Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students: What Every Educator Should Know (Springer Texts in Education) 3031338332, 9783031338335

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Springer Texts in Education

Thomas DeVere Wolsey Ibrahim M. Karkouti   Editors

Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students What Every Educator Should Know

Springer Texts in Education

Springer Texts in Education delivers high-quality instructional content for graduates and advanced graduates in all areas of Education and Educational Research. The textbook series is comprised of self-contained books with a broad and comprehensive coverage that are suitable for class as well as for individual self-study. All texts are authored by established experts in their fields and offer a solid methodological background, accompanied by pedagogical materials to serve students such as practical examples, exercises, case studies etc. Textbooks published in the Springer Texts in Education series are addressed to graduate and advanced graduate students, but also to researchers as important resources for their education, knowledge and teaching. Please contact Yoka Janssen at Yoka.Janssen@ springer.com or your regular editorial contact person for queries or to submit your book proposal.

Thomas DeVere Wolsey · Ibrahim M. Karkouti Editors

Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students What Every Educator Should Know

Editors Thomas DeVere Wolsey Salou, Spain

Ibrahim M. Karkouti The American University in Cairo New Cairo, Egypt

ISSN 2366-7672 ISSN 2366-7680 (electronic) Springer Texts in Education ISBN 978-3-031-33833-5 ISBN 978-3-031-33834-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Preface

Neither of the editors of this volume have been refugees. We have not been forced to flee for economic or security reasons. Not once did we ever have to wonder if by leaving home, we might never see our families or friends again. Even trying to imagine that scenario is difficult for us, but we have worked with refugees for many years who are forced to do just those things. Together, we are trying to do what we can to fill life with some hope for those who are displaced and at the mercy of whatever agency will agree to help. Of the many people we know who work with refugees and other displaced people, among the most helpful, among those who are on the right in the thick of offering hope, are teachers and other educators. It is for them we edited this book with the combined talents of authors from around the world. Tom and Ibrahim worked with and still work with refugees, and we know that hope is possible for those who have every reason not to have hope. Tom’s work with refugees from the wars in Southeast Asia in the 1970s to Ibrahim’s research with teachers and students of the Syrian war of the present day led us to wonder how we could do more to help. Over a pizza (well, two pizzas because we really like pizza), the idea for a book to help educators understand what they could do to nurture hope when the students they serve do not speak their language and no translator can be found. We know teachers step up for the challenging work every day, and we know that whenever they sense a student in need, they just simply do all they can. With that in mind, this volume took shape, initially on the lid of a pizza box. Now, with our able authors, it is the book you see on your screen or hold in your hands. While teachers (and from here on out, we mean all educators and educator leaders) want to do all they can, they often face a vacuum of information when a student arrives at their doors who does not speak their language, who has faced horrible traumas we might not even be able to imagine, who still comes to school though the culture and the curriculum are hopelessly foreign. It is for them that we offer this book. We want them to know that they, too, are not alone, and that others can help them, through the pages of this book and many other resources. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the assistance and support of all those who have helped shape the direction of this volume, lent their expertise, and provided

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the support that offers hope to the refugee students and their families. In particular, we are grateful to Springer for seeing the need for a book like this one. Natalie Rieborn, Helen van der Stelt, Anita van der Linden-Rachmat, Evelien Bakker, and Marianna Georgouli have been with us every step of the way. To them and to our dear authors and all the educators who do all they can and then do so much more to inspire hope and keep it alive, we say thank you. Catalonia, Spain New Cairo, Egypt

Thomas DeVere Wolsey Ibrahim M. Karkouti

Contents

1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas DeVere Wolsey and Ibrahim M. Karkouti

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Part I Restoring Hope in School 2

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Where Hope Flourishes: Teaching Refugee Children in Troubling Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leila Kajee

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Restoring Hope in Resettlement: An Examination of the Role of Community-Led Educational Programming Initiatives . . . . . . . . . . Safiye Namver and Yetkin Yildirim

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Compassionate Pedagogy: A Narrative Based Curriculum for Undergraduates Who Are Refugees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julie Sochacki and Karen I. Case

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Refugees’ Acclimatization and Learning: Educators’ Creative Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sussan Oladipo, Annmarie Handley, Rachel Lackey, and Jill Hallett

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Engaging Refugee Students in an Inclusive School Environment that Promotes Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Quintin L. Robinson

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Leveraging Multiculturalism and Social Support: Helping Syrian Refugees in Lebanon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ibrahim M. Karkouti

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My Father Who... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ana M. Fores Tamayo

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Contents

Part II Restoring Hope Through Access and Acceptance in Higher Education 8

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How Teachers Can Improve the Experiences of Refugee Students with SEND with Higher Education Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dilma De Araujo

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Higher Education in Refugee Camps via Collaborative Blended Learning: The Impact and Benefits for Refugees and Their Student Tutors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Paul O’Keeffe

10 Cultivating Campus Belonging for Refugee College Students Through Effective Academic and Social Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Mohamed Elhess, Julia Mahfouz, and Laura Summers 11 The Pathway to Unlocking Refugees’ Learning Potential: Current Challenges and Lifelong Learning Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Daria Mizza Northward Bound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Ana M. Fores Tamayo Part III Restoring Hope in the Community 12 Promoting the Well-Being of Asylum-Seeking and Refugee Children Within and Beyond the School Gates: Insights from the United Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Mehmet Karakus, Anas Hajar, and Hasan Aydin 13 Multicultural School Events: Possibilities and Pitfalls for Refugee Students and Their Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Thor-André Skrefsrud Elegy to a Refugee Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Ana M. Fores Tamayo Part IV Restoring Hope Through Effective Leadership 14 Education of Refugee Students: Social Justice Leadership and Ecology of Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Omer Caliskan and Hilal Buyukgoze 15 Leadership for Refugee Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Bünyamin Han and Rasim Tösten 16 School Leadership Makes Hope Possible: Five Things School Administrators Can Do Right Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Thomas DeVere Wolsey and Ibrahim M. Karkouti

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The Big Blue Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Ana M. Fores Tamayo Part V Restoring Hope Across Generations 17 Fostering Hope Through Generations—Overcoming Trauma . . . . . . 263 Thomas DeVere Wolsey 18 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Thomas DeVere Wolsey and Ibrahim M. Karkouti Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Editors and Contributors

About the Editors Thomas DeVere Wolsey is a literacy education consultant, and he teaches graduate courses in research and literacy. He leads professional development for teachers in Egypt, Guatemala, Mexico, China, on the Hopi Reservation and throughout the USA, among other places. He is the author or the co-author of 11 books for teachers and teacher educators with two more in development. Dr. Wolsey has developed training materials for the California Department of Education, TextProject, San Diego State University, and North County (San Diego) Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program. His specialties include exploring intersections of literacy and technology, middle grades and secondary literacy practices, teacher preparation, and green school design. In addition, he owns an olive grove in Catalonia, Spain, where he produces olive oil. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Mastodon https://mstdn.social/@TDWolsey or Twitter @TDWolsey Ibrahim M. Karkouti is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the American University in Cairo. As an independent thinker, a young scholar, and a life-long learner, his research focuses on diversity issues in higher education, refugee education, educational technology, and the types of social support teachers need to implement reform.

Contributors Hasan Aydin College of Education, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, USA Hilal Buyukgoze Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey Omer Caliskan University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany Karen I. Case University of Hartford, Hartford, CT, USA Dilma De Araujo London Metropolitan University, London, England Mohamed Elhess Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN, US xi

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Editors and Contributors

Ana M. Fores Tamayo Refugee Support Network (RSN), North Texas, TX, USA Anas Hajar Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan Jill Hallett Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL, USA; University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA Bünyamin Han Department of Educational Studies, Kütahya Dumlupınar Üniversitesi, Kütahya, Türkiye Annmarie Handley Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, IL, USA Leila Kajee University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa Mehmet Karakus Research Centre for Global Learning (GLEA), Coventry University, Coventry, UK Ibrahim M. Karkouti Department of Educational Studies, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Cairo, Egypt Rachel Lackey Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, IL, USA Julia Mahfouz University of Colorado, Denver, CO, US Daria Mizza The American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Cairo, Egypt; Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA Safiye Namver University of Texas at Austin, Houston, TX, USA Sussan Oladipo Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL, USA Paul O’Keeffe Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland Quintin L. Robinson Touro Worldwide University, Los Alamitos, CA, US Thor-André Skrefsrud Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Hamar, Norway Julie Sochacki University of Hartford, Hartford, CT, USA Laura Summers University of Colorado, Denver, CO, US Rasim Tösten Department of Educational Studies, Siirt Üniversitesi, Siirt, Türkiye Thomas DeVere Wolsey Salou, Tarragona, Spain Yetkin Yildirim Rice University, Austin, TX, USA

Abbreviations

NGO SDG4 SEND SJL UN UNESCO UNHCR UNICEF

Non-Governmental Organization United Nations Sustainable Development Goal: Quality Education https://unric.org/en/sdg-4/ Special Education Needs and Disabilities Social Justice Leadership United Nations https://www.un.org/en/ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization https://www.unesco.org/en United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, also UN Refugee Agency https://www.unhcr.org/ United Nations Children’s Fund https://www.unicef.org/

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Introduction Thomas DeVere Wolsey

and Ibrahim M. Karkouti

Abstract

Globally, some 36.5 million children are refugees or seeking asylum. The number of children fleeing conflict has doubled in the ten years between 2005 and 2015, alone. Refugees can no longer be regarded as someone else’s problem in some remote region of the planet. Refugees enter school with the same hopes and aspirations as other students, but they also confront serious challenges that no child should face. Schools can be the safe place that refugee children need in a world that has been all too turbulent for them. This book addresses the educational needs of displaced students by showing how school personnel can help restore hope for refugees, in higher education, in the community, through effective leadership, and through generations.

Enrique was a refugee from Honduras seeking his mother who left him to find better opportunities in the United States when Enrique was 5-years old. After eight attempts to immigrate to the US illegally, Enrique makes it to the United States (Nazario, 2017). He is 17 and the father of a child in Honduras he learned about once he was in the United States. Enrique is a refugee from the economics of drugs and poverty in Honduras with a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and two left shoes when he arrived at his mother’s house in North Carolina (Nazario, 2002). Illia, age 14, arrived in California in mid-March from Ukraine to stay with his aunt during the Russian invasion of his country. His father remains in Ukraine

T. D. Wolsey (B) Salou, Tarragona, Spain e-mail: [email protected] I. M. Karkouti The American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Cairo, Egypt e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_1

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to fight for his country; his mother and younger brother fled to Romania and on to Greece. Illia’s family business in Ukraine is destroyed, and he is not able to communicate with them. Now, he is enrolled at Palisades Charter High School, but he worries about his family and the uncertainty they all now face (Lopez, 2022). Two different circumstances but both young men battle uncertainty while maintaining hope. Hope to be reunited with their families, hope for a better future, hope that their new home will welcome them. In this book, the authors take the reader on a journey to find the more effective practices for young people in schools and colleges who have found themselves displaced from their homes and communities to confront a host of difficulties and uncertainties. What teachers, counselors, professors, and school leaders can do may be the key for refugee students to regain some stability and continue their lives in a new place. Often, refugee students have missed a substantial amount of schooling as a result of the disruptions in their home countries and transit through refugee camps. Others have never been to school at any time. For many students, the language of their new home school is not the language they know. Globally, some 36.5 million children are refugees or seeking asylum (UNHCR, 2022). The number of children fleeing conflict has doubled in the ten years between 2005 and 2015 (UNICEF, 2016). Refugees can no longer be regarded as someone else’s problem in some remote region of the planet. Refugees enter school with the same hopes and aspirations as other students, but they also confront serious challenges that no child should face. Schools can be the safe place that refugee children need in a world that has been all too turbulent for them. Throughout this volume, we refer to refugees inclusive of persons displaced from their homes by war, economic and political conditions, persecution, and natural disasters (UNHCR, 2021) whether they crossed an international border or are displaced internally within their home countries’ borders (e.g., Preuß, et al, 2022). This is to facilitate reading ease; thus, we do not need to refer continually to “refugees and internally displaced persons.” However, where necessary, the authors in this volume may make a distinction when necessary. Occasionally, “displaced learners” and similar terms are intended to mean the same thing.

1.1

Supporting Refugee Students

Refugee students need social-emotional support as much as they need academic support. Moreover, while refugees often are also English language learners, the needs of refugees are somewhat different and demand more from teachers and schools. Schools should be venues where refugees feel strongly and genuinely supported, and where they are welcome, understood, and cared for. Such a positive school climate is vital as studies link social support to increased resilience, better health, well-being, decreased feelings of isolation and loneliness, and an elevated sense of belonging and integration into a new society. Children who experience trauma, especially of the repetitive type reflected by forced removal from one’s

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home or country, confront academic and social challenges that present themselves in the classroom (Centre for Education Statistics & Evaluation, 2020). Such trauma may be characterized as complex trauma (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, n.d.) and are thus reinforced and more difficult to overcome. Academic challenges can include reduced cognitive activity including memory problems, sleep disorders, and delayed language acquisition and learning processes. Social challenges that arise from trauma may include poor relationships with peers, a need to control uncertain environments, and difficulty forming attachments to peers and caregivers. Additionally, children who have suffered trauma may exhibit health problems that further interfere with learning and schooling (e.g., Trauma-informed teaching, Tweedie, et al., 2017). Teachers who are unprepared or untrained to work with refugees may respond negatively to the challenges refugee students may bring to the classroom (Saklan & Erginer, 2017). On the other hand, Tweedie et al. (2017) propose to address the sources of trauma and the needs of traumatized students from a perspective of hope rather than one of deficits. Effective techniques include stress inoculation training (e.g., Wolmer et al., 2011) in which teachers as critical caregivers help students recognize stress and learn strategies for coping with the effects of trauma-induced stressors. The researchers hypothesize that social support for teachers and for the students they serve is crucial when teaching during conflict and crises. Educators may be more able to serve students who are displaced through the use of a framework for types of support, a guiding framework for this book. House (1981) proposed emotional, informational, instrumental, and appraisal support, by which he means that human needs are met in a variety of ways. Emotional needs may be met when a teacher or peer displays empathy, is trustworthy, and demonstrates genuine concern for the wellbeing of the student. Informational support occurs when a teacher or peer is able to provide advice; for example, a student who is new to the school may need to know where the restrooms are and what procedure to use to see a nurse. Refugee children often lack access to basic school supplies or may need assistance with finding food at lunch that is ethnically or religiously suitable, and educators are ideally suited to providing this instrumental support. Because of the uncertainty of a new culture, new school, and possibly a new language, refugees need and even crave useful and caring feedback that they can use to navigate their new environment (Karkouti et al., 2019, 2021). Along with social support, schools need to provide social structures that include practices of social integration and social networks. Social networks nested in such schools should go beyond quantity of relationships and prioritize quality social relationships with refugee students that foster their self-efficacy and well-being.

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One Example of Many: The Refugee Experience

Lebanon, a host nation in the Middle East, has shouldered a disproportionate number of refugees from Syria at times overwhelming the country’s capacity to provide schools for Syrian and Lebanese children. We interviewed ten middle school boys to find out their perceptions of the support they receive at school. We learned that teachers often worked double-shifts amounting to teaching two full school days every single day. As a result, students felt they didn’t receive the support they needed from their exhausted teachers. Syrian students told us they were often frustrated with the expense of living in a country where the language of instruction was different from it was in Syria. Syrians are instructed in Arabic, but in Lebanon, English and French supplement the language of instruction in middle and secondary grades. One boy told us, “I really wish war ends soon, and I go back home” (see Karkouti et al., 2019, pp. 21–36). Their expressions of home and of not feeling welcome in their new schools were evident. They reported that they were unsure of their teachers could be trusted and often feared asking for help because it would not be given. The students told us frequently that they rely on their friends and family for help with school subjects and obtaining what school supplies they need. Even as they are concerned about their own futures, one young man also told us, “I am concerned about my family and relatives in Syria because they are in true danger.” “We feel we are not really welcome,” said another. Amid the feelings of hopelessness, students told us in many ways that they do have hope for their future and for their country, Syria. “I come to school because education is the only way for a better future, and rebuilding Syria requires educated people.”

1.3

Hope and Optimism: Key Ingredients for Refugee Success

We have organized the chapters in this volume around the theme of building hope for refugee students where sometimes it seems there is none in their lives. In Part 1, there are six chapters on the theme of restoring hope in schools, kindergarten through 12th grade. Kajee starts the reader off with examples from South Africa and a framework for teaching refugee children. She argues for a humanizing pedagogy that respects and uses reality, history, and perspectives of students as integral to educational practice. Namver and Yildirim write about Syrian and Iraqi children and how experiential, extra-curricular pedagogies, achieved through community programming, can help refugee children through culturally-responsive and immersive teaching. They provide a case study and discussion of activities to accelerate learning for refugee students. Sochaki and Case explore compassionate pedagogies for refugees through narrative, the constructing and reconstructing of a more empowering story may allow for increased agency and greater self-compassion. The authors of this chapter suggest that narrative as a form of compassionate pedagogy can provide children

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who are refugees with a new personal script that highlights the richness of their cultural background, their generative potential and serves to develop and engage their compassion for themselves and others. Oladipo, Handley, Lackey, and Hallett continue the reader’s journey to effective pedagogies through three case studies from Chicago, Illinois, US. The teachers share the obstacles faced by students, families, educators, and administrators in their respective contexts and how the pandemic has affected students at their schools personally and academically. For students with interrupted formal education (SIFE), U.S. institutional cultural values (such as absences, missing work, and bells) are not intuitive and are further exacerbated by the abstraction of pandemic learning. Teachers question their own complicity in upholding these arbitrary, inaccurate, and often punitive institutional practices. Drawing on their experiences, the three educators present strategies and recommendations for addressing educational and social-emotional well-being for refugee students across a variety of contexts. Robinson, in Chap. 5, argues for inclusive practices and the chapter serves as a guide for teachers trying to engage refugee students in the learning process by abandoning prejudiced ideologies and embracing a willingness to work with displaced learners. To conclude this section, Karkouti provides a detailed explanation of how multicultural education and social support can enhance school diversity and ameliorate refugee students’ academic stressors. The chapter is a comprehensive guide for teachers trying to integrate multiculturalism and social support into their daily teaching practices. These chapters offer pedagogies, insights, and strategies that can help. Let us never again see a student take his own life because he feels isolated and helpless, as Afghani Rezwan did because he had little support, no one to help him, and few other students who noticed him at school (Mehrhotra & Gelliman, 2022). In Part 2: Restoring Hope through Access and Acceptance in Higher Education, De Araujo discusses how educators and policymakers can improve refugee students’ experiences in higher education through these four pillars: (1) Access for education, (2) Safety and protection, (3) Learning and integration, and (4) Professional skills for refugee students. Next, Mizza looks at life-long learning trajectories and how technology can help refugees and other displaced persons. Restoring hope through engagement with and in the community is the theme of Part 3. Karakus, Hajar, and Aydin explore how greater coordination is ensured between mainstream education and supplementary schools to boost refugee children’s well-being, as there is still limited liaison between the two learning environments. O’Keeffe investigates how higher education for refugees can be more successful when refugees are put front and center of the learning process in refugee camps in Kenya. Leaders and policymakers are critically important to the success of initiatives to promote learning in places where refugees have come to the school and university doors. Caliskan and Buyukgoze discuss how social justice efforts in policy, leadership, and praxis can be achieved through the support of a wider context to prevent the marginalization of refugees. Specific suggestions by Tösten and Han show how to apply strategies that increase schools’ capacities to accommodate

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the various needs (e.g. academic, social, emotional, financial, other resource) of refugee students. The final Part 5 discusses generational trauma and a conclusion and call to action. Wolsey reminds the reader that refugee experiences shape new generations in both positive and negative ways. Each chapter includes points to ponder that readers may consider as they work with refugee and/or displaced learners. More to Discover offers readers of this volume tips to engage with refugee and/or displaced learners, more to read, and possible solutions to offer hope to refugees and the displaced.

References Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation. (2020). Trauma-informed practice in schools: An explainer. NSW Department of Education. http://cese.nsw.gov.au House, J. S. (1981). Work stress and social support. Addison-Wesley. Karkouti, I. M., Wolsey, T. D., & Toprak, M. (2019). Restoring hope for Syrian refugees: Social support students need to excel at school. International Migration, 58(4), 21–36. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/imig.12642 Karkouti, I. M., Wolsey, T. D., Bekele, T. A., & Toprak, M. (2021). Empowering teachers during refugee crises: Social support they need to thrive. Teaching and Teacher Education, 107, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103471 Lopez, S. (2022, March 29). From Kyiv to Palisades Charter High, a 14-year-old refugee starts over. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-03-29/lopez-column14-year-old-ukrainian-refugee-starts-over-palisades-charter-high Mehrotra, K., & Gelliman, M. (2022, November 19). What happened to Rezwan. Propublica and the Kansas City Star. https://www.propublica.org/article/missouri-afghan-refugees-rezwan-koh istani-oronogo Nazario, S. (2017). Enrique’s journey. http://enriquesjourney.com/enriques-journey/exerpt/ Nazario, S. (2002, October 7). Enrique’s journey: At journey’s end, a dark river, perhaps a new life. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/nation/immigration/la-fg-enriques-journeychapter-six-mainbar-story.html Preuß, H. J., Beier, C., & Messner, D. (2022). Forced displacement and migration: Introduction and overview. In H. J. Preuß, C. Beier, & D. Messner (Eds.), Forced displacement and migration. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-32902-0_1 Saklan, E., & Erginer, A. (2017). Classroom management experiences with Syrian refugee students. Education Journal, 6(6), 207–214. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20170606.17 The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (n.d.). https://www.nctsn.org/ Tweedie, M. G., Belanger, C., Rezazadeh, K., & Vogel, K. (2017). Trauma-informed teaching practice and refugee children: A hopeful reflection on welcoming our new neighbours to Canadian schools. BC TEAL Journal, 2(1), 36–45. https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v2i1.268 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (2016). Uprooted: The growing crises for refugee and migrant children. Author. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2021). Refugees. https://www. unhcr.org/en-us/refugees.html United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2022). Refugee data finder. https:// www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/ Wolmer, L., Hamiel, D., & Laor, N. (2011). Preventing children’s posttraumatic stress after disaster with teacher-based intervention: A controlled study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 50(4), 340–348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2011.01.002

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Thomas DeVere Wolsey is a literacy education consultant, and he teaches graduate courses in research and literacy. He leads professional development for teachers in Egypt, Guatemala, Mexico, China, on the Hopi Reservation and throughout the United States, among other places. He is the author or co-author of eleven books for teachers and teacher educators with two more in development. Dr. Wolsey has developed training materials for the California Department of Education, TextProject, San Diego State University, and North County (San Diego) Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program. His specialties include exploring intersections of literacy and technology, middle grades and secondary literacy practices, teacher preparation, and green school design. In addition, he owns an olive grove in Catalonia, Spain where he produces olive oil. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Mastodon https://mstdn.social/@TDWolsey or Twitter @TDWolsey. Ibrahim M. Karkouti is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the American University in Cairo. An independent thinker, a young scholar, and a life-long learner, his research focuses on diversity issues in higher education, refugee education, educational technology, and the types of social support teachers need to implement reform.

Part I Restoring Hope in School

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Where Hope Flourishes: Teaching Refugee Children in Troubling Times Leila Kajee

As individuals or as peoples, by fighting for the restoration of [our] humanity [we] will be attempting the restoration of true generosity. And this fight, because of the purpose given it, will actually constitute an act of love. (Paulo Freire, 1970)

Abstract

Human relocation is occurring at unprecedented levels worldwide. Educational organizations must address the needs of refugees and migrants and mitigate the concerns and prejudices of local communities, yet little is known about how teachers are addressing these challenges. Since its democracy in 1994, the influx of refugees into South Africa has increased rapidly. African refugees in South Africa have become the new other, and most likely occupy the lowest rungs of the new order, facing potential exclusion and marginalization. When people arrive in a new country, the pressure to adapt is foremost. For children, this means going to school. Given this context, teachers face significant challenges in managing the diversity introduced by the presence of refugee children in their classrooms. This chapter proposes a conceptual framework integrating humanizing pedagogy, love as a critical act of resistance, and hope and resilience to address core challenges encountered by teachers in the country. Implications for teaching refugee children are also recommended.

L. Kajee (B) University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_2

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Keywords

Refugees Hope

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Humanizing pedagogy

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Teaching as an act of love

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Resilience

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It is a Monday morning, and the principal arrives in your classroom with a new twelve-year-old student. Unlike the other students, this child has lost everything he considered valuable: he has lived through war, travelled hundreds, even thousands of kilometers to reach your country through dangerous terrain, lost loved ones, and no longer considers himself a child—he has looked death and hardship in the face. Human relocation is occurring at unparalleled levels worldwide. Zembylas (2012) provides a valuable discussion of the concept. ‘Transnationalism’ “highlights the new space of mobility and cultural, economic and political exchange within which migrants, refugees and exiles build social fields that link together their uprooted and regrounded communities” (Basch et al., 1994 in Zembylas, 2012, p. 164). ‘Ethnoscapes (Appadurai, 1990) and translocality (Appadurai, 1996) also enable us to think through changing and shifting aspects of this new space. Ethnoscapes refer to the “landscapes of persons who constitute the shifting world” (Appadurai, 1990, p. 7); these embrace the social, economic, and political practices and ideologies that are exchanged in transnational processes. Translocality is the ways in which displaced populations become “regrounded…because of the new space of mobility” (Appadurai, 1996 as cited in Zembylas, 2012, p. 165). A translocality, then, “is a space grounded in the daily lives, activities and social relationships of migrants” (Appadurai, 1996 as cited in Zembylas, 2012, p. 165). This chapter addresses how concerns around how refugee children encounter school and social spaces may be addressed through a humanizing pedagogy, love as a critical act of resistance, and hope and resilience. First, I consider the South African context.

2.1

The South African Context

Migrants and refugees are quite often made to feel unwelcome in host countries, given situations of conflict. Educational organizations must address the needs of refugees and migrants and mitigate the concerns and prejudices of local communities, yet little is known about how teachers may address these challenges. Since its democracy in 1994, the influx of refugees into South Africa has increased rapidly. African refugees in South Africa have become the new other, and most likely occupy the lowest rungs of the new order, facing grave issues of exclusion and marginalization. When people arrive in a new country, the pressure to adapt is foremost. For children, this means going to school. For teachers, the need to teach children who have experienced the sustained trauma of being forced from their homes, possible loss of family members, loss of other forms of social support in the home country, health problems, and cultural and linguistic challenges seems insurmountable. The current COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the need for teachers, educational leaders, and policymakers who are prepared to serve refugees

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and their children. While for many students, school can be a safe place, for refugee students, it can be a either a source of certainty or a source of further pain. Worldwide, there are 53.2 million internally displaced people, of whom 27.1 million are refugees. Of the latter, 36.5 million are children below the age of 18 (UNHCR, The UN Refugee Academy, 2022). The mounting predicament for refugee and migrant children paints a dismal picture of the lives and circumstances of millions of children and their families who are affected by such violent conflicts and crises, that actually make it seem safer to embark on perilous journeys, than remaining in the home country. For those who attend school, new problems confront them when they walk through the school gates. Given this context, teachers face uphill challenges in coping with the diversity introduced by the introduction of refugee children in their classrooms. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the burden of the worldwide refugee crisis, as many countries are placed under considerable pressure to accommodate increasing numbers of refugees. South Africa is no exception. Social legacies of disempowerment and dehumanization persist despite global attempts to transition to socially just political orders. With human relocation occurring at unprecedented levels worldwide, it is mandatory for educational organizations to address the needs of refugees and migrants and mitigate the concerns and prejudices of local communities. Refugee youth is a particularly vulnerable group because of forced displacement. Their educational needs are not always met by the educational system, which hinders the potential for integration. Children tend to be treated as a homogenous group, yet they have varied national, cultural, linguistic, ethnic, racial backgrounds, and circumstances (Sidhu & Taylor, 2009). They will respond to school differently, dependent on all these individual and contextual factors. Current educational settings in diverse societies offer students from disparate backgrounds little support. Preconceived notions of cultures and identities of diverse communities, as well as limited understanding of these students’ needs and traumas could potentially impair student cultures. Subsequently, this results in the creation of vulnerable, pilloried, and ostracized student populations. What is evident is a “divide that exists between many educational institutions and the students they are supposed to serve” (Paris & Alim, 2017, p. 95). The divide intensifies as students do not feel that their identities are affirmed through the curricula taught; they find it irrelevant, impractical, and exclusionary to their backgrounds, experiences, and lives. Fataar (2016) is apt when he describes the dissension of today’s youth as: Young people now inhabit a complex and shifting world. They are not denizens of one place. Instead, they transact their school going in the light of a number of spaces in and across the city. They are confronted by, and work productively with, a diversity of cultural materials and culturally dissonant schooling experiences as they move in and out of the multiple spaces of their lives. Young people are always already thinking, adapting, and generating knowledge – always doing headwork. (p. 16)

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These are the ‘ethnoscapes’ and ‘translocalities’ to which Appadurai (1990, 1996) refers. This is particularly relevant for refugee children; thus, schools cannot disregard issues that enhance classroom diversity. Such beliefs are immersed in social justice. The work of Karkouti et al. (2019) with Syrian refugee children is valuable in this instance. Their findings reveal that teachers and administrators are the major providers of the social support that the children need to succeed in their studies. However, if children do not encounter this kind of support, they are likely to adopt coping strategies such as independence, perseverance, self-efficacy, and peer-teaching. These findings are relevant to education systems, and schools in particular. Certainly, as teachers, we need to commit to more than teaching. Multiple intricacies and disconnects around language, culture, and identity, which contribute significantly to dehumanizing practices in the classroom necessitate careful thought. The South African Constitution (1996), Bill of Rights, and Refugee Act (1998) cumulatively protect the rights of all children in South Africa, including refugee children. All children, for instance, are entitled to quality education. With an increasing number of refugee and migrant youth in South African schools, questions arise about how they encounter and experience these school spaces, as well as the language barriers, bureaucracy, and challenges around cultural and social integration (Harju, 2018). For Cerna (2019), refugee children are a vulnerable group for two main reasons: because of forced displacement, and because their educational needs are not always met by the system. This hinders the potential for academic success, and social and emotional well-being. My encounters as a researcher, teacher, and teacher trainer prompted me to explore how beliefs from Paulo Freire’s (1970) critical ideology can help develop our understandings of teaching refugee children. I proceed to examine how concerns around how refugee children encounter school and social spaces may be addressed through theoretical concepts: humanizing pedagogy, love as a critical act of resistance, and hope and resilience. to provide a sound framework for addressing these dissonances.

2.2

Humanizing Pedagogy: A Commitment to Humanity

Humanizing pedagogy emerged from Paulo Freire’s views on critical pedagogy, where teachers are advised to engage pedagogy that respects students’ current knowledge, culture, and life experiences. For Freire (1970) a humanizing pedagogy is not a means of instruction for teachers to manipulate students, rather, a humanizing pedagogy communicates student consciousness. Freire (1970) then, advises us to be “revolutionary teachers” rather than being reactionary. He promotes the establishment of permanent relationships with students from diverse cultures and languages. It is revolutionary teachers then, who practice a humanizing pedagogy. For Freire (2003), mutual humanization, or re-humanization, is core to addressing dehumanizing legacies. Given the country’s abysmal apartheid history, dehumanizing legacies are not uncommon in the South African context. These legacies have been “absorbed, wittingly and unwittingly into relationships

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within educational arenas which mirror and depict hierarchies of power, cultures of compliance, fear, as well as suppression and loss of voice” (Zinn & Rogers, 2012 p. 76). As Skrbis (2008) writes, “Migrant stories are linked with the experiences of adjustment, settlement, nostalgia, a shattered sense of belonging, renewal, loss, discrimination, abrupt endings, new beginnings and new opportunities—all potent sources of emotions” (p. 23). [A] humanizing pedagogy [has] to develop a kind of pedagogical agency, enabling learning to occur, for the knowledge to be fully owned by, and thus empowering, the learner. It [needs] to consider who the learner [is], and where she or he [is] coming from in terms of their prior knowledge and assets – for example background, languages, contextual, and experiential knowledge – as key aspects of practicing a humanizing pedagogy. (Zinn et al., 2016, p. 73)

Thus, Bartoleme’s (1994) prompt for teachers to “interrogate, and change their biased beliefs, and fragmented views” (p. 174). Montero (2019), for instance shows how this may be achieved through language and literacy education, such as through guided reading. To exemplify that humanizing pedagogy promotes respect and trusting relations between teachers and students, Franquiz and Salazar (2004) designed a framework for academic resilience with their Chicana/o students constituting respect (respeto), mutual trust (confianza), verbal teachings (consejos), and exemplary model (buen ejemplo). Salazar del Carmen and Fránquiz (2008) later explained the model as follows: “Buen ejemplo” (exemplary model): This includes relationships with caring adults to encourage students to succeed and act in exemplary ways; “Confianza” (mutual trust): Confianza develops when students feel valued and trusted. In this way, the foundation for academic skills lies in building trust and fostering an ethic of care; “Consejos” (verbal teachings): Verbal teachings are a means through which knowledge is produced and negotiated; “Respecto” (respect): Through respecto, youth are able to embrace trust, verbal teachings and exemplary people in their lives. (p. 186)

Salazar del Carmen and Fránquiz (2008) framework serves as valuable input in diverse classrooms; however, I would like to propose a more extended framework, to include a pedagogy of love as a critical act of resistance, and resilience and hope. These attributes are considered essential to empowering teachers to focus on refugee (and other) children’s needs.

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2.3

Love as a Critical Act of Resistance

According to hooks (2003), “there can be no love without justice” and “love will always move us away from domination in all its forms. Love will always challenge and change us” (p. 137). She continues, “to speak of love in relation to teaching is already to engage in a dialogue that is taboo” (hooks, 2003, p. 127). Reyes et al. (2018), when discussing hooks’ (2003) love as an act of resistance, said: We do not mean to suggest the flowery, soft expression of love that one might imagine based on patriarchal traditional notions of love as affection or a feeling. Instead, we mean love as action towards social change for the betterment of humanity. (p. 3)

This conceptualization is of love in a much more radical sense. In her call for a pedagogy of love, Darder (2017) calls for a pedagogy that fosters “a society that is unquestionably shaped by a democratic commitment to human rights, social justice, and a radical redistribution of wealth and power” (pp. 30–31). Darder’s conceptualization of a pedagogy of love requires critique of the system, and questioning what we are taught, which is common sense. We need to interrogate our positionalities so that we may work with diverse student bodies. Paulo Freire (2005) as cited in Reyes et al. (2018) suggests, “It is impossible to teach without the courage to love, without the courage to try a thousand times before giving in. In short, it is impossible to teach without a forged, invented, well-thought-out capacity to love” (p. 5). Here love is conceptualized as an act of courage. The authors continue that Freire and Macedo (2005) are clear “that this love be an ‘armed love,’ the fighting love of those convinced of the right and duty to fight, denounce, and to announce” (p. xxxi). Resistance as an act of love must embody teacher education programs. “This type of resistance and social struggle is a necessary act of love that we cannot afford to dismiss” (Radina, 2013, p. 179). These views are central to our encounters with and addressing the needs of refugee children. Empirical work such as Kaukko et al. (2022) study of refugee children in Australia and Finland show how teachers pedagogical practices fostered nurturing classroom environments that helped students build a sense of belonging. The authors believe that as students settle in their schools and societies, teachers that show belief both in the child and their contribution to their new society are crucial. The findings of the study show how “these actions may be described as teachers’ professional duty of care. (The) findings show that teachers went beyond this duty by opening their minds and hearts to the students’ lived conditions, engaging with their histories, and constantly shaping their pedagogy accordingly. These practices, we argue, are forms of pedagogical love.” (Kaukko et al., 2022, p. 1).

