Teachers & educational staff
Tutoring project for children from a refugee community: tutor perspectives
Background: The question of how best to support children who are refugees to resettle and thrive in a new country is important and complex. One of the many challenges experienced by such children is disrupted education. It is widely recognised that a sense of belonging and integration within a new school and community are key to enhancing children’s chances of…
2022
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…
2022
THE ONLINE COMMUNICATION OF ART-BASED EDUCATION ORGANISATIONS WORKING WITH UNDERAGE REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS IN EUROPE
Communication is one of the critical issues organisations working with migrants and refugees in Europe must face. Our research question is how do art-based education organisations’ projects working with underage migrants and refugees communicate online? There is a gap concerning three key discursive approaches that we wish to tackle when communicating about these populations: miserabilism, even-image, and gender-neutrality. We propose…
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
Teachers’ ideological dilemmas: lessons learned from a Language Introduction Program in Sweden
In this qualitative study, we draw on theory and practice in relation to the concepts of fixity and fluidity in language education (i.e. the simultaneity of bounded, named languages; and the need to transcend language boundaries). We use data from focus group interviews to investigate the entangled ideological dilemmas facing four teachers in a Language Introduction Programme in an upper…
2022
Stateless in School: The ‘discomfort’ of Kurdish asylum seekers
The lives of children seeking asylum and refuge are complex; invariably both transnational and intersectional. Their educational needs and schooling experiences are often overlooked or lack nuanced understandings. This article focusses on Kurdish children seeking asylum in Germany. Qualitative data is presented to uncover the perceptions and understandings of schools, teachers and parents of children living through their unique educational…
2022
Refugee-background students negotiating academic literacy practices in L2: a dialogical and nexus analytical approach
This study explored the academic literacies of multilingual refugee-background students who had completed some higher education studies before migrating to Finland. Previous studies have paid little attention to students like them. The research context is a pilot training programme integrating language and content studies. Applying dialogical and nexus analytical perspectives, the study investigated the sense-making processes of two key participants…
2022
Chances and discrimination in dual vocational training of refugees and immigrants in Germany
This article depicts the obstacles within the vocational education for trainees with escape and migration experience in Germany. The structure of the highly formalised vocational training system in Germany is based on the assumption of a ‘normal case’ of an educational biography. However, this neither applies to the often-broken educational pathways of refugees and immigrants, nor to an increasing number…
2022
A Music Therapy Intervention for Refugee Children and Adolescents in Schools: A Process Evaluation Using a Mixed Method Design
Refugee children and adolescents have often experienced negative or traumatic events, which are associated with stress and mental health problems. A specific music therapy intervention is developed for this group in school settings. The aim of the present study was to set the first steps in the implementation of this intervention. A process evaluation was performed using a mixed method…
2022
Refugee education in Europe: Learning after lockdown
Schools and higher education systems worldwide are finishing their third academic year under disruptions caused by COVID-19. The pandemic has had unprecedented effects on education. During peak infection periods, many countries mandated school and university closures for weeks or months, forcing hundreds of millions of teachers, parents, children and students around the globe to stay at home and switch to…
2022
“Coming to Norway as a refugee can be misinterpreted as a bad thing” Exploring the Individual Educational Experiences of African Youth in Norway
There is a lot of research written about unaccompanied minors in Norway, but this thesis is concerned with the individual education experiences of African unaccompanied minors. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the experiences of African unaccompanied minors regarding access to education opportunities in Norway. Based on a review of literature on unaccompanied minors, by using four theories:…
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
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
Planning for Belonging: Including Refugee and Asylum Seeker Students
The education of students from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds is an international concern. It calls for inspired teachers, sensitive interventions, and informed leadership. This writing discusses the views of students, teachers, general staff, parents, and the principal of a primary school in regional New South Wales, Australia regarding the sense of belonging that is so critical to the very…
2022
How schools in Germany shape and impact the lives of adolescent refugees in terms of mental health and social mobility
