direct method, communicative teaching, suggestopedic atmosphere, and…
2024
Kritické temporality: Vzdělávací trajektorie dětí uprchlíků z Ukrajiny [Critical temporality: Educational trajectories of refugee children from Ukraine]
The article deals with the issue of education of children from refugee families. The concept of critical temporalities provides a framework for thinking about these young people's threatened present and future. The aim is to show how the temporalities of different institutions and spaces interact and navigate the life courses of young people at one of the key moments in…
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
Locked-down learning amid COVID-19: Young refugees in Greece and their supporters co-navigating a new crisis
Greece, and the hundreds of thousands of refugees currently trapped in the country, are no strangers to ‘crisis’. Financial collapse and migration mismanagement were already severely impacting newcomers’ ability to participate in education before COVID-19 lockdowns made the situation even more dire. Based on interviews from a study on young refugees’ (aged 15–25) engagement with education in Greece, this paper…
2024
Visual communication bridging intercultural barriers: Collaborative methods supporting the social inclusion of young refugees
This paper explores the possibilities of graphic languages in an intercultural context while analysing the potential of creative methods when working with refugee youth. The practice-based aspect of this research is undertaken with Open Doors Hungary, a community-based design project that creates a programme for unaccompanied refugee minors. The aim of Open Doors is to help young refugees integrate into…
2024
Polish language learning practices and strategies used by multilingual migrants and war refugees from Ukraine
Increased cross-border mobility caused by the Russian assault on Ukraine encourages specialists involved in teaching Polish as a foreign and second language to undertake new research projects that revise existing psycholinguistic and glottopedagogical assumptions. The current situation highlights the significance of continued efforts to support the teaching of Polish as a second language, developed since the second decade of the…
2024
Pull-out classes for newly arrived students from Ukraine–An obstacle to social inclusion
Building on earlier developments in the field of inclusive education research, creating a sense of belonging and togetherness is seen as a necessary goal for schools, especially in times of crisis and unexpected outbreaks of war. Against this backdrop, the current qualitative study sheds light on Ukrainian refugee students’ self‑perceived social inclusion after their entry into the Austrian education system.…
2024
CLIL on the spot: Migrant education in Greece
Introduction: This study aims to explore the instructional strategies employed by Greek teachers in primary and secondary school classes attended by large numbers of refugee and migrant students. As there is not a clear methodological ‘blueprint’ for CLIL that teachers are required to follow, our study will investigate which of the principles framed for the CLIL approach are in fact…
2024
Linguistic and cultural interference in teaching Polish as a foreign language to war refugees from Ukraine (Survey results)
An anonymous survey was conducted in June 2023 among refugees from Ukraine who participated in an intensive Polish language course aimed at preparing them for employment in Poland. The research group consisted of 89 people. The research results indicate that a solid interference can be observed among Ukrainians learning Polish, both linguistically and culturally. The respondents noticed numerous phonological, lexical…
2024
Importance of personality traits for destination-language acquisition: Evidence for refugees in Germany
We analyze the role of personality traits in destination-language proficiency among recent refugees in Germany. While personality traits have been shown to predict educational outcomes, they have been largely overlooked for immigrants’ language acquisition. We extend a well-established model of destination-language proficiency and assume that personality traits’ effects manifest through the channels of exposure, efficiency, and incentives. Using longitudinal data…
2024
Did COVID-19 put language certificate acquisition on hold? Uptake and outcomes of language training amongst refugees
Most highly developed countries invest considerably in language training programmes for refugees, which are assumed to facilitate economic, social, and cultural integration. Although recent research has turned to particular patterns of host country language acquisition amongst refugees, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has hitherto remained understudied. Consequently, this article assesses changes in refugees’ uptake and outcomes of language training…
2024
Inclusive education for refugee students from Ukraine—An exploration of differentiated instruction in German schools
Currently, refugee Ukrainian learners are attending German mainstream schools, leading to an even more diverse student population. Given that the German school system is committed to provide inclusive education for all, this study aims to examine how teachers address Ukrainian students learning needs by means of differentiated instruction. To this end, a qualitative study was conducted in which eight elementary…
2024
The relationship of the three “As” of adaptation: Acculturation, adjustment, and academic engagement of Ukrainian war refugees in Estonia’s schools
The article reports on a qualitative study of how schools in Estonia were incorporating Ukrainian war refugee students in the spring of 2023. Observations and interviews were conducted in 7 schools with teachers, school administrators, psychological support staff, refugee students in grades 7–12, and their parents. The study found that schools were balancing three overlapping goals: (1) to ensure psychological…
2024
Scale of perceptions of future primary school teachers on unaccompanied foreign minors: Exploratory and confirmatory analysis
Unaccompanied foreign minors (UFMs) face stigmatisation and social exclusion in Spanish territory. Given their growing presence in schools, it is crucial that trainee teachers have valid and real information about these students in order to provide equitable, personalised, and quality education to all their students in the near future and to mitigate any uninformed prejudices and stigma developed before they…
2024
Students’ learning outcomes from being a mentor in the Nightingale Mentoring Programme for Adult Refugees in Norway
Purpose: This study aimed to identify and describe how mentoring influences the mentor, by operationalising and specifying learning outcomes involved in mentoring. Design/methodology/approach: This study used an action research approach, by uniting theory and practice to explore new ways of learning and evolve the field of practice in education. Thematic analysis was used to identify and organise patterns or themes…
2024
Assessing polish teachers’ competencies in working with Ukrainian refugee students: A comparative study across different contexts
The rapid influx of refugee students from Ukraine has posed challenges to the education system and teachers in Poland. In the current study, we aimed to determine how teachers in Polish schools, at various stages of education, assess their own competencies to work with Ukrainian refugee students. The sample consisted of 684 teachers who declared that they worked with refugee…
2024
Opening Polish schools to Ukrainian refugee children and providing them with spiritual support: Survey results
Following the Russian Federation’s attack on Ukraine, many women and children were forced to flee their homeland out of fear for lives. Poland, as a country bordering Ukraine, has accepted the most refugees, compared to other EU states. Soon after, Ukrainian school-age children began their education in Polish schools, but the process of their enrolment and adaptation to a new…
2024
Non-formal education for the inclusion of unaccompanied migrant children in Italy
The number of unaccompanied migrant children (UMC) that landed in Italy on a daily basis was 14,044 in 2022 and 18,820 in 2023 (as stated by the Italian Ministry of Interior). This research study examines Law 47/2017, which implements the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It ponders inclusive educational models other than formal learning by…
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
Exploring refugee school teachers’ roles in culturally diverse adult classrooms in Greece
This study examined the experiences of 15 refugee school teachers in Athens, focusing on their strategies for working with culturally diverse adult students. Through semi-structured interviews, the research investigated the evaluation of intercultural education that is imparted to adult refugees, the challenges in the program’s implementation for adult refugees, the importance and the necessity of intercultural competence for instructors when…
2024