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Resilience

According to Pieloch et al. (2016, p. 337) “Resilience is observed in the presence and aftermath of stress, strain, and risk—all of which are part of children’s migratory processes”. In their discussion of resilience among refugee children, the authors continue that there are “overlapping factors that promote resilience for refugee children despite their vastly different cultural contexts and migratory experiences. These factors include social support (from friends and community), sense of belonging (including having positive ethnic identities), valuing education, positive outlooks/optimism, family connectedness, and connection to the home culture” (p. 337). Resilience therefore constitutes the encouraging development that occurs in children when faced with significant adversity. Ungar (2008) explains: (T)he term resilience has multiple uses. First, it may be a description of a constellation of characteristics children have when, despite being born and raised in disadvantaged circumstances, they grow up successfully. In this sense resilience refers to better than expected developmental outcomes. Second, resilience may refer to competence when under stress. Resilient children may show competence dealing with threats to their well-being. And third, resilience may be positive functioning indicating recovery from trauma. Evidently, whether one understands resilience as a developmental outcome, set of competencies, or coping strategies, there is much overlap between these conceptualizations. (p. 220)

For Ungar (2008), resilience is the “capacity of individuals and groups to navigate their way to the psychological, social, cultural, and physical resources that sustain their wellbeing, and… their capacity to negotiate for these resources to be provided…in culturally meaningful ways” (p. 220). For refugee children, the concept has multiple uses. It could describe characteristics of refugee children who, despite being born in dire circumstances, grow up successfully; resilience may refer to competence when under stress; and resilience may be a positive reaction indicating recovery from trauma (Ungar, 2008: 220). These conceptualizations overlap. What is common is that resilience occurs in the presence of adversity and is influenced by the context and environment of the child. As Masten et al. (2003, as cited in Ungar, 2008) write: “Resilience refers to patterns of positive adaptation in the context of significant risk or adversity” (p. 220). Resilient families and communities are a prerequisite for resilient children. This includes schools. For Ungar (2008), this raises two important issues. “First, assuming that a child successfully develops under adverse circumstances (a precondition for us to speak of the child as resilient), different families and communities under stress may offer a child very different resources that sustain the child’s well-being. It is possible to argue that the child who makes the most out of whatever is available to him or her should be considered resilient even if his or her behavior does not look like resilience when viewed by members of outside communities” (p. 221). In 2008, Ungar’s collated findings from a 14-site mixed methods study of over 1500 youth globally. The study supports four propositions that underlie a more “culturally and contextually embedded understanding of resilience” (pp. 222–225): (1) there are

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global, cultural, and contextual specific aspects to people’s lives that are contributing factors to resilience; (2) aspects of resilience wield different influences on a child’s life. These are culture and context dependent; (3) patterns that reflect a child’s culture and context contribute to resilience; (4) tensions between individuals and their cultures and contexts are resolved in ways that reflect highly specific relationships between aspects of resilience. This study enabled Ungar (2008) to redefine resilience as: …a more culturally and contextually relevant definition of resilience is offered as follows: Definition: In the context of exposure to significant adversity, whether psychological, environmental, or both, resilience is both the capacity of individuals to navigate their way to health-sustaining resources, including opportunities to experience feelings of well-being, and a condition of the individual’s family, community and culture to provide these health resources and experiences in culturally meaningful ways. Resilience is therefore both a process of the child’s navigation towards, and the capacity of individuals to negotiate for, health resources on their own terms. Both concepts of navigation and negotiation figure prominently in this definition, distinguishing it from more static understandings of resilience as a clearly defined set of outcomes or culturally independent processes. (p. 225)

Feeling powerless is an unprecedented issue in the lives of refugee youth (Sleijpen et al., 2017). Giving them some control empowers them and supporting their progress in school helps in their mobilization. Gaining access to, and integrating in school, can help alleviate the harmful effects of trauma experienced by these children. The researchers’ findings further demonstrate that access to schooling prevents older adolescents and acts as a catharsis to despair. The role of education system then, serves a role of empowering young refugees.

2.5

Hope

A ‘pedagogy of hope’ stimulates discussion around the work of critical theorists Paulo Freire, Henry Giroux or bell hooks. In her book “Teaching community: A pedagogy of hope” (2003) hooks contends that developing inclusive societies is means of hope being generated through pedagogy (Carolissen et al., 2011). For Freire (1994), we cannot even start to think about education without first acknowledging the power of hope. Hope is antecedent to being human, and its implications for education are renowned (Webb, 2013). For Carolissen et al. (2011), a successful pedagogy of hope is built on students’ and teachers’ awareness of themselves as practitioners and human beings if, as teachers, we wish to teach in non-threatening and anti-oppressive ways. Interpersonal relationships and conversations that facilitate reflexivity, dialogue and criticality, between students and teachers, and among students, are considered critical. This in turn allows students to recognize their own and others’ humanity and assists them to become critical citizens who may effect both change in themselves and their own communities. Karkouti et al.’s (2019) work referred to earlier was designed to elicit Syrian refugee students’ perceptions regarding the individuals who provide them with the

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social support they need for academic success. Ten male Syrian eighth graders at a public middle school in Lebanon were interviewed. The children expected teachers, supervisors, and administrators to provide social support for their academic success, and when this is lacking, they adopt coping strategies such as independence, perseverance, self-efficacy, and peer-teaching. The perceived lack of support appears to make students vacillate between hope and hopelessness. Therefore, a result of support, or lack thereof is hope or hopelessness, report the researchers.

2.6

Culture of Inclusion

Teachers and other personnel who work with refugee children may feel overcome and ill-equipped to cope with growing numbers of refugee children. Thus, a welcoming culture, as suggested by the children, is effective. A culture of inclusion as initiated by school professionals can characterize schools as safe havens for refugee children. For Florian and Linklater (2010), an inclusive pedagogy represents a shift in focus. We must move away from highlighting difference. Instead, we must envisage learning for all, and reject deterministic views of ability as fixed. Seeing difficulties in learning as challenges for teachers and not deficits in students and encouraging the development of new ways of working collaboratively is crucial.

2.7

Implications: Key Questions We Need to Ask

Refugee children are inundated with issues surrounding language acquisition, academic development, and social inclusion. We need to engage with their narratives and experiences. We need to explore how teachers create classroom space for their narratives, for the stories and identities of the other. Given the traumas they encounter, Ravi Kohli (2011) questions “How do we support young people to become ordinary when they have encountered so much?” (p. 312). Fraser and Honneth (2003) speak of participatory parity and assimilationist discourse, or making others just like us, which problematizes privilege and make hegemonic ways become normal, further rendering people invisible. Given that schools are sites for cultural sustenance, it is reasonable that the following questions be considered for transformative classroom practice. As teachers we need to ask ourselves: 1. What do we know/need to know about the particular situation in which we find ourselves? (for example, having refugee children in our classrooms) 2. What do we know about our own/ society’s/ school’s presuppositions about the situation?

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3. What can we do to make things better? In responding to these questions, we need to critically evaluate our own assumptions and biases, and consider how we could include refugee students’ cultures, experiences, and languages into classroom practice. Doing so would ensure equitable access, opportunity, and respect for difference. Interventions that reinforce resilience among at-risk youth are only successful if they benefit from local knowledge. For Ungar (2008), teachers need to intervene through various initiatives: personal counselling, family-based interventions, school programs, community mobilization. Teaching could become an act of love and a humanizing experience. This requires bringing real world issues and life experiences and relevance in the classroom to foster hope and resilience. This means respecting learner identities.

2.8

Conclusion

In order to achieve humanization, which presupposes the elimination of dehumanizing oppression, it is absolutely necessary to surmount the limit-situations in which men [and women] are reduced to things. (Freire, 1970: 93)

To address refugee needs in the classroom through a humanizing lens, and as an act of love, it becomes necessary to identify dilemmas and self-examine our feelings of fear, anger, guilt, or bias. As teachers we need to explore new roles and relationships with students, and to try on these new roles. To do so, we need to formulate a course of action and acquire the knowledge and skills to implement our new plans (Mezirow, 2003). This capacity to always begin anew, to make, to reconstruct, and to not spoil, to refuse to bureaucratize the mind, to understand and to live as a process—live to become—is something that always accompanied me throughout life. This is an indispensable quality of a good teacher (Freire, 1993, p. 98). Points to Ponder Schools are sites for cultural sustenance; therefore, it is reasonable that questions be considered for transformative classroom practice. • As teachers we need to ask ourselves what we know and what we need to know about having refugee children in our classrooms. • We also need to think about schools’ and society’s presuppositions about the situation, and most important, what can we do to make things better? • In response we need to critically appraise our own assumptions and biases, and consider how we could include refugee students’ cultures, experiences, and languages into classroom practice. Doing so would ensure equitable access, opportunity, and respect for difference. Interventions that reinforce resilience among at-risk youth are only successful if they benefit from local knowledge, which

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requires bringing real world issues and life experiences and relevance in the classroom to foster hope and resilience. More to Discover: For Teachers to Consider To teach through a lens of a humanizing pedagogy, love as a critical act of resistance, and hope and resilience, teachers may adopt the following: • Give refugee students opportunities to tell their stories as they negotiate periods of adjustment, belonging, and new beginnings; • Enable students to develop pedagogical agency, to enable learning to occur, and for students to fully own the knowledge, which empowers them; • Create classroom spaces that build trust and foster an ethic of care; • Teach for social change. To do so, they may open their minds and hearts to the students’ lived conditions, engage with their histories, and shape their pedagogy accordingly. These practices are forms of pedagogical love. • Acknowledge the power of hope. Successful pedagogies of hope are built on students’ and teachers’ awareness of themselves as practitioners and human beings if, as teachers, we wish to teach in non-threatening and anti-oppressive ways. We need to encourage interpersonal relationships and conversations that facilitate reflexivity, dialogue and criticality, between students and teachers. This enables students to recognize their own and others’ humanity and assists them to become critical citizens who may effect change in themselves and their own communities.

Acknowledgements I am grateful to the National Research Foundation for funding for the project “Social change, justice and peace education” (project number 118546).

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Leila Kajee is Professor of Education at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. She specializes in educational transformation and social justice though language and literacies. Her most recent projects have been with immigrant and refugee communities. She has written two books in the field, and several accredited chapters and journal articles.

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Restoring Hope in Resettlement: An Examination of the Role of Community-Led Educational Programming Initiatives Safiye Namver and Yetkin Yildirim

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors discuss the positive role that extracurricular and experiential opportunities might contribute during resettlement, focusing on strategies that educators and practitioners can apply outside the traditional classroom to create a safe learning environment conducive to long term student success. This chapter addresses these strategies through (i) a literature review of extracurricular and experiential pedagogies crafted for refugee children outside of school, (ii) analysis of community-led immersive and culturally responsive teaching with specific exploration of examples of community-led programming in Houston-Texas designed to meet the needs of refugee K-12 children from Syria and Iraq, and (iii) accelerated learning that addresses language acquisition, cultural skills, and past traumas. Keywords

Refugee education • Community-led programming Interrupted learning

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Experiential learning

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Conservative estimates of displaced persons across the globe suggest that at no other time have so many children’s lives been impacted by interrupted learning (UNHCR, 2017). The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (2022) estimates that forty-one percent of refugees worldwide are children eighteen years and younger, meaning over thirty-six point five million children are currently displaced. Furthermore, the high numbers of child refugees have put unprecedented S. Namver (B) University of Texas at Austin, Houston, TX, USA e-mail: [email protected] Y. Yildirim Rice University, Austin, TX, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_3

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stress on conventional educational systems. Displaced refugee children have been resettled in nearly every industrialized country, and each of those countries face new challenges ensuring responsive and inclusive learning. We assert that given the scale of displaced refugee children and the traumas they have lived through, the educational needs of these children can only be met partially in formal school settings (Maadad, 2020). Community organizations have an important role to play in meeting these children at their cognitive and emotional stages of development and in delivering programming that meets their specific needs (Symons & Ponzio, 2019). Not only must teachers and community organizations meet the needs of these students in regards to their critical language development, but additionally in providing them with a sense of hope (Yohani, 2010). Educators today must address this crucially important issue as they create learning experiences that are mindful of the challenges faced by refugee children. Despite the abundance of research exploring the impacts of resettlement on refugee children’s ability to adapt to new learning environments, there is a sizeable gap in the literature examining the positive role that extracurricular and experiential opportunities might have during resettlement (Merry et al., 2017; Thorpe, 2017). Few works have focused on strategies that educators and practitioners should apply outside the traditional classroom to create a safe learning environment conducive to student success. This chapter will address the aforementioned gap through a literature review of extracurricular and experiential pedagogies crafted for refugee children outside of school (Mendenhall & Bartlett, 2018), an analysis of community-led immersive, and culturally responsive teaching (Montoya, 2017), and a discussion of how accelerated learning strategies address language acquisition, cultural skills, and past traumas (Bilagher & Kaushik, 2020). This chapter then explores the specific example of a community-led education program in Houston, Texas designed to meet the needs of refugee K-12 children from Syria and Iraq.

3.1

Interrupted Learning and Learning in Resettlement: Pedagogies for Refugee Children Outside of School

The problem of interrupted learning is complex; it requires today’s educators to both understand the experiences displaced refugee children have had before resettlement and to build bridges with local community groups who might offer various forms of needed support (Hos, 2016). More than simply a place where children learn to read, write, and think critically, school is a place where children learn to become social beings and to negotiate and compromise with other children. The experience of being in school offers children a chance to share and learn from others, including valuable social and emotional mediation skills, as they navigate daily interactions with fellow students, educators, and administrators. The loss of schooling for refugee children results in much more than simply the loss of content knowledge, it is also a loss of opportunities for friendships and social skills essential to their functioning in society as they grow and enter adolescence and

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adulthood. Because the loss for refugee children far exceeds the educational content they would have received in a normal school setting, an accelerated approach must be taken in order to deliver both necessary language skills as well as social and emotional skills (Newcomer et al., 2020). Summer learning loss is a well-documented problem in early education. One study conducted from 2008 to 2012 found that students, on average, lost between 25 and 30% of their school-year learning over the summer (Atteberry & McEachin, 2016). But not all children experience this loss equally. The effects of learning loss hit lower-income students particularly hard, with under-resourced Black and Latino students tending to gain less learning in the academic year and lose more over the summer compared to wealthier White students (Atteberry & McEachin, 2016). The “faucet theory,” articulated by Entiwsle et al. (2000) provides a useful explanation for this trend. According to these authors, all students receive more resource support during the school year, including access to free and reduced meals, social and emotional support, and structured academic learning. But this “resource faucet” turns off in the summer for lower-income students, while wealthier students can often receive comparable support from their families or from other institutions. Higher-income students never lose access to financial and human capital resources (such as parental education) over the summer, which ensures that their learning loss will be minimal over the summer (Borman et al., 2005). But the students who depend most on school to support their academic, social, and emotional needs will suffer learning loss as soon as these supports are removed. This is certainly true for refugee children, who tend to struggle both academically and socially over the summer. These months can be extremely difficult, as many refugee families do not have the means to provide their children with summer camps or organized learning experiences over the summer and cannot attend to their children’s education while at work during the day. Moreover, Hooper et al. (2016) found that almost one-third of refugee students are part of households in which no member above the age of 14 speaks English “very well.” According to these researchers, such linguistic isolation is a significant obstacle for refugee students. Without a chance to practice English every day, refugee students find it difficult to maintain the level of language proficiency they may have achieved in the classroom (Cerna, 2019). These children were also observed to struggle in education due to their parents’ difficulty communicating with school staff and monitoring their children’s progress (Batalova & Fix, 2010). Linguistically isolated kids are more like to be at risk for anxiety and other mental health issues as well (Cerna, 2019). Refugee students also depend on school communities for emotional support, in some cases the specific counseling and trauma services provided by schools are vital needs which their families cannot afford or replicate during the summer months. Migration is often dangerous or is undertaken in response to clear and immediate threats, all of which can cause severe stress for children (Thomas & Stubbe, 2017). Refugee children are more likely to experience severe anxiety and

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depression, as well as other emotional and behavioral issues (Hos, 2016). Therefore, lack of school-based mental health services could make them more vulnerable in the summer when those services are inaccessible (Bogic et al., 2015). Support for refugee children clearly needs to come from outside of the traditional education institutions in order to combat the effects of summer learning loss, but this should not be thought of as a replacement for support within the classroom. One of the main challenges for refugee children is cultural integration, and helping these students to effectively participate in formal education can ensure a sense of normality and psychosocial support. A comparative study of refugee services throughout Europe conducted by Crul et al. (2019) found a range of effectiveness that corresponded with levels of integration. For instance, these researchers noted that, in response to the huge influx of Syrian refugees during the civil war, Greece and Turkey created after-school and summer programs to provide language instruction and get students up to speed. But these programs offered little to no integration with local classrooms and proved to be less effective in the long term. Similarly in Germany, refugee students attended two years of intro classes before being transferred into mainstream education. These students also struggled in the long term to adapt to the new language and cultural norms. In comparison, Sweden offers second language learning curriculum and multilingual classroom assistance starting at pre-school and continuing all the way up to the end of upper-secondary school and even into adult education (Crul et al., 2019). The researchers found that refugee students were integrated into Swedish classrooms almost immediately upon arrival, and this proved to be the most effective strategy for these students’ long-term wellbeing and cultural belonging. The lesson is clear: the more that refugee students can be integrated into existing educational structures, the better. According to the UNHCR (2017), refugees should be included in national education systems and follow national curricula rather than pursue parallel courses of study that cannot be supervised or certified by the host country. Creating segregated, parallel educational paths for resettled students is not the answer, and community centers and other extracurricular groups should be careful to avoid enabling this dynamic. The community programs discussed here are not meant to be viewed as alternatives to public education, but as supplements. The goal is to help refugee students integrate more quickly into their school and work communities, and the faster that language acquisition and social trust can be established, the faster this integration will occur. Without social integration, possibilities for political, cultural, and economic stability are limited for displaced children and their families, both in the present and in the future (Dryden-Peterson, 2011).

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Summer Programming: Interrupting the Forgetting Curve

For all children, time away from school in summer months could result in learning loss (Wallace, 2014). Educators prepare for this by reinforcing concepts learned in the previous school year in the first weeks of school. Summer reading lists are offered to all students as a way to encourage students to remain connected to learning and literacy until kids rejoin their classrooms again in the fall. The summer months for refugee children can be increasingly difficult, as they may not have a means to reinforce the content they have learned during the school year outside of a school setting. This is especially true if their parents are working outside the home or are unable to provide summer camps and organized learning experiences. The summer learning loss for refugee children is particularly crucial, as they are expected to have retained previous knowledge when moving into a new grade. In most instances, formal public-school experiential opportunities are not available the entire length of the summer months. It is in this critical period that community centers might have the greatest impact in maintaining and growing students’ knowledge so they are best prepared to return to the social and academic environment of school. Providing childcare during summer months can also be a daunting task for school aged children. Without an extended family, refugees may struggle to manage the summer months for kids too old to attend a daycare facility. Summer programs for school-aged kids in the U.S. are often very costly, and programs may be offered for only several hours a day. Summer programs tend to be short, ranging from one to six weeks in length. In families still working to establish themselves, both parents will be required to make ends meet, leaving it extremely difficult for refugee families as they seek to care for their children during the critical summer months (Haines, 2015). In some refugee families where adults learn language skills at work, their knowledge acquisition may accrue in different ways than their children who are experiencing more structured and thorough language learning at school. Refugee children and parents rely on each other in unique ways wherein children teach their parents expressions and cultural knowledge they are learning in school, while parents offer a living link to language and culture from the home country from which the family was displaced. This means that refugee children actually play a crucial role in their households as cultural brokers: they are often the ones absorbing new forms of cultural knowledge at school and bringing this knowledge home to their families (Bauer, 2016). Community centers sharing the same ethnic, national, or religious background constitute neutral sites where refugee kids may feel a more immediate sense of belonging. Without the worry of feeling like an outsider, kids may immediately begin to learn and absorb information in a welcoming atmosphere. Communityled educational initiatives blend different forms of cultural knowledge, drawing on familiar frames of reference from the ancestral home and the resettled home (Tyrer & Fazel, 2014). Crafting opportunities where refugee students can feel at

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home is critical, and interactions in community centers where they share an ethnic identity and can maintain their traditions while learning English is very beneficial. When they can interact comfortably with adult community members, they no longer feel like outsiders, but rather engage as members of a shared community, perhaps even seeing elders as role models who step in and fill the role of extended family members. Refugee children may have suffered multiple traumas, which might include not only interrupted schooling, but also the experience of extreme fear, violence, and the lack of needed nutrition and medical assistance (Kaplan et al., 2015). They may have sustained injuries from war which they will carry with them for the rest of their lives and they may have friends and loved ones who either passed away or who remain displaced. Despite the happiness of finding a safer place to live, they will continue to mourn multiple losses, and will be faced with fitting in a new place where cultural rules are elusive. In extreme instances they may have endured torture or sexual assault which continues to evoke feelings of shame. While school settings are designed to deliver necessary educational content, they are not equipped to address all of the cumulative needs refugee children may have. This is where community centers may offer much needed support for children and their families. Schools are centered on knowledge acquisition in incremental steps, based around testing and evaluations. Stakes in such settings may be high as students worry about grades and performance. Poor academic performance may result in a lack of confidence, and for older children nearing graduation they may be very anxious about how to navigate applying for college and having all of the necessary qualifications. Experiential learning in community centers offers students a chance to demonstrate and deepen their knowledge outside of conventional, exam-based learning methods (Kalas & Raisinghani, 2019). The shift from performance-based to experience-based curriculum decreases pressure.

3.3

Summer of Hope: Community-Led Summer Pedagogy in Houston, Texas

To offset the summer forgetting curve, a summer initiative was organized by the local Houstonian Arab-American community, entitled “Summer of Hope”. Houston is America’s most ethnically diverse city and has consistently welcomed more than most cities and states in the country (McCann, 2021). The Summer of Hope program was run for two hundred K-12 Syrian and Iraqi refugees for six weeks who lived in many corners of the city. The program was organized by local teachers, former refugees, counselors, psychologists, volunteers, music therapists, and summer teachers who organized intensive summer curriculum centering around problem solving, mediation, and the fine arts. Teachers, parents, and volunteers came together to determine a schedule for transportation, and volunteers committed to getting all the kids to the site daily. Students would arrive at a local Arab American cultural center, spend three hours in a traditional classroom, and then in an arts-based course of their choice.

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Additionally, students engaged in team-based sports activities as a means of fostering cooperation skills and a sense of belonging. The curriculum was a wraparound pedagogy (Ellis et al., 2020), infused with attending to trauma, literacy, and cultural understanding for being a student in an American classroom. The summer concluded with an elaborate closing ceremony where parents attended to learn more about their children’s accomplishments. Students and parents received highly specialized interaction with a group of dedicated individuals who had already navigated resettlement and served as successful role models. This program helped bridge the expanse of summer away from school in a friendly, warm, and understanding environment, thus better preparing children for returning to school. The Summer of Hope is an example of the sort of promising partnerships between schools and communities that create a sense of well-being and belonging as children accelerate learning in resettlement. Art-based therapies have shown great promise for addressing underlying causes of underperformance among refugee children (Ugurlu et al., 2016).

3.4

Conclusion

This chapter has focused on the dire situation facing both refugee children and their families, as well as the school systems tasked with supporting their needs as the number of displaced individuals continues to climb to ever alarming rates with each passing year. This global political reality must necessarily reshape how education has traditionally been offered to refugee students, and the settings where language and cultural acquisition occur. Summer sessions are the ideal time for cultural centers to step in and offer programming for school-aged refugee children so that they can maintain the knowledge they learned in school, and to ensure that they remain as close to grade level proficiency as possible. Bridging school curriculum and their country of origin’s cultural environment is crucial to meet refugee students’ complex educational and social needs. Points to Ponder This chapter offers educators concrete suggestions for actionable goals they can incorporate into their classrooms and offers ideas for how to build local community partnerships. Schools and teachers will benefit greatly by seeking out partnerships with local community centers who draw on a base of dedicated volunteers who are active in the summer months, and who are ready to take part in supporting refugee children’s academic growth. • Schools must recognize that refugee children have experienced multiple forms of trauma, and that this will likely manifest in different ways. Given that mental health discussions remain stigmatized in the Arab world, educators must learn to incorporate some therapy-based approaches in classroom settings.

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• Refugee children long to share aspects of their home countries and would benefit from cultural programming that invites all families to take part in on-campus diversity programming. • School districts may formally partner with local centers to hold diversity and inclusion training workshops to better prepare teachers who interact with displaced children and their families. More to Discover: Additional Readings Bajaj, M., Argenal, A., & Canlas, M. (2017). Socio-politically relevant pedagogy for immigrant and refugee youth. Equity & Excellence in Education, 50(3), 258–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2017.1336499. Bajaj, M., & Suresh, S. (2018). The “Warm embrace” of a newcomer school for immigrant & refugee youth. Theory into Practice, 57(2), 91–98. https://doi.org/10. 1080/00405841.2018.1425815. Faltis, C., & Valdés, G. (2010). Educating immigrant students, refugees, and English language learners: A no borders perspective. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 112(14), 285–296. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811 011201401. Tran, D., & Hodgson, B. R. (2015). Meeting the needs of refugee and immigrant students and families in a culturally responsive way. Voices in Urban Education, 41, 7–15.

References Atteberry, A., & McEachin, A. (2016). School’s out: Summer learning loss across grade levels and school contexts in the United States today. In K. Alexander, S. Pitcock, & M. Boulay (Eds.), Summer learning and summer learning loss (pp. 35–54). Teachers College Press. Batalova, J., & Fix, M. (2010). A profile of limited English proficient adult immigrants. Peabody Journal of Education, 85, 511–534. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2010.518050 Bauer, E. (2016). Practising kinship care: Children as language brokers in migrant families. Childhood, 23(1), 22–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568215574917 Bilagher, M., & Kaushik, A. (2020). The potential of Accelerated Learning Programmes (ALPs) for conflict-ridden countries and regions: Lessons learned from an experience in Iraq. International Review of Education, 66(1), 93–113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-020-09826-1 Bogic, M., Njoku, A., & Priebe, S. (2015). Long-term mental health of war-refugees: A systematic literature review. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 15(1), 1–41. Borman G. D., Benson J., & Overman L. T. (2005). Families, schools, and summer learning. The Elementary School Journal, 106(2), 131–150. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10. 1086/499195 Cerna, L. (2019). Refugee education: Integration models and practices in OECD countries. OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/a3251a00-en Crul, M., Lelie, F., Biner, Ö., et al. (2019). How the different policies and school systems affect the inclusion of Syrian refugee children in Sweden, Germany, Greece, Lebanon and Turkey. Comparative Migration Studies, 7, 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-018-0110-6

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Dryden-Peterson, S. (2011). Refugee education: A global review. UNHCR. Ellis, B., Abdi, S., & Winer, J. (2020). Mental health practice with immigrant and refugee youth: A socioecological framework. In Mental health practice with immigrant and refugee youth: A socioecological framework. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/000 0163-000 Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. (2000). Summer learning and home environment. In R. D. Kahlenberg (Ed.), A notion at risk (pp. 9–30). The Century Foundation Press. Haines, S. J. (2015). Family partnership: Practical implications from a case study of a refugee family. HS Dialog: The Research to Practice Journal for the Early Childhood Field, 17(4), 124–130. Hooper, K., Zong, J., Capps, R., & Fix, M. (2016). Young children of refugees in the United States: Integration successes and challenges. Migration Policy Institute. Hos, R. (2016). Caring is not enough: Teachers’ enactment of ethical care for adolescent students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE) in a newcomer classroom. Education and Urban Society, 48(5), 479–503. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124514536440 Kalas, P., & Raisinghani, L. (2019). Assessing the impact of community-based experiential learning: The case of biology 1000 students. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 31(2), 261–273. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1224354.pdf Kaplan, I., Stolk, Y., Valibhoy, M., Tucker, A., & Baker, J. (2015). Cognitive assessment of refugee children: Effects of trauma and New language acquisition. Transcultural Psychiatry, 53(1), 81– 109. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461515612933 Maadad, N. (2020). Discussion and comparison of refugee children in education in Australia and Sweden. In Syrian refugee children in Australia and Sweden: Education and survival among the displaced, dispossessed and disrupted (pp. 86–106). Routledge. McCann, A. (2021). Most diverse cities in the U.S. WalletHub. Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://wallethub.com/edu/most-diverse-cities/12690 Mendenhall, M., & Bartlett, L. (2018). Academic and extracurricular support for refugee students in the US: Lessons learned. Theory into Practice, 57(2), 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/004 05841.2018.1469910 Merry, L., Pelaez, S., & Edwards, N. (2017). Refugees, asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants and the experience of parenthood: A synthesis of the qualitative literature. Globalization and Health, 13(1), 75–75. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-017-0299-4 Montoya, C. (2017). Refugee-led organizations and the obstacles they face: a comparative study of Syria bright future and the Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. Newcomer, S., Ardasheva, Y., Morrison, J., Ernst-Slavit, G., Morrison, S., Carbonneau, K., & Lightner, L. (2020). “Whoa… welcome to America!”: Supporting refugee background students’ socioemotional well-being, English language development, and content area learning. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2020. 1734697 Symons, C., & Ponzio, C. (2019). Schools cannot do it alone: A community-based approach to refugee youth’s language development. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 33(1), 98–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2018.1531450 Thomas, J., & Stubbe, D. E. (2017). Psychiatric, epigenetic, legal, and public health challenges facing refugee children: An integrated approach. Quinnipiac Law. Review, 36, 637–675. Thorpe, H. (2017). The newcomers: Finding refuge, friendship, and hope in an American classroom. Scribner. Tyrer, R., & Fazel, M. (2014). School and community-based interventions for refugee and asylum seeking children: A systematic review. PLoS ONE, 9(2), e89359. https://doi.org/10.1371/jou rnal.pone.0089359 Ugurlu, N., Akca, L., & Acarturk, C. (2016). An art therapy intervention for symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression and anxiety among Syrian refugee children. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, 11(2), 89–102. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450128.2016.1181288

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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2022). Refugee population statistics database. UNHCR. https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2017). Starting out—Why education for refugees matters. UNHCR. https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/starting-out.html Wallace, A. (2014, February). Minding the gap: Summer learning. State Legislatures, 40(2), 11. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A358536361/GPS?u=j084910&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=6f1 b635a Yohani, S. (2010). Nurturing hope in refugee children during early years of post-war adjustment. Children and Youth Services Review, 32(6), 865–873. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2010. 02.006

Safiye Namver is a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin. Safiye has been devoted to issues surrounding refugee resettlement and equitable education for a number of years, which she hopes to further through advocacy and public policy. Yetkin Yildirim is the director of STEM programs at the Rice University School Mathematics Project and an adjunct professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University. Dr. Yildirim received his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and is registered by the State of Texas as a professional engineer. Dr. Yildirim’s areas of expertise include STEM education, AI in education and social and emotional learning.

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Compassionate Pedagogy: A Narrative Based Curriculum for Undergraduates Who Are Refugees Julie Sochacki and Karen I. Case

Abstract

Conceptualizing compassionate pedagogy as it applies to refugees in the first year college classroom, this chapter seeks to develop universal classroom principles that can be put into action by first year writing faculty via the merging of a narrative curriculum with mindfulness and a pedagogical form derived from compassion focused therapy (CFT). The chapter focuses on first scaffolding compassionate practices such as leading with compassion, empowering refugee students through their strengths of character, and embracing mindfulness. These compassionate practices then lead to a four-step empowering process for refugee students which include: (1) providing a curriculum that includes trauma survivors’ perspectives and life experiences, (2) outlining a script based on students’ identities, goals, and aspirations; (3) reimagining a new story; and (4) creating and sharing students’ new personal empowering narratives. When the narrative writing process is conjoined with mindfulness, a strength-based perspective and compassionate pedagogies, these narratives have the power to transform students as they gain a deeper understanding of themselves in the context of academe. Keywords

Compassionate pedagogy • Refugee students • Narrative writing • Mindfulness • Trauma survivors’ writing A nation’s pedagogy defines an “us” of citizenship, instilling a national identity and nativism via a curriculum that maintains an ideology and group identity J. Sochacki · K. I. Case (B) University of Hartford, Hartford, CT, USA e-mail: [email protected] J. Sochacki e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_4

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(Cornbleth, 1988; Giroux, 1995; Mariner et al., 2013). This can occur from kindergarten to postsecondary schooling. Compassion to outsiders often falls outside this nativist curriculum, by providing a grand narrative that reinforces national identity. This can verge on the xenophobic, with those outside citizenship constituting the “them” or “other” of the population (Waters & LeBlanc, 2005, p. 129). For the approximately 31 million students who are displaced (UNICEF, 2020) a nationalistic curriculum creates a disconnect between worldwide conceptions of universal rights and the provision of a postsecondary education (Dryden-Peterson, 2016) that upholds tenets of belonging and compassion in a campus community. The act of entering a college or university balances hope and challenge for all undergraduates, but it is doubly so for students who are refugees. For Havel, such hope can take the form of “cultivated patience” (Danaher, 2015, p. 97). For these students, such patience is required in that their sense of belonging may be “continuously negotiated through affective encounters with others” (Bajwa et al., 2018, p. 113). Aspects related to admissions can become a challenging quagmire due to misplaced, lost or left behind credentials (Lambrechts, 2020). Undergraduates who are refugees arrive with limited experience regarding accessing campus services and yet seek to establish belonging within their first year classes. Faculty, particularly those within the first year reading program, can build community, engaging students who are refugees via compassionate pedagogy. These same faculty may simultaneously introduce the writing norms of the academy while employing a compassionate pedagogy which builds a sense of belonging for each student in their classroom community. Compassionate pedagogy has been used as a term in higher education (Waddington, 2018). The intent of this chapter is to offer suggestions for the building of compassionate pedagogy for undergraduates who are refugees attending first-year writing courses. The authors are suggesting that first year writing instructors employ a curriculum based on narrative. Compassion can occur outside of curricular engagement with faculty pre-learning students’ educational experiences prior and post resettlement (Uptin et al., 2014). Providing a culturally sensitive curriculum honors the richness of all students’ experiences via the use of narrative and aids in the establishment of belonging for all within the classroom space. Narratives make sense of “life turning-points” by connecting cultural and personal dimensions of identity (Gomez-Estern & de la Mata Benitez, 2013, p. 348). Aiding in the elimination of stigma and promoting recovery (Rennick-Egglestone et al., 2019). Narratives create new personal scripts that highlight the richness of cultural background and individual generative potential, both of which may serve to develop and engage undergraduates in heightening compassion for themselves and others. This chapter seeks to develop universal classroom principles that can be put into action by first year writing faculty via the merging of a narrative curriculum with mindfulness and a pedagogical form derived from compassion focused therapy (CFT) (Gilbert, 2005, 2009a, 2009b, 2014). Gilbert’s scholarship employs “a science of psychotherapy based on research…rather than being focused on a particular school, model or process” (Gilbert, 2009a, p. 208). He maintains that

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humans possess three emotion-regulation systems, namely for threat and selfprotection, resource seeking and contentment via satisfying affiliative needs. Given evolutionary changes in cognition, these three systems expanded from an “old” to “new brain” status, while keeping original emotion-regulation systems intact. During times of stress an “old brain” status fails to consider more rational thought and reverts to the original emotion-regulation systems. Gilbert’s form of training or therapy employs “standard, evidence-based, interventions” (Gilbert, 2014, p. 33). When applied to classroom curriculum CFT requires a pedagogical shift and denotes four teacher driven objectives. It stresses the development of positive classroom relationships that facilitate engaging with personal contests while simultaneously skill building ways to overcome challenges. It underscores non-blaming compassionate understandings into the nature of students’ past and present discomfort. This instruction builds capacity to experience and cultivate caring attributes, while above all emphasizing compassion for self and others. This chapter will be organized according to challenges and development of this strength-based approach. An introduction of compassionate pedagogy and narrative will be introduced. Steps to support undergraduate students via the creation of a community of learners will be presented. These steps include leading and facilitating within the compassionate classroom, empowering through strengths, embracing mindfulness, and turning traumatic experiences into narratives of healing. Working with undergraduates who are refugees in first year writing courses has the potential to provide stronger more individually based independent narratives. Literature on students who are refugees has focused primarily on resilience and mental health (Keles et al., 2018) with studies examining post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and conduct problems (Seglem et al., 2014). Over a decade ago, Rutter (2006) decried the sole focus on trauma for students who are refugees, calling for an expansion of scholarly thought. Turner et al. (2012) suggest that trauma or critical life events are “part of a larger tapestry” allowing for an opportunity for redirection and increased self-efficacy. It is oftentimes critical life events, as painful as they are, that offer alternative worldviews by highlighting strengthbased stories as opposed to narratives of victimization. Intergenerational narratives have been shaped by the past experiences of parents who are refugees (Bloch, 2018). Recent investigations have suggested social adjustment is critical (Malti et al., 2021). Examining the daily acculturation that occurs within the postsecondary classroom has also been put forward as having more import than a trauma focus (Keles et al., 2018). Studies of students who are refugees have been primarily concerned with k-12 classrooms and have suggested a void of cultural sensitivity (Gezer, 2019; Mariner et al., 2013). Less ethnically diverse schools have increased levels of racist barriers (Bloch & Hirsh, 2017). Work has been extended into the higher education arena with cultural and structural barriers occurring due to “bias, discrimination, racism, financial factors, language acquisition,” despite the significance of research suggesting inclusive education provides a sense of belonging and

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validation (Taylor & Sidhu, 2012). Over two decades ago, Rendon (1994) maintained that all undergraduates, “no matter how fragile, can be transformed into full members of the college academic and social community” (p. 51). Employing a cultural sensitivity credits the richness of oral history (Hoffman, 2019) via a narrative based approach to a first-year writing course for undergraduates who are refugees. This may represent a first step in establishing a compassionate pedagogy based on CFT (Gilbert, 2005, 2009a, 2009b, 2014). Much of this scholarship contradicts a deficit model (Uptin et al., 2014) and may help equalize power structures within the classroom. Hierarchical relationships disenfranchise students who are refugees by creating a lack of agency. When students who are refugees construct narratives, they may be able to understand premigration trauma and resettlement stressors differently. Done in conjunction with a safe instructional space based on compassionate pedagogy, the constructing and reconstructing of a more empowering story may allow for heightened agency and greater self-compassion. Narrative as a form of compassionate pedagogy can provide students who are refugees new personal scripts that highlight cultural background and generative potential. Before introducing students to the concept of writing a narrative in the higher education environment, faculty can take valuable steps to support and acclimate students to the classroom. As a form of scaffolding, these four steps include, leading and facilitating with compassion, empowering students through strengths, and embracing mindfulness, and turning experience into narratives of healing.