Schools are relevant settings for supporting refugee adolescents' mental health. As education and migration are important social determinants of health, we aim to integrate the qualitative findings of our mixed-methods study into a broader discussion regarding the role of schools and the potential effects on refugee adolescents' lives and mental health, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.…
2022
Thrown in at the deep end? Perceptions of burdens, gains, and contributions to the integration of refugee students among teachers with(out) target group-specific professional knowledge
In Germany, young migrants and refugees whose German language skills are not sufficient for attending regular classes at school are assigned to so-called “preparation classes”. As the name implies, the main objective of these classes is to teach German language skills and thereby prepare students for regular classes or vocational education and training. Teachers in these classes face special challenges:…
2022
Challenges in the Medical and Psychosocial Care of the Paediatric Refugee—A Systematic Review
Background: After the invasion of Ukraine, neighbouring countries were forced to find systemic solutions to provide medical care to those fleeing the war, including children, as soon as possible. In order to do this, it is necessary to know the communication problems with refugee minors and find proposals for their solutions. Methods: A systematic review of the literature from 2016…
2022
Mental health problems in refugee and immigrant primary school children in Flanders, Belgium
Background: European countries face the challenge of promoting refugee and immigrant children’s well-being within their host communities, invoking the necessity of adequate mental health assessment. This study aims to contribute to document the psychosocial well-being of primary school refugee and non-refugee immigrant children in Flanders, Belgium. Method: A total of 120 children (8–12 years old) with migration backgrounds participated in the…
2022
Teacher agency for social justice in telecollaboration: locating agentive positioning in virtual language interaction
In this study, we draw data from a tripartite telecollaborative project that involved 112 teacher candidates (TCs) from university-based teacher education programmes in France, Turkey, and the USA. Theoretically, we rely on Pantić’s (2015. A model for study of teacher agency for social justice. Teachers and Teaching 21, no. 6: 759–778) model of teacher agency for social justice and use…
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
Experiences of forced migration: learning for educators and learners: a report
A combination of structural barriers, inadequate student welfare provision and the absence of psycho-social and academic support make higher education access for forcibly displaced students challenging. Many of these students will have experienced many stressful and potentially traumatic events that may have or may continue to impact their mental health and wellbeing. This article draws on reflections by educators and…
2022
Opening up the University: Teaching and Learning with Refugees
Through a series of empirically and theoretically informed reflections, Opening Up the University offers insights into the process of setting up and running programs that cater to displaced students. Including contributions from educators, administrators, practitioners, and students, this expansive collected volume aims to inspire and question those who are considering creating their own interventions, speaking to policy makers and university…
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
Mobile Learning Applications for Refugees: A Systematic Literature Review
The proliferation of mobile devices in everyday life since the end of the 20th century has led to mobile applications for educational purposes and the creation of the research field of mobile learning. Despite the extended research interest on the effectiveness of this field, there is limited research on mobile learning for various social groups, such as refugees, students with…
2022
Teachers’ Global Perceptions and Views, Practices and Needs in Multicultural Settings
Multiculturalism and globalization are common traits of western societies, and affect the way people interact and communicate. In such a context, this study comes to investigate teachers’ perceptions, practices and needs towards global and intercultural competences. This study was designed and implemented in order to shed light on major issues which are associated with the context of global competences as…
2022
Justice, What a Dream!—Mapping Intersections of Sustainability and Inclusion
This paper takes on the important concepts of inclusion and sustainability, in both their broad and discursive understandings, to map out the interrelations that teachers, who work within different areas of the Austrian school system, make between different, key aspects of their work and organization. The complex intersections of school organization, sustainability, and inclusion were analyzed following a situational analysis…
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
Refugees from Ukraine: support to school children and teachers: April 2022
Since the start of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, more than 3 million people have fled the country, with UN estimates suggesting that more than half of them are children. To respond to this unprecedented situation, the EU agreed in record time to activate the Temporary Protection Directive to help people fleeing war in Ukraine. The…
2022