4.1

Leading with Compassion in the First-Year Writing Course

The most recognized definition of compassion comes from the Dalai Lama (1995) who terms compassion as “a sensitivity to the suffering of self and others, with a deep commitment to try to relieve it.” According to Gilbert (2005), compassion is a behavioral process which involves an empathic cognitive process which understands and then attempts to reduce the source of pain in others. The behavioral process of compassion is what allows an individual to inhibit and prevent forms of injustice, hardship and pain that cause others to suffer. While empathy permits individuals to recognize and understand the pain, it is compassion which is the catalyst for change and can be a powerful driver in the classroom. Part of the change needed in the higher education classroom must be a compassionate, inclusive approach. Leading and facilitating in the classroom with compassion is a key skill instructors must model to build a trust-based community of learners (Fazel et al., 2012). First year writing instructors must embrace inclusion and diversity, valuing students for their unique cultures and experiences. Rutter (2006) noted that instead of seeing refugee students in a holistic way, complete with their backgrounds, issues, and post-migration experiences, they are instead reductively described as “traumatized.” To support students through

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pre-migration trauma and resettlement stressors, Arnot and Pinson (2005) support a holistic model, recognizing the whole student with a varied array of needs. Students are “whole individuals with multiple, sometimes meshing and messy, facets and experiences, and not merely as singular products of their native culture and language” (Ortmeier-Hooper, 2008, p. 415). This holistic approach supports belonging in the classroom. Freeman (2007) found that students felt a sense of belonging based upon the teachers’ warmth and openness in their daily interactions with their students. One way to foster an empowered community is through the identification and application of students’ character strengths.

4.2

Empowering Refugee Students Through Their Strengths

Using a simple strengths inventory can bolster refugee students’ confidence. These strengths can be revisited throughout the semester and eventually integrated into narratives. Discovering tangible word qualities that best describe their strengths can motivate refugee students. Smith et al. (2020) found college students who focused on character strengths improved their meaning making and well-being simultaneously reducing negative emotions and loneliness. Leaning into one’s meaning can be more profound than a fleeting sense of happiness. Peterson and Seligman (2004) point out that “the more people surrounding us who are kind, or curious, or full of hope, the greater our own likelihood of acting in these ways. All are winners when someone acts in accordance with his or her strengths and virtues” (p. 21). Gilbert’s (2010) approach to positive psychology fosters wellbeing. Identifying refugee students’ strengths not only invites students to live into their virtues, but also supports them as they prepare to write their empowering narratives. Activities that lead to empowering thoughts include identifying and using strengths, such assignments can include listing areas to be grateful for as well as journaling positive moments that occur throughout the day (Seligman et al., 2005). These wellness practices can be used as a precursor to narrative writing, offering students opportunities to become more self-aware and intentional in daily choices. The VIA Strengths Inventory is a self-assessment of 24-character strengths that individuals have in varying degrees. The strengths are organized in six different categories: Virtue of Wisdom (Creativity, Curiosity, Judgement, Love of Learning and Perspective), Virtue of Courage (Bravery, Perseverance, Honestly, and Zest), Virtue of Humanity (Love, Kindness, Social Intelligence), Virtue of Justice (Teamwork, Fairness, Leadership), Virtue of Temperance (Forgiveness, Humility, Prudence, and Self-Regulation), and Virtue of Transcendence (Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence, Gratitude, Hope, Humor, Spirituality) (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). When refugee students identify and use their top strengths, they simultaneously build meaning and purpose, reduce stress, and accomplish goals (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). In the first-year writing course, once these strengths are identified, they can be used to aid students in writing empowering narratives and anchor students by suggesting the tools by which they can promote mindful behaviors and decision making.

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Embracing Mindfulness

Refugee students reimagine new scripts through the act of mindfulness. KabatZinn (2005) explains mindfulness as a form of non-judgmental awareness directed at the present moment. This definition allows for the cultivation of selfcompassion. “Whereas mindfulness is mostly the practice of loving awareness of moment-to-moment experience, self-compassion is loving awareness of the experiencer” (Germer & Neff, 2019, p. 2). Embracing mindfulness as a powerful compassionate pedagogy allows students to experience not only self-compassion, but also provides for new forms of empathy and lowers stress levels, while simultaneously increasing resilience and self-efficacy (Centeno, 2020; Vidic & Cherup, 2019). This practice assists refugee students in remaining present while eliminating dysfunctional past narratives. Even five minutes of mindfulness each day can support undergraduates who are refugees in shifting into a growth mindset allowing for the creation of new self-narratives. Gilbert (2010) offers compassionate mindfulness practices in the classroom by offering students tools that allow them to breathe, relax, stay present, create a safe space, and create compassion for themselves and others. Gilbert’s method of mindfulness is called “soothing, breathing rhythm,” which will allow refugee students to slow down and feel the awareness of their body and breath. Gilbert explains: “Once sitting comfortably with straight posture and feet flat on the ground, people are encouraged to breathe a little deeper than normal and notice or look for a rhythm in their breathing, which helps them feel they are slowing down” (Gilbert, 2009a, pp. 224–228). This practice can be done for just a few minutes each day. Through this process of staying in the moment participants gradually cultivate gratitude for the present (Gilbert, 2010). This is important for refugee students who may thus begin to savor vision of a new life through daily practice as they ready themselves for writing an empowering narrative.

4.4

Narrative Writing in the College Classroom

Once refugee students identify and cultivate strengths, and daily mindfulness practice, they can visualize past traumas and resettlement stressors through a more compassionate lens. Writing narratives support healing and accelerate individual growth and social transformation (Nicki, 2018). Such exercises within the firstyear writing courses can thus become a form of healing (Spear, 2014, p. 64). A four-step process can be used which includes: (1) providing a curriculum that includes trauma survivors’ perspectives and life experiences, (2) outlining a script based on students’ identities, goals, and aspirations (3) reimagining a new story, and (4) creating and sharing students’ new personal empowering narratives.

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4.4.1 Curricula Must Include Trauma Survivors’ Perspectives and Life Experiences When a writing instructor introduces students to various trauma survivors’ perspectives, students begin to see that they’re not alone. These texts allow all students within the first-year writing class to expand worldviews, identifying with some of these writings and learning more about other refugees’ experiences. Autobiographical accounts of other refugees’ journeys including their triumphs (Hope, 2008) should be included in the reading assignments. Humans are hardwired for stories. Writing instructors can integrate multiple perspectives from trauma survivors into the classroom discussion. Through these accounts of resilience, students can gain an understanding and instead of feeling isolated, such accounts can aid healing within a learning community. Undergraduates who are refugees may subsequently share these readings with other members of their community (Lin et al., 2009).

4.4.2 Outlining a Script Based on Students’ Identities, Goals, and Aspirations Campano (2007) notes that “one of the most powerful interventions that teachers can make for immigrant students is to celebrate the human and academic values of their stories” (p. 54). Encouraging students to write about their identities supports resettled youth in re-envisioning their identities (Cummins et al., 2015). The process of recreating stories is powerful. Daniel (2019) collected data during a writing program for resettled refugee youth and found students “held strong beliefs in their capabilities and were envisioning rich futures for their lives” (p. 76). Montero (2018) analyzed the narratives of five college aged Rohingya students and within these students illustrated self-healing from traumatic experiences integrating behaviors such as “engagement with school and/or work, altruism and social activism, and spirituality” within their narratives (Montero, 2018, p. 92).

4.4.3 Reimagining a New Story Compassionate letter writing is a form of expressive writing that can be used as an assignment in first year writing courses that can aid undergraduate students who are refugees to “assimilate difficult experiences” (Gilbert, 2010, p. 195). First year writing instructors can ask students to remember character strengths and practice compassionate mindfulness before writing. In this space, students can write a letter to themselves highlighting moments of trauma, pain, and stress and offer new ways to see those moments. Releasing blame, guilt, and anger can support students in moving forward. This writing supports students in viewing circumstances through a more compassionate lens and creates a more focused roadmap into their future.

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4.4.4 Creating and Sharing Students’ New Personal Empowering Narratives To craft their narratives, students can extract excerpts from their compassionate letters to themselves, expanding on the ideas that they wrote about themselves in their letters. When students share narratives, they are invited to read the entire narrative to the group, or create a powerful storied reflection called a self-found poem. To create this, students may choose to reread their narratives, alone or with another learner in the classroom, reflecting on aspect of culture and identity, choosing the most critical and significant words and phrases––students may rearrange these words into meaningful lines of truths. First year writing faculty should encourage the addition of students’ character strengths, goals, and aspirations. As a condensed version of student narratives, self-found poems can be shared more privately and can become a vehicle through which students’ stories honor their identities and comfort levels (Kennedy et al., 2019).

4.5

Conclusion

Although recommendations exist that match whole scale needs of undergraduates who are refugees, few works look at direct classroom instruction. Adopting Gilbert’s (2010) theory of CFT allows for an understanding of a wholistic view of students’ experiences, both past and present. Instead of viewing students who are refugees as victims, undergraduates should have the opportunity in first year college writing courses to create new personalized narratives based on healing and hope. Their story should extend beyond their parents’ and siblings into one that takes account their resilience, compassion, and aspiration (Bloch, 2018). Faculty who integrate compassionate pedagogies and practice inclusion strategies can support students’ processes of reimagining, writing, and sharing empowering stories. At first glance, narratives may appear like traditional first year writing assessments. However, when conjoined with mindfulness, a strength-based perspective and compassionate pedagogies, narratives in first year writing courses have the power to transform students as they gain a deeper understanding of themselves within the context of academe. This has the potential to move students who are refugees from a position of “cultivated patience” to one of hope. Through the implementation of this compassionate plan for refugee students, instructors must see every student as a unique individual with their own assets and talents. One question to ask is: “Who is being included and who is being excluded as the result of the choices that I make as an instructor?” (Hogan & Sathy, 2022, p. 157). According to these authors, “Inclusion describes a culture in which all learners feel welcome, valued, and safe, and it requires intentional and deliberate strategies” (Hogan & Sathy, 2022, p. 5). Instructors may use the structured plan outlined in this chapter to create an inclusive environment for students who are refugees, integrating welcoming language into the class time that fosters a sense of belonging. By reducing or eliminating this barrier entirely, students will show up

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more authentically, allowing self-transformation to occur through self-awareness, community, and writing. Points to Ponder This chapter seeks to develop universal classroom principles that can be put into action by college writing faculty via the merging of a narrative curriculum with compassion and mindfulness. • Leading and facilitating in the classroom with compassion is a key skill that instructors must model in order to build a community of learners based on trust. In what ways might you infuse your course with compassion for both your students and for yourself? • Using a simple strengths inventory can bolster students’ confidence as they identify their strengths. How might you empower students based upon the strengths that they bring to your classroom? • Introducing students to a simple mindfulness practice allows students to stay in the present moment instead of focusing on the past and future. How does understanding the power of mindfulness shift your classroom dynamics? • The benefits of writing narratives in the college classroom have the power to transform the lives of refugee students. What writing strategies might you use to scaffold the writing process for your students? More to Discover: Sample Syllabus Course Description This writing course equips refugee students with critical tools to explore the wellbeing of refugees through the continuum of their experiences over time. Refugee students will discover their character strengths and adopt a compassionate mindfulness approach. Through the exploration of refugees’ autobiographical accounts and class discussions, students will begin to see, hear, and consider other perspectives. As refugee students focus on their identities, goals, and aspirations, they will begin to create a new, empowering narrative to share. Course Goals At the end of this course, refugee students will: • Understand and describe their character strengths and moments of gratitude • Practice compassionate mindfulness • Read and discuss autobiographical accounts of other refugees’ journeys to gain a full picture of trauma survivors’ perspectives and life experiences • Create an empowering narrative based on their identities, goals, and aspirations.

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Scaffolded Writing This course requires journal writing. Each journal entry is described below: Strengths Inquiry: Using the VIA Strengths Inventory as a guide, please identify and reflect on your strengths. How can you begin to call on your strengths daily? Which strengths do you already use? How? Positive Moments and Gratitude: Please keep track of at least one positive moment each day and one reason to be grateful each day for two weeks. Then synthesize your thoughts and ideas into a journal entry using specific examples. How does collecting these positive moments and gratitudes make you feel? How can you continue this practice? Compassionate Mindfulness: After practicing compassionate mindfulness for four weeks, please write a short reflection on any changes that you notice in your mindset. Explain how your mindfulness practice is improving your daily life. Reflection on Trauma Survivors’ Autobiographical Accounts: Please synthesize the readings and class discussions into a reflection to support you in your healing and writing. How have these accounts changed your perspective? Which account is the most powerful and why? What are your most important takeaways from trauma survivors’ experiences? Identities, Goals, and Aspirations: Take a moment to visualize and dream of your future. What are your goals and aspirations? What identities do you have now? What identities might you have in the future? Compassionate Letter Writing: Please write a letter to yourself highlighting moments of trauma, pain, and stress and offer new ways to see those moments through a compassionate lens. Imagine you are writing this letter to a dear friend, using the most kind and compassionate words. Empowering Narrative: Please read your journal entries. Who are you now? Who are you becoming? Please extract excerpts from your journal entries to craft a narrative outlining your empowering journey and creating a focused roadmap to your future. Final Reflection: Read your journal entries and your empowering narrative once more. How has this semester-long journey changed you? Who were you when you started this process? What has changed? What was your favorite part of the process and why? Which part was most challenging? How did you overcome this challenge?

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References Arnot, M., & Pinson, H. (2005). The education of asylum seeker and refugee children: A study of local education authority and school values, policies and practices. Cambridge: Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Bajwa, J., Abai, M., Couto, S., Akbari-Dibavar, A., & McKenzie, K. (2018). Examining the intersection of race, gender, class, and age on postsecondary education and career trajectories of refugees. Refuge, 34(2), 113–123. https://doi.org/10.7202/1055582ar Bloch, A. (2018). Talking about the past, locating it in the present: The second generation from refugee backgrounds making sense of their parents’ narratives, narrative gaps and silences. Journal of Refugee Studies, 31(4), 647–663. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fey007 Bloch, A., & Hirsh, S. (2017). The educational experiences of the second generation from refugee backgrounds. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(13), 2131–2148. Cornbleth, C. (1988). Curriculum in and out of context. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 3(2), 85–96. Campano, G. (2007, October). Honoring student stories. Educational Leadership, 65(2), 48–54. Centeno, R. (2020). Effect of mindfulness on empathy and self-compassion: An adapted MBCT program on Filipino college students. Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 10(3), 61. Cummins, J., Hu, S., Markus, P., & Kristiina Montero, M. (2015). Identity texts and academic achievement: Connecting the dots in multilingual school contexts. TESOL Quarterly, 49(3), 555–581. Dalai Lama. (1995). The Power of Compassion. Harper Collins. Danaher, D. S. (2015). Reading Vaclav Havel. University of Toronto Press. Daniel, S. (2019). Writing our identities for successful endeavors: Resettled refugee youth look to the future. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 33(1), 71–83. Dryden-Peterson, S. (2016). Refugee education: The crossroads of globalization. Educational Researcher, 45(9), 473–482. Fazel, M., Reed, R. V., Panter-Brick, C., & Stein, A. (2012). Mental health of displaced and refugee children resettled in high-income countries: Risk and protective factors. The Lancet, 379(9812), 266–282. Freeman, T. M., Anderman, L. H., & Jensen, J. M. (2007). Sense of belongingness of college freshmen at the classroom and campus levels. Journal of Experimental Education, 75, 203–220. Germer, C., & Neff, K. D. (2019). Mindful self-compassion (MSC). In I. Itvzan (Ed.), The handbook of mindfulness-based programs: Every established intervention, from medicine to education (pp. 357–367). Routledge. Gezer, M. U. (2019). Looking through the multicultural glass: Re-examination of Syrian refugee children education in Turkey. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5(2), 303–322. Gilbert, P. (2005). Compassion and cruelty: A biopsychosocial approach. In P. Gilbert (Ed.), Compassion: Conceptualization, research and use in psychotherapy (pp. 9–74). Routledge. Gilbert, P. (2009a). Introducing compassion-focused therapy. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 15, 199–208. Gilbert, P. (2009b). The compassionate mind: A new approach to life’s challenges. Robinson. Gilbert, P. (2010). Compassion focused therapy. Routledge. Gilbert, P. (2014). The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53, 6–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12043 Giroux, H. (1995). National identity and the politics of multiculturalism. College Literature, 22(2), 42–57. Gomez-Estern, B. M., & de la Mata Benitez, M. L. (2013). Narratives of migration: Emotions and interweaving of personal and cultural identity through narrative. Culture & Psychology, 19(3), 348–368. Hoffman, M. (2019). Practicing oral history among refugees and host communities. Routledge. Hogan, K. A., & Sathy, V. (2022). Inclusive teaching: Strategies for promoting equity in the college classroom. West Virginia University Press.

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Hope, J. (2008). “One day we had to run”: The development of the refugee identity in children’s literature and its function in education. Children’s Literature in Education, 39(4), 295–304. Kabat-Zinn, J. (2005) Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World through Mindfulness. Piatkus. Keles, S., Friborg, O., Idsoe, T., Sirin, S., & Oppedal, B. (2018). Resilience and acculturation among unaccompanied refugee minors. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 42(1), 55–63. Kennedy, L., Oviatt, R., & De Costa, P. (2019). Refugee youth’s identity expressions and multimodal literacy practices in the third space. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 33, 56–70. Lambrechts, A. A. (2020). The super-disadvantaged in higher education: Barriers to access for refugee background students in England. Higher Education, 80, 803–822. https://doi.org/10. 1007/s10734-020-00515-4 Lin, N. J., Suyemoto, K. L., & Kiang, P. N. (2009). Education as catalyst for intergenerational refugee family communication about war and trauma. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 30(4), 195–207. Malti, T., Galarneau, E., Zhang, L., Myatt, E., & Yavuz, H. M. (2021). Prosocial development in refugee children. Journal of Refugee Studies. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feaa104 Mariner, N. S., Anders, A. D., & Lester, J. N. (2013). The politics of nativism in U.S. public education: Critical race theory and Burundian children with refugee status. In T. M. Kress, C. Malott, & B. Porfilio (Eds.), Challenging Status Quo Retrenchment: New directions in critical research (pp. 169–192). Information Age Publishing. Montero, M. K. (2018). Narratives of trauma and self-healing processes in a literacy program for adolescent refugee newcomers. In S. Shapiro, R. Farrelly, & M. J. Curry (Eds.), Education refugee-background students: Critical issues and dynamic contexts (pp. 92–106). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783099986-011 Nicki, A. (2018). Teaching incest narratives, student survivors, and inclusive pedagogy. Humanities, 7(2), 1–17. Ortmeier-Hooper, C. (2008). English may be my second language, but I’m not “ESL”. College Composition and Communication, 59(3), 389–419. Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Oxford University Press and American Psychological Association. Rendon, L. I. (1994). Validating culturally diverse students and student development. Innovative Higher Education, 19(1), 33–51. Rennick-Egglestone, S., Morgan, K., Llewellyn-Beardsley, J., Ramsay, A., McGranahan, R., Gillard, S., Hui, A., Ng, F., Schneider, J., Booth, S., Pinfold, V., Davidson, L., Franklin, D., Bradstreet, S., Arbour, S., & Slade, M. (2019). Mental health recovery narratives and their impact on recipients: Systematic review and narrative synthesis. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 64(10), 669–679. Rutter, J. (2006). Refugee children in the UK. Open University Press. Seglem, K. B., Oppendal, B., & Roysamb, E. (2014). Daily hassles and coping dispositions as predictors of psychological adjustment: A comparative study of young unaccompanied refugees and youth in the resettlement country. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 38(3), 293–303. Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410–421. Smith, B. W., Ford, C. G., Erickson, K., & Guzman, A. (2020). The effects of a character strength focused positive psychology course on undergraduate happiness and well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 22, 343–362. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00233-9 Spear, R. (2014). Let me tell you a story: On teaching trauma narratives, writing, and healing. Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture, 14, 53–79. Taylor, S., & Sidhu, R. K. (2012). Supporting refugee students in schools: What constitutes inclusive education? International Journal of Inclusive Education, 16(1), 39–56.

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Turner, J. E., Goodin, J. B., & Lokey, C. (2012). Exploring the roles of emotions, motivations, selfefficacy, and secondary control following Iraqi refugee students PTSD, wisdom & resilience in critical unexpected life events critical unexpected life events. Journal of Adult Development, 19, 215–227. UNICEF. (2020). Child displacement. Retrieved from https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-migrat ion-anddisplacement/displacement/ Uptin, J., Wright, J., & Harwood, V. (2014). Stories of how young former refugees constituted strategic identities in order to access school. Race Ethnicity and Education, 19(3), 598–617. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2014.885428 Vidic, Z., & Cherup, N. (2019). Mindfulness in the classroom: Effect of a mindfulness-based relaxation class on college students’ stress, resilience, self-efficacy and perfectionism. College Student Journal, 53(1), 130–142. Waddington, K. (2018). Editorial. Journal of Applied Academic Practice, 6(3), 1–2. Waters, T., & LeBlanc, K. (2005). Refugees and education: Mass public schooling without a nation-state. Comparative Education Review, 49(2), 129–147.

Julie Sochacki is a Clinical Associate Professor of English and Director of the English Secondary Education Program at University of Hartford. She is a former urban educator and has credentials as an English Language Arts teacher, literacy specialist, and intermediate administrator/principal. Her research concerns the resilient teacher, mindfulness, and compassionate pedagogies in higher education. Karen I. Case is an Associate Professor at University of Hartford teaches a range of courses within the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership, including Foundations of Higher Education, Leadership Theory, and Ethics in Higher Education. Her dual research interests are focused on creating instructional modifications for marginalized learners and women in the history of higher education.

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Refugees’ Acclimatization and Learning: Educators’ Creative Solutions Sussan Oladipo, Annmarie Handley, Rachel Lackey, and Jill Hallett

Abstract

Our lived experiences are what make us unique. As the selection of chapters in this volume suggests, no single context adequately represents an overarching refugee experience, or indeed a monolithic experience of a refugee student educator. While some schools have large populations of refugee students from one or more geographical regions, others see only a handful of refugee and newcomer students amid larger communities of minority and immigrant groups. In the former, teachers and students find themselves negotiating a staggering number of linguistic, literacy, and academic histories. In the latter, students’ languages and cultures are often absorbed as they assimilate into the dominant culture(s) of the school community. In this chapter, three secondary educators discuss the disparate academic contexts for serving refugee and newcomer students within the same US school district. They share the challenges faced by students, families, educators, and administrators in their respective contexts and how the pandemic has affected students at their schools personally and academically. Together, they present strategies and recommendations for addressing educational and social-emotional well-being for refugee students across a variety of contexts.

S. Oladipo · J. Hallett (B) Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL, USA e-mail: [email protected] A. Handley · R. Lackey Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, IL, USA J. Hallett University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_5

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Keywords

Trauma-informed teaching education

5.1

•

Asset-based instruction

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Pandemic

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Secondary

Demographic and Social Contexts for Refugee Students in Chicago

This chapter focuses on the creativity employed by educators working with refugee students in the city of Chicago. Here, three educators and one parent/ community member reflect on solutions to challenges before, during, and after remote learning; some of these solutions are easily enacted while others take multifaceted approaches to long-term, complex issues. It should be noted that the newcomer situation in Chicago is quite fluid at the time of this writing and may indeed change in the coming months. Chicago’s 77 community areas differ starkly in terms of demographics, which is why the schools featured here do not mirror the demographics for the city overall. Sussan Oladipo writes from the perspective of an administrator at a high school on the southwest side of the city serving almost 3000 students. Over 80% of the students at her school are Hispanic and Spanish is spoken by 80% of the children in the area (CPS School Info; Census Profile), which also had one of the highest rates of COVID-19 in the city (COVID Dashboard). The relatively few refugee students arrive from Latin America, West Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The other two schools discussed here are located on the far north side of Chicago roughly 1.5 miles apart in two of the most linguistically and demographically diverse areas of the city (Census Profile) with large numbers of refugees, migrants, and community resources. Annmarie Handley is an English Language Learner (ELL) teacher at the smallest of the three schools, which serves approximately 600 students speaking over 40 languages. Rachel Lackey is an ELL teacher at a school of roughly 1500 students from nearly 70 countries and speaking around 40 languages (CPS School Info.). It is common to find speakers of 20 languages in any one of Lackey’s ESL classes. Jill Hallett writes from the perspective of a parent of children at a nearby P-8 school that serves roughly 750 students from over 40 language backgrounds, many of whom are refugees and migrants, most recently from Venezuela. While all three of the high schools offer bilingual services, Handley’s school is the only one designated a “Newcomer Center,” specifically offering refugee services, including a dedicated social worker for the ELL students.

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Difficulties Navigating U.S. High Schools

Language, culture, trauma, and remote learning have all presented challenges of particular pertinence to refugee students and their teachers. Unlike other immigrant and newcomer students, refugee students often arrive at their schools having been displaced from their homelands for some time. Some of these students and their families emigrate to the United States as a result of wars and oppressive regimes in their home countries, having lived in refugee camps in additional countries that offer little to no stability in schooling. Many students are emotionally and physically fatigued from traumas associated with leaving their home country. Even in the U.S., many students endure homelessness, poverty, lack of food and other resources (Hallett & Skrla, 2021); they negotiate jobs, arranged marriages, and other stresses while going to high school. With limited English language proficiency, it is very difficult for these students to successfully navigate tasks and activities in the different content areas. Interacting with their peers socially outside of class is also a challenge. Some peers are empathetic and friendly, which makes it somewhat easier for the refugee students, though communication difficulties persist and often result in isolation. Teachers find themselves working to bridge the communication gap while also helping all students make sense of content. An area of exasperation for all three educators is the inadequacy of the Home Language Survey (HLS) for capturing important information about refugee students’ language and literacy histories (see also Vieira, 2016; Brooks, 2017). In the United States, there are many misconceptions surrounding those who speak languages other than English (LOTE), leading to a disconnect between the resources needed to teach monolingual learners and native speakers of English and what is needed to teach language learners in the classroom. Lü (2020) discusses the “language-as-problem” perception that still lingers, despite the growing number of multilingual people residing in the United States. Lü laments schools’ lacking support for multilingual students, particularly those of lower socioeconomic status. Furthermore, Oladipo notes frustrations from students who spoke varieties of English found outside the U.S. and were thus erroneously placed in ESL classrooms (see also Nero, 2006). Refugee students also require explicit instruction in the institutional culture of schooling, from the significance of the school bell to the ramifications of absences and missing work. For students with interrupted formal schooling (SIFE), these values are not intuitive. Teachers question their own complicity in upholding these arbitrary, inaccurate, and often punitive institutional practices. Teaching adolescents with trauma presents an additional challenge. In all three schools, students arrive emotionally and physically fatigued from traumas associated with leaving their home country, adjusting to a new life, and experiencing homelessness, poverty, lack of food and other resources. Many negotiate jobs, arranged marriages, and a myriad of other stresses which have been further compounded by the pandemic and subsequent transition to remote learning. Newcomers’ limited access worsened, particularly at the beginning of the pandemic,

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as they were shut out from technology and translation. Students who spoke a language other than English or Spanish floundered in their content classes. Schools with dozens of languages lacked staff members who could communicate with students. Body language and total physical response were no longer easily-available strategies to reach the least proficient students.

5.3

Teaching Refugees in Chicago: Educator Voices

5.3.1 Sussan Oladipo, Urban Educational Leader/Researcher Even pre-pandemic, a sense of belonging is difficult in a school with very few refugee students or students with similar or shared linguistic and cultural backgrounds. These problems were further exacerbated during remote learning. As the eventful 2019–2020 academic year took off for most school districts across the country, our school community was off to a good start, gaining some traction in supporting our foreign students via immersive diverse learning strategies including language and literacy support. By March 2020, the outbreak of the pandemic that caught everyone off guard muddied our waters; schools were forced to shut down and move to remote instruction. Consequently, planning for remote instruction, including creating the systems and structures to ensure some success amidst this new uncharted territory, was a daunting task. Our administrative team had to quickly figure out how to assess the students, what to include in the learning materials and how to navigate the technologies for students and teachers. The digital divide, including lack of internet access for most of our students’ families, added another layer of complexity to the already difficult situation. My school administrative team coordinated with our central office and worked together to plan the following: Acquisition, preparation and distribution of technology devices and internet access support to all students who needed it. This was done through careful inventory and needs assessments of students and families. Technology training for our staff, particularly in our common learning platform, Google Classroom. Increased customized instruction and lowered teacher-to-student ratio for students who needed more learning support, including immigrant students. Increased outreach to students who were not showing up to remote classes. Restructuring of assessments protocol to adapt for remote learning which transitioned to hybrid learning, and eventually full face-to-face learning.

5.3.2 Annmarie Handley, ELL Teacher I have been a teacher of English Language Arts since 2009, first with adults and since 2017 at Sullivan. When I began as a teacher of English Language for

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three different language levels, we had no set curriculum for our EL Department. Moreover, we needed to provide more than just academic resources, support for learning, and goals for the future. We had to plan for opportunities to build healthy relationships with our students so that they have trusted adult counsel every day. We consider ourselves to be a second family for our students and their families. “One Ummah,” which is the Arabic word for community, is our department mantra. Throughout the pandemic, our Language Learners’ Academy has worked together to determine our students’ needs during this time of isolation and illness. In the summer of 2020, our team needed to reorganize our goals to meet the new requirements of learning at home. Our faculty and staff could not communicate in the dozens of different languages spoken by our students and their families. We had to rely on other forms of communication, especially visual communication, body language, and total physical response, to work with our least proficient students. We had to allow for other disparities faced by our students and their families. Resources such as healthcare and health insurance are dramatically unequal, so our in-house community-supported clinic was made available at no cost for our students, which proved an invaluable resource during the pandemic. We also had to allow for technology gaps for our student body, school-wide, as these expensive resources are not as readily available for our kids at home. We were able to provide Chromebooks, chargers, and free Internet access for all of our students during remote learning. As the majority of our students had already been working with Chromebook technology before this school year, we were at an advantage. At our school, “Connections Weeks” are allocated at the beginning of the school year to acclimate students to the school building, resources, adults, and peers. The EL teachers collect information about the students’ and their families’ basic needs and build student profiles used for personalized learning. We also try to set our students up for success by teaching good study habits and social-andemotional lessons to manage anxiety. During the pandemic, we spent much of this time teaching the technology, hardware and software and language used to navigate the educational websites we would be using, working to make it fun and interactive.

5.3.3 Rachel Lackey, ELL Teacher Working with refugees and recent immigrants presents its own unique challenges. This year, my ESL 1 class is currently at 17 students from 9 different countries, each with unique cultures, backgrounds, histories of formal schooling, and educational needs that require support beyond the expertise of many teachers. Effective language teachers use literacy skills and L1 foundations to establish connections in the target language. However, as teachers of refugees, we understand that teaching the words, “folder, stapler, notebook” includes showing a student what a folder is and how to use it, how to write on lined paper, and that

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work is stapled in a specific place. Some students who have had prior schooling can rely on translation to and from their home languages to support their learning. Other students feel the gap widening as the class moves on and they scramble to make meaning of an environment with new rules they cannot follow, new objects they do not know how to use, and a new language they cannot understand. While teachers are not trained to recognize or anticipate such needs in our classrooms, we learn on the fly and adjust according to our students’ needs. Experience and support from mentor teachers can help teachers new to working with refugees understand how to navigate different cultural norms about answering questions, working with peers, and hallway behavior. The responsibility falls to the teacher to recognize the gaps and fill them with compassion and understanding. These gaps can be small such as an introduction of a new object or they can be vast such as combating illiteracy. Some students may spend much of their lives in refugee camps before coming to the US. These students may present with high levels of oral communication skills but low levels of written literacy. Without experience in this situation, it often takes teachers weeks to figure out a student isn’t just refusing to do work; they cannot understand the assignments being given or produce the work in expected ways. Professionally, I found this specific area of need to be a gap in my own expertise and thus pursued a master’s degree in literacy education to help students in this exact situation. Literacy educators and coaches can help model ways to help teenagers develop their very first literacy skills in a new language.

5.4

Pandemic Learning: The Tough Gets Tougher

For many refugee students, the pandemic is just the latest in a series of interruptions to their schooling. In-person cues from classmates and teachers are useless in a remote setting where students are expected to connect to the correct class at the correct time using unfamiliar technology, even when it is available. Many refugee students have not had regular access to technology throughout their lives, unlike most U.S. teens. During remote instruction, students struggled to use logins and recall passwords needed to perform everyday tasks quickly in classes. Teachers felt forced to push technology use and spend copious amounts of time on logins, formatting, and navigation, distracting focus from content and language. It was particularly challenging to teach students technology by using technology. Accessing instruction required students to be able to login to a computer, locate the online classroom, click the link for class, and communicate with their teachers. For many students, this proficiency was not realistic and their education suffered as a result. While teaching remotely, building community was a significant challenge. Students were unable to form peer partnerships and were not given many social opportunities to use their home languages with to support one another through the challenges and transitions they were facing. Many students did not respond

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to teachers or each other while learning remotely because they legitimately could not; translation apps were insufficient. Sporadic attendance, excessive tardies, inability to access the online classroom and work independently, and reticence to speak in online meetings were all major barriers to students accessing content and showing growth. When masks were still required in school, they hindered already stilted communication (Glass, 2021). As we move into a new phase of in-person learning, the educators featured here discuss prior obstacles and offer solutions toward effectively addressing the needs of refugee students in the classroom.

5.5

What Works: Recommendations for Educating Refugee Students

Combining their knowledge and experience, the three educators have converged on four broad recommendations for teaching and supporting refugee students: traumainformed teaching and support for social-emotional belonging; personalized learning; asset-based language, culture, and literacy instruction; and identification and allocation of community resources.

5.5.1 Trauma-Informed Teaching, Social-Emotional Learning, and Belonging Refugee students arrive in Chicago after thousands of miles of travel. Many come from years in refugee camps after narrowly escaping homes ravaged by war. Their families have been broken apart, humiliated, challenged, exhausted, and murdered (Fishman, 2021; The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2018). Many refugee students suffer from complex trauma or chronic stress, problems exacerbated by schools with inadequate numbers of ELL teachers, isolation of refugee students from the general population, and lower rates of parental engagement (Hos et al., 2019). As Lackey notes, none of us are experts in this area. Rarely are we trained to understand or manage the gravity of the situations. We do our best and learn from the experiences, not always getting it right but trying to be consistent and present with compassion and safety. Teenagers are already battling strong emotions and changes at this pivotal time in their development. Students often carry the pressure from family to be successful in school and to use their limited English skills to help adults in their transition as well. Many students may be in the country staying with distant relatives or family friends who are struggling to care for their own children and have very little emotional or financial support to offer these teens. Refugee teens may battle depression, separation anxiety, and trauma responses on a daily basis. In many ways, these life experiences mature students into adult situations very quickly, but also may cause them to respond emotionally like young children. We acknowledge these challenges but do not often speak about what that looks like

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in the classroom or how it impacts the role of a teacher who is often untrained in this area. Despite all the obstacles to refugee students’ success, the three educators have found ways to reach their students. They implore teachers to remember that trauma-affected students often juggle multiple adversities that can affect their emotional, mental, and physical regulation in various ways, including disconnection (Venet, 2019). School personnel should put extra effort into connecting with their refugee students as individuals, exercising flexibility and empathy (Sparks, 2019). Handley’s school strives to create a welcoming, positive, and forgiving environment for students, addressing Maslow’s (1943) Hierarchy of Needs first, as learning cannot take place without first having met physiological, safety, belonging, and esteem needs. Oladipo recommends building systemic structures, staffing, and resources intentionally designed to create a sense of belonging for newcomers. She suggests schools consider a designated weekly check-in person. A student buddy who has social, linguistic, cultural, and institutional capital (Bourdieu, 1977; Hos et al., 2019; Noguera, 2004; Tang, 2015) can be a lifeline to a refugee student in a school with a more homogeneous student body. Oladipo suggests building in opportunities for social interaction with teachers and other students outside of classwork; not only would this improve students’ sense of belonging, but it also lays foundations for building linguistic and literacy skills and self-efficacy. Both Handley and Lackey note that in U.S. schools, rules and practices are often encoded, from school uniforms to bathroom passes to COVID restrictions; these rules are even more opaque to students and families unfamiliar with local institutional norms. Predictability for students impacted by trauma can decrease the anxiety that comes from the unknown or unfamiliar. Even small changes, like “a sudden noise, a change in lighting, [or] an unexpected facial expression” can be interpreted as dangerous by a trauma-affected student (Venet, 2019). A structure of routines and policies, even for misbehavior, can help the student to feel safer in the learning environment. All three educators stress explicit teaching of norms and rules of engagement for class interaction. While content area teachers may do icebreakers and community building for a few days and then jump into the curriculum, teachers of refugees must focus longterm on acclimating students to the school environment. Lackey’s class organizes as a team. Students in the ESL program often have similar schedules, so she walks students around to meet their teachers and counselors and to navigate the large building. She models procedures in the cafeteria, the various school offices, the entry, the gym, and the lockers, teaching vocabulary and formulaic expressions along the way. Students can stop at any time and point to a room, an object, or an area to ask what it is. By the last day of the tour, students are able to answer questions about the school facilities and services. Lackey’s initial conversations with content teachers and counselors necessarily indicate which students may need additional support, so these introductions often trigger counselors to reach out to her more frequently to check in on specific students.

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In Handley’s school, community-building extends to the school and classroom. Espousing a department mantra of “One Ummah” [Arabic: ‘community’], Handley’s team strives to build healthy relationships with students so they have trusted adult counsel every day. Her team is flexible in procedural expectations to address students’ most urgent physiological, safety, belonging, and esteem needs, as they are very aware that without these, learning cannot take place. Many teachers pay out-of-pocket to keep large boxes of nut-free, halal granola bars for students whose hunger overwhelms their ability to learn. Refugee students may feel disempowered by their lived experiences; thus, educators should find ways to help them build successes in the classroom and beyond. Educators must model decision-making and consent practices (Venet, 2019), seeking new and creative ways to safely and effectively hand power back to the students so they may feel invested in their learning and themselves. When new students join the class months into the school year, they often arrive at the door with no idea what to do. Lackey’s class celebrates the new arrival with cheering and introductions, including home countries and languages. Students in Lackey’s classes take turns “being the teacher” to help new students navigate classroom routines. This process helps new students enormously and allows veteran students to demonstrate their expertise. Lackey notes how students feel empowered and recognize how much they have learned and adapted. She wants new students to understand that they are not alone in their discomfort or belonging. They belong in the class, in the community of language learners; they are part of the team.

5.5.2 Personalized Learning Newcomers arrive with different needs and assets; therefore, programs that support them must be flexible and differentiated. Bal and Perzigian (2013) advocate for evidence-based, culturally responsive (Hammond, 2015) approaches designed to help immigrant students find their voices and take their learning places in the mainstream classrooms. Handley’s school has been designated a “Newcomer Center” for its programs designed specifically for immigrant and refugee students. Her team has been working with a local university to create a robust Understanding by Design (UBD) curriculum (Heineke & McTighe, 2018) to support any level of language learner, from “silent” language learners to those ready to bridge to traditional English Language Arts courses. Their Language Learners’ Academy provides language and content area instruction based on cohorts, as opposed to grade level. Students collaborate with peers to decode language while learning math, science, history, and other engaging subject areas at a pace and reading Lexile suitable for their needs. In order to enact these teaching methods in a remote setting, EL teachers underwent numerous training sessions in various technologies available for that purpose and discussed ways to implement the most effective of these across the content areas for language learners. In addition, her department provides integral social and emotional instruction led by school social workers and community programs.

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Many of the challenges refugee students face are similar to those of many students in poverty-stricken areas, regardless of national origin. Providing students with technology tools, language software, and internet access can alleviate some of the problems faced by all students. Grants and community resources can fill gaps left by inadequate school funding. When possible, investing in additional staff can allow a teacher to give attention to individual students, which Lackey has found immensely beneficial for her refugee newcomers. Oladipo suggests tracking newcomer and refugee students closely and reaching out to students and teachers to offer additional support. Handley feels that allocating sufficient time for training and acclimation pays dividends.

5.5.3 Embracing Linguistic Pluralism and Building on Literacy Funds of Knowledge One area in which institutional practices have yet to catch up to reality is in an asset-based approach to literacy skills that builds on students’ funds of knowledge (Moll et al., 1992). According to Short and Boyson (2012), “besides newcomers’ different native languages and countries of origin, the differences in their literacy skills and educational backgrounds prove to be the most important factors for a newcomer program’s design” (p. 9). Oladipo, Handley, and Lackey also suggest digging deeper into students’ academic and literacy histories, as well as their language proficiencies. Oladipo urges schools that receive diverse newcomers to have carefully planned instruments and structures besides the HLS and one-size-fits-all ELL curricula to accommodate students’ current and emerging needs. Better still, they should enrich their ELL programs to provide targeted monitoring systems that check for trauma and other socioemotional manifestations as early as possible in order to administer needed interventions. She notes that anchor texts among welcoming schools can offer teachers and administrators a shared set of strategies and practices as well as a common language for addressing the literacy and language needs of all students, thereby fostering cohesive instructional practices. Following Short and Boyson (2012) and Brooks (2017), schools must consider the diversity of the students’ language histories, assets, and needs in the design of the newcomers’ program. Schools can then remove immediate barriers of isolation by tailoring intervention accordingly. Vieira (2016) advocates for using a Literacy History Interview, a form of writing to surface some of the issues that immigrant refugees face throughout their journeys. As Lackey develops relationships with students, she hears stories in personal narratives or in conversation about sexual abuse occurring when they were in camps or trying to leave their countries. They speak of losing family members without being able to say goodbye or attend a funeral. Oladipo recommends journaling for students to reckon with their past and present experiences, building literacies while processing trauma. Lackey identifies reading goals and works with students individually after school. She has found hi-lo books through DonorsChoose.org and Saddleback

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Publishing for teenagers learning to read, starting with phonics. She speaks with content teachers and recommends verbal assessments of new material and ways to support reading development to give the students compassionate literacy instruction. Lü (2020) also offers suggestions for classroom teachers to overcome the language-as-problem mindset and to more effectively teach multilingual learners. Despite challenges, Lü insists that there are many benefits to fostering a positive attitude towards multilingualism and multiculturalism and building students’ understanding of the languages they are learning analytically. Oladipo sees an opportunity in embracing translanguaging (Garcia & Wei, 2014) in the classroom, in which newcomers may draw upon their full linguistic repertoire in speech and writing to demonstrate their learning.

5.5.4 Identification and Allocation of Community Resources All three educators find that local community partnerships are key. Handley’s school has seen great success in collaborating with trusted partners such as social service organizations, health care providers, clergy, and universities (Fishman, 2021). These types of partnerships are more readily available in refugee-heavy areas like those around Handley’s and Lackey’s schools than in those areas, like Oladipo’s, in which refugees are a tiny minority. The wrap-around services at Handley’s school offer student and family supports traditionally absent from U.S. schools. Teachers of refugees and newcomers cannot use prepared curricula and must create their own that center around their students. Over the years, Handley’s EL Department collaborated with a nearby university to create theirs, which they transformed into a digital classroom for remote learning. Students who have spent their lives in Chicago know about dressing for changing weather, which newcomers may never have had to do. Teachers can ask friends and community members to donate winter coats, hats, and gloves for students who may not understand the intense weather change they will experience throughout the school year. Responsive schools can partner with organizations offering clothing appropriate for winter weather as well as social events. Lackey suggests school staff spearhead fundraisers for items like homecoming t-shirts so students begin making connections to the broader school community. At the school Hallett’s children attend, administrators provided school t-shirts to parents and teachers to distribute to migrant families living in a nearby shelter.

5.6

Conclusion: Lessons Learned

What we do matters. It is heavier than we ever imagined and despite being tasked with the impossible, we manage to advocate for students while teaching them to advocate for themselves. We stretch every hour of the day to maximize learning

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while also playing the role of social worker, counselor, teacher, nurse, trusted adult, and role model. Our goal is for our students not to need us anymore. Teaching itself can be a thankless job. This work is challenging and scary and ever-changing, but it pushes us to be better teachers and better humans. We absorb the impact of witnessing students drop out of school for arranged marriages or to work full time to support their families. However, we also witness the transformation of meek, terrified freshmen into senior scholars speaking publicly, leading protests, and getting into dream colleges. We are invited to important events and graduations when parents are unable to attend. We receive emails from students in graduate school checking in to say a quick thank you. In a world that needs help and love and support, we are given opportunities to offer it every day. Rong and Brown (2002) call for policies training teachers and school administrators in cultural knowledge and advocacy for immigrant cultures, as well as for reciprocal learning from immigrant students. Some school districts employ parent and community liaisons or provide bonus pay to multilingual staff who provide translation for families (Feng, 2021). We are fortunate to work in a state that has developed Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards that reflect inclusive teaching and learning in teacher education programs and beyond (Illinois State Board of Education, 2020). The shifts in learning since the pandemic days of remote classrooms have been quick and significant. Schools have reevaluated the importance of reading specialists, designated social workers and math interventionists. Support positions have been funded based on data and schools are hiring more specialists as veteran teachers continue to leave. The realities of remote learning made it impossible to ignore the inequities that have been pushed to the side for so long. We recognize that immigrant children have knowledge and resources that teachers can learn to access and use to empower the newcomers (see also Rong & Brown, 2002). The authors of this chapter recommend that any adult in contact with refugee students be ever mindful of their assets, including multilingualism, craft and trade skills, knowledge about the natural world, and intercultural competence, regardless of whether these are valued by the institutions they occupy.

5.7

Postscript: Small Impacts Add Up

When we first started writing this chapter, Rohingya and Syrian refugees were settling into their Chicago homes and newcomers from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea were just beginning to arrive in significant numbers. Since then, Sussan Oladipo has been volunteering with World Relief, a refugee organization supporting students in newly arrived families from Afghanistan. She tutors students and helps families adapt to their new surroundings, using her expertise as an educator to provide them with much-needed school resources when she visits them. Annmarie Handley’s work with her students has been featured in news stories and on local and national public radio broadcasts. She continues to design dynamic and adaptive curricula to meet the changing needs of her students.

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As a result of teacher advocacy, Rachel Lackey’s school has funded positions for three interventionists and an ESL coach, and professional development has shifted to focus on supporting and advocating for English learners. A new leadership team has increased student-community acclimation efforts after school and around the city. Lackey and her colleagues held a bake sale to fund field trips for newcomers, raising $450, more than doubling their goal. They recently took newcomer students to the zoo, showing them how to navigate public transportation using phone apps, and will take another class to the aquarium next month. Lackey has felt a culture shift in her school such that now all staff are involved in EL students’ learning experience and constitute a tight community of trusted adults. Jill Hallett has been working with administrators at her children’s school, where over 40 languages are spoken, to make low-effort, high-impact adjustments such as changing the default translation settings on the school website to include languages like Dari and Pashto. She heads the Parent Advisory Council, which organizes coffee and dinner-and-childcare events at the school to facilitate parent conversation and involvement. In response to receiving Venezuelan migrants the last month of school, parents, teachers, staff, and community members moved quickly to assemble a free store in the school to provide new families with clothing, shoes, and supplies, advocating on the news for their safe harbor in the neighborhood. Hallett has also been working with refugee agencies and the neighborhood library to acquire picture books, dictionaries, and other previously unavailable resources in newcomer languages. Of course, change is the only constant. In October 2022, Ukrainian families sought refuge here. The governor of Texas has (so far, anyway) bussed over ten thousand migrants to our city, most walking through seven countries to escape insurmountable poverty in Venezuela. Chicagoans have stepped up, sheltering newcomers in community centers, police stations, parks, and former libraries, collecting donations, teaching survival English, procuring necessities from jobs to apartments to bus fare, and offering legal advice. Our school languages will shift again, but so have our school cultures. As an elementary principal recently said to one author, “I’m excited. We’re ready. Bring it on.” Points to Ponder 1. What assets do my students bring to our school? Create a plan to obtain information that honors refugee students’ knowledge and experience. 2. What do school personnel need to know about our refugee students? Design an intake instrument that will get you the information you need. 3. How can my school help refugee students acclimate to an unfamiliar system? Take an inventory of encoded institutional practices that may pose unnecessary challenges and consider opportunities to eliminate those that don’t serve the mission of the school. 4. What resources are necessary to best serve our refugee students? Identify community organizations and partnerships that will provide structure and support.

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More to Discover: Solutions from Simple to Complex The solutions below range from simple to complex. All of them address some combination of trauma-informed teaching, personalized learning, asset-based language and culture instruction, and identification of community resources. Simple Changes for High Impact • • • • • • • • •

Check that websites and communication are in relevant languages and scripts Offer building and neighborhood acclimation tours for students and families Provide visual supports in the classroom Explicitly teach expected routines, norms, and discourse structures Keep easy, culturally appropriate snacks on hand Partner newcomers with more experienced, same-language peers Reach out to students to check in Find out students’ literacy histories Incorporate journaling, art, music, and poetry in the classroom.

Moderate Changes for High Impact • • • • • • •

Inventory student and family assets (such as sewing, carpentry, translation) Offer after-school programming Have students make bilingual picture books for younger children Offer professional development to other teachers Rely on known resources such as literacy coaches Provide alternative forms of assessment Organize clothing drives and fundraisers.

Complex Solutions for Maximum Impact • • • • •

Form small-school cohorts like a Language Learners’ Academy House a community-supported health clinic Partner with local universities for curriculum design Invest in wrap-around staff such as counselors and social workers Coordinate ideas and resources among newcomer-receiving schools.

References Bal, A., & Perzigian, A. B. (2013). Evidence-based interventions for immigrant students experiencing behavioral and academic problems: A systematic review of the literature. Education and Treatment of Children, 36(4), 5–28. Bourdieu, P. (1977). The economics of linguistic exchanges. Social Science Information, 16(6), 645–668. Brooks, M. D. (2017). How and when did you learn your languages? Bilingual students’ linguistic experiences and literacy instruction. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 60(4), 383–393.

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Census Profile. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2021, from https://censusreporter.org/profiles/86000U S60632-60632/ Covid Dashboard. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2021, from https://covid-dashboard.fsm.northwest ern.edu/ CPS School Info. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2021, from https://schoolinfo.cps.edu/schoolprofile/ FindaSchool.aspx Feng, J. (2021, Fall). Language access: More than translation.Learning for Justice, 1, 25–29. Fishman, E. (2021). Refugee high: Coming of age in America. The New Press. García, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language. Palgrave Macmillan. Glass, I. (2021, November 12). 753: What we’ve got here is failure to communicate: Getting the point across—Or trying to, anyway. This American Life. [Audio podcast]. National Public Radio. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/753/failure-to-communicate Hallett, R. E., & Skrla, L. (2021). Supporting students who are experiencing homelessness—A Brief guide for teachers and schools. AFT American Educator, 45(1), 4–9. Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Corwin. Heineke, A. J. & McTighe, J. (2018). Using understanding by design in the culturally and linguistically diverse classroom. Hos, R., Murray-Johnson, K., & Correia, A. (2019). Cultivating capital for high school newcomers: A case study of an urban newcomer classroom. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 6(1), 101. Illinois State Board of Education. (2020, December 20). Illinois State Board of Education implements new teaching standards to better serve diverse population of students. https://www.isbe. net/Lists/News/NewsDisplay.aspx?ID=1349 Lü, C. (2020). Bilingualism and biliteracy for all. AFT American Educator, 44(2), 22–27. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. Moll, L. C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132–141. Nero, S. (2006). Language, identity, and education of Caribbean English speakers. World Englishes, 25(3–4), 501–511. Noguera, P. (2004). Social capital and the education of immigrant students: Categories and generalizations. Sociology of Education, 77(2), 180–183. Rong, X. L., & Brown, F. (2002). Editorial. Education and Urban Society, 34(2), 123–133. Short, D. J., & Boyson, B. A. (2012). Helping newcomer students succeed in secondary schools and beyond. Center for Applied Linguistics. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/resource-cen ter/publications/helping-newcomer-students Sparks, S. D. (2019, March 12). Why teacher-student relationships matter. Education Week. Retrieved November 21, 2021 from https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/why-teacherstudent-relationships-matter/2019/03 Tang, S. (2015). Social capital and determinants of immigrant family educational involvement. The Journal of Educational Research, 108(1), 22–34. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (2018). Understanding refugee trauma: For school personnel. Retrieved December 13, 2021, from https://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/resour ces/fact-sheet/understanding_refugee_trauma_for_school_personnel.pdf U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Chicago city, Illinois. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2021, from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045214/1714000 Venet, A. S. (2019). Four core priorities for a trauma-informed classroom. Equity-Centered, Trauma-Informed Education. Retrieved from unconditionallearning.org Vieira, K. (2016). Doing transnational writing studies: The case for the literacy history interview. Composition Studies, 44(1), 138–140.

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Sussan Oladipo has transitioned from high school administration to urban educational leadership work in higher education. She is also volunteering for an organization that receives and supports refugee families from around the world, where she provides youth mentoring and academic support for refugees and immigrant students. Although her experiences are wildly different, she is gratified to see the evolution in drive and readiness in the post-secondary setting. She feels her time with immigrant students prepared her for the culturally and developmentally diverse students for whom she currently provides learning support. She sincerely believes that with careful planning and a vision for success, all students regardless of their immigration status, literacy levels and other backgrounds can learn at their full potential in K-16 and beyond. Annmarie Handley has combined her past experiences and her love for culture and learning into a deeply rewarding career. A teacher of English and a Chicago native, she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing and started her professional career as a writer for a small publication in Denver, Colorado. After returning to Chicago, she pursued a degree in English and Secondary Education while working as a technical writer. Handley got her first teaching job as a secondary ELA teacher in 2009, and tutored language learners in 2010 while earning a master’s degree in Linguistics. She taught college-level English Language courses until 2017, when she found her home at Sullivan High School, where she is tenured. She is proud to have been the author of the school’s current ELL curriculum and the Personalized Learning Specialist for her department. Rachel Lackey is a high school ESL teacher in Chicago, Illinois. After her undergraduate work in English Education she began her career teaching all levels of ESL in a public secondary school in Bangkok, Thailand. She returned to the US to pursue a master’s degree in English Language Teaching and Learning in Chicago, and began working in Chicago Public Schools shortly thereafter. In her work with recent immigrant and refugee students, Lackey earned a master’s in Literacy Education to support the growing need for literacy foundations among her students. She often leads workshops and professional development in the areas of literacy, EL student support and independent reading in the classroom. Jill Hallett is obsessed with interdisciplinarity. After an early career teaching grades 6–12 in Chicago, she earned her doctorate in linguistics and began teaching university courses at the intersections of linguistics, education, and literacy. Her research interests include language in education, sociolinguistics, critical literacy, language development, language in media, language revitalization, and metaphor. Her current work centers on the linguistic landscape of a multilingual, multicultural area of Chicago, with a specific focus on immigrant and refugee literacy assets, practices, and needs.

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Engaging Refugee Students in an Inclusive School Environment that Promotes Learning Quintin L. Robinson

Abstract

Teaching done with care and thoughtfulness can change an individual’s mindset and prepare an individual for what comes next in our ever-changing world. Effective teaching involves incorporating interventions in a deliberate expressive way that engages each student in the learning process. Educators have a professional responsibility to design a pathway that leads to school success for all students. Sadly, in many school situations refugee students are marginalized and almost never given the opportunity to fully participate in the learning process. If refugees are to realize their dream of creating a better life for themselves and their families, they must be included as contributing members of the learning and included with what that takes place in the classroom. Providing a safe and inclusive school environment is critical for well-being of the student and the respective school community. This chapter responds to the need of abandoning prejudice ideologies and embracing a willingness to serve the needs of all students. Keywords

Equity • Refugee • Education • School success • School safety How school communities, neighborhoods, and community leaders receive refugees is directly affected by governmental policies that are sometimes designed to reject anyone who does not fit a stereotypical pattern. In addition, the rigidity of cultural stereotypes and prejudices that defines our policies, our national format and our educational communities is what creates a hostile, discriminatory environment for refugees when they attempt to settle in schools in their new communities

Q. L. Robinson (B) Touro Worldwide University, Los Alamitos, CA, US e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_6

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(McBrien, 2005). As a result of our distorted government, social, and educational policies, several refugees are by-passed, marginalized, and overlooked both socially and educationally and their individual plea for help is ignored (Lennox, 1993). Adams et al. (2021), suggest that refugee students deserve an equal standard of education as other children. They argue that a fair chance at an education will enable these children to develop the necessary skills and knowledge they will need to function in later years. In addition, they add that the challenges refugee students face call for immediate action.

6.1

Anticipating, Recognizing, and Comprehending Refugees’ Needs

According to Meyers (1997), the more effective way to tackle refugee issues is by anticipating, recognizing, and comprehending the issues without fear, discrimination, or prejudice. This requires addressing social and educational issues at the source rather than reacting to symptoms or illusionary problems that force unreasonable behaviors. More sympathetic attention must be paid to the plight of the young and the old who are seeking refuge. In her work on new immigrants, Pryor (2012) explained that refugee families suffered a great deal, and they constantly struggle to maintain a sense of dignity as they stumble through the many daily challenges and difficulties that bombard their lives that have been disrupted unimaginably. Empathy tempered with kindness, void of discrimination, should be the order of the day for the many individuals seeking safety, protection, and educational growth; whether temporarily or permanent. In everyday educational settings, refugee students face enormous challenges not only in their struggle to be accepted and respected, but they struggle in other ways when it comes to learning content across the school subjects because of the complexity of terminology, vocabulary, and the structure attributable to disciplines. This creates serious barriers for students in their learning across all subjects (Miller, 2007). The way forward both socially and educationally is to adequately address diversity and equity issues which involves safe inclusive environments. Solidarity is established when educators and community leaders are open and responsive towards refugees in positive ways. This includes listening and practicing prompt feedback, encouraging collaboration among students, practicing active learning without prejudice among all students, and communicating with student with high expectations. How do we better understand what it means to have safe communities and safe schools with educators that accept, respect, and provide equal learning opportunities for all students? Acceptance and being included in the community and the school community is critical for the well-being of refugee students and how they might flourish in the school community and in the larger society. When addressing school safety and school success for refugees and how they might be accepted and blended into the school community, we must consider how teachers choose to relate to this population of students. How teachers serve as guides and fair-minded partners towards students in need is the controlling factor

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that will determine success for refugee students. For teachers and administrators to serve as educational guides and fair-minded partners, they must abandon prejudiced ideologies towards refugee students and embrace a willingness to work with these students and their parents. Equitable, fair educational practices towards refugee students include: • Constructing school communities that are safe and collaborative School leaders and teachers should understanding that an unsafe school environment can cause a great deal of stress and sadness for a refugee student. A school community that is not welcoming can contribute to both suppressed symptoms—such as hypervigilance, anxiety, depression, grief, fear, anger, and isolation. These depressing stressors coupled with language gaps can lead to high level of anguish for a refugee who walks into a new school fueled with unexpected challenges. • Administrators and teachers showing high levels of sensitivity when working with refugees students and their parents. Showing sensitivity includes assisting students and their parents with efforts to overcoming language and cultural barriers, assisting with housing, and establishing social networks that open channels of communication. There should also be support with assisting parents with understanding what role they can play in their children’s schooling and accessing social services connected with their child’s education. • Administrators and teachers identifying students who might need additional supports. Once these students are identified, school leaders should be prepared to deliver interventions within a multitiered systems of support. The support offered should be both structured and long-term. • Administrators and teachers developing programs that empower students and their families. This includes working with cultural and community groups and to find ways to connect children with resources that can ensure all children in the school community have an opportunity to participate in the school experience without prejudice. • Focusing on the assets refugee students bring to the classroom. Refugee students bring unique skills, strengths, and knowledge to the classroom and often times they are not explored or utilized to any degree. Teachers should build on each students’ assets and use these assets to plan lessons and strengthen the learning and the culture and the climate of the classroom. • School leaders constructing a list of community resources to support students and their families. This involves working with the community at large and relying heavily on these resources to assist with responding to the needs of students. • Developing a campaign to stop bullying and bad behavior toward refugee students. School leaders and teachers must be proactive and make it clear that bad

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behavior towards diverse students is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at any level.

6.2

Responding Appropriately to Refugees’ Needs and Hopes

How do we become a nation that responds to refugees in a way so that fairness and social equity are applied into every aspect of our engagement, how do we work with refugee students in responsible ways that leads to growth, change and development for the student and the parent? More importantly, how do we respond to the many issues facing refugees both educationally and socially so that refugee students, our new educational partners, are not overlooked, dismissed, disregarded, and mistreated in the educational and arena? One of the many steps toward addressing these questions is to comprehensively recognize and acknowledging that justice and equity and important. More directly, there must be a willingness to accept that justice and equity must be clearly understood when dealing with individuals in need of safety and protection. At the end and the beginning of our discussions, our objectives should be directed at building an equitable educational system that has a resilient platform that allow an unbiassed, well-balanced response to the social and emotional needs of refugee students. Equality and justice should not be seen as a burden or a process that is considered an inconvenience, rather it should be seen as an advanced force that makes our engagement with students in need of support stronger. How do we effectively respond to the needs of refugee students, and how do we develop collective sense of passion that equals the passion Ramesses the II displayed to individual in need many years ago. Under the Trump administration, the ceiling placed on assistance to refugees caused a great deal of suffering while the United States plans to admit a maximum of 18,000 refugees in fiscal year 2020, down from a cap of 30,000 in the year that ended on September 30, 2019 (Krogstad, 2019). How do concerned citizens, teachers, and educational leaders continue to work together to see that refugee students and their parents are not overlooked and given an equal opportunity to actively participate in decisions regarding their future? At the end of the conversation, responding to equity and justice and respecting what they can do collectively allows opportunities for everyone to be treated fairly.

6.3

Equity, Justice, and Diversity Foster Academic Hope

The top of discussion should focus on how we might apply fair levels of equity in social and educational setting that allows Americans to continue to define ourselves as a nation of caring individual. Hunt et al. (2015) suggest that equity, justice, and diversity matter because we live in a global, interconnected world with boundaries that are continuing to dissolve. These dissolving boundaries requires that we

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act as fair-minded individuals preparing for diverse interconnected communities. Interconnectedness requires institutions, communities, and governmental leaders to become more thoughtful of ethnic minorities while exercising care and consideration as we address educational and social needs of individual who require services and support. Understanding diversity gives us the ability to build and shape the world around us while unconscious bias, prejudice and discriminatory practices create levels of disparity that ripple through society and deeply infect our ability to show compassion and consideration. Moving the needle on diversity and showing compassion to those in need is more difficult than completing a typical transformation due to barriers like bias basic thoughtlessness due to misinformation and poorly constructed governmental policies. Failing to show high levels of compassion tempered with kindness when considering refugees is what perpetrates distrust and lack of lack of caring we have currently adopted. When addressing the issues of refugees, we should ask ourselves how we can create a system with productive endings so that, at the very least, educational, and basic social needs of all students can be met. How we care for individuals forced to escape one dilemma without involving them in a more complex dilemma should be the foundation of all refugee discussions. What active steps for change can we take so that individuals striving to reconstruct their lives are given a reasonable opportunity to be considered as contributors to their new communities and not long-term problems as they strive to redesign their lives? Education is a basic human right, however, there has been little attention given to the educational experiences and conclusions of refugee students. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2001–2022) reported that of the 20.7 million refugees under their care, 7.9 million are children of school age and their access to quality education is limited, with almost half of these individual unable to attend school at all. At the primary level, the average enrolment rate for the academic year 2020 to 2021 for reporting countries was 42%. For the primary level, the corresponding rate for reporting countries was 68%. For the secondary level the enrolment rate was 37% showing that there are significant barriers that hinder refugee learners from accessing post-primary education. How do we begin a process of change that essentially addresses the need for quality, long term educational support for refugee students? The objective should be directed at changing outcomes for refugee students so that they are able to take part in a balanced, equitable educational process that affords them the ability to compete in society and ultimately become meaningful contributors in their new homeland. Educators along with community members have a duty to work together to develop processes that gives educational leaders the power to work towards policies and practices that are mindful and purposefully geared towards changing educational results for refugee students. Efforts towards changing how we respond, react, and care for refugee students can conceivably start with sensible educational opportunities that counter the many challenges refugee students face. Challenges refugees confront include significant differences in school experiences, language barriers, misplacements, violence, trauma, bullying and relentless discrimination practices from educators and their

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peers. Impartial educational practices are what protects a refugee, strengthens our communities, balances the playing field, and makes way for a fair openminded society. More directly, just well-structured educational practices empower the learning experience and provides students in need with the knowledge and the skills to live productive fulfilled independent lives. Equity in education along with effective teaching is a willingness to show compassion to all students which enhances social solidity and builds trust (OECD, 2008). Effective teaching involves attending to the academic welfare of students for the directed purpose of leading the student in a new direction. Goals of effective teaching should include improving educational performance, motivating students to learn and think critically, promoting logical thinking, improving character, instilling positive action principles, improving one’s ability to reason and opening windows of opportunity that allow students to participate as a contributory member of society, in whatever capacity the individual desires. How can we anticipate refugees will have the tools to effectively transition and aggressively participate in society without a fair, unbiased education? Teaching, when done thoughtfully and effectually, considers lived experiences, personal feelings, individual struggles, and it uses each of these mechanisms to holistically engage an individual in the educational process. More directly, meaningful teaching involves incorporating thoughtful interventions as part of the learning, these interventions help to determine how information is understood and processed. Creative, wellintended interventions allow learning to happen in a deliberate expressive way that engages the student in thoughtful ways. Teaching, when done with care and thoughtfulness, is what supports one’s desire to stand on his/her own feet with a clear acknowledgement that a transformation has occurred. Teaching should be a directed, intentional process that speeds up learning, stimulates analytical thinking and encourages the individual to work harder towards achieving the desired goal that drove them to the classroom in the first place.

6.4

Reflective Teaching

Despite the many challenges and the difficulties that appear when an individual decides to enter the classroom, teaching done with continuous reflection can change a student’s mindset and prepare the individual for what comes next in this ever-changing world. Teachers have duty and a responsibility to prepare students for their role as responsible citizens. Pryor (2001) suggests that refugees can get a good start in schools and communities with a tradition of welcoming newcomers into the school community, sadly the process of welcoming refugees often involves humiliation, creating frustration, subjecting the student to loneliness, and forcing the student to deal with discrimination and segregation. In McBrien’s (2005) work on educational needs and barriers for refugee students, she suggests that the psychosocial well-being of refugee students is important. McBrien further suggests that a sense of safety, a sense of self, and supporting refugees in their effort to adjust to the cultural expectations of a new

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country should be included as part of the educational process. Educators should also be concerned with assisting refugees with maintaining a connection to their heritage. Including these elements as part of the learning eases tensions and makes for a comfortable, more inviting learning environment that considers the student holistically. Sinclair (2001) suggests that refugee students should be provided with support that focuses on stress management if they are expected to find a place in the school’s community. When teaching students who have been forced to escape their country for survival, teaching and working with these individuals must be part of a well-organized system that enables the student to visualize hope for their future. However, the visualization can only take root if there is a thoughtful connection between the educator and the student. More pointedly, the connection must be authentic, and it should be included in the lesson plan and made part of the learning objectives at the very start of the student–teacher relationship. Faced with the dilemma of never being able to return to one’s country can be a tragedy of great proportion. Therefore, when a refugee decides to take part in an institution of learning, they do so because they are concerned with building a new life for themselves, which includes restoring hope and designing a plausible future for their family (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2015). With this, it is incumbent that educators and educational leaders understand the importance of providing the best academic services possible, which involves abandoning prejudice ideologies and using positions of power to change lives in significant and important ways. Sadly, there is a lack of awareness, concern, and general support when providing educational services for refugees (Earnest et al., 2010). Often, refugees are marginalized and almost never given the opportunity to fully participate in the learning process and when services are delivered, they sometimes lack the quality needed to constitute meaningful support to develop the student (Lenette & Ingamells, 2013). According to Ferede (2010), refugees are the least represented newcomers in the educational arena, and they sometimes never receive an education that prepares them for the future, which poses greater challenges not only for the students but for everyone concerned. Therefore, it becomes important to understand how refugee students are expected to cope with these educational and social challenges when the system is not designed to assist and protect these individuals in the first place these individuals. While there is a general agreement that education in the modern world is good and offers important benefits, there is also a recognition that education can be a threat to the existing state if it fails to include everyone as present and future recipients of educational rewards (Walters & LeBlanc, 2005). Thus, the question remains, how do we propose to support and respond to the needs of refugees if they are excluded from full participation in the educational activities of their host nation? In her work on narratives for refugee, Lenette (2016) explains that experiences refugees bring to the host nation are frequently overlooked, and this complexity contributes greatly to the many struggles’ refugees endure. It could be that educators and educational leaders struggle with providing a clear framework that supports the academic needs of all students.

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To begin the process of changing educational outcomes for refugee students, there must be a clear framework that considers the refugee students. A clear educational framework can create supportive conditions for recognizing the assistance refugee students need in the academic arena. We can consider this framework as a guiding commentary that educational leaders and teachers use to design, implement, and evaluate the success of their educational programs. This structured framework will allow program coordinators to emphasize important themes as they consider professional practices. A conceptual framework will reflect core elements of a program and provide the needed a structure that will define how the program will carry out its mission to all students. The framework will guide experiences and expectations. Additionally, it will serve as a guide for both ethical and professional practices that administrators and teachers can refer to enhance the wellbeing of the program and how might operate.

6.5

Framework for Hope

An educational framework will ensure that inclusive and equitable quality education practices are being considered and used consistently throughout the student’s academic program. A well-developed framework promotes lifelong learning principles and creates social opportunities that are often overlooked. More directly, an educational framework can provide a comprehensive foundation for the host country to work from. A structured educational framework encourages and improve student participation while strengthening systems for learning and established a cohesive foundation for student engagement. In my work with school leaders and I have learned that educational programs should have a well-established framework centered on educational growth and student development/success. The framework sets an academic pace and builds a strong well-balanced educational program for all students. A educational framework should embody the following guidelines: • Programs that are sensitive to a student’s background and culture and respect the diversity each student brings to the school community. • Equitable programs that focus on making the learning experience relevant, assessable, flexible, and consistent for all students. • Collaborative programs with standard driven guideline that allow underserved and marginalized students to actively participate in the learning. • A school community that is focused on specific learning goals connected to data and responsively designed assessments.

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• The school leader and teachers should acknowledges the social and cognitive presence individual students brings to the classroom. School leaders and teachers should employ ethical practices that are respected within the school community. • The school leader and teachers should constantly reflect and make changes as they work to provide a nurturing learning environment for all students. • The school leader and teachers should work together to design programs that promotes best practices when considering educational outcomes for all students. • The school leader and teachers should strives for inclusive programs, policies, materials, and curriculum that responds to the on-going challenge that arise in school communities. • The school Leader should design education programs that require partnerships and allow evidence-based practices to influence academic outcomes. If refugees are to realize a dream of creating a better life for themselves and their families, they must be given the opportunity to take part in an equitable educational process. McBrien (2005) suggests that refugee students who are given fair and equal opportunities to acquire the academic language of their new country and when they are accepted by teachers and peers, they perform to high standards and display exceptional knowledge in the academic environment. Kanu (2008) and MacNevin (2012) contend that educators should have specific skills and the present of mind to identify and respond to the educational needs of refugee students. MacNevin (2012) further suggests that teaching refugee students requires that educators understand multiple teaching methods and they must be willing to work with students to overcome social challenges so that can and excel in the educational arena. Educators must be prepared to support students emotionally and understand the value of including refugee students in every aspect of the educational process by incorporating prior experiences and allowing them to amplify their voice. Portes and Zhou (1993) suggest that if refugee students are to successfully acculturate, they must be allowed to merge their native culture in an additive assimilation strategy guided by educators. Educators who permit lived experiences and voices of the student to guide the learning create a diverse and inclusive learning environment that transforms attitudes and dispositions in positive ways (Kovinthan, 2016). How an educational institution organizes itself to educate and respond to the needs of refugee student is largely dependent on the values, attitude, and personal commitment of its instructors (Frater-Mathieson, 2004). Providing a safe and welcoming educational/school climate for refugee students is a moral obligation. Because of bias and systemic racism towards refugee students, some educators contribute to the many complications refugee students experience, which obstructs students’ attempt to build a new life for themselves and their families (Stewart, 2012). In his work on changing attitudes and beliefs Arthur (2005) suggests that instructors can change negative opinions towards refugee students and play an important role in motiving them to

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learn while encouraging more meaningful participation in the classroom. However, for this to happen, educators must move past a one-size-fits all approach, be more reflective with how they conduct themselves and understand, respect, utilize and value the diversity each and all students brings to the classroom. The prejudice and unfamiliar customs some refugees’ encounters create bewilderment, depression, and a desperate sense of defeat (Trueba et al., 1990). For refugees to thrive and actively engage in the educational process, they need directed support from educators who supports the notion that educators have a professional obligation to design a pathway that leads to academic and social development of all students. A clear pathway towards academic and social growth generates awareness and dissolves the misconceptions that refugee students are more trouble than they are worth. A clear pathway of encouragement along with academic and social support allows a student to feel comfortable taking part in the learning process. However, the pathway must be constructed with care and a commitment to the educational security of the student. Taking time to understand refugee students and factors that get in the way of their academic achievement is the start of designing a clear pathway. Supporting refugee students on their educational journey should be important to educators, administrators, and policymakers (McBrien, 2003). Educators should understand that there is a need for instructors and school administrators to abandon prejudice ideologies and embrace a willingness to support, direct, and compassionately care for refugee students. How these students learn the routines and expectations of a new school community is directly related to how open and accepting the school culture and climate is towards its diverse population of students (Ferfolja & Vickers, 2010; Helmer & Eddy, 2003). It should be clear that we address challenges refugee students encounter by focusing first on ethical minded individuals who are willing to develop programs, daily procedures and policies with supportive strategies that actively respond to the needs of all students. We focus on teachers and school leaders who are willing to build on dreams rather than destroy an individual’s dreams of living a new life because they were forced to flee the only life they knew. Teaching and learning done with attention and thoughtfulness can change an individual’s mindset and prepare an individual for what comes next in this everchanging, fast paced, confusing world. We can mindfully set refugee students up for success when we build strong human connections based on care and that includes establishing safe open classrooms with a thoughtful culture that recognizes fair practices. When we communicate through responsible language and establish physiological safety measures for refugee students, we begin the process of caring for these individuals in a reliable and equitable manner. If this practice is used and respected by everyone in the school community, then and only then can we change outcome for refugee students. Effective teaching involves incorporating interventions in a deliberate expressive way that openly and willingly engages all students in the learning process. Teacher and school leaders have a professional responsibility to design a pathway that leads all students towards academic success. Understanding public attitudes towards refugees is the start towards

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school and social change for refugee students. If everyone would allow themselves to begin the process of comprehending the lived experiences and the struggles a refugee is forced to endure, it might alert everyone to the need for social and political change. Continuing the discussion on fairness towards refugees starts by including diversity and inclusion as necessary components of the conversation.