School Adaptation of Students Under Temporary Protection (From the Eyes of Turkish and Syrian Students) [Geçici Koruma Altında Bulunan Öğrencilerin Okula Uyumları (Türk ve Suriyeli Öğrencilerin Gözünden)*]
This study aims to examine the school adjustment of Syrian children who were obliged to leave their country for different reasons and who are under temporary protection in Turkey according to the opinions of Turkish and Syrian students. The study, which was carried out in accordance with qualitative research methods, has participants consisting of 10 Turkish and 10 Syrian students…
2022
Grappling with the transformative potential of translanguaging pedagogy in an elementary school with Syrian refugees in post-coup Turkey
Translanguaging pedagogies have been documented to support language minoritized students in various ways, such as supporting their academic learning, affirming their bi-/multilingual and cultural identities, and disrupting the colonial and monolingual ideologies dominating school curricula. Yet, very few scholars have pointed to the existing barriers in schools and societies hindering educators from fully achieving the transformative potential of translanguaging pedagogy.…
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
Socio-Emotional Problems and Learning Skills of Roma and Recently Arrived Refugee Children in German Elementary Schools
Background: In Germany, many recently arrived and minority families live in multi-ethnic, high-poverty districts. Multiple risk factors threaten their children s development. Aims: We examined the socio-emotional problems of these children in relation to their academic learning skills and executive functioning. Method: We compared teacher-rated socio-emotional problems of n = 112 Roma children (90% foreign-born), n = 101 refugee children…
2022
Inclusion teacher qualifications as a basis for refugee education: A framework review according to views of turkish teachers
The present study aimed to discuss the teacher qualifications necessary to create inclusive education environments towards Syrian students who are under the status of temporary protection and educated in Turkey on the basis of the experiences and views of teachers. In the study, the phenomenological design was preferred as it was attempted to address the concept of inclusiveness specific to…
2022
Turkish education policies and practices: inclusive or exclusionary?
This research aims to determine the opinions of teachers and educational administrators about how inclusive the Turkish education system is and attempts to provide a profound picture of inclusive education policies and practices in Turkey. In this qualitative-phenomenological study, sampling technique was used. Thirteen general education teachers and seven administrators, who participated in inclusive education in-service teacher training activities, constituted…
2022
The relationships among psychological resilience, intercultural sensitivity and empathetic tendency among teachers of Syrian refugee children in Turkey
Within the provision of education, teachers typically have the closest contact and play a key role in meeting the needs of refugee children through effective communication to achieve culturally qualified education and the provision of more humanistic approach. This descriptive cross-sectional design study is aimed to explore the relationships among psychological resilience, intercultural sensitivity and empathetic tendency in teachers of…
2022
The Playground Perception of Syrian Refugee Children
Drawings by children are key to understanding their experiences in various aspects such as perceptions of playgrounds and the events that happen in them. This study aims to reveal Syrian refugee children's perceptions of playgrounds. In the study, drawings of children who live in two different cities in Turkey were collated. The results showed that children draw slides, swings, and…
2022
‘First and foremost, we are teachers, not refugees’: Requalification measures for internationally trained teachers affected by forced migration
This article looks deeper into the educational careers and barriers faced by internationally trained teachers with refugee backgrounds. Highly skilled teachers experience among others formal barriers due to the two-subject regime in Austria. This study analyses the barriers and measures that disable or enable the re-qualification of internationally trained teachers who wish to continue their profession in Austria. Guided by…
2022
Teachers in Transition. A Biographical Perspective on Transnational Professionalisation of Internationally Educated Teachers in Germany
Teachers trained in one country are often not allowed to serve as teachers in another country because their teacher’s license is not recognised as equivalent. The barriers these teachers have to overcome in order to work in their profession again are high and often require further (full) teacher training at the university. The paper provides insights into the conditions for…
2022
Effectiveness of Promotive and Preventive Psychosocial Interventions on Improving the Mental Health of Finnish-Born and Immigrant Adolescents
Background: Schools are considered natural environments in which to enhance students’ social–emotional skills and mental health in general, but they can be especially important for students with refugee and immigrant backgrounds. The current study tested the effectiveness of two school-based interventions in enhancing the mental health and wellbeing of adolescents of native, refugee, and immigrant backgrounds. It further analyzed the…
2022
The war in Ukraine has revealed a hierarchy of victims