6.6

Conclusion

If refugees are to realize their dreams of creating a better life for themselves and their families, they must be included as contributing members of their new communities and the learning that takes place within the schools and their communities. Providing safe, inclusive schools is critical for refugees and critical for the wellbeing of our nation. The care we provide as a nation can serve as a guide for school leaders and teachers and it can also be reflected in the learning process. As a nation and as individuals there is an urgency for an abandonment of prejudice ideologies and a need to provide a cornerstone of hope to our brother and sisters in need. Education and the benefits it can provided should be accessible to every child, it should be an easy noncomplicated process that everyone can rely on, regardless of their background. Education provides stability in life, and its benefits are overwhelming, and they can never be taken away, yet education remains a privilege to many. When children are educated, they can significantly contribute to their families and society in important and meaningful ways. An education is what enables an immigrant child to achieve his/her dreams of living and thriving in a new nation. How we position ourselves to respond to educational needs of refugees is a true testament to our humanity. Points to Ponder 1. Reflective teaching involves confronting our assumptions and beliefs about people and how they function and interact in the world. Often educators select teaching approaches that align with their beliefs, thus creating a filter bubble where opposing views are not considered. As we consider teaching and working with refugee students we should ask ourselves what our biases and what practices do we operate under? 2. What proactive measures does your school or learning community exercise to promote reflective teaching and educational growth for refugee students? What barriers exist and what measured are taken to alleviate these barriers? More to Discover: For Teachers to Consider At the end of the discussion, we must understand that all parents, regardless of who they are and regardless of their struggles, want the best for their children. Refugee parents and their children are displaced individual looking to rebuild and restart their lives. The question we should ask ourselves is what can I do to help? School leaders and educators have a responsibility to support all students and provide them with

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the necessary tools they need to successfully take the next step. When we fail at the important task of caring for the educational well-being of all students we not only fail the child, but we fail in our role as educational leaders. Therefore, educational leaders should constantly ask if they are: (a) lending a helping hand, (b) functioning as servant leaders, and (c) empowering parents and their children to blend in the school environment and become active members of the society. As a starting point, teachers should consider these ideas as they design curriculum, develop action plans, and prepare extracurricular activities.

References Adams, R., Ojugbele, & Hlalele, D. (2021). Sustainable learning for refugee children in South Africa primary schools: a theatrical approach. The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa. ISSN 1817-4434. Arthur, G. M. (2005). Six key factors for changing preservice teachers’ attitudes/beliefs about diversity. Educational Studies, 38(3), 275–286. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326993es3803_7 Ferfolja, T., & Vickers, M. (2010). Supporting refugee students in school education in Greater Western Sydney. Critical Studies in Education, 51(2), 149–162. Frater-Mathieson, K. (2004). Refugee trauma, loss and grief: Implications for interventions. In R. Hamilton (Ed.), Educational interventions for refugee children: Theoretical perspectives and implementing best practice (pp. 12–34). Routledge Falmer. Helmer, S., & Eddy, C. (2003). Look at me when I talk to you: ESL learners in non-ESL classrooms. Pippin Publishing. Hunt, V., Layton, D., & Prince, S. (2 February, 2015). Diversity matters. McKinsey & Company. https://www.insurance.ca.gov/diversity/41-ISDGBD/GBDExternal/upload/McKins eyDivmatters-201501.pdf Kanu, Y. (2008). Educational needs and barriers for African refugee students in Manitoba. Canadian Journal of Education, 31(4), 915–940. Kovinthan, T. (2016) Learning and teaching with loss: Meeting the needs of refugee children through narrative inquiry. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 10(3), 141–155. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2015.1137282 Krogstad, J. M. (7 October, 2019). Key facts about refugees to the U.S. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/07/key-facts-about-refugees-to-the-u-s/ Lenette, C. (2016). University students from refugee back grounds: Why should we care? Higher Education Research & Development, 35(6), 1311–1315. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360. 2016.1190524 Lenette, C., & Ingamells, A. (2013). From ‘chopping up chicken’ to ‘cap and gown’: A university initiative to increase migrant and refugee pathways to employment. Advances in Social Work and Welfare Education, 15(1), 63–78. Lennox, M. (1993). Refugees, racism, and reparations: A critique of the United States Haitian immigration policy. Stanford Law Review, 45(3), 687–724. https://www.jstor.org/stable/122 9010 MacNevin, J. (2012). Learning the way: Teaching and learning with and for youth from refugee backgrounds on Prince Edward Island. Canadian Journal of Education, 35(3), 48–63.

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McBrien, J. L. (2003). A second chance for refugee students. Educational Leadership, 61(2), 76–7. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/a-second-chance-for-refugee-students McBrien, J. L. (2005). Educational needs and barriers for refugee students in the United States: A review of the literature source. Educational Research, 75(3), 329–364. Meyers, N. (1997). Environmental refugees. Population and Environment: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 19(2), 167–182. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27503569 Miller, J. (2007). Teaching refugee learners with interrupted education in science: vocabulary and literacy and pedagogy. Stewart, J. (2012). Transforming schools and strengthening leadership to support the educational and psychosocial needs of war-affected children living in Canada. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 6(3), 172–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2012.691136 Trueba, H. T., Jacobs, L., & Kirton, E. (1990). Cultural conflict and adaptation: The case of Hmong children in American society. Falmer Press. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2001–2022). Education. UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency. www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646cda.html Walters, T., & LeBlanc, K. (2005). Refugees and education: Mass public schooling without a nation-state. Comparative Education Review, 49(2), 129–147. https://doi.org/10.1086/428102

Quintin L. Robinson is Professor of Education at California State University Fullerton, in Southern California. He specializes in mentoring and exploring ways to change educational outcomes for Black males who are commonly marginalized and underserved in the educational arena. His most recent publication “Exploring Parental Identities: How Single Black Males Understand Fatherhood in the Absent of Their Fathers” explores the deep-rooted commitment young Black males have for their families. This publication can be found in the Journal of Black Studies (2021). As an educator and a scholar, Quintin is committed to responding to the needs of underserved men and women and shining a light on the many injustices that cause them to stumble and fall.

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Leveraging Multiculturalism and Social Support: Helping Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Ibrahim M. Karkouti

Abstract

Through the lens of social support and multicultural education, this chapter examines the current status of Syrian refugee students in Lebanon. Specifically, it discusses teachers’ diversity awareness, describes what refugee students experience inside the classroom, and explains the types of support students need to overcome the barriers that obstruct their education. Further, the chapter presents two frameworks to enhance school climate, foster diversity, and improve students’ social wellbeing. The chapter ends with recommendations to inform teacher training and enhance teaching and learning for refugee students. Keywords

Multiculturalism • Refugee education Teacher development

•

Social support

•

Syrian refugees

•

To enhance school climate, foster diversity, improve students’ social wellbeing, and restore hope for refugee children, the chapter presents two frameworks to inform teacher training and guide teaching practice. These frameworks explain how educators can use multicultural education and social support to help refugee students overcome the challenges that obstruct their education. The chapter offers several recommendations on how this could be attained. Currently, the world’s attention has shifted to two new refugee waves that require immediate response to avoid creating new lost generations in Europe and Central Asia. Specifically, Ukrainian and Afghan students need significant support from teachers, administrators, policymakers, humanitarian aid professionals, and social workers to ease their refugee plight and prevent a dire scenario similar

I. M. Karkouti (B) The American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Cairo, Egypt e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_7

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Table 7.1 Forms of Barriers Type of Barriers

Description

Economic

Expensive cost of transportation because schools are far from refugee camps and informal settlements Unaffordable tuition fees and lack of awareness about funding opportunities

Administrative

Residency permit issues and ineligibility to return to school because students have been out of school for a long time

Academic

Lack of foreign language skills because the Lebanese curriculum is in English and French

Institutional

Under-resourced schools Deteriorating quality of education Poor retention strategies

Poverty and child labor To make ends meet, some families depend on their children to pay off their bills and rent Parental choice

Some parents prevent their daughters from attending Lebanese schools because they prefer single-sex schools over coeducational ones

Security

Dangers on the way to school, especially for girls

to that of their Syrian counterparts. Notwithstanding the importance of addressing the deleterious and traumatic effects of war and conflict on the wellbeing of Ukrainian and Afghan people, this chapter unfolds the story of Syrian refugee students in Lebanon, the biggest refugee-hosting country per capita in the world (UNRWA, 2020). In 2011, a civil uprising against the Syrian regime turned into a full-scale civil war forcing millions of Syrians to flee their homeland to neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan. With an estimated one million registered Syrian refugees and approximately 500,000 unregistered ones (Abd El-Galil, 2022), Lebanon has the highest population to refugee ratio globally. According to Human Rights Watch (2021), 660,000 of the entire Syrian refugee population are school-age children who face multiple institutional, social, academic, and economic barriers that obstruct their learning in public and private schools in Lebanon. Table 7.1 offers a brief description of these barriers. In 2019/2020 academic year, 33% of Syrian refugee students dropped out of school for various reasons including language barriers, cultural dissonance, and poor teacher-student relationships (Abd El-Galil, 2022). This percentage significantly increased in the following year because, “about 190,000 Syrian children in Lebanon enrolled in public schools in the 2020–2021 school year and another 25,000 who should have re-enrolled or entered grade 1 did not” (Human Rights Watch, 2021, para. 5). In addition, at least 40,000 Syrian students do not have access to education because public schools in Lebanon are located faraway from refugee camps and informal settlements (Davidson, 2016). Traveling great distances to reach their school subjects refugee students to multiple abuses including discrimination, harassment, and exploitation (Karkouti et al., 2020). Parents also

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refrain from sending their children to school because they worry that some areas include military checkpoints that obstruct their movement and increase travel delays (Speed School Fund, 2016). According to UNESCO (2019), these barriers are systemic aiming at preventing Syrian refugees from attaining their basic human rights. Regarding education, structural barriers also exist whereby lessons are insensitive and do not account for refugee students’ needs. Worsening an already dire humanitarian situation, public schools in Lebanon are under-resourced and teach outdated curricula that focus on students’ lower order thinking skills. Teachers also lack inclusive teaching skills and trauma-informed practices essential for successful refugee education because professional development opportunities are not available (Karkouti et al., 2021). These barriers degrade the quality of education, contribute to creating a lost generation incapable of building its nation when civil war ends, and send a clear message that Syrian refugees are not welcome in Lebanon (Karkouti, 2021).

7.1

Political Landscape: Policies of Exclusion Against Syrian Refugees

Politically, Lebanon is divided into two factions: Pro-Iran and pro-Saudi affiliates who have different views regarding the influx of Syrian refugees in the country. Pro-Iran factions believe that Syrians in Lebanon are displaced meaning they should go back home, while the other camp believes that Syrians in Lebanon are refugees and should stay in Lebanon until the war ends. They are afraid that refugees who return to Syria will be prosecuted, tortured, and may be summarily executed (Amnesty International, 2021). Syrian refugees have always been viewed as a threat to Lebanon’s political, social, and economic stability because ethnic and religious minorities are afraid that Sunni Muslims will outnumber them if Syrians were naturalized and integrated into the Lebanese social tapestry (Karasapan & Shah, 2021). On September 22, 2019, a local television station (OTV) that belongs to the Free Patriotic Movement, the ruling party in Lebanon, broadcasted a racist caricature showing how Lebanese students cannot go to their school because it was “occupied” by students from other nationalities and backgrounds. Specifically, the line reads, “We apologize. School is full: Syrians, Iraqis, Palestinians, Indians, Ethiopians, and Bengalis” (Mehanna, 2019, para. 1). To further discriminate against refugees, Lebanon shut down unofficial schools operating in refugee camps that aimed at educating refugee students who remained outside public schools (Sewell, 2020). Fakhoury and Abi Raad (2018) put it very clearly, “The Lebanese state and its various political factions have chosen a half-hearted refugee policy, flagging the manifold dangers that the integration and settlement of displaced Syrians would pose to Lebanon’s political sociology” (p. 43).

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Teacher Readiness and Preparedness

To accommodate Syrian refugee students, public school teachers in Lebanon teach morning and evening shifts without a rewarding compensation and professional development opportunities that should help them meet refugee students’ needs “who... require constant care given the gap in their formal education and the trauma that forced displacement creates” (Karkouti et al., 2021, p. 2). Being overwhelmed by a heavy workload sometimes prompts teachers to use physical violence against their students (Mahfouz et al., 2019). In their study on the types of social support teachers need to help Syrian refugee students excel at school, Karkouti et al. (2021) interviewed 10 male teachers at a single-sex public schools in Lebanon. Findings from this study showed that teachers lack emotional, informational, instrumental, and appraisal support. The respondents argued that teaching refugees necessitates on time administrative and peer support, adequate professional development programs, recognition and appreciation, and sufficient classroom resources. Looking at the social and educational needs from the perspective of refugee students themselves, Dryden-Peterson et al. (2021) conducted a longitudinal study that investigated Syrian secondary students’ experiences in three schools in Lebanon. After describing themselves as “being behind,” the researchers elicited students’ views regarding the strategies that could possibly bridge their learning gap. According to the students, narrowing their knowledge gap and making up for what they have missed during their dropout years is still possible if teachers (a) use an inclusive curriculum that responds to students’ needs as migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers; (b) demonstrate empathy; and (c) build strong relationships with students and their parents. These findings echo Karkouti et al.’s (2020) study that found teachers incapable of supporting Syrian refugee students because they “do not want to help them” (p. 28). Students experienced economic vulnerabilities and received scant social and emotional support. Further, they explained how teachers deliberately ignored their needs and expressed their utter frustration of the Lebanese community that proved to be unwelcoming, neglecting, and unresponsive.

7.3

The Power of Diversity, Multiculturalism, and Social Support

Rather than being an excessive financial burden or social threat, diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion have always been viewed to boost the economy in nations that acknowledge the importance of having a rich social tapestry. Longitudinal data from 15 Western European countries show that migrants and refugees empower host nations’ economies by creating more job opportunities within five years of arrival (Maxmen, 2018). However, this is not the case in many countries where refugees are considered as an imminent threat to their resources. In Lebanon, a country amid a major economic meltdown, international financial support intended for refugees is forcibly converted into local currency at a

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rate 40% lower than the market rate (Sakr, 2021). In turn, this weakens refugees’ purchasing power and deteriorates their living conditions. Similarly, in Europe, the Danish government passed a new law that allows seizing refugee assets to cover their treatment by the state. Also, Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) decided to withhold aid money from Uganda after a local money fraud scandal that prevented the resettlement of thousands of innocent African refugees. By the same token, the UK reduced its global spending on humanitarian response programs including research and development via the Department for International Development (Dajani et al., 2021), ultimately impacting the lives of refugees in Lebanon and the Arab world. In addition to silencing refugee voices and increasing their stress, these practices mean that refugee exploitation has now become acceptable. It is in this context that teachers, school administrators, and education practitioners should embrace diversity, multiculturalism, and social learning to ameliorate refugee students’ stressors and combat their alienation, exploitation, and social isolation. Policymakers are also required to put diversity into action by transforming espoused values into enacted ones.

7.4

Achieving Equality Through Multicultural Education and Social Support

Diversity, multiculturalism, and social support are key assets for successful human development. An important issue that Syrian refugee students face in this regard is segregation and bullying which not only hinders their learning outcomes but also forces them to drop out of school at an early stage. Syrian refugee students attending afternoon school shifts are constantly bullied by their Lebanese counterparts who attend morning shifts. One student shared that she always “…finds very inappropriate words written by the morning students on seats” (Shuayb et al., 2020, p. 30). Noteworthy, some teachers are also not doing a great job for the reasons mentioned before (e.g., teacher violence, negligence, etc.). Therefore, to create a safe learning environment conducive to refugee students’ success, education practitioners should cultivate a culture of empathy and teach both teachers and students how to relate to culturally distinct others, acknowledge the legitimacy of different cultures, and increase their awareness regarding the importance of diversity in establishing democratic societies. To improve campus racial/ethnic climate and promote student success, Ortiz and Rhoads (2000) developed a five-stage multicultural education framework (MEF) to enhance minority students’ wellbeing and deconstruct predominant cultures inside the classroom. Practitioners can use the MEF to educate learners about diversity, empower democracy and pluralism, and advance multiculturalism and social change. According to Baxter-Magolda (2003), applying the MEF teaches individuals “who they are becoming [which] is central to success in learning, career decisions, understanding diversity, and interacting peacefully with others” (p. 244). Table 7.2 describes the framework and summarizes its components.

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Table 7.2 Multicultural Education Framework (Ortiz & Rhoads, 2000) MEF components

Description

Understanding culture

Individuals understand their own culture, examine their own identity, and practice interacting with diverse groups. Instructors can provide students with opportunities to reflect on their own identity, meaningfully engage in discussions with their peers, and present their culture, traditions, and virtues to their classmates.

Learning about other cultures

Individuals learn how to acknowledge distinct others by understanding the legitimacy of different societies. Practitioners can compare and contrast multiple cultures and draw connections between each of them to show how they have a common goal: restore humanity.

Recognizing and deconstructing predominant cultures

Individuals understand how predominant cultures set social parameters and define what is acceptable and what is not. Learners also engage in dialogue with minority groups to understand how predominant cultures affect their lives. This particular phase is characterized by discomfort, as it guides individuals in questioning and reevaluating their own identities.

Recognizing the legitimacy of other cultures

Individuals at this stage acknowledge cultural differences and create a common culture that promotes coexistence, tolerance, and acceptance.

Developing a multicultural outlook

Individuals understand how different cultures are interrelated and interconnected. They realize the value of diversity and understand how multiculturalism create democratic societies that effect change, empower individuals, and promote equality.

Multicultural education is often confused with other terms, such as intercultural education. However, UNESCO (2006) has clarified that interculturality has to do with interactions between cultures. In this sense, the chapter addresses multicultural education framework as defined by UNESCO; that is, interculturality rests on the foundation of multiculturality rather than replacing it. Please also see Chap. 12 for more on the topic of multiculturalism. Coupled with the MEF, social support can help individuals overcome anxiety and develop a psychological state of wellbeing that makes them feel satisfied, stable, and secure (Bick-har, 2019). Wang et al. (2018) defines social support as “a social network’s provisional of psychological and material resources intended to benefit an individual’s capacity to cope with stress” (p. 3). To this end, House

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Table 7.3 Forms of social support (House, 1981) Types of social support

Description

Emotional

Demonstrating empathy and showing concern for students/teachers alleviate their stress

Informational

Offering students/teachers advice allow them to overcome life/ work challenges

Instrumental

Providing students/teachers with material and resources help them achieve their goals

Appraisal

Evaluating students/teachers and providing them with feedback improves their performance

(1981) supplied a framework that explains the types of support people need to overcome life stressors. The social support framework proposed by House is often cited in studies regarding human wellbeing and happiness (Trzeciak & Mazzarelli, 2022), leadership (e.g., Wheeler & LaRocco, 2009), and learning (e.g., Deng & Yuen, 2011; Karkouti et al., 2020, 2021). As such, it is a seminal framework that is comprehensive and has been applied in multiple studies to the present. House’s social support framework consists of four constructs: emotional, information, instrumental, and appraisal support. It tries to answer the question: “Who gives what to whom regarding which problems?” (p. 22). Table 7.3 describes the framework’s components. A combination of social support (House, 1981) and multicultural education (Ortiz & Rhoads, 2000) will certainly enhance teachers’ wellbeing and improve local and refugee students’ learning experiences. As a start, school administrators and education practitioners should create awareness about diversity, supply teachers with various types of social support, and teach them how to navigate the refugee education labyrinth. Once teachers have become culturally responsive, emotionally intelligent, and racially sensitive, they can then proceed and implement their knowledge with their students. To enhance school climate and promote refugee students’ sense of belonging within and outside the classroom, teachers should integrate the MEF into curricula and instruction, provide students with needed types of support, demonstrate how to attain the educational benefits of diversity, and offer students community service opportunities. In addition, actively engaging students in achieving their school mission and vision should be a priority because shared governance creates a culture that values everyone, welcomes divergent perspectives, and fosters a sense of community. More to Discover, at the end of this chapter, provides examples of how teachers and/or practitioners can incorporate social support and multiculturalism into their daily teaching and practice.

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Conclusion and Recommendations

Diversity should never be pulled up for public display only. Instead, teachers and school administrators should embed equity and inclusion in all aspects of school life. To achieve this goal, teachers should be culturally competent and capable of providing students with the social support they need to overcome the challenges that obstruct their education. Failure to respond to refugee students’ needs will degrade their performance, worsen their trauma, increase student dropout rates, and widen the gap between different social classes. The end goal should be restoring hope for refugee students to prevent a new lost generation incapable of rebuilding its country after conflict. To change the current situation for Syrian refugee students in Lebanon, social support and multicultural education should be prioritized to ease their transition to Lebanese schools. More important, institutional and administrative barriers should be removed to facilitate refugee student enrolment and registration processes. To successfully transform education, teachers’ needs should also be at the heart of any reform initiative if policymakers are to improve teacher-student relationships, enhance student learning outcomes, and promote refugee students’ sense of school belonging. Garnering the support of local and international NGOs to propel change necessitates ethical behavior and professional practice. Therefore, to instill trust and confidence in the viability of public schooling in Lebanon, particularly for refugees, local authorities are required to prioritize spending on education and adopt inclusive admission policies that leave no child behind. Given the financial meltdown Lebanon is currently experiencing, the international community should work closely with local authorities to supply teachers with learning materials and ensure the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education, to which Lebanon subscribes. More important, donor countries should restore funding for refugees to expose human rights violations, combat discrimination against migrants, reconfigure education to meet refugee students’ learning and social needs, and save refugees from being the mere firewood in the hands of the unscrupulous. Points to Ponder This chapter offers a detailed description of what Syrian refugee students face in Lebanon. It also provides strategies that help teachers, administrators, and practitioners create inclusive learning environments for refugee and displaced children (see Arar & Örücü, 2021; Karkouti, 2022). • Research suggests that when teachers are considerate of refugees’ learning and emotional needs, students are more likely to persevere and excel at school. Unfortunately, teacher education in Lebanon does not focus on refugee education and therefore needs improvement. What concepts would you add to teacher training programs to help displaced and refugee students overcome the challenges they face in school?

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• Refugee students in Lebanon do not receive social support and therefore lack a sense of school belonging. As a teacher, how would you overcome this challenge and make school a safe haven for refugee students? • Local students may seem to be unaware of the tragedies/traumas that refugee students face. How would you create awareness about refugees and what would you do to make your class more welcoming? More to Discover: Additional Readings Culbertson, S., & Constant, L. (2015). Education of Syrian refugee children: Managing the crisis in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. RAND Corporation. Karkouti, I. M., & Wolsey, T. D. (2021). Middle school readers. In J. I. Liontas (Ed.). The TESOL encyclopedia of English language teaching. https://doi.org/10.1002/978 1118784235.eelt1006. Kugler, O. (2018). Escaping wars and waves: Encounters with Syrian refugees. Penn State University Press. Rostom, K. (2020). Integrating Syrian refugees in Eastern Germany: A cultural textbook. Peter Lang. Sue, D. W., Bernier, J. E., Durran, A., Feinberg, L., Pedersen, P., Smith, E. J., & Vasquez-Nuttall, E. (1982). Position paper: Cross-cultural counseling competencies. The Counseling Psychologist, 10(2), 45–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/001100008210 2008. More to Discover: Additional Activities To improve refugee students’ social wellbeing and promote diversity within and outside the classroom, teachers can implement the following strategies: 1. Raise Diversity Awareness: Each week, teachers can share a short story/video of a minority figure who contributed to the advancement of humanity. This will show all students the importance of cultural diversity. 2. Diversify Content: Teachers can use multiple texts and readings written by authors from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. This could broaden students’ outlook and prepare them to be global citizens of the twenty-first century. 3. Foster Empathy and Care: Teachers can dedicate a couple of hours every week to asking students about what is going well at school and what needs to be improved. This will help students bond with teachers and share anything that is bothering them inside the classroom or at school. If something is wrong, teachers are required to mobilize and utilize available resources to help students overcome any challenges. 4. Promote Cross-Racial Engagement: Teachers can pair up minority students with their peers during activities and group projects. Students will then be able to mingle and get to know each other. This is an important strategy if teachers are to break the ice between students and deconstruct predominantly White cultures.

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5. Involve Parents: Teachers can ask parents to present a story about their culture once every week. This will enhance community in the classroom and motivate students to explore new cultures. 6. Podcasting: Each week, teachers can have a couple of students submit a short recording of a story or a research article pertaining to diversity and multiculturalism. Teachers will then share it with the entire class and have a group discussion about it. 7. Community Service: To promote hands-on learning, teachers can create competitions that require students to reach out to underserved populations and teach them a skill. This will help students create a sense of belongingness, gain ownership of what they do, and appreciate their surroundings. 8. Shared Governance: Before deciding on anything, teachers can ask students for ideas and feedback. This will send a clear message to students that they are valued and respected.

References Abd El-Galil, T. (2022). What Syrian refugee students in Lebanon wish their teachers knew. AlFanar Media. Retrieved from https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2022/01/syrian-refugee-studentsin-lebanon/ Amnesty International. (2021). You’re going to your death: Violations against Syrian refugees returning to Syria. Retrieved from https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/amn esty-youregoingtoyourdeath.pdf Arar, K., & Örücü, D. (2021). A Foucauldian analysis of culturally relevant educational leadership for refugees as newcomers. In F. English (Ed.) The Palgrave handbook of educational leadership and management discourse (pp. 1–15). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-396664_114-1 Baxter-Magolda, M. (2003). Identity and learning: Student affairs’ role in transforming higher education. Journal of College Student Development, 44(1), 231–247. Bick-har, L. (2019). Social support, well-being, and teacher development. Springer. Dajani, R., Flowe, H. D., & Warwick, B. (2021). Social and political justice hit by UK aid cuts. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00955-7 Davidson, J. (2016). In Lebanon, getting Syrian children in school a huge task. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syrialebanon-idUSKCN12719T Deng, L., & Yuen, A. H. K. (2011). Towards a framework for educational affordances of blogs. Computers and Education, 56(2), 441–451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.09.005 Dryden-Peterson, S., Chopra, V., Talhouk, J., & Geha, C. (2021). We see you: What Syrian refugee students wish their teachers knew. Refugee REACH Initiative, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, USA. Retrieved from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d13d3 462483f10001cf55a0/t/6176c6177536c93b3fcf3f36/1635173912196/Lebanon+Animation+ Key+Takeaways-ENGLISH_Refugee+REACH+Initiative-HGSE_final.pdf Fakhoury, T., & Abi Raad, L. (2018). Refugee as minorities: Displaced Syrians as a “New Minority” in Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.Maghreb-Machrek, 236, 43–53. https://doi. org/10.3917/machr.236.0043 House, J. S. (1981). Work stress and social support. Addison-Wesley. Human Rights Watch. (2021). Lebanon: Action needed on Syrian refugee crisis. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/26/lebanon-action-needed-syrian-refugee-education-crisis Karasapan, O., & Shah, S. (2021). Why Syrian refugees in Lebanon are a crisis within a crisis. Brookings. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2021/04/ 15/why-syrian-refugees-in-lebanon-are-a-crisis-within-a-crisis/

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Karkouti, I. M. (2021). Syrian refugees at risk of becoming a lost generation. University World News. Retrieved from https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=202107051149 30355 Karkouti, I. M. (2022). Deconstructing predominantly White cultures: Creating inclusive learning environments in the United States. In R. J. Tierney, F. Rizvi, & K. Erkican (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Education (pp. 417–422), Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12818630-5.02078-9 Karkouti, I. M., Wolsey, T. D., Bekele, T. A., & Toprak, M. (2021). Empowering teachers during refugee crises: Social support they need to thrive. Teaching and Teacher Education, 107, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103471 Karkouti, I. M., Wolsey, T. D., & Toprak, M. (2020). Restoring hope for Syrian refugees: Social support students need to excel at school. International Migration, 58(4), 21–36. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/imig.12642 Mahfouz, J., El-Mehtar, N., Osman, E., & Kotok, S. (2019). Challenges and agency: Principals responding to the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanese public schools. International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, 23(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124. 2019.1613570 Maxmen, A. (2018). Migrants and refugees are good for economies. Nature. https://doi.org/10. 1038/d41586-018-05507-0 Mehanna, S. (2019, September 26). Onsoriyya Libnaniya tijah al’ajaneb… Altayyar Alwatani Alhorr fee altaleeia [Lebanese racism against foreigners… Free Patriotic Movement comes first]. Independent Arabia. Retrieved from https://www.independentarabia.com/node/59176 Ortiz, A. M., & Rhoads, R. A. (2000). Deconstructing Whiteness as part of a multicultural education framework: From theory to practice. Journal of College Student Development, 41(1), 81–93. Sakr, E. (2021). Refugees lose $250 million in aid because Lebanese banks used below market exchange rates. The National News. Retrieved from https://www.thenationalnews.com/bus iness/economy/refugees-lose-250-million-in-aid-because-lebanese-banks-used-below-marketexchange-rate-1.1243401 Shuayb, M., Al-Samhoury, O., Hammoud, M., & Durgham, N. (2020). Invisible barriers: Factors influencing Syrian refugee youth in continuing their education in Lebanon. JUSOOR. Retrieved from https://jusoor.ngo/cms/uploads/files/Refugee%20Education%20Program/Jusoor%20B revet%202020%20Report.pdf Speed School Fund. (2016). Education for Syrian refugees: Providing hope in Lebanon. Retrieved from https://paperzz.com/doc/7983428/education-for-syrian-refugees-providing-hope-in-leb anon Trzeciak, S., & Mazzarrelli, A. (2022). Wonder drug. St. Martin’s essentials. UNESCO. (2006). UNESCO guidelines on intercultural education [ED.2006/WS/59]. https://une sdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000147878.locale=en UNESCO. (2019). Enforcing the right to education of refugees: A policy perspective. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000366839 UNRWA. (2020). Protection brief Palestine refugees living in Lebanon. Retrieved from https:// www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/20-09-28_lfo_context_protection_brief_2020_final83.pdf Wang, L., Tao, H., Bowers, B. J., Brown, R., & Zhang, Y. (2018). Influence of social support and self-efficacy on resilience of early career registered nurses. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 40(5), 648–664. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945916685712 Wheeler, D. S., & LaRocco, D. J. (2009). Special education administrators: Who and what helps buffer job-related stress? Journal of Special Education Leadership, 22(2), 85–92. Sewell, A. (2020). Thousands of refugee children in Arsal have no school to go to after the state ordered unlicensed centers to close. L’Orient Today. https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/123 9125/left-behind-thousands-of-refugee-children-in-arsal-have-no-school-to-go-to-after-theeducation-ministry-shut-unlicensed-centers.html

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Ibrahim M. Karkouti is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the American University in Cairo. An independent thinker, a young scholar, and a life-long learner, his research focuses on diversity issues in higher education, refugee education, educational technology, and the types of social support teachers need to implement reform.

Part I Restoring Hope in School

My Father Who... Ana M. Fores Tamayo

My Father who art in heaven, Are you really there? And where exactly are your azure skies? Are your Elysian Fields some ethereal other. in some far-off realm, or is it a little bit of paradise on earth, a spotted leaf of green and yellow, harking to the sun, a rooster cocking his sweet song come daybreak, the smell of lusty cafe con leche at blue dawn’s break, when I sleepily rise from bed, while my husband hands me my morning mug, the aroma of celestial heights gently lifting me from slumber? hallowed be thy name. Is your name Dios, Allah, Père, Gud, Yahweh, or Eloah? Is it the trees shimmering gently in the winsome wind, the thundering waves crashing along the salted seacoast, the woodpecker tapping the tree trunk to scavenge its next meal, the child reaching out for his mother’s breast? Thy kingdom come. thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. If your kingdom does arrive, when will that ever be? We will soon need that glorious realm breaking dusty dawn, or have you not seen this wily world fall apart in misery, at the seams, In the horror of war and greed and pain? Heaven seems Utopia, yet other earthly too: nothing here to bear celestial fruit. Agony faced by migrants, by children hungering at our borders, fatigued mothers tying shoelaces that fall apart,

A. M. Fores Tamayo Refugee Support Network (RSN), North Texas, TX, USA

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2

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holding up torn-up trousers with a shoestring for their boys… While the big fat men resort to golf clubs in their verdant fields, Banks rolling in the opulence of few, their taxed greens only for those full-bodied heavies. behind those gated columns rich in pompous pretense. Yet the meek lay their wearied heads to rest. between the barred columns of those prison gates: detention all they know. Give me this day my daily bread; I beg you, oh my God. Give me hope, give me solace, give to them – not me – that little bit of mercy. That we all know can make or break a life… and forgive me my trespasses, For having, for not sharing, for enjoying life, for not caring. while little migrant children walk those miles, haunt those shadows, wake those nightmare dreams… as I forgive those who trespass against me; Let me cry next to the bully who raised his hand against me, who called me names, who shattered my fragile ego. Let me forgive myself for trespassing against my better self. and lead me not into temptation. Let me find the tranquility of passion, the fruitfulness of gratitude, the abundance of self-reliance, the fortitude of mercy. Let me find that young child quivering, let me cover her in splendor, in coats of strength, of compromise, of angel white. but deliver me from evil. Deliver me to mercy… oh my god. ~ Ana M. Fores Tamayo.

Ana M. Fores Tamayo wanted instead to do something that mattered: work with asylum seekers. She advocates for marginalized refugee families from Mexico, Central America, and most recently, many other countries from which people flee. Working with asylum seekers is heart wrenching, yet satisfying. It is also quite humbling. Her labor has eased her own sense of displacement, being a child refugee, always trying to find home. In parallel, poetry is her escape: she has published in The Raving Press, Indolent Books, the Laurel Review, Shenandoah, and many other anthologies and journals, both in the US and internationally, online and in-print. Her poetry in translation with its accompanying photography has been featured in art fairs and galleries as well. Ediciones Valparaiso in Spain published her book of poems, Peregrina, this past June 2022. She hopes you like her art; it is a catharsis from the cruelty yet ecstasy of her work. Through it, she keeps tilting at windmills.

Part II Restoring Hope Through Access and Acceptance in Higher Education

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How Teachers Can Improve the Experiences of Refugee Students with SEND with Higher Education Goals Dilma De Araujo

Abstract

Aiming to inform teachers, educators, and policymakers, this chapter addresses emerging issues in order to generate innovative ways to support refugee students in higher education. Thus, it discusses how teachers can improve educational practices and refugee students’ experiences in higher education. Additionally, this chapter addresses inclusive education and responds to diversity and equality issues to enhance higher education experiences of refugee students with disabilities. Involving four main headings, the chapter includes: An overview of the UK educational system and the need for inclusion of refugee groups; refugees in England–the journey to inclusion: special education needs and disabilities perspective; teachers’ approaches to improve experiences of refugee students with disabilities of higher education in England; and teachers as inclusion and diversity ‘keepers’. The recommendations section introduces ways to improve students’ learning experience and focuses on: (1) access, (2) safety and protection, (3) learning and integration, and (4) professional skills for refugee students. Keywords

Higher education • Refugee students • Special education needs and disabilities • Learning and integration • Safety and protection Amongst other things, this chapter lays the groundwork for the diversity within the learning structures and shows how teachers can achieve inclusion despite different perspectives of inclusion within the global educational system. In this case, inclusion and diversity patterns imply the prioritization of refugees as a vital part of the global population (Yoe, 2020). Therefore, refugees’ educational circumstances D. De Araujo (B) London Metropolitan University, London, England e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_8

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and experience must be improved as a bridge to learning integration, protection, and safety indicators (UN Refugee Teachers, 2018). Helping students in secondary education make connections to tertiary education is daunting, but it is even more so when a student is also contending with the trauma of being a refugee and having special education needs and disabilities (SEND). This chapter explores how hope for the future can be fostered in secondary and tertiary education may be fostered. A myriad of debates between scholars, leadership entities, general media, and policymakers concerning refugees and migration over the past two centuries continue. The refugees’ exodus becomes a global crisis, impacting developing countries like Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Colombia, and Uganda. However, recently, a change in migratory routes to Western Europe is observed, with the prevalence of refugees in Germany (142,500), France (23,900), and Spain (118,300) (UNHCR, 2019a). In England, the number of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants is increasing in several cities. In 2019, in the United Kingdom (UK), 31,752 asylum applications were received (UNHCR, 2019a). Moreover, statistics revealed, “133,094 refugees, 61,968 pending asylum cases and 161 stateless persons in the UK” (UNHCR, 2019a). This chapter provides an overview of the issues facing refugees with SEND who aspire to higher education. To cope with new demands, the UK government had to develop measures and mechanisms for supporting refugees in different sectors within social, economic, cultural, and educational arenas. Thus, ever-increasing progressive actions were implemented in the education sector, leading to an “official recognition of existing needs for disabled refugees and asylum seekers” (Yoe, 2020, p. 676). Hence, education becomes a powerful tool for engaging and integrating refugee students into social and citizenship endeavors. This chapter aims at amplifying refugee students’ voices, especially those with disabilities, through education and schooling which enhances teachers’ best practice patterns. Moreover, key recommendations are based on the guidance tool of United Nations Refugee Teachers: A Quick Guide. This UN instructional guide provides basic program design and training, as well as suggestions for managing refugees in education settings. Based on this educational guide and aiming to provide an in-depth critical evaluation concerning the paper’s main question, four core themes were developed: (1) access to education, (2) safety and protection; (3) learning and integration, and (4) professional skills for refugee students (UN Refugee Teachers, 2018). The chapter also draws pertinent conclusions concerning the main topic and identifies best practices and implications for universities, teachers, researchers, and policymakers to facilitate better experiences for refugee students and teachers in higher education.

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An Overview of the UK Educational System and the Need for Inclusion of Refugee Groups

The United Kingdom is among the countries that host many refugees with disabilities who need higher education access. The UK government has implemented an inclusive education system in conjunction with the ministry of education. According to Catholic Relief Services (2007), inclusive education is the principle of educating all children within a universal educational setting. This type of schooling targets children with limited access to education due to special needs. Inclusive education aims at eliminating discrimination and offers equality, quality, and accessible education to all (Catholic Relief Services, 2007). Special education schools support children and young people with limited access to education due to special needs such as mental health, cognitive, physical, or emotional disabilities. The United Kingdom’s inclusive education system for refugee students entails scholarships, fellowships, well-wishers’ funds, community-based programs, and government funds, among others (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service, 2021). Besides, there is a specific department that analyzes migration patterns to accommodate students’ academic needs. Lastly, the embassies of respective nationals also facilitate the registration and intake of refugee students into UK’s higher education institutions. According to Lambrechts (2020), refugee students with disabilities face challenges in the UK higher education setting. The factors contributing to these issues include communication and linguistics difficulties, procedural and administrative bureaucracy, informational needs, situational oppressions, cultural shock, financial restraints, and environmental factors. Other hurdles include the procedural aspects of admissions to study in higher education institutions as well as applying for scholarships, fellowships, and disability funds. Language factors include the inability of these students to communicate as they have not mastered English. Information factors contribute to the inaccessibility to information regarding the UK’s higher education, funds, and scholarships, among other things. Environmental factors include unconducive and unfriendly learning environments due to discrimination. Financial aspects relate to a lack of capital to cater for their studies in higher education institutions. Cultural shock can potentially impact their learning, while situational factors refer to the inability of refugee students with disabilities to pursue higher education because they are displaced and disabled. Last, newcomer factors refer to the vulnerability of these students (Lambrechts, 2020). These challenges hinder inclusive education for refugee students with disabilities in the United Kingdom’s higher learning settings. Luckily, teachers have the opportunity and privilege to improve these students’ experiences in school and at universities and colleges. Besides, they are in the position to support refugee’ students with disabilities and have avenues and channels to advocate for their needs. What follows are some approaches teachers and professors should employ to improve the experiences of refugee students with disabilities in the UK.

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Refugees in England and the Journey to Inclusion: Special Education Needs and Disabilities Perspectives

Special education needs and disabilities (SEND) refers to children and young people with learning difficulties or disabilities that entitle them to study in a special education provision (SEP) to accommodate their needs, such as cognitive, physical, emotional, and mental needs (DfE, 2014). According to the Equality Act (2010), SEND children have significantly greater learning difficulties compared to children of a similar age. Disabilities prevent or hinder them from using facilities that are usually provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or post-16 educational provisions. Nevertheless, in many cases of disabilities among refugee communities the language barrier can represent a disadvantage to getting the right support and assessment. Section 20 (4) of the Children and Families Act (2014) (c. 6) reconfirms that “A child or young person does not have a learning difficulty or disability solely because the language (or form of language) in which he or she is or will be taught is different from a language (or form of language) which is or has been spoken at home.” (Equality, 2010, n.p.) However, the SEND Code of Practice 2014, an educational policy, states that identifying and assessing SEND children and young people whose first language is not English requires particular care; practitioners need to take into consideration all aspects of children learning development to determine if any delay is related to learning English as an additional language or if it arises from SEND motives. However, difficulties in learning English as an additional language are not considered by the SEND code of practice as a disability. English can be a barrier for refugee groups with learning difficulties and disabilities, thus delaying assessment for children aged zero to 25 years old. The language barriermay delay access for those who are attempting to access their Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). This document assesses children’s needs to secure the best outcomes across different educational fields (e.g., evaluating appropriate educational provision and therapies), health (e.g., assessing cognitive, physical, emotional, and mental needs to implement the best practices), as well as social care support. The EHCP and similar documents in other countries document can help learners with disabilities get financial support allocated by the local authority and other agencies (e.g., psychologists, occupational and speech and language therapists), giving the chance to families and children to share their opinions and views about the educational and medical development. In this context, SEND refugees’ education and health care destiny are in the hands of the local authority (LA), which has the duty of care towards children in England. LA should assess and secure appropriate SEP and EHCP, ensuring that students’ needs are met. According to Persey (2021), there are more critical issues faced by refugees and migrants accessing SEND provisions, funding and EHCPs parents and children’s inability to speak English hinders them from having access to useful information, originating lack of social engagement, integration, and intervention. Moreover, the

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lack of cultural knowledge, understanding and sensibility in assessments or interviews as well as a limited number of translators and translated information on the EHCPs often occurs, leaving them marginalized at socio-economic and educational levels. Additionally, refugees with disabilities and their families need more support in issues concerning understanding technical language (e.g. legal and educational acronyms and jargon) in EHCPs’ drafts, mediations, appeals to SEND Tribunal and Judicial Review (Persey, 2021).

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Teachers’ Approaches to Improve Experiences of Refugee Students with Disabilities of Higher Education in England

The UK is among the European countries that host many refugees, including those with disabilities or suffering from mental health issues such as trauma and depression but aiming to pursue higher education studies (Catholic Relief Services, 2007; UNHCR, 2019a). However, refugees’ social status often prevents them from joining tertiary learning institutions. In other cases, parents are ashamed of their children and hide them from public places (Dhungel et al., 2021; Kitchin, 1998; Pawlus, 2016). Such occurrences may deny them an opportunity to further their studies in UK universities and colleges. Fortunately, teachers have an opportunity to save the dreams of refugee students by raising the bars of integration, inclusion, and diversity through a rich curriculum that reflects all sectors and perspectives in our multifaceted society. Teachers should identify refugee students with disabilities in the community (Catholic Relief Services, 2007) by inquiring from refugee stations or visiting them to determine their potential to pursue higher education. To be more specific, efficient assessment mechanisms and strategies should be implemented in the education system to address specific learning difficulties, trauma, depression, and other mental health issues. Teachers should also develop a strong culture of dialogue with students to easily assess students’ needs, which enables teachers to report to external agencies or institutions. This is much easier if teachers know their students’ potentials and capabilities; thus, teachers should recommend appropriate programs for encouraging students to pursue a relevant degree in higher learning institutions. Moreover, students with disabilities can have a chance to develop their learning and academic skills with tailored curriculum and modules that could easily address their needs. For instance, it may be practically difficult for a student with a visual impairment to undertake practical courses which demand dealing with objects visually.

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Teachers as Inclusion and Diversity Keepers

When teachers develop best educational practices, assessment which is inclusive, effective, formative, and summative reflects on students’ experiences and outcomes. Thus, the implementation of differentiation in assessment according to individual needs could be a productive strategy in transforming teachers into inclusion and diversity ‘keepers.’ According to Civitillo et al. (2016), educational diversity should consider students’ requirements, cultural, family, and socio-economic backgrounds, as well as learning, emotional, and cognitive disabilities. Lambrechts (2020) adds that diversity opens new doors to the world (see Chaps. 6 and 12, in this volume), generating many of academic benefits for students, teachers, and the surrounding communities, thus allowing the importation of multicultural values and beliefs. Nevertheless, Hoover (2017) argues that diversity in education is not only measured by the level of interaction with different communities but also by the investment in understanding beliefs, exploring values, and raising awareness about cultural factors, individual and collective experiences, and socio-economic patterns. In an educational environment, teachers can accommodate the best practices, appropriate resources, and learning strategies, while being role models that support refugees’ ethnic backgrounds, cultural identities, and transferable skills. Teachers as inclusive, diversity ‘keepers’ can identify students’ differences and embrace their similarities, thus encouraging the sense of self-motivation, belonging, and actualization (Maslow, 1943), increasing levels of awareness and recognition of students’ uniqueness, creating life-enhancing opportunities for refugees, and helping them shape their future endeavors. Therefore, teachers should be on the frontline in supporting refugee students in higher education. Importantly, they should advise students, as they have limited information about higher education in the UK. For example, most refugee students in the UK have little knowledge about procedures to follow when joining a higher education institution. Therefore, teachers could step in as advisors and guide refugee students through the structure of higher education (Taylor et al., 2016). In the special education needs field, teachers play an essential role, assessing, evaluating, and encouraging wellbeing practices within the educational environment. Additionally, teachers can make liaisons with different departments to ensure better support is provided. For example, special education needs support teams; education health care plan coordinators, and academic mentors all have significant roles in ensuring better teaching and learning experiences. Unangst and Crea (2020) stated that wellbeing issues could be avoidable if teachers could provide more support and guidance, addressing irrelevant courses and programs and initiating a culture of dialogue about disabilities in higher education. Refugee students with disabilities are often unaware of existing scholarship and fellowship programs. They have no access to resources or media that publish these programs and are among the most marginalized groups in society, due to the lack of social integration (Lambrechts, 2020). As a result, many opportunities do not reach refugees with disabilities. Teachers and academic staff should create inclusive

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and informative platforms for refugee students with disabilities about scholarship and fellowship openings such as special opening days or webinars and workshops (Madziva & Thondhlana, 2017). Thus, teachers should hold discussions or meetings with students to explain the modalities of higher learning in the United Kingdom. Further, they should approach refugee students’ families and communities to discuss the modalities and requirements for scholarship and fellowship programs making direct and strong liaison with secondary schools and colleges. This will lead to a better understanding among refugee students with disabilities who are planning to join higher learning institutions (Karkouti et al., 2019; Uline et al., 2010).

8.5

Recommendations

According to UNHCR (2019a), only 3% of refugees had enrolled in higher education courses. This indicator does not involve the percentage of refugees with disabilities, potentially providing evidence that further support is needed to empower the access of refugee students with disabilities to the tertiary sector. Hence, secondary and higher education teachers working with refugee students with physical, emotional, and/or learning disabilities can represent the educational ‘panacea’ for this group classified as ‘super-disadvantaged’ (Lambrechts, 2020, p. 1) in the English educational system. This recommendation section intends to generate awareness to improve diversity and inclusion in educational institutions and strengthen the teachers’ best practice model. In addition, the United Nations Refugee Teachers: A Quick Guide serves as a background and an instructional guide to support refugees with special needs in educational settings. Thus, based on these educational guidelines, four core themes were developed: (1) Access, (2) Safety and protection; (3) Learning and integration, and (4) Professional skills for refugee students (UN Refugee Teachers, 2018).

8.5.1 Access In the past years, refugees’ enrollment numbers in universities revealed only 1% increase, contrasted with the figures of around 40% for the non-refugee students (UNHCR, 2019b). Besides the many efforts and initiatives developed by national and international institutions and agencies, access, enrollment, and research and guidance for refugees and mainly refugees with disabilities in higher education is still limited (Lambrechts, 2020). Facing these complex panoramas and taking into consideration the intersectional oppressions, it is suggested that the UK government should invest more in the education of refugees in terms of guidance, support, and making available translators of refugees’ native or home languages. This could contribute to raising the levels of employment and career prospects among refugee communities.

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By ensuring access to education, the UK citizenship values and patterns may increase self-identity and sense of belonging, motivating many to develop academic research in different topics relevant to their communities. Therefore, policymakers should develop a strategic approach aiming to remove social and cultural barriers such as bias and discrimination. In addition, a genuine collaboration between different countries, together they can pursue the same vision of inclusion and integration of refugees. It could represent a response to the myriad of unanswered questions concerning financial funds, shelter support and studentship specific for refugee students with disabilities. Thus, international agencies such as UNESCO should ensure that they also partner with the government to achieve ambitious and sustainable goals for refugees with disabilities (Sivunen, 2019).

8.5.2 Safety and Protection Maslow (1943) describes human motivation and needs, emphasizing that physiology, safety, and protection are the most vital areas in human life. Through government grants and charitable offers, the UK government must ensure the protection and safety of refugees in ensuring that refugees receive more financial support, as well as emotional, cognitive, physiological, and psychological initiatives based on effective wellbeing and community-focus approaches. Thus, policymakers should focus on the design of policies and recommendations aiming to provide the affordability of safety and protection for refugees. Therefore, international agencies like UNICEF and USAID should cooperate with the UK government in creating partnerships that will make the safety and protection of refugees a global top priority.

8.5.3 Learning and Integration Both at social and educational levels, integration, adaptation and effective learning frameworks are foundational steps to achieve inclusion and diversity in our society (Duda-Mikulin et al., 2020). Consequently, there is a need for the UK government to ensure that all learning initiatives, programs, and courses should be free, including relevant content for refugees with disabilities. Additionally, the UK government should ensure that the integration of learning performance and outcomes are achieved through practical schemes that will contribute to national economic and educational development. Based on a national and international perspective, areas, countries, regions with a higher number of refugees such as Turkey, Colombia, Uganda, Germany, and the UK, particularly Scotland (UNHCR, 2019b), should be offered higher international aid, funds, and grants to remove the economic disparities and improve financial safety.

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8.5.4 Professional Skills for Refugee Students Aiming to ensure better social and economic prospects for refugee communities, professional and academic skills can play an important function giving a new sense of purpose, social belonging and identity to refugees (Oliver, 2013). In this context, substantial improvement in investments in more technical and innovative education for refugees with disabilities will make their learning tailored to their needs. Therefore, policymakers should address the problem of diversity in terms of employment so that the aforementioned group of people can be employed easily within a suitable place of work. There is a need to increase the collaboration between agencies, institutions and disable students by investing in coaching, mentoring, workshops, work experiences and internships for refugees with disabilities boosting professional skills and employment opportunities.

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Conclusion

The discourse narrative involving refugees and education is well presented in UN Refugee Agency and Teachers: A Quick Guide which is based on access, safety, protection, learning and integration, and professional skills for refugee students. It covers the fundamentals of educational settings and addresses issues concerning belonging and identity, self-management, self and social awareness, and healthy relationship skills, which are embedded in a more inclusive and dynamic curriculum, programs, and courses. Inclusive education programs and initiatives in the UK have changed over the years. In conjunction with the Department of Education, the most crucial area that the UK government should focus on is the inclusion of refugee students with disabilities in the education system. However, numerous issues regarding refugee students with disabilities are overlooked due to their status in society. For instance, discrimination is the most common challenge that refugees with disabilities face in higher learning institutions. They experience inaccessibility to resources and opportunities to progress in their careers, and often there is a decline in refugee admissions at public and private universities. Also, refugee students with disabilities have limited access to tertiary education information because of staff limited knowledge of students’ intersectional patterns. Other challenges are related to the process of selecting appropriate programs to pursue a university degree. Consequently, higher education institutions should invest in high quality professional and inclusive topics in their curriculum as well as improving the use of technology in the learning environment. Notably, teachers have an excellent opportunity to assist these students because they understand the challenges students face (Uline et al., 2010). In retrospect, teachers should help refugee students with disabilities make the best out of their higher education experience, supporting students’ learning experiences and academic outcomes. Experienced teachers in special education can represent the inclusion and diversity “duty of care keepers” (Streetwise & Madden, 2019, p. 60), opening bridges

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of hope by breaking the myriad of halls surrounding refugees with disabilities in the UK. Points to Ponder • How can teachers in secondary schools help refugee students with SEND learn about and achieve their goals relative to tertiary education? • What can professors in tertiary education institutions do to foster collaboration between secondary schools, agencies, ministries of education, and their own institutions to help refugee students with SEND fully participate in all educational options in the host country? • What features are lacking in your secondary school or tertiary education setting that limits the participation of refugee students with SEND? How can you help change the limiting features? • What features does your institution have in place now that help refugee students with SEND to make transitions between secondary and tertiary education opportunities? • What research needs to be done to support the needs of refugee students who also have SEND? More to Discover: Additional Readings Though there are ample resources for working with refugee students and resources for working with students with SEND, very few address the challenges of being a refugee or displaced student and having to contend with SEND in secondary or tertiary settings. What is the role of teachers and professors as diversity and inclusion keepers to preserve and inspire hope? How can student mentors help refugee students? Read this blog post: https://www. aare.edu.au/blog/?p=4978. The National Association for Foreign Student Affairs offers some tips for working with refugee and displaced students on campus. Supporting Refugee and Displaced Students on Campus|NAFSA. Reachout offers guidance for transition from secondary to tertiary education for students on the autism spectrum. https://reachoutasc.com/post-16-transition-for-stu dents-with-send-asc/.

References Bourdieu, P. (2000). Pascalian meditations. Polity Press. Catholic Relief Services. (2007). How to guide: Inclusive education for children with disabilities. Crs.org. Retrieved 9 March, 2021, Available at https://www.crs.org/sites/default/files/tools-res earch/how-toguide-inclusive-education-children-disabilities.pdf Children and Families Act. (2014). Retrieved 9 November, 2021 [online], Available at https://www. legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/pdfs/ukpga_20140006_en.pdf

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at https://www.academia.edu/44425505/_Climate_Refugees_at_the_Age_of_Globalization_M igration_and_Diaspora_Oral_Presentation Sivunen. N. (2019). An ethnographic study of deaf refugees seeking asylum in Finland. Societies, 9(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc9010002. https://gsehd9.drupal.gwu.edu/directory/str eitwiese Taylor, M., Turnbull, Y., Bleasdale, J., Francis, H., & Forsyth, H., (2016). Transforming support for students with disabilities in UK higher education. Support for Learning, 31(4), 367–384; 597–632. Available https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9604.12143 UN Refugee Teachers. (2018). UN Refugee Agency, Refugee Teachers: A quick guide. https:// cms.emergency.unhcr.org/documents/11982/53527/UNHCR%2C+Refugee+Teacher+Manage ment+-+Quick+Guide/f5844403-39c9-4093-997b-2466f7a0c04f Unangst, L. & Crea, T. M. (2020). Higher education for refugees: A need for intersectional research. Comparative Education Review, 64(2), 228–248. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10. 1086/708190 UNHCR, The UN Refugee Agency. (2019a). Global trends forced displacement in 2019a. https:// www.unhcr.org/5ee200e37.pdf UNHCR. (2019b). Figures at a glance. Retrieved 12 December, 2021, from https://www.unhcr.org/ figures-at-a-glance.html Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. (2021). He provider good practice briefing for refugees and asylum seekers. Retrieved 5 December, 2021, from https://www.ucas.com/provid ers/good-practice/emerging-cohorts/refugees-and-asylum-seekers Yeo, R. (2020). The regressive power of labels of vulnerability affecting disabled asylum seekers in the UK. Disability & Society, 35(4), 676–681. Available at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/ abs/10.1080/09687599.2019.1639688

Dilma De Araujo is a specialist in education inclusive policies, disabilities, and gender issues. During her more than 10 years’ experience in teaching and learning methods and techniques, her work focused on the development of academic studies in the areas of education psychology, business, finance and inclusive management and leadership practices for women and vulnerable communities in Africa, Europe and Latin America. She has worked in several educational institutions, developing, assessing and evaluating teaching and learning practices in the UK. Her main inspiration to foster research analysis is enhance inclusion, diversity and equality patterns. University of Business & Social Sciences–UCES, Argentina Postgraduate student.

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Higher Education in Refugee Camps via Collaborative Blended Learning: The Impact and Benefits for Refugees and Their Student Tutors Paul O’Keeffe

Abstract

Higher education in emergencies has emerged in recent years as a key solution to help address the education deficit faced by the ever-growing number of refugee and displaced people around the world. With an estimated just three percent of refugee youth worldwide able to access higher education opportunities, much more needs to be done if higher education is to live up to the hope that it becomes an effective development solution for the millions of people displaced around the world. This chapter looks at the importance of taking a student-centered approach when enabling higher education in refugee camps via blended learning and the benefits that it brings to university students who participate in the process as tutors. The author presents the University of Geneva’s higher education in refugee contexts collaborative learning ecosystem (CLE), which he developed and led for higher education programs in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya and Azraq refugee camp in Jordan between 2017 and 2020. By unpacking the CLE as a pedagogical model and exploring the role played by university students who tutored refugee learners in the camps, the chapter contends that the student-centered approach of the CLE, which places the pedagogical emphasis on connecting refugee learners with university student tutors, is an effective and beneficial higher education model for both students and refugees. Keywords

Refugees • Blended learning • Collaborative learning • Refugee camps

P. O’Keeffe (B) Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_9

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Populations around the world are currently experiencing unprecedented rates of displacement and dislocation. Although the numbers are in flux, the latest available figure puts the number of globally displaced people at 84 million (an increase of nearly 15 million people since 2020) (UNHCR, 2021). Of this vast number, around 13 million are young people under the age of 18 whose education is systematically being disrupted and, with it, their hopes and dreams of better lives. While education for development efforts have concentrated on primary and secondary education for all, the advent of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, brought with them for the first time a global consensus on importance of higher education for development (UNESCO, 2021). Considering the extraordinarily high figures of young people whose education is disrupted or otherwise affected by humanitarian crises around the world, bringing lifelong learning opportunities to all may seem like an almost impossible goal. As alternative pedagogical methods develop to circumvent the struggle of providing meaningful education to crises affected communities, a change in narrative from one of difficulty to one of benefit could allow many more people to benefit from higher education opportunities around the world. Embracing higher education in refugee contexts as an opportunity, if framed through a lens of global academic interaction, exchange and learning, has the potential to contribute to a growing hope that higher education can improve the lives of millions of refugees, if high quality pedagogical models are mobilized and refugee students and their non-refugee counterparts are valued participants of these models. Many articles have been written on the benefits of cross-cultural dialogue and information exchange in academia. In particular, diplomacy scholars and practitioners readily purport the benefits that international exchanges can bring for encouraging mutual understanding and relationship building (Yun, 2015). The era of ‘globalization’ in which we live, has brought with it, dramatic shifts in work practices, economic activities and interactions, which result from, and reinforce, such understanding and relationships. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the world of higher education, with internationalization firmly positioned at the core of modern academia. Emerging from its roots in medieval Europe, the institution has found itself at the apex of an international system of knowledge that encompasses technology, communications, and culture (Altbach, 1998). Harmonization of education systems, study abroad opportunities, student exchanges, scholar mobility and so on, all reflect the impact globalization has on higher education as an institution. The ubiquitous embrace of internationalization in what appears to be ‘all things higher education’ related, has ushered in an era where internationalization is no longer a goal, but a means to improve the quality of education on offer (Jibeen & Khan, 2015). These sentiments are echoed across the board with debates on global social justice emerging from academia and increasingly influencing other pursuits, such as politics and business. Having taken up the mantle of how we communicate and whom we communicate with, social media has become the main vehicle in which global debates are currently driven. Thanks to its rise to prominence, social media has enabled a

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paradigm where anyone who has the necessary technology can communicate ideas and make transactions, unlike ever before. At the heart of this interaction is the ability to come together to create an exchange of ideas and messages in what communication scholars Rogers and Kincaid (1981) term the convergence model. This model, in its simplest meaning, explains the exchange of ideas and messages from sender to receiver and vice-versa, as a two-way action that converges together to form a state of greater uniformity of beliefs, values, and behaviors (Bajracharya, 2018; Richards & Seary, n.d.). Taking Rogers and Kincaid’s convergence model as a framework to understand modern communication interactions, we can appreciate the importance that technology has gained as a conduit of communication. In addition to its function of facilitating everyday interactions between people, the rapid development and proliferation of information communication technology (ICT) into most aspects of modern life has ushered in an era where ICT, and the social media that it supports, has become a fundamental tool used in everyday education communication. According to the European Commission’s report ‘Future of Learning’, ICT… …will change what, how, where and when people learn. Due to the ubiquity of technology and its power to facilitate highly dynamic, adaptable and engaging virtual learning environments, personalized lifelong learning opportunities will become feasible. ICT will enable teachers to better respond to diversity and heterogeneity in the classroom and to adapt learning material and objectives to individual students’ learning needs. ICT will furthermore support lifelong learning opportunities that smoothly integrate into people’s lives and allow them to adapt their training objectives, schedule and pace to individual needs and preferences. (EU Commission in UNESCO, 2016, p. 15)

This embrace of ICT is at the forefront of the internationalization of education. As mentioned, internationalization has permeated deeply into all aspects of higher education; it has transformed from an end goal in itself, to a vital component of learning. Unlike in the ‘pre-connected’ world, higher education students can now not only connect with their teachers and classmates outside of the classroom (and increasingly inside, using the interactive presentation software to engage students in real time interaction), but they can connect with a much larger pool of possible peers and learning opportunities in far flung places across the globe. While internationalization of education may offer unprecedented possibilities for new learning opportunities, critics point to the emergence of a small group of stakeholders (government, education, and business leaders) dominating the international education landscape. This dominance has become especially evident in the emergence of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), with a small group of elite providers such as Coursera, EdX and Future Learn emerging as leaders in the space (Rhoads, 2015). Despite this criticism, MOOCs have enabled remote learning possibilities that were difficult, if not impossible for the majority before. Worldwide (excluding China), over 110 million people, have taken part in MOOCs to date, with providers launching 2500 courses, 11 online degrees, and 170 micro-credentials (Shah, 2019).

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Exploring the role of MOOCs further, connectivist theory (Siemens, 2005) explains their pedagogical function in a digital society as not just disseminating information, but facilitating the convergence of learners around an idea, with the expressed intention of understanding that idea better (Nigh et al., 2015). As MOOCs are free and typically characterized by many students and few pedagogues contributing to the overall learning process, they are regularly embraced as education resources for those who do not have regular access to mainstream higher education opportunities. Higher education in emergencies (HEiE), and in particular higher education for displaced populations, is one such context where many learners have a need for higher education, but the resources to enable mainstream higher education, are rarely available. Higher education is currently at the top of the global development agenda with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) enunciating its importance through a call for lifelong learning for all. However, only three percent of refugee youth worldwide can access higher education, compared to the global figure of 36% (UNHCR, 2020), putting this goal out of reach for many refugee learners if traditional higher education approaches are to be relied upon. The rise of MOOCs to higher education prominence may have the potential to be a pressure release valve for an over-burdened global forced migration system by assisting the efforts towards realizing this goal, but the ability of MOOCs to enable refugees learn in low resource contexts is less certain. Realizing the potential for alleviating some of the pressures faced by refugees who wish to study but do not have access to mainstream higher education, humanitarian organizations, universities and even MOOC providers such as Coursera have begun to provide MOOC based higher education opportunities for refugees in various parts of the world heavily affected by displaced population flows. Kakuma refugee camp in Northwestern Kenya and Azraq Refugee camp in Jordan, the focal points of this study, are key locations where MOOCs and other online learning platforms are central to the higher education opportunities on offer for camp residents. Study conditions in Kakuma and Azraq are harsh; 95-degree Fahrenheit heat, lack of libraries, intermittent power outages, travel restrictions, food shortages, and so on. All these factors challenge the often-made claim that MOOCs offer democratic access to higher education (Carron, 2019). At the most basic level, access to adequate technology is a necessity in order to study a MOOC; a near impossibility for Kakuma and Azraq residents. Nevertheless, as attested by the author who has worked with refugees in both camps for the last 5 years, refugees clamber to gain access to these courses with the hope that they can help them rebuild their lives and those of their communities. Putting the claims of disrupting and democratizing higher education aside, MOOCs have notoriously high dropout rates—various reports show that student completion rate for MOOCs can be less than 5% (Kizilcec et al., 2013; Onah et al., 2014; Seaton et al., 2014). Some studies, such as research into MOOCs on the Edx platform put the dropout rate at 96% and conclude that MOOCs are at best a learning asset used to compliment other channels of learning (Reich &

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Ruipérez-Valiente, 2019). Difficulties in maintaining motivation, lack of peer interaction and other relevant scaffolding mechanisms, all appear to impact on attrition of learners. While there is little evidence available to quantify the impact of implementing MOOCs in contexts other than the ones in which they are designed and developed, the technological deficit, lack of sufficient support infrastructure, and other extraneous factors that are at play in HEiE contexts could imply that they are less efficient than traditional approaches. As mentioned already, HEiE contexts, due mainly to lack of resources and unsuitable environments, rarely suit traditional education approaches. An alternative approach frequently employed and supported in such contexts is the blended learning approach, where online learning is supported with face-to-face teaching and other support scaffolding. Blended models frequently use MOOCs and other online learning platforms as learning assets in the context of face-to-face teaching and/or used to substitute real-time teacher-student interaction.

9.1

A Collaborative Learning Ecosystem

While utilizing MOOCs as a main source for information dissemination, a collaborative learning ecosystem (CLE) that scaffolds refugee students’ learning and takes a student-centered approach where learning materials and lectures are delivered online and facilitated by a refugee management team in situ could offer one possible solution. In the University of Geneva’s CLE model refugee students engaged in MOOC-based courses from the University of Geneva in Kakuma and Azraq refugee camps from September 2018 to May 2020, received pedagogical support from online student tutors based at the University of Geneva on a regular basis throughout their course. Using the WhatsApp instant messaging for a designated amount of time each week, online tutorials, were delivered by the Geneva based student tutors to the refugee students. These online tutorials were followed up with in-person tutorials, when the Geneva-based student tutors travelled to the camp to deliver a week of face-to-face classes with the refugee students. In addition to the online tutorials, the refugee students were supported by trained onsite facilitators, who assisted the online tutors in managing the class and the learning process. The CLE was overseen by a course coordinator who helped ensure the overall smooth running of the course (Lovey et al., 2021). Figure 9.1 depicts the CLE and an explanation of each actor’s role is elaborated on, below the figure. 1. The lecturer delivers the course material over a learning platform (for example via a MOOC), encourages the generation of new knowledge, and evaluates the students’ learning. In the ecosystem, the delivery of knowledge via a webbased platform enables the regular transmission of information to the students, who through discussions, group work and so on, acquire and develop this new knowledge.

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Fig. 9.1 Collaborative learning ecosystem

2. The online tutor is a subject matter expert or peer with a more advanced level of subject knowledge. The tutor plays a pedagogical role in this CLE by meeting the students regularly over an information communication technology platform (e.g., WhatsApp) to stimulate new knowledge acquisition, discuss the student’s progress, and offer advice on being a successful learner. The tutor also travels to the camp to meet the students in person and deliver face-to-face classes toward the end of the course. 3. The onsite facilitator provides onsite technical and guiding support to learners, helping them access the learning platform on location and navigate the physical learning space. The onsite facilitator is a critical contact person for students and other members of the collaborative learning ecosystem as they are in frequent physical contact with the students. 4. The course coordinator has the overall responsibility for the day-to-day running of the course and liaises with other members of the learning ecosystem to ensure a smooth operation.

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5. The student is the focal point of the learning ecosystem. This means that they are central to the CLE model, and the entire learning ecosystem is designed to support their optimal learning by meeting their educational needs and promoting progressive learner autonomy (Lovey et al., 2021). While communication and learning are centralized in the CLE, within the framework of the student-centered approach, other avenues for learning, such as peer-to-peer interactions, exist beyond the traditional classroom (or online space) settings (King & Dillon, 2012). Informal learning, as this is termed, is not only limited to student–student interaction, but can also impacts on interactions between students and tutors. According to Melville (2011), such informal learning occurs between students and tutors when moments of ‘profound connection’ occur, creating what is termed ‘resonance’. Resonance can strengthen relationships by encouraging empathy and interest, generate or reinforce learning moments, and create opportunities for transformative learning (Melville, 2011). In the case of tutoring refugees in refugee camps, tutor–student interactions are invariably affected by wide social, economic, cultural, educational, geographical and technical gaps. Facilitating resonance through relationship building between tutors and students may help to mitigate the negative effects of these gaps and provide a sense of hope for sustained learning. Furthermore, resonance may also enhance the learning that takes place between tutors and students. In a research study assessing the impact of a basic medical training course in Kakuma refugee camp, which was delivered using the CLE model between 2018 and 2020, Lovey et al. (2021) found that refugee students achieved a high level of medical learning via the CLE. The positive findings for refugee students are supported by Farhinha Du Sol et al. (2020) who, in a study assessing a human rights law program, which was delivered in the camp using the CLE between 2017 and 2020, found that the CLE model enabled a high level of learning when the necessary resources were put in place to support it. While the success of refugee learners is of the greatest importance in any assessment of refugee education programs, it is also useful for the purpose of assessing the impact of this pedagogical model, to explore the success of the tutors who participated in the CLE. With this is mind, this study has the following objective: To assess and present the academic, professional, and personal benefits of tutoring refugee students for university students who participated as tutors in a blended learning program in Kakuma and Azraq refugee camps between 2018 and 2020.

9.2

Assessing and Analyzing Tutoring in the CLE

The CLE model was empirically developed through a decade-long experience garnered from working with refugee learners in refugee camps in Jordan and Kenya. It was a designed to be a flexible and adaptable framework which could meet the specific needs of each course it enabled and the students who participated in

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that specific course. Central to the scaffolding of the CLE was the role of the online tutors. Online tutors carried out the main pedagogical interaction in the ecosystem by ‘meeting’ the students over the ICT platform WhatsApp at fixed times throughout the course (a minimum of two hours per week of synchronous interaction is required, while asynchronous interaction was unlimited) to orchestrate learning and develop the students’ knowledge. Typically, two tutors worked together to tutor a class of 15 refugee students, although in certain circumstances one tutor delivered tutorials alone (usually with a smaller class size). Tutoring sessions occurred throughout the course life online. For the final week of the course, the tutors travelled to the refugee camp to meet the students in person and deliver face-to-face classes over three or four days. Tutors were appointed by the course leader of each course and trained by the course coordinator. Typically, the tutors were doctoral candidates specializing in the field of study the course related to and had experience of teaching and working in intercultural environments. In situations where doctoral candidates were not available to tutor, postgraduate students were chosen and received additional training on how to deliver online tutorials. Before the course started, the tutors received systematic online tutor training from the course coordinator (they took part in a seminar and training course on how to deliver online tutoring to refugee learners). Resonance was facilitated by encouraging students and tutors to share photographs, stories, and short personal videos amongst themselves and to develop friendships and relationships before the course started. The tutors were then guided through their first online tutorial by the course coordinator, who for the remainder of the course monitored all interaction in the online tutorials. To assess the personal and professional impact that the tutoring experience had on the tutors, 15 participants were surveyed on their reflections of being online tutors for the students in each course. Each participant tutored at least one course (Basic Medical Training, Basic Introduction to Engineering, Human Rights, Applied Human Rights, Ethics, and Global Poverty) for refugee learners in either Azraq or Kakuma refugee camp between September 2018 and February 2020. The respondents were asked questions on the impact tutoring had on them in terms of acquiring new skills, knowledge reinforcement, knowledge acquisition, and professional and personal growth. To delve more deeply into the impact that the tutoring experience had for the tutors, five in-depth interviews were carried out with tutors who responded positively to a participation request sent out to all the tutors who took part in the survey. These interviews took on average 40 min to complete and followed a key informant format, where key topics relating to teaching skills, knowledge acquisition, and personal and professional growth were used to guide the conversations.