The invasion of Ukraine is an illegal act of aggression that violates the UN Charter and has targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure. It has resulted in the gravest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War and neighbouring European states have responded to the crisis with generosity and open borders. However, some of the Western media coverage of the…
2022
Practitioners’ perspectives and needs: Developing skills to support unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASCs) in experiencing ‘belonging’ in English educational spaces
This article builds on Yuval-Davis’s (2006, 2007, 2011) theories of belonging, in order to relay how practitioners can support unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASCs) in developing a positive sense of belonging in educational spaces in England. To do so, the article synthesises literature surrounding theories of belonging, UASCs’ educational access in England and practices supporting UASCs’ educational attainment and sense of…
2022
Supporting languages: The socio-educational integration of migrant and refugee children and young people
Recent unprecedented levels of migration, while adding cultural and linguistic diversity, places increased pressure on host countries to develop strategies for effectively integrating new arrivals into society. This article draws on data from IMMERSE which uses participatory and co-creation methodologies with children, parents, educators and policy-makers to examine and develop key indicators of migrant children's socio-educational integration. It discusses Irish…
2022
Home-Based Early Education for Refugee and Local Children via Mothers: A Model of Contextually Sensitive Early Intervention
Contextually sensitive home-visiting programs can foster positive parenting and enhance child development and learning especially among vulnerable families exposed to armed conflict, forced displacement, and poverty. Developed based on ecological model and family resilience theories, the Home-Based Early Childhood Education (HECE) program provided an 11-week home-visiting intervention to Syrian refugee and local Turkish mothers in impoverished host communities of Turkey.…
2022
Teacher candidates’ ideological tensions and covert metaphors about Syrian refugees in Turkey: Critical discourse analysis of telecollaboration
This study draws data from an asynchronous discussion to which teacher candidates (TCs) from France, Turkey, and USA contributed as part of their participation in a semester-long telecollaboration in 2017. The analysis focused on the contributions of TCs (n=34) from Turkey and explored how they represented Syrian refugees in their responses to a question about refugees and immigration in their…
2022
Second Language Assessment Issues in Refugee and Migrant Children’s Integration and Education: Assessment Tools and Practices for Young Students with Refugee and Migrant Background in Greece
European countries—Greece included—recognize the fact that the language of schooling in the host country constitutes the first step for the newcomer children’s reception and integration. Greece, as a dominant receiving country, has adopted a top-level policy for its educational system. Considering the above, this research paper presents and analyzes the assessment tests and practices that educators have access to for…
2022
Effectiveness of psychosocial school interventions in Finnish schools for refugee and immigrant children, “Refugees Well School” in Finland (RWS-FI): a protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial
Background: Schools are natural environments in which to enhance young people’s social and emotional skills, mental health, and contact between diverse groups, including students from refugee and immigrant backgrounds. A layered or tiered provision of services is recommended as it can be effective to meet the needs of war-affected adolescents who variably show mental health problems (such as posttraumatic stress…
2022
Aalto S.
Andersen A.
Derluyn I.
Hilden P.K.
Kankaanpää R.
Lepistö R.
Peltonen K.
Punamäki R.-L.
Soye E.
Vänskä M.
Verelst A.
Watters C.
Cognitive learning & development
Finland
Randomised control trial
Socio-emotional learning & development
Integration & assimilation
Caregivers
Teachers & educational staff
English
Access & participation
Resilience & adaptation
Mental health & psychosocial well-being
Intervention
Experimental & quasi-experimental study
‘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
School-based support for Syrian refugee pupils in Northern Ireland
Over the past 5 years Northern Ireland has welcomed approximately 1,900 Syrian refugees, including almost 700 school-aged children and young people, through the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme (VPRS). Many of these have experienced war and persecution, and a range of additional adversities during and post-migration. Alongside language proficiency, ‘trauma’ has been the most common challenge reported by school staff to…
2021
Barriers to inclusion of minority language minors in Norwegian and Dutch education: A comparative analyses of various reported voices connected to education
With the increase of immigrants in Norway and the Netherlands, it is increasingly important to have an inclusive education system that sets every minor up to succeed. This comparative research considers the barriers of inclusion to quality education for minority language minors in Norway and the Netherlands. Using UNESCO’s (2008b) inclusion framework, the content of 70 media sources were analysed…
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