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General Tutoring Experience

The following narrative takes a qualitative approach by incorporating the tutors’ survey answers with their in-depth interview responses in a discursive analysis to relay the personal and professional impact tutoring refugee students had on tutors’ lives. Out of the 15 online tutors surveyed, 11 responded positively when asked whether their overall experience as a tutor was successful or not. Three responded that it was ‘maybe successful’ and one said it was ‘not successful’. When the same question was asked in the in-depth interviews, the responses were overwhelmingly positive. One interviewee said it was an “…excellent experience; I am so happy that I got involved in this project.” Of the five tutors who took part in the in-depth interviews, four rated it as a successful experience and one viewed it as ‘unsuccessful.’ This interviewee stated that “my overall experience was not so easy. The schedule was not the best due to the time changes and the time of the day was not good for me.” Scheduling aside, the interviewee felt that the main reason as to why the tutoring experience was not successful was that “the course was not relevant for the students’ needs” and this “impacted the whole tutoring experience” as the course was not contextualized for refugee learners and utilized a MOOC which was geared towards a Western audience. Capturing the experience positively for its personal and academic impact on her, one of the online tutors summed up the experience as follows. I learned a lot, about me, qualifications, learning processes, things like that. As students we are used to education, but I didn’t ask myself before about the techniques, the materials, how to use them, how to do an exam, how to learn to teach others. This experience really made me think about it. I made a retrospective of my studies and I thought, I understand things, I understand why it was like that now.

9.4

Teaching Skills

To delve deeper into the overall experience, the tutors were asked in the survey to list any benefits they received from taking part in the project. Out of the 15 surveyed, all listed at least two benefits that they received from the experience. Overwhelmingly the main benefit identified was the opportunity to teach. Out of the 15 tutors surveyed 14 had previous experience of tutoring in face-to-face settings and none had experience of tutoring online. The online tutoring experience afforded the tutors a new opportunity to improve their teaching skills by teaching through a new medium and interacting with students from different cultural backgrounds. According to one of the respondents, “The experience taught me to navigate the challenges of online tutoring for a specific type of learner.” Another tutor, when talking about the challenges tutoring entailed, stated that it was evident that “…communication was a challenge at the start” but the “WhatsApp forum made

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us feel like we were present in the camp with the students. It was super interactive, and they asked a lot of questions. It was a good dynamic.” The in-depth interviews also reflected the uniqueness of the opportunity to allow tutors to experience ‘resonance’ with the students and to develop their teaching skills. One tutor stated that through the experience she “realized so much about teaching and my own knowledge during this experience. As they say, the best way to learn is to teach. We developed a really close bond with the students.” The tutor who felt that he did not have a positive experience tutoring, also felt that he didn’t learn any new teaching skills. He reported that he was already “used to teaching.” However, he did recognize that he “…had to adapt to the context – which is part of my teaching requirements, it’s part of my pedagogy” and overall, he felt the teaching experience “reinforced my convictions that contextualization is important.” One sentiment that conveyed the importance of teaching and was relayed by a tutor who viewed the overall experience as ‘excellent’ is as follows. “I learned to create courses, and what is important and what is not, depending on the situation….I learned how to transmit ideas to others.”

9.5

Knowledge Reinforcement and Acquisition

Closely connected to acquiring teaching skills for the tutors was the tutoring opportunity provided them to reinforce their own knowledge. According to one of the tutors “when you teach something, you really know what you understand and what you don’t. I think we learned different things that we normally wouldn’t have learned.” Another tutor pointed out that when she was preparing exercises for the tutorials, she was able to “…identify objectives that were given to us when we were in the learning process. We went through the same method previously.” Clearly, teaching provided the tutors a unique opportunity to revise and reinforce their existing knowledge, while preparing and transmitting it to the refugee learners. Building on this reinforcement, was the opportunity tutors had to acquire new knowledge. When asked about knowledge acquisition, a tutor on the medical course stated that “…we learned some things that we didn’t know and some things that we had forgot, we had to revise quite a lot. Medicine is so huge that you can’t cover everything. There was a lot of things that we didn’t know, so it helped us to learn more.” In addition to learning new knowledge connected with their field of studies, the tutors also learned new skills and knowledge connected with the tutoring experience. For example, one of the tutors pointed out a benefit he got in terms of knowledge acquisition as follows: “We also learned new skills on the learning platform. Lots of new things, course management and so on.”

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Professional Development

Out of the 15 tutors surveyed, 8 were required to take part in the tutoring program as part of their studies and seven of the tutors volunteered independently. Of the 8 tutors whose tutoring related to their own studies, 6 stated that they received ‘sufficient’ training for the role, and two had no opinion on this. Of the 7 tutors who volunteered independently from their studies, 4 felt that the training they received was ‘sufficient,’ 1 felt it was ‘insufficient,’ and 2 had no opinion. Practical skills acquisition was also important for the tutors. Time management, and preparing and planning of tutorials, was mentioned by the tutors as of great importance during the experience. One of the tutors summed up these benefits as follows: “I really learned to improve my own time management kills. At the start there was a lot to prepare and as we didn’t have much time for tutorials due to our own workload, I really learned how to manage my time better.” In terms of practical future career and study implications, seven of the tutors stated that they have included the experience on employment or further studies applications while eight did not. Four of those who had not included the experience in any applications, said that they will do so in the future. According to one of the interviewees “it’s very beneficial for our CVs. It shows that we can manage a classroom.”

9.7

Personal Growth

A final personal benefit, and perhaps one central to the experience of tutoring refugee learners, experienced by the tutors is the personal growth that they felt they gained through the experience. When questioned about whether the experience changed their outlook on life, 14 of the 15 tutors answered in the affirmative. They stated that the experience gave them a “global perspective”, and it gave them the opportunity to reflect on their own studies and life experiences. According to 1 of the tutors, “sustainability and quality of education are crucial elements that I had never given serious thought to before I taught refugees.” Another reflected that the opportunity has helped her to be “much calmer and less stressed” in her own studies and that ultimately the experience made her “realize how lucky I am to study here – to have all the facilities, all of the technology, everything. I’ve learned to be much more flexible. I really appreciate how much the students accomplished in the difficult situation in which they find themselves.”

9.8

Impact on Their Colleagues at Home

Finally, the tutors highlighted the impact their tutoring experience had on their classmates’ awareness of refugees and refugee education. Eight of the respondents acknowledged that they shared their experience with their classmates and colleagues, whereas 7 did not. According to 1 of the tutors “the students here can

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learn so much about motivation from the refugee students.” Overall, 14 of the 15 respondents stated that they would recommend tutoring to other people, which indicates that it has been a very worthwhile experience for university students.

9.9

Conclusion

This chapter set out to explore human-centered pedagogy in HEIE and the impact of participating in a blended learning tutoring program for refugee learners in Kakuma and Azraq refugee camps. The results of the research carried out with university students who tutored the refugee learners in the camps show that they benefited both professionally and personally. By reflecting further on the key issues highlighted by the tutors, I put forward the following non-exhaustive recommendations that could improve the tutoring experience and in turn improve blended learning approaches for refugee learners. Tutor selection is a crucial consideration for any blended learning program. For blended learning programs for refugee learners, it is a foremost pedagogical consideration. Not only do students and tutors come from entirely different educational worlds, but due to the nature of events that lead most people to become refugees, the likelihood is that traumatic experiences and other psycho-social factors have greatly affected the lives of refugee students. Choosing tutors who are empathic and have a good understanding of refugee issues (and the backgrounds of their students) will be helpful to ensure that program expectations and relevance can be better managed from the start of a program, and positive pastoral relationship are established which can lead to more meaningful learning outcomes. Closely related to managing expectations from the outset, is the issue of adequately training tutors. The results of this study highlight the benefit of giving tutors the opportunity to teach during their own studies. The unique experience of tutoring refugee learners requires unique training and coaching of tutors throughout their tutoring experience. Not only are the peculiarities of teaching online and the vastly differing cultural factors that affect learning in different contexts at play in such programs, but psycho-social needs of refugee students are frequently very different from other learners. Training of tutors therefore needs to encompass a strong emphasis on the pastoral role a tutor plays and the psycho-social needs of the students, in addition to all the other idiosyncrasies tutoring blended online programs entails. Understanding that refugee learners are frequently traumatized from their own personal stories leading up to their lives as refugees and their everyday lived experience in refugee camps can help tutors to be better prepared for their work, to deal with unexpected behaviors and to facilitate a more positive learning experience for all.

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Being immersed in refugee camp life may result in course managers becoming complacent about the needs of newcomers into such scenarios. Monitoring and evaluating the tutor experience gives course managers an opportunity to reflect on the experience and needs of these newcomers. During this study’s data gathering, various participants pointed out that it was the first time that they interacted with refugees and the first time that they had learned about traumatic events that occurred in their students’ lives. Some mentioned that it had impacted greatly on their emotional wellbeing and suggested that future tutors receive counselling or other psychological support to help them cope with the demands of tutoring people who had gone through traumatic events. It is therefore recommended that psychological support for tutors, as we well as for students, becomes a key element of similar programs. As pointed out in the introduction, resonance is a key factor which influences learning between tutors and students. Tutoring online can put a ‘distance’ between tutors and students which does not normally exist in traditional classroom settings. To help mitigate the adverse effects of this ‘distance’, and help to create resonance, which in turn stimulates knowledge acquisition for both tutors and students, the tutors in this CLE model were required to make short introductory video clips telling the students a little about themselves. Anecdotally, this helped to encourage a positive pedagogical relationship from the start of the tutoring experience. Developments in communication technology such as the possibility to have multiple conversation participants in an online conversation, the ability to share multimedia over communication platforms and so on, greatly helped to improve the personal connection between the students and tutors and thus contributed to a successful program experience. While it may seem obvious, the logistics of setting up a successful tutoring program for refugees needs to be fully thought through. Unlike the refugee students, the tutors in this study were generally used to high-speed internet connections and sophisticated learning technology. A successful refugee learning program that caters to low resource environments and thus makes use of communication technology that the students already use in their daily lives, such as WhatsApp (WhatsApp is free, and it allows for the sharing of documents, videos, voice recordings and group chats) is the best course of action to take. In addition, the scheduling of tutorials needs to work for both tutors and students. The time difference involved in communicating across continents, as pointed out in the results section, is one issue that can impact the overall tutoring experience. Taking the time to think out what works for both tutors and students and reaching consensus is worthwhile to ensure smooth running of a program. Finally, flexibility needs to be more than a buzzword when delivering blended learning programs for refugee learners. The unpredictability of life in refugee camps often leads to students being unable to keep up with course demands. Power outages, adverse climatic conditions, illness, violence, and other unforeseen circumstances often lead to course interruptions, which can result in increased

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course attrition or course cancellations if poorly managed. Tutors who are prepared to react with flexibility to the difficulties placed on their students can create a successful learning experience for their students and themselves. To minimize frustration for the tutors and help them to better assist their students, it is recommended that tutors always have a lesson ‘plan B’ to make allowances for delays and understand that deadlines may have to be moveable. As pointed out at the start of this chapter, communication is a two-way process. Tutoring refugee students encapsulates this convergence where knowledge and knowledge creation go in both directions from tutor to students and students to tutors. While the refugee students in this program got to experience world class higher education and the various benefits that that can bring to their lives, the tutors in the study also benefited immensely. Their participation in this program afforded them an opportunity to develop their teaching skills, reinforce their own subject matter knowledge, learn new information, and positively add to their personal growth. In addition, their participation in this tutoring program has provided them with the wider benefit of promoting higher education as a viable development and humanitarian solution for refugee education. It is hoped that findings from this study could be useful in improving existing blended learning programs in refugee camps and forging future development through education initiatives. While this study concerns a specific pedagogical setting, the findings may also help to reinforce the role academia plays in the betterment of humanity and in particular the responsibility that universities have in ensuring that knowledge is open, shared, and a catalyst for positive change in the world. Points to Ponder: Tips for Success

1. Context and Contextualization Matter Course leaders should devote adequate time and resources to training tutors so that they understand the context in which their students live. In addition, time should be taken to ensure that learning materials are relevant and meaningful to refugee learners. 2. Bonding and Building Trust Cultivating positive relationships between tutors and students is important in all pedagogical endeavors. When teaching vulnerable refugees, bonding and trust are key factors for enabling successful learning outcomes. 3. Use Technology that Works for the Students Educational technological innovation is an important factor to consider. However, when teaching refugees, course leaders need to keep in mind that technical capacity is often not guaranteed. Therefore, the simplest solutions that refugees are already familiar with are often the best ones to utilize. 4. Be Flexible and Adaptable People living in refugee camps face great uncertainty, disruptions and often great dangers on a daily basis. To ensure that the pedagogical relationship is productive and runs as smoothly as possible, course leaders and tutors need to be flexible and

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adaptable in their pursuits in order to accommodate the inevitable uncertainties that their students will face. 5. Maintain a Positive Outlook and Keep Hope in the Equation Enabling refugees and university students to learn together is a very rewarding academic pursuit. While the task of doing this can often be difficult and time consuming, the benefits can far outweigh the challenges if the right amount of effort is put into planning and implementing a program. More to Discover: Additional Readings O’Keeffe, P. (2021). Refugee-led management in higher education in refugee contexts: Learning from experience in Kakuma Refugee Camp. Edulearn21: Connecting Technology with Education, Conference Proceedings. Seville, 5–6 July 2021. https://inee.org/resources/refugee-led-management-higher-education-ref ugee-contexts-learning-experience-kakuma. O’Keeffe, P., & Niyonkuru, S. (2021). Resilience and empowerment through higher education in Kakuma Refugee Camp: A conversation. Global Research in Higher Education, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v4n1p64. Lovey, T., O’Keeffe, P., & Petignat, I. (2021). Basic medical training for refugees via collaborative blended learning: Quasi-experimental design. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(3), e22345. https://doi.org/10.2196/22345. Bolon, I., Mason, J., O’Keeffe, P., Haeberli, P., Adan, H., Karenzi, O., Osman, A., Thumbi, S., Chuchu, V., Nyamai, M., Babo Martins, S., Wipf, N., & Ruiz de Castañeda R. (2020). One health education in Kakuma Refugee Camp (Kenya): From a MOOC to projects on real world challenges. One Health, 10. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.onehlt.2020.100158. O’Keeffe, P. (2020). The case for engaging online tutors for supporting learners in higher education in refugee contexts. Research in Learning Technology, 28. https:// doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v28.2428.

References Altbach, P. G. (1998). Comparative perspectives in higher education for the twenty-first century. Higher Education Policy, 11, 347–356. Bajracharya, S. (6 January, 2018). Interactive model of communication. Businesstopia. https:// www.businesstopia.net/communication/interactive-model-communication Carron, D. (2019). The study and teaching of human rights in refugee camps: Learning from experience. Europe Now. https://www.europenowjournal.org/2019/03/04/the-study-and-teachingof-human-rights-in-refugee-camps-learning-from-experience/ Jibeen, T., & Khan, M. (2015). Internationalization of higher education: Potential benefits and costs. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education, 4(4), 196–199. King, H., & Dillon, J. (2012). Learning in Informal Settings. In N. M. Seel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning (pp. 1905–1908). Springer.

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Kizilcec, R. F., Piech, C., & Schneider, E. (2013). Deconstructing disengagement: Analyzing learner subpopulations in massive open online courses. In Proceedings of the third international conference on learning analytics and knowledge (pp. 170–179). Lovey, T., O’Keeffe, P., & Petignat, I. (2021). Basic medical training for refugees via collaborative blended learning: a quasi-experimental design. Journal of Medical Internet Research. https:// doi.org/10.2196/22345 Melville, R. (2011). Resonance and the importance of informal learning in the literacy environment. Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2011/papers/ 65 Nigh, J., et al. (2015). Investigating the potential of MOOCs in K-12 teaching and learning environments. Journal of Online Learning Research, 1(1), 85–106. Onah, D. F., Sinclair, J., & Boyatt, R. (2014). Dropout rates of massive open online courses: Behavioural patterns. In EDULEARN’14 (pp. 5825–5834). Reich, J., & Ruipérez-Valiente, J. A. (2019). The MOOC pivot. Science, 363, 130–131. Rhoads, R. (2015). MOOCs, high technology, and higher learning (Reforming higher education: Innovation and the public good). Johns Hopkins University Press. Richards, W., & Seary A. (n.d.). Convergence analysis of communication networks. http://www. sfu.ca/personal/archives/richards/Pages/converge.pdf Rogers, E. M., & Kincaid, D. L. (1981). Communication networks: Toward a new paradigm for research. Free Press. Seaton, D. T., Bergner, Y., Chuang, I., Mitros, P., & Pritchard, D. E. (2014). Who does what in a massive open online course? Communications of the ACM, 58–65. Shah, D. (2019). By the numbers: MOOCs in 2019. https://www.classcentral.com/report/moocstats-2019/ Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning (2) Farhinaha Du Sol, T. et al. (2020). Mener un enseignement introductif aux droits humain dans un camp de réfugiés: Rapport du programme InZone de l’UNIGE sur son expérience dans le camp de refugies de Kakuma (2016–2020). www.unige.ch/droit/lawclinic/files/8016/1157/ 0491/Mener_un_enseignement_introductif_aux_droits_humains.pdf UNESCO. (2016). Futures for higher education and ICT: Changes due to the use of open content. https://iite.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Futures_for_Higher_Education_and_ ICT.pdf UNESCO. (2021). Higher education and the sustainable development goals. https://en.unesco.org/ themes/higher-education/sdgs UNHCR. (2020). UNHCR report: Coronavirus a dire threat to refugee education—half of the world’s refugee children out of school. https://www.unhcr.org/en-ie/news/press/2020/9/5f4cc3 064/unhcr-report-coronavirus-dire-threat-refugee-education-half-worlds-refugee.html UNHCR. (2021). Refugee statistics. https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/statistics/ Yun, Y. (2015). Does student exchange bring symmetrical benefits to both countries? An exploration case for China and Korea. International Journal of Communication, 9, 710–731. 1932– 8036/20150005

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Paul O’Keeffe is Assistant Professor of International Development at Maynooth University in Ireland. He is an expert on higher education in refugee contexts, international development and conflict studies. He previously led teaching and learning for the University of Geneva’s refugee higher education programs in refugee camps Jordan and Kenya. He has extensive experience of conducting research and teaching in fragile contexts.

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Cultivating Campus Belonging for Refugee College Students Through Effective Academic and Social Integration Mohamed Elhess, Julia Mahfouz, and Laura Summers

Abstract

According to the 2018 Immigration Policy Institute report, the number of refugees reached 281 million in the world. In academic settings, refugee students strive to find ways to locate themselves within a new cultural, social space to belong while bearing the nightmares of past experiences and facing the adversities of the sociopolitical climate of the host country (e.g., the French shortening asylum application deadline, Muslim travel ban). In this chapter, the authors focus on the challenges refugee college students encounter in the host country. The chapter concludes with recommendations for stakeholders and administrators to help these students develop effective social and academic integration to foster a sense of belonging. Keywords

Academic integration • Refugee education integration • Social integration

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Sense of belonging

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Academic

According to the International Rescue Committee, refugees are people who have fled war, violence, conflict, or persecution and have crossed an international border to find safety in another country (Refugee Admissions Report, 2019). Many refugee families often leave their country without knowing their final destination and spend months and even years in transitional camps or resettlement sites (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], 2020a). They come

M. Elhess (B) Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN, US e-mail: [email protected] J. Mahfouz · L. Summers University of Colorado, Denver, CO, US © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_10

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with the hope to succeed in a foreign country and be supported. Many have educational aspirations, and thus, universities become a key space for integration, wellbeing, and successful settlement of refugee communities (Ferede, 2010; Khoo, 2010; Lenette, 2016). While some do well at university, many refugee students experience psychological and emotional trauma as they adapt to new academic settings in the host countries. There may be support systems built in to provide students with the appropriate aid in order to ensure their success and assimilation. However, the support offered by universities is usually not tailored specifically to support refugee students (Lenette, 2016). So, what are the challenges that refugee students face that hinder their success in higher education? We address this thorny problem in this chapter by outlining the literature that discusses the obstacles and challenges that impede these students’ adaptation in higher education of the host country. We close with recommendations for stakeholders and administrators to help these students develop effective social and academic integration to foster a sense of belonging. Universities can play a key role in the assimilation process not only for the refugee students, but also for their families and communities and instill hope though informed teaching practices.

10.1

Challenges

University life includes academic, social, and emotional engagement and can shape the type of environment and context students experience that could mold their perspectives and interactions with others. When it comes to refugee students, the challenges they may face at the universities comprise (a) limited or interrupted formal education, (b) cultural disconnect, (c) discrimination, and (d) living with uncertainty.

10.1.1 Limited or Interrupted Formal Education The newly arrived refugee students frequently experience educational displacement as a result of their forced immigration, often-times resulting from the effects of war, civil unrest, political persecution, etc. This can be challenging for students to smoothly navigate in and adjust to academic settings as they lack the necessary preparation or background to succeed at the host university. For example, previous research studies suggest that adjusting to the host country’s teaching styles and the academic language of instruction presents a heavy burden to these students (Ali, 2019; Jean-Francois, 2019; Shammas, 2019). Oftentimes these students are confronted with a dearth of support on campus to help them become academically successful in the host country (Jean-Francois, 2019). In the United States, even though universities have provided remedial language instruction, they have done so in a way that contains the immigrant and refugees to uphold the illusion of acceptance without the more authentic acceptance of creating more diverse

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and heterogenous classes that would help reduce oppression (Kanno & Varghese, 2010). Although most universities in the United States provide a variety of academic programs (e.g., writing center, academic coach, tutoring), studies show that these resources do not fully meet the unique needs of immigrant and refugee students (Newcomer et al., 2021; Shammas, 2017).

10.1.2 Cultural Disconnect Mounting evidence suggests that refugee students’ experiences are filled with feelings of alienation (Klomegah, 2006), social loss (Cole & Ahmadi, 2010), culture shock (Ahmad and Hussain, (2017), and loneliness (Sawir et al., 2008) while trying to maintain their cultural social identities. For instance, studies show refugee students struggle to maintain their social identities due to the cross-cultural differences of theirs and that of the host country (Arar et al., 2019; Beiser & Hou, 2016; Elsayed et al., 2019). These show that refugee students have to monitor social boundaries (e.g., gender interactions, making friends, dating, and other social experiences), which makes the acculturation process and social integration complicated.

10.1.3 Discrimination Being a refugee has negative connotations, and cultural identity plays a critical role in the social and emotional wellbeing of students, especially when they are wrongly-perceived in the host country. The formation of one’s identity and sense of self is affected by one’s cultural identity and other factors such as social-historic context, epistemic beliefs, and power dynamics. When refugee students are in a host country that holds different core values, they find it hard to close that discrepancy especially if they are subjected to acts of discrimination. For example, studies show that refugee college students in some European countries and in the U.S are being routinely subjected to acts of discrimination, such as hate speech and racial profiling by peers and faculty (Ali, 2014; Golembe et al., 2021; Shammas, 2017). Unfortunately, for these students, they retreat and exclude themselves from engaging with people of the host country in the academic and social levels as a result of this mistreatment.

10.1.4 Living with Uncertainty Refugee students are constantly vulnerable to the political changes in a precarious world of insecurity (Rose-Redwood, 2017). Studies show the array of challenges that many refugees encounter in relation to the political climate and unexpected changes to the immigration regulations or laws (e.g., restricting or denying access to asylum procedures). A clear example was the Muslim travel ban in 2016 that

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impacted refugee Muslim students enrolled in many American universities and obstructed the mobility processes and opportunities made available to students from these countries (Walker & Slate, 2019). Although the ban “was subsequently blocked, the emotional stress, fear, and uncertainty prevailed among many Muslim refugee students and imparted the feeling of being unwelcome” (Rose-Redwood, 2017, p. 3). The barriers refugee students encounter make them feel unsafe, unmotivated, and alienated, thereby leading to a decrease or lack of feeling of belongingness (Dekel & Nuttman-Shwartz, 2009; Grobecker, 2016; Sulé, 2016). Accordingly, Al-Issa and Dahan (2019) emphasized the need to explore refugee students’ experiences to understand the factors that influence their self-developmental and educational outcomes. In doing so, we highlight the importance of SB in developing a sense of hope, community, success, and connectedness for refugee students.

10.1.5 Cultivating Belongingness Through Effective Integration SB is a basic, self-evident, foundational human need across all cultures (Faircloth, et al., 2021; Rendón, 2021) yet is a leading social issue. Sense of belonging (SB) has been defined across the literature as a feeling of relatedness, membership, community, and safety (Allen & Bowles, 2012; Slaten et al., 2016; Strayhorn, 2018). Scholars consider SB as an important predictor for positive outcomes such as engagement, willingness to succeed, motivation, persistence, and learning (Faircloth et al., 2021; Walton & Brady, 2017). A body of evidence suggests that higher levels of SB are associated with feeling accepted and included within and outside the school setting. These are significantly important in increasing refugee students’ sense of well-being and reducing traumatic experiences (Ali, 2019; Strange & Banning, 2015). Cultivating that SB in refugee students requires weaving knowledge, awareness, and practices into the university systems and life in general. The concepts of academic and social integration are invariably unique for understanding and assessing students’ SB. Academic and social integration of students’ experiences on campus can change students’ goals, SB, academic intentions, and the commitments that students can retain (Tinto, 1993). This changes students’ subjective feelings of connectedness to the institution in which academic and social integration are non-existent. According to Tinto (1993), a SB is increased or decreased through interactions with the academic and social environments of the university. In his comprehensive review of academic and social integration, Tinto (2017) concluded, Although SB can mirror students’ prior experiences, it is most directly shaped by the broader campus climate and the perceptions of belonging students derive from their daily interactions with other students, faculty, staff, and administrators on campus and the messages those interactions convey about their belonging (p. 258).

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In other words, SB does not operate alone but is the result of successful academic and social integration (Batstone, 2004; Tinto, 1975). According to Rienties et al. (2012) and Tinto (1975), for students to feel a SB, they need to integrate in their studies (i.e., academic integration), but “they [students] also need to participate in the student culture, both within and outside the immediate context of the learning environment (i.e., social integration)” (p. 3). In the following section, we address how these two salient theoretical constructs, academic and social integration, are important to understanding the impact of SB on refugee students’ experience on campus. In turn, we suggest that universities wanting a positive campus experience for refugee students need to focus on the following areas: (a) academic integration and (b) social integration.

10.1.6 Academic Integration Academic integration refers to a students’ feeling of being involved in their institutional academic practices. As Jean-Francois (2019) states, academic integration “occurs when students become attached to the intellectual life of the college” (p. 5). In this section, we review the direct link between the students’ academic experiences and their resulting level of belongingness.

10.1.6.1 Positive Faculty-Student-Student Relationship Belongingness is more strongly supported when effective social connections are established (Eagan et al., 2010). At the academic level, these connections consist of two types of involvement: formal and informal involvement. Formal involvement includes students’ action with progress at classroom activities, faculty/staff interactions regarding course/classroom experience, presentations, and group and individual work. Informal involvement encompasses less visible and indirect scholarly behaviors such as faculty/staff interactions outside the classroom, seeking tutoring, and career readiness opportunities and internships. Researchers have reported these different involvements can result in greater SB in college. For example, Chiu et al. (2012) analysis of questionnaire responses of 276,165 fifteenyear-olds (50% female) and their 10,789 school principals in 41 countries showed that students with better teacher–student relationships and teacher support inside and outside the classroom had a greater SB at school. 10.1.6.2 Cross-Cultural Curriculum Research has shown that cross-cultural content and topic-related issues of multiculturalism increased class participation and positive cross-racial interactions, leading to an increased feeling of belongingness (Glass, 2012; Museus & Saelua, 2017; Strayhorn, 2018). Through cross cultural curriculum, students may find a voice to engage in extracurricular activities regarding their home lives and personal relationships, which can help them feel that they can fit in with the other students, which can help them feel a SB.

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10.1.6.3 Effective Pedagogy Scholars have emphasized that the quality of classroom instruction influences positive learning outcomes and plays a significant role in student academic integration (Kinzie, 2005; Braxton & McClendon, 2001–2002; Tinto et al., 1994). Studies show that such examples enhance students’ experiences and increase student motivation to learn and persist thereby increasing class integration (Heng, 2017; Hurtado et al., 2011; Strayhorn, 2018). 10.1.6.4 Social Integration While academic integration focuses on the intellectual life of the college, social integration focuses on the social aspects of participation and membership in the private sphere of the host society. According to Barron et al. (2008), social integration is referred to as the concept of a SB which stresses the importance of being connected with and having a feeling of belonging to one’s surrounding people, social institutions, and environment (p. 509). In this next section, we review the literature on social integration focusing on some of the factors that promote SB. 10.1.6.5 Campus Involvement According to Strayhorn (2018), engaging in campus involvement such as athletics, student associations, civic engagement, career counseling, and leadership positions fosters greater SB in students. For instance, in a study examining the relationship between campus climate and SB for recent immigrant generations, the findings show campus climate is an important predictor in immigrant students’ SB on campus (Stebleton et al., 2014). The study recommended designing a range of spaces such as student organizations, social activities and events, and curriculum designed to help students to feel connected to the campus as they help to promote a SB. 10.1.6.6 Volunteering Another form of meaningful social integration of campus involvement is volunteering. According to Handy and Greenspan (2009), volunteering is considered “a steppingstone for the social integration into the host society” (p. 979). Research indicates that building a sense of purpose enriches refugee students’ feeling of being highly valued and that they could positively improve their community (Deil-Amen, 2011; Strauss & Volkwein, 2004). 10.1.6.7 Peer Support Creating friendships has been found to positively influence social integration (Goodenow, 1993; Kiefer et al., 2015). Palmer et al. (2011) state that refugee students often experience ‘a lack of socialization’, ‘alienation’, and ‘feeling homesick’, which cause feelings of isolation, and that friendships can provide opportunities for creating and fostering belongingness. Other studies showed that making friends positively influences students’ adjustment to the college environment, which positively impacts their SB (AlShafai & Chul Chul, 2017; Menziesa & Baron, 2014).

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To sum up, students who successfully integrate academically and socially into college life are more likely to develop SB. In doing so, we highlight several potential interventions to help develop effective integration in the following section.

10.1.6.8 Teacher Insights To help envision the implication of effective academic and social integration, the authors conclude the chapter by sharing three classroom scenarios based on a compilation of real settings, curricula, and students. The purpose of these scenarios is to help readers understand the contexts and challenges refugee students may experience and how to employ effective interventions when needed. This section informs policymakers with recommendations to evaluate the effectiveness of retention programs on their campuses and design more effective intervention strategies to increase safety, inclusion, and integration on their campuses, and thereby, instill a sense of hope for the refugee students. 1. A university professor, Michael, has learned through professional development that a safe environment for all students contributes to a feeling of belonging. As he cares about his refugee students, he looks for opportunities beyond class to enhance shared experiences and help students explore different cultural perspectives. For example, he assigns an activity that aims to examine cultural layers of people from different backgrounds and uncover biases and misconceptions toward refugee students’ traditions and cultures. The activity requires students to attend cultural events on campus and interview other students about their experiences as refugees. Then, the class is divided into groups to discuss their findings about cultures, traditions, and misconceptions. Michael concludes the project with a discussion about what it means to be an immigrant and asking American students to reflect on their own ancestors’ journey from their countries of origin to the United States. He believes that this could be a starting point for all students to understand why one might immigrate. Michael continues to expand his professional horizons to create a learning environment conducive to his students’ learning. Michael’s classroom is replete with a wide range of reading materials where students can learn about other cultures and traditions. 2. An international academic advisor, Pamela, supports international students’ social integration on campus but lacks experience working with students from a refugee background. This semester Pamela plans to engage refugee students by creating channels with the mainstream students on and off campus. In doing so, Pamela communicates with campus resources such as cultural exchange programs in which refugee students travel abroad as exchange students or teach abroad with ESL practicum teacher candidates to learn about different cultures and traditions as a means to support future students. Such interactions help refugee students by providing opportunities to approach Americans and join communities to experience cross-cultural interaction. Pamela’s next goal is to incorporate community outreach programs such as partnering with families in support of cross-cultural understandings.

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3. A curriculum coordinator, Mary, leads the professional development at her school. She is discussing the effectiveness of academic integration through exploring students’ learning background on a deeper level. The discussion focuses on brainstorming ideas for identifying different ways of knowing what teachers already know about these students. Mary shares that some students may belong to rote-learning backgrounds. This makes her concerned about what this may entail and whether she would be able to function effectively in a teacher-centered setting. Mary brainstorms questions with her colleagues such as, will the students be willing to accept the knowledge disseminated by their peers, or will they only pay heed to their teachers? Will they even be obedient to the teacher’s instructions? Will they be less critical or skeptical of the message being put forward to them and how would they respond to creative activities? Do they base their responses on memorization? If yes, how will they synthesize/process the latent reasoning or relationships involved in the material to articulate their actual interests and concerns? For Mary, forming such questions was the cornerstone of making a meaningful comparison between the centralization of teacher juxtaposition with student environment, and studying previous literature about the nature of rote-learning backgrounds. Mary believes that knowing such details allows her to become more sensitive to refugee students’ needs when developing engaging, effective student-centered activities in her everyday classroom practices.

10.2

Conclusion

As the moral obligation is to support refugee students and help them find a safe haven, (Center for Migration Studies, n.d.), universities should understand their challenges and help them adapt and adjust so they can develop a SB and hope for the future.. In doing so, universities should raise awareness about different cultures to help reduce negative stereotypes about refugees and employ interventions to enrich effective academic and social integration by offering courses and workshops on cross-cultural content and understanding. Points to Ponder In order to help gather invaluable information about students’ experiences of belongingness, we recommend universities ask students the following questions which stem from academic and social integration. Academic Integration 1. Describe your relationship with your faculty/staff/advisors. How do these interactions influence your sense of belonging? 2. How does your institution prepare you for academic success? Do you think the resources they offer is effective/ineffective?

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3. Describe your classroom environment. Do you feel engaged/disengaged in your classes? 4. Describe your relationship with your classmates? How does this relationship impact your sense of belonging? 5. What campus resources do you seek for academic assistance? Describe your interaction with these campus resources. How do they impact your sense of belonging? 6. What are the advantages of being a student at this institution? When do you feel attached/detached to the university? Social Integration 1. Describe your involvement in this institution? In what clubs, organizations, and activities do you participate? Why? How do these resources increase/decrease your involvement on campus? 2. Describe your relationship with your faculty and classmates outside the classroom? How does this relationship influence your sense of belonging? 3. What aspects of your culture and values do you share at your institution? 4. Describe your friends on campus. If any, how do you think this relationship influences your belongingness to the university? 5. What support do you receive from your university as a refugee student? How does it influence your sense of belonging? 6. Describe how you spend your free time on campus. More to Discover: Additional Activities This chapter offers educators insights into the need for institutions’ facilitation of refugee students’ academic and social integration. Accordingly, successful integration necessitates students’ transition into the university culture, which poses a responsibility for colleges and universities to help develop SB. For example: 1. Holding social events: Social activities can help refugee students share experiences and personal perspectives through interactions with local students and vice versa. Such interaction can help refugee students be exposed to a host of cultural norms, including making friends, approaching Americans, joining clubs, and being familiar with the academic atmosphere. 2. Orientations: Refugee and domestic students can engage in activities such as “Getting to Know” or “Ice Breaker” in which they exchange information about themselves, including cultural issues, popular culture experiences, etiquette, costumes, family relations, and schooling experiences. 3. Cultural awareness courses: Universities can implement a mandatory one credit course for all students on multiculturalism that exposes host students to the historical, political, economic, and sociocultural contexts to human behaviors and practices. This course should provide opportunities to place host students in

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another person’s shoes, that is, adjusting mindsets from ‘us vs. them’ to ‘we” and hence, helps reduce stereotypes. 4. Adapting instruction to refugee students with low English skills: Universities should consider what needs adaptation (curricula content, textbooks, teaching material), how to adapt it (instruction and explanation), and with what to adapt (by using experiences of inclusive practices).

References Ahmad, S. Z., & Hussain, M. (2017). An investigation of the factors determining student destination choice for higher education in the United Arab Emirates. Studies in Higher Education, 42(7), 1324–1343. Ali, A. I. (2019). The campus as crucible: A critical race analysis of campus climate in the experiences of Muslim undergraduates. Teachers College Record, 121(5), 1–38. Al-Issa, A., & Dahan, L. S. (2019). International Muslim students in the US: The accountability of educators. Journal of Humanities and Education Development, 1(6), 264–272. Allen, K. A., & Bowles, T. (2012). Belonging as a guiding principle in the education of adolescents. Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 12, 108–119. Arar, K., Orucu, D., & Kucukcayir, G. A. (2019). Culturally relevant school leadership for Syrian refugee students in challenging circumstances. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 47(6), 960–979. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143218775430 Barron, D. S., Davies, S. P., & Wiggins, R. D. (2008). Social integration, a sense of belonging and the Cenotaph Service: Old soldiers reminisce about remembrance. Aging and Mental Health, 12(4), 509–516. Batstone, D. (2004). Equality and diversity. Journal of Organizational Excellence, 23(3), 61–71. Beiser, M., & Hou, F. (2016). Mental health effects of premigration trauma and postmigration discrimination of refugee youth in Canada. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 204(6), 464–470. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000516 Braxton, J. M., & McClendon, S. A. (2001–2002). The fostering of social integration through institutional practice. Journal of College Student Retention, 3(1), 57–71. Chiu, M. M., Pong, S. L., Mori, I., & Chow, B. W. Y. (2012). Immigrant students’ emotional and cognitive engagement at school: A multilevel analysis of students in 41 countries. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(11), 1409–1425. Cole, D., & Ahmadi, S. (2010). Reconsidering campus diversity: An examination of Muslim students’ experiences. Journal of Higher Education, 81, 121–139. Dekel, R., & Nuttman-Shwartz, O. (2009). Posttraumatic stress and growth: The contribution of cognitive appraisal and sense of belonging to the country. Health and Social Work, 34(2), 87– 96. Eagan, K., Hurtado, S., & Chang, M. (October, 2010). What matters in STEM: Institutional contexts that influence STEM bachelor’s degree completion rates. In Annual meeting of the association for the study of higher education. Indianapolis, IN. Elsayed, D., Song, J., Myatt, E., Colasante, T., & Malti, T. (2019). Anger and sadness regulation in refugee children: The roles of pre- and post-migratory factors. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 50, 846–855. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-019-00887-4 Faircloth, B. S., & Hamm, J. V. (2005). Sense of belonging among high school students representing 4 ethnic groups. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34(4), 293–309. Ferede, M. K. (2010). Structural factors associated with higher education access for first- generation refugees in Canada. Refuge, 27(2), 79–88.

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Glass, C. R. (2012). Educational experiences associated with international students’ learning, development, and positive perceptions of campus climate. Journal of Studies in International Education, 16(3), 228–251. Golembe, J., Leyendecker, B., Maalej, N., Gundlach, A., & Busch, J. (2021). Experiences of minority stress and mental health burdens of newly arrived LGBTQ* refugees in Germany. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 18(4), 1049–1059. Goodenow, C. (1993). Classroom belonging among early adolescent students: Relationships to motivation and achievement. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 13(1), 21–43. Grobecker, P. A. (2016). A sense of belonging and perceived stress among baccalaureate nursing students in clinical placements. Nurse Education Today, 36, 178–183. Handy, F., & Greenspan, I. (2009). Immigrant volunteering: A stepping stone to integration? Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 38(6), 956–982. Heng, T. T. (2017). Voices of Chinese international students in USA colleges: ‘I want to tell them that….’ Studies in Higher Education, 42(5), 833–850. Jean-Francois, E. (2019). Exploring the perceptions of campus climate and integration strategies used by international students in a US university campus. Studies in Higher Education, 44(6), 1069–1085. Kiefer, S. M., Alley, K. M., & Ellerbrock, C. R. (2015). Teacher and peer support for young adolescents’ motivation, engagement, and school belonging. RMLE Online, 38(8), 1–18. Kinzie, J. (2005). Understanding and reducing college student departure. Journal of College Student Development, 46(2), 213–215. Klomegah, R. Y. (2006). Social factors relating to alienation experienced by international students in the United States. College Student Journal, 40(2), 303–316. Lenette, C. (2016). University students from refugee backgrounds: Why should we care? Higher Education Research and Development, 35(6), 1311–1315. Menzies, J. L., & Baron, R. (2014). International postgraduate student transition experiences: The importance of student societies and friends. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 51(1), 84–94. Museus, S. D., Yi, V., & Saelua, N. (2017). The impact of culturally engaging campus environments on sense of belonging. The Review of Higher Education, 40(2), 187–215. Newcomer, S. N., Ardasheva, Y., Morrison, J. A., Ernst-Slavit, G., Morrison, S. J., Carbonneau, K. J., & Lightner, L. K. (2021). Whoa… Welcome to America!: Supporting refugee background students’ socioemotional well-being, English language development, and content area learning. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 35(3), 417–437. Palmer, R. T., Maramba, D. C., & Dancy, T. E. (2011). A qualitative investigation of factors promoting the retention and persistence of students of color in STEM. The Journal of Negro Education, 491–504. Refugee Admissions Report. (April, 2019) Retrieved 28 May, 2019 from http://www.wrapsnet.org/ admissions-and-arrivals Rose-Redwood, C., & Rose-Redwood, R. (2017). Rethinking the politics of the international student experience in the age of Trump. Journal of International Students, 7(3), I-IX. https://doi. org/10.5281/zenodo.569939 Sawir, E., Marginson, S., Deumert, A., Nyland, C., & Ramia, G. (2008). Loneliness and international students: An Australian study. Journal of Studies in International Education, 12(2), 148–180. Shammas, D. (2017). Underreporting discrimination among Arab American and Muslim American community college students: Using focus groups to unravel the ambiguities within the survey data. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 11(1), 99–123. Stebleton, M. J., Soria, K. M., Huesman, R. L., Jr., & Torres, V. (2014). Recent immigrant students at research universities: The relationship between campus climate and sense of belonging. Journal of College Student Development, 55(2), 196–202. Strange, C. C., & Banning, J. H. (2015). Designing for learning: Creating campus environments for student success. Wiley.

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Strauss, L. C., & Volkwein, J. F. (2004). Predictors of student commitment at two-year and fouryear institutions. The Journal of Higher Education, 75(2), 203–227. Strayhorn, T. L. (2018). College students’ sense of belonging: A key to educational success for all students. Routledge. Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (2nd Edn.). University of Chicago Press. Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45(1), 89–125. Tinto, V. (2017). Through the eyes of students. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice, 19(3), 254–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025115621917 UNHCR. (n.d.). What is a refugee? Retrieved from https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/what-is-a-refugee. html Van De Walker, D., & Slate, J. R. (2019). The 2017 Trump administration travel ban and international graduate applications at two Texas public universities. Higher Education Politics and Economics, 5(1), 1–14. Walton, G. M., & Brady, S. T. (2017). The many questions of belonging. In A. Elliot, C. Dweck, & D. Yeager (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation: Theory and application (pp. 272– 293). Guilford Press.

Mohamed Elhess is an assistant professor at Minnesota State University. His research explores students’ sense of belonging and identity in learning spaces. Julia Mahfouz Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Leadership for Educational Organizations program, School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado-Denver. She is also the director of the Prosocial Leader Lab. Her research explores the social, emotional, and cultural dynamics of educational settings placing emphasis on Adult SEL, specifically school administrators and the integration of systemic SEL into principal preparation programs. Laura Summers is an Associate Clinical Professor in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver. She leads an executive coaching for equity program, offers professional development in educator wellbeing and critical digital pedagogy and mentors doctoral students in the Leadership for Educational Equity EdD. She also co-directs the Prosocial Leader Lab, a research and teaching lab which offers a Leadership in Social Emotional Learning certificate.

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The Pathway to Unlocking Refugees’ Learning Potential: Current Challenges and Lifelong Learning Solutions Daria Mizza

Abstract

Recognized curriculum in pre-primary, primary, and secondary school, rather than relegation into unofficial parallel schools, may constitute the springboard to university or higher vocational training. The formal education system, however, does not always meet the needs of refugee students, whose forced displacement makes them particularly vulnerable to a national education system hindering their integration potential. The chapter acknowledges the academic importance of including refugees in national education systems upon their arrival in the host country and highlights the pedagogical challenges this inclusion may pose. The first section of this chapter examines the UN Refugee Agency’s documents to acknowledge the purpose of lifelong education for refugees as a contemporary priority to unlock refugee students’ potential. The second section proposes a guiding framework for teachers to create alternative forms of success and establish foundations for lifelong learning. This is accomplished by redistributing technology-enhanced resources to create activities that allow refugee students to develop skills for meaningful choice-making at transition points during and after their time in schools. The chapter concludes by emphasizing how lifelong learning opportunities are contingent upon the national education system detecting and accommodating refugee student’s preexisting skills and knowledge from the beginning. Such an improved learning experience can unlock refugee learners’ potential to establish themselves in a new society and serve as global citizens.

D. Mizza (B) The Department of Educational Studies, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Cairo, Egypt e-mail: [email protected] Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_11

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Keywords

Educational success • Higher education • Learning potential • Lifelong-learning/ education • Technology-enhanced activities The increasing number of refugees, coupled with the protracted nature of refugee crises around the globe, underline the critical importance of refugee tertiary or higher education. The opportunity to continue into higher education carries several advantages for refugees. First, the prospect of higher education strengthens school enrollment and retention by providing an incentive for children and young people to remain in school (UNHCR, 2012). Higher education provides refugees with the means to become self-reliant and to build dignified and sustainable futures for themselves and their families, which in turn supports social integration and ensures full participation in the host society. Highly educated refugees, according to the 2016 United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Annual Education Report, ultimately support and contribute to their host society’s economy as well as its peace and stability—at the local, regional, and national levels. This concept was reiterated in the 2019 edition of the Refugee Education 2030 Report (UNHCR). The Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP, https://www.lllplatform.eu/), an initiative that gathers 42 European organizations active in the field of education, training, and youth, asserts that successful social inclusion and integration of refugees relies on equal access to the same rights and services provided to nationals. Furthermore, LLLP posits that lifelong education has the unique potential to unlock human capacities, both individually and collectively, by providing the bridge between disrupted schooling and future aspirations of self-reliance and participation in society. Considering the evident benefits, global policies have slowly started to recognize the role of lifelong education as a major contributor to refugees’ social and economic integration.

11.1

(Re)Conceptualizing Lifelong Education: Identifying Key Factors

Within the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development launched in 2016, pledging to ensure that no one was left behind (UN, 2015), the purpose of lifelong education for refugees emerges as a contemporary priority. The fourth goal, Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), commits to “… promot[ing] lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UN, 2015) and identifies three targets for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) (targets 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5), and an additional target for improving literacy and numeracy for youth and adults (target 4.6). To achieve these global targets, the challenge of providing lifelong learning opportunities for the rapidly increasing numbers of refugees must be addressed. Aligned with SDG4, the framework of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) (UN, 2018) affirms the importance of providing lifelong learning opportunities, including tertiary education, as a critical element of the international

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refugee response. Although not legally binding, the Global Compact sets out an arrangement for relevant stakeholders, including governments and international organizations, to commit resources to expand and strengthen the quality and inclusiveness of national education systems for both host and refugee students.1 A brief review of policy responses on lifelong education across Europe and Anglophone countries reveals a conceptualization of lifelong education as an opportunity located at the beginning or end of a set of established transitions between educational levels. According to a recent report from the Nordic Office (Djuve, 2016), Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden deem access to formal education as essential for participating in the more competitive and highly paid sections of the developed labor markets. In formal education, previously acquired skills are assessed and recognized, language learning supported, and knowledge and skills increased. Djuve (2016) argues that the increased flow of refugees in Nordic countries may solely supply low-skilled labor without investment in education, creating labor market segmentation that leads to poor migrant communities, greater economic inequality, and increased social divisions that will challenge political sustainability. Similarly, Germany enhances these measures with access to tertiary education or vocational education as well as language training and orientation courses, recognizing refugees’ existing vocational and higher qualifications. The United Kingdom (UK) and Australia offer scholarships, fee waivers, and other active support initiatives to refugees who are over the age of compulsory education. These refugees are designed as international students until they acquire permanent residency. Whilst further analysis of these issues is beyond the scope of this chapter, these examples suggest that enabling lifelong learning for refugees requires a reconsideration of lifelong education to conceptualize it as an opportunity occurring at designated points throughout the course of an individual’s life. This requires positioning refugees’ goals and aspirations for dignified and self-sufficient lives as the starting point and then considering what structures and support are required to achieve these goals. This chapter proposes how to execute such a framework. We start by elaborating on several key factors leading to the reconceptualization of lifelong learning: the consideration of the protracted nature of refugee education, the identification of its focus and resourcing, and the valorization of educational success as an evolving process instead of a product.

1 The UNHCR’s updated refugee education strategy, Refugee Education 2030: A Strategy for Refugee Inclusion (UNHCR, 2019) translates into action the principles and arrangements set out in the Global Compact. By targeting an increase of tertiary education enrolment from the current 3% of college-eligible refugees to 15% in host and third countries by 2030, the strategy establishes three strategic objectives for refugee education: the inclusion of refugee children and youth in the national education system of the host community; the support of learning for all students regardless of legal status, gender or disability; and enabling all learners to use their education towards sustainable futures.

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11.1.1 The Protracted Nature of Refugee Education The average length of exile for refugees is currently estimated to be between 10 and 25 years (Crawford et al., 2015; Devictor & Do, 2017; Milner & Loescher, 2011). According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), prolonged refugee conditions affect the majority of all the refugees displaced worldwide (UNHCR, 2020). This protracted displacement means that refugee children are likely to go through an entire school cycle, from age 5 to 18, in exile, and for those who had begun school before being uprooted may well never return to the classroom they went to at home. Often, the only opportunity for many refugee children to learn the kinds of skills and knowledge for present and future use is in exile. UNHCR’s latest strategy, “Refugee Education 2030: A Strategy for Refugee Inclusion” (UNHCR, 2019), recognizes the protracted nature of refugee situations2 and prioritizes integrating refugees into host countries’ national education systems. Especially since 2010, national education policies defined global measures of accountability, emphasizing a set of knowledge that schools need to teach in order for pupils to perform well in external high-stakes examinations. Thus, within the framework of the host country’s existing national education systems, children and youth refugees have the opportunity to follow an established curriculum, learn with trained teachers, and potentially receive certification (Dryden-Peterson et al., 2018). Thus, inclusion within national education systems can enable refugee children’s access to quality education, based on the SDG4 which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote “lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UN, 2015). Globally, however, national education systems are designed as a continuum and assume the presence of a sedentary national population transitioning through various stages until students graduate from school. Consequently, refugees can only access lifelong learning opportunities if their existing set of skills and knowledge are detected at the beginning and the support structures for refugees are built into the national system. Furthermore, access to education for refugee students who are included in national education systems is often granted in those public schools located in marginalized areas of the country serving national students who are economically disadvantaged. (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2018). In these underserved school communities, educational policies reflect international policies promoting global comparisons of test performance. Thus, educational policies focus on school performance data and prioritize the need to assimilate a set of knowledge, pedagogies, and assessments that allow each student to perform well in national examinations. (McIntyre, 2020).

2

This approach has been adopted initially in the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ 2012–2016 Education Strategy (UNHCR, 2012) and most recently codified in UNHCR’s Refugee Education 2030: A Strategy for Refugee Inclusion (UNHCR, 2019). By 2016, UNHCR had formal relationships with national authorities in 20 of its 25 priority country operations and aimed to negotiate the inclusion of refugees in national education systems (Dryden-Peterson, 2016).

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As demonstrated in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) league tables (OECD, 2019), schools serving economically disadvantaged communities do not perform well due to higher concentrations of lower-attaining pupils. In a competitive landscape, these schools are forced to prioritize a reduced curriculum that is entirely focused on teaching to test pedagogies (cf. Reay, 2017). In essence, this test-focused curriculum does not necessarily meet the educational needs of refugee students, who often have diverse national, cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds and circumstances—including their educational experiences in countries of asylum (Sidhu & Taylor, 2009, p. 67; Matthews, 2008, p. 65). The national educational system’s inability to recognize prior individual aptitudes, experiences, knowledge, and skills of refugee students can hinder their integration. This poses considerable challenges as the integration of refugee students in education systems is important for their academic outcomes alongside their social and emotional well-being. In the context of resettlement, these challenges constitute significant barriers to the realization of SDG4.

11.1.2 The Focus and Resourcing of Refugee Education In a high-pressure school system where constrained teachers focus on preparing students to perform well on standardized examinations, the picture is even more complex for refugee students of secondary and upper secondary ages (15+ years). Although education has been one of the global strategic priorities of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) since 2010, much of the focus and resourcing has been on primary education and, to a lesser extent, secondary and higher education. The figures on refugee access to secondary and higher education clearly illustrate this lack of focus. Globally, only 24% of refugees are enrolled in education at the secondary level. At the tertiary or higher education level, enrollment is just 3%, compared to 37% of non-refugee students (UNHCR, 2019). Adult refugee education figures also show enormous global disparities. For example, in 2018, global participation in tertiary education ranged from 9% in low-income countries to 75% in high-income countries (UNESCO, 2020, p. 239). Studies of unaccompanied children show their daily experiences may diverge sharply from the daily experiences of their native peers, even when they manage to enter the mainstream secondary level, as these students must work harder and do more to achieve participatory parity (McIntyre, 2020). In addition, case studies (Rutter, 2006) illustrate that new arrivals from different parts of the globe are likely to achieve success only if their past educational experiences have been in systems similar to the one in their resettlement context, although it remains to be investigated how refugee children build on the progress they may have made in school.

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11.1.3 The Valorization of Educational Success in Refugee Education In many schools, the performativity agenda identifies success via external examinations. Students in the British system prepare for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and A levels, which are national exams taken at 16 and at 17/18 years of age respectively, with classwork excessively concentrated on teaching to the tests. In North American schools, the marker of academic achievement is the high school diploma. In a European school or in a school accredited by the Board of Governors, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma certifies the completion of secondary studies. In schools accountable for examination performances, success is conceived as an individual performance in relation to academic qualifications, which are indicators of future economic and employment prospects (Benjamin, 2003 as cited by McIntyre, 2020). A successful secondary education often facilitates access to post-secondary education (see Sect. 11.2, de Araujo, in this volume). Participating students ascend an important rung in the economic ladder upon earning their baccalaureate degree (Bowen, 1978; Bowen & Bok, 1998; Boyer & Hechinger, 1981; Nuñez, 1998; Nuñez & Cuccaro-Alamin, 1998; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Trow, 2001). For older refugee students, however, this process takes longer and takes a different route. Older refugee students that arrive as teenagers spend insufficient time within compulsory educational programs upon resettlement and lack ready-made economic and social networks that they can draw upon to build their futures. Thus, older refugee students face unique challenges and barriers to accessing the dominant knowledge in the new schools’ modes of curricula, forms of pedagogy and modes of formal high-stakes assessment. Even in resource-rich education systems such as the United States (US) and UK, often referred to as part of the Global North, research indicates that young refugee students struggle to catch up in time to acquire the certification to progress to post-compulsory education with their peers or before becoming “over-age” (Bonet, 2018; Morrice et al., 2019). In low-resource education systems, the struggle is much greater. Thus, despite the pressures of the dominant accountability metrics, the usual markers of success, such as the qualifications obtained at 16 or 18, do not constitute refugee students’ general experiences. Rather, refugees’ educational success depends on their access to highly inclusive education, in which success can vary from student to student. McIntyre (2020) recognizes different ways in which a child can experience success. For example, it is important to allow refugee students to participate in activities in school beyond prescribed test-preparation and promote a reciprocal relationship of such activities between their new and old homes. Based on her recommendations, we can conceptualize different modes of valorizing success, within a longer-term perspective that imagines refugee students as eventual contributors to their families or local economy. This is especially true for older refugee students with potential to enter post-secondary education (McCabe, 2000) who will face increasingly complex social, political, and cultural issues.

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The previous sections demonstrated that, as a result of today’s displacement realities, education increased in importance and became one of UNHCR’s global strategic priorities and a “core component” of its mandate (UNHCR, 2012, p. 7). More crucially, education became recognized as a primary tool to provide refugees with lifelong learning opportunities necessary for future participation in their host society. Both education throughout the lifecycle and higher education were at last recognized as a “critical part of the educational continuum” (UNHCR, 2012, p. 22). As lifelong education for refugees gains recognition, it is pertinent to examine how it is conceptualized, the purpose it serves and whether it can fulfil that purpose. To do so, we advocate for a future-oriented approach to refugee education, which focuses on aspirations and how the system might accommodate the needs of refugee students, rather than expecting students to accommodate the system. As Sarah Dryden-Peterson (2019) describes, this is an approach that begins with refugees’ imagined futures and then plans backwards. In terms of lifelong learning, this perspective involves starting with what refugees need if they are to play an active part in society, including living dignified and self-reliant lives, and then working back to consider how lifelong education can be re-conceptualized to fulfil this need. Case study schools in resource-rich education systems in the US and UK, indicate that educational success is future-focused and not performance-driven. (McIntyre & Abrams, 2020) These schools prioritized exploring ways to help students develop skills to make meaningful choices as they approach transitional points in their educational path. This implies an understanding of how refugee children build on the progress they may or may not have made in school. It also implies a sufficient redistribution of resources to invest in activities that allow refugee students to experience alternative forms of success in terms of agency and informed autonomy during their time in school. Such activities establish foundations for lifelong learning as students develop skills for meaningful choice-making at various transition points. For these practices and outcomes to be valued by external measures of success, practitioners need to distribute their attention between activities that yield the all-important exam results and those which they know will benefit their students now and in the future.

11.2

Applying Lifelong Education: The Guiding Framework for Implementation

In the first section of the chapter, we concluded that refugee students should experience alternative forms of success related to agency and informed autonomy during their time in school. Educators can accomplish this by creating instructional activities that develop skills for meaningful choice making at transition points that may occur during and after they complete the mandatory school cycle. Thus, rather than an outcome at the end of a period of schooling, the development of such skills

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reflects a concept of success as an evolving process, both from the perspective of the individual and the perspective of the resettlement society. The second section of this chapter discusses practical applications of this idea, for which we propose a guiding framework for teachers to create alternative forms of success and thus establish foundations for lifelong learning. Despite identifying a number of key factors necessary for the reconceptualization of lifelong learning, there is still limited evidence on what instructional practices work for such reconceptualization. With this issue in mind, the chapter seeks to answer the following two questions: 1. What are the key aspects of instructional activities that allow refugee students to develop skills for meaningful choice making at transition points during and after their time in school? 2. What resources can strategically enhance such activities?

Figure 11.1 represents the guiding framework for our analysis. Teachers can use this blueprint to help refugee students experience alternative forms of success. This framework also considers the redistribution of technology tools to create activities that, based on Fraser’s (2009, 2019) participatory conditions, allow refugee students to develop skills for making informed decisions about their own educational—and life—experiences, both during and after their time in school. The blueprint includes several sections, in which we can identify a number of factors and conditions: a. Students’ pre-arrival experiences, which include various conditions, such as preparation in K–12 schools in the country of origin and family background. These and related factors and conditions affect the odds that students will do what is necessary to succeed in school and prepare for college. Figure 11.1 outlines mediating conditions that students must successfully navigate to continue their education,

Fig. 11.1 Guiding framework for analysis. Teachers can follow this blueprint to help refugee students experience alternative forms of success

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including remediation activities that do not count toward a grade but are necessary for self-confidence and autonomy, as well as banning aspects that can prevent students from fully engaging in the school experience. These activities may require students to work many hours outside of school. b. The school experience itself, which includes the following factors and conditions: Institutional conditions include resources, educational policies, programs, and practices…. School leaders and practitioners must decide to redistribute resources and tools to plan and invest in activities that facilitate refugee-oriented educational success. This may mean finding ways to allow learners to participate in activities in school beyond prescribed test-preparation curricula and pedagogies, which will help develop skills for meaningful choice-making at key transition points. In doing so, the school will establish foundations for lifelong learning. Instructional (practices) conditions, which may involve diverse levels of student engagement. High levels of student engagement are associated with a wide range of educational practices and conditions, including purposeful student–student, student–teacher and student-content interaction, active and collaborative learning, and institutional environments where expectations for performance are clearly communicated and set at reasonably high levels (Astin, 1991; Chickering & Gamson, 1987; Chickering & Reisser, 1993; Kuh et al., 1991; Pascarella, 2001; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991, 2005). Conditions of Participatory Parity Participatory parity provides a philosophical framework based on the work of Nancy Fraser (2009, 2019), who describes parity-of-participation as an adult having (1) the resources to take an active and equal part in social interaction with others in society; (2) equal social status among others, and (3) equal access to political decision-making. Thus, the three necessary conditions of participatory parity are redistribution, recognition, and representation. In terms of schooling, redistribution entails that every school child, regardless of their attainment, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or social background, has equitable access to material resources (e.g., teachers, lessons, and subjects). Conversely, a lack of resource distribution might entail certain children having exclusive access to the best teachers, the most inspiring lessons, and the best equipped schools. Related to the concept of recognition is the “intersubjective condition” (Fraser, 2003). According to Fraser, for individuals whose cultural values do not fit neatly with those that are privileged in the hierarchy, misrecognition of cultural values that differ from the dominant patterns leads to status inequality. Thus, a child refugee lacking access to the preferred social and cultural capital is unlikely to thrive and prosper throughout their educational experience. Conversely, if the child enters school with the set of knowledge, skills, and experiences that are reflected in dominant models of pedagogy, curriculum, and assessment, then she/he is more likely to thrive and prosper. During schooling, representation can be fulfilled by all children having a role in deciding what and how they learn. Educators can achieve this by providing

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opportunities to express their views through open critique and provision of feedback (Lundy, 2007), regulated by school rules, such as relational and etiquette ones (Kohn, 1996) and teacher supervision (Thornberg, 2008). Drawing from the educational implications of Fraser’s ideas, we can start reimagining refugee education practices in a way that will help teachers accommodate and support refugee students’ pedagogical transition, with models of curricula, forms of pedagogy and modes of assessment. Below, we propose three questions to guide educators to such conceptualization: 1. Redistribution: How can educators make sure that refugee students have access to the same facilities and materials as non-refugee students? 2. Recognition: How can educators support refugee students, who bring different experiences from prior education, in assimilating to the prevailing model of education in their new context? 3. Representation: How can ‘lower-attaining’ refugee students control their own learning environment?

11.2.1 Redistribution Through Technology Tools Understanding what and how well refugees are learning is critical, especially if they are enrolled in the national school system, which often underserves marginalized national students, as well. Two central dimensions of a forwardlooking agenda emerge as crucial to meet the learning needs of all students, both refugees and nationals: marginalization and differentiated learning needs. To tackle marginalization and address different learning needs, differentiation of instruction can be addressed with ad-hoc pedagogical practices and enhanced with the integration of technology tools. Educational technology (EdTech) has a large potential for refugee education, but technological solutions might not solve some of the quality concerns, especially related to education sustainability in the form of “lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UN, 2015), as SDG4 intends for refugee education. Past evidence demonstrates that while EdTech has enormous potential, challenges and limitations persist. A recent rapid literature review identified a deficiency in the scientific evidence in favor of EdTech, as there is limited literature on refugee education and EdTech (Ashlee et al., 2020). There is a clear need for rigorous studies, impact evaluations, as well as data on the perspectives and needs of refugees (Tauson & Stannard, 2018). So, for the time being, we can learn from evidence presented in related fields. For example, we can examine studies that analyzed the effect of new technologies in terms of learning outcomes as well as psychosocial support offered to those in crisis and traumatizing circumstances (UNESCO, 2018). This is the case in online educational games. Research conducted by Fabian et al. (2018) found a positive relationship between playing a mathematics mobile game and an increase in self-esteem, concluding that children who had higher selfesteem levels before the start of the study saw larger gains in their mathematical

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skills from playing the game. Furthermore, a recent report by UNESCO found that interactive EdTech tools might even increase refugee children’s motivation to study because they engage with more interactive tools (Ashlee et al., 2020). Initial research demonstrates promising findings, but the question of how to promote education sustainability in the form of “lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UN, 2015) remains. Such a question leads us to further reflection on what kinds of support refugee students need to be successfully included in classrooms alongside national or host children. Educators should understand the effort to secure continuity in learning curriculum relevant to the local context as a primary concern. In a top-down implementation, the technology-enhanced initiative is created and driven by centralized leadership. This can be the school administration or the local government, for example. In the case of refugee education, this can be national and international agencies, such as United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Bottom-up implementation allows local communities, including parents and teachers, to engage with specific EdTech solutions early on. Members of a local community know the learners better and can identify targeted solutions to the learners’ specific needs, which also include their level of digital literacy. Thus, technology-enhanced solutions are likely to ensure sustainable results when they are aligned with the specific profile of learners. The problem imposed by limited access to infrastructure, leading to limited access to the Internet and digital tools, should also be accounted for. A recent report by UNHCR shows that refugee households are two-and-a-half times more likely to not have access to a phone, even though 93 percent of refugees live in areas that are covered by at least a 2G network (UNHCR, 2016b). This issue requires EdTech not only to be adaptable, versatile, and compatible with as many mediums as possible (UNHCR, 2016b), but also to make media resources available online. A further challenge for EdTech is the lack of teacher training, which is crucial to assure an effective application of the learning tools created through new technologies. As a matter of fact, the mere provision of tools is not enough to improve learning outcomes. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. It has been found that EdTech solutions that are not paired with access to a teacher or other knowledgeable mentors ultimately do more harm than good because learners feel overwhelmed and lost without the necessary support (Drolia et al., 2020). This is especially relevant in the case of refugees, since they often already experience a lack of social support network, which is characterized by the loss of home ties and family members. Thus, it is crucial to design technology-enhanced activities equipped with opportunities for socialization between learners and teachers to facilitate integration in the host community and fight marginalization and loneliness. In the ensuing sections, we will see how incorporating different degrees of interaction (between student and content, teacher and students, as well as students and students) and facets of metacognition constitute crucial factors in the design of open-ended activities that challenge the notions of homogenized knowledge and are responsive to a refugee’s social needs.

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11.2.2 Recognition Through Interaction Coming to a new country and adjusting to a new way of life can be difficult and frightening, and older youth may be particularly challenged by starting life in a new country. Refugee students do not come to the host society’s schools without any pre-existing knowledge. It may seem that way when they are compared with other students their age, but refugee students have learned skills in survival and decision-making through intense exposure to dramatic global issues that most of their peers probably have not experienced. In addition, cultural and family values provide a powerful protective system that emphasizes the involvement of extended family and community members in supporting them, as well as the value of community needs over individual needs. Designing activities that foster feelings of responsibility and provide a sense of community pride may be achieved through engaging, beside the academic provision, in a range of open-ended activities and practices that challenge the notions of homogenized knowledge as it is represented in high-stakes curricula and are responsive to a new arrival’s needs, interests and strengths. Table 11.1 proposes examples of activities below that aim to benefit the learners in terms of developing agency and confidence. This is accomplished by moving progressively from a type of interaction involving students and content (student-content), teacher and student (teacher-student) and student and student (student–student). Progressive involvement in different degrees of interaction allows refugee students to move from increasing self-confidence (Activity # 1), exploring their own identities (Activity # 2), facilitating integration (Activity # 3), and sharing and participation (Activity # 4), towards educational success. The relevance, meaning, and impact of each of the above activities for participating students can be enhanced by matching the activity theme to a particular topic being currently addressed in the classroom. Alternately, and to consolidate the activity impact on the participating students, it may also be effective to facilitate a number of thematically linked activities in a connected sequence, so that each activity reinforces, expands, and builds on the others presented above to form a logical learning progression. With this aim in mind, educators must sequence activities pedagogically through layering—meaning pieces of each activity and task build on previous activities and lead to a final whole.

11.2.3 Representation Through Metacognition Metacognition refers to thinking about thinking, specifically the processes used to plan, monitor, and assess one’s understanding and performance. Metacognition consists of three facets: (1) metacognitive knowledge, (2) metacognitive monitoring, and (3) metacognitive control (Dunlosky & Metcalfe, 2009). Metacognitive knowledge pertains to one’s declarative knowledge about cognition. Metacognitive monitoring refers to assessing and evaluating the ongoing progress or current states of cognitive activity. Finally, metacognitive control pertains to regulating

2. Puppet activities

• To explore their own identities

• To share personal feelings and experiences • To provide information about self

Name 1. Illustrating story activities

Aim

• To illustrate a familiar story • To increase self-confidence in expression

Objective

Teacher-student interaction

Student-content interaction

Degree of interaction

Activities involving the teacher using a puppet to help encourage students to explore their thoughts and feelings through the puppet, by telling stories that have cultural relevance to the refugee students’ own identities and memories of home

Activities requiring students to express themselves through drawing elements or scenes from a familiar story they already know

Description

Table 11.1 Examples of activities based on the concept of recognition and with different degrees of interaction

(continued)

UNICEF (Tanzania). (2006). Participatory approaches for working with children and young people in programme planning, implementation and studies and evaluation: toolbox of participative tools, p. 26

Peace First. (2012). Feelings dance, pp. 1–2

Source

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4. Life skills activities Student–student (cooking, carpentry…) interaction (in groups or teams)

• To build community

Student–student interaction (often, but not always, in groups or teams)

Degree of interaction

• To develop life skills

Name 3. Game activities, problem-solving activities

Aim

• To solve new arrivals’ needs • To facilitate the integration

Objective

Table 11.1 (continued)

Activities encouraging students to share more about their heritage the foods, dress, entertainment, worship practices, craft, and holiday celebrations of their ethnic and cultural background and that of other cultures

Activities aimed at presenting students with a particular challenge or exercise to work through

Description

Source

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Fig. 11.2 The three phases to follow to design activities based on the concept of representation through metacognition

an ongoing cognitive activity by either quitting or continuing the activity. Thus, when educators plan metacognitive activities, they must provide ample opportunities to help learners assess what they know and why they know it (planning), how well they are doing in acquiring new knowledge (monitoring), and how to apply this new knowledge to their future lives (evaluation). Fogarty (1994) suggests that these three phases—planning, monitoring, and evaluation—help students become successful thinkers. In Fig. 11.2, we can see the three phases and their relative processes that educators may follow to design effective metacognitive activities based on the concept of representation. Educators may help students begin the reflection and self-regulation process (Box 1, Fig. 11.2), with the help of simple questions like the ones below: • What do I already know that can help me complete this activity? • What do I already know that I need to reevaluate? Educators can also help students reflect by asking them to respond to a prompt at the beginning of the lesson in a short reflective online journaling activity. Quizzes with robust feedback, polls that survey students about what they struggle with and then utilize results to stimulate discussion, as well as journal assignments with prompts for helping students explore challenging concepts, are all examples of activities that may facilitate continual student monitoring of their own progress (Box 2, Fig. 11.2). A further example of a self-regulation activity is called “What? So what? Now what?” which requires students to engage in a structured and sequenced reflection by describing (What happened?), analyzing (Why is it significant?), and acting (What did you learn?) as a way to examine an experience or a topic. Finally, at the end of a learning experience, metacognitive self-evaluations (Box 3, Fig. 11.2) may include questions like: • How did I do? • What could I have done differently? • What did I learn? Designing with the intention to include opportunities for refugee students, especially ‘low-attaining’ ones, to assess, monitor and evaluate their learning through

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the consistent use of metacognitive strategies enable agency and informed autonomy that opens doors in students’ personal and professional lives. The examples in the sections above provide a clear sense of education as a process, in which the role of the educator as an activity designer is key in helping reshape the concept of school success for refugee students. As McIntyre (2020) suggests, rather than an outcome at the end of a period of schooling, thinking of success as a process has been our starting point for analysis in this applied section of the chapter. Because of its potential to support refugee students in their efforts to catch up with education and opportunities missed at an earlier stage, the role of lifelong learning has clearly emerged as a fundamental pillar of success. Within a lifelong learning perspective, the proposed sample of activities aims to provide students with opportunities for educational successes, which are multidimensional with foundations for self-confidence and autonomy and are indicators of future successful social relations and integration in the host society. There is a sense, however, that these practices and outcomes will not be valued by external measures of success. Consequently, practitioners should balance how they distribute resources between activities that will yield the all-important exam results and those which they know will be of benefit to their students now and in their futures.

11.3

Conclusion

Throughout this chapter, we have taken the view that education is a public good and that the refugee student is a future integrated citizen, contributing to the economy as well as the peace and stability of a community at a local, national, and regional level. The integration potential of this vulnerable group of students, however, is not always met by public national education systems. As such, it is to the benefit of all community members that public national school practitioners prioritize opportunities for integration within the formal, recognized curriculum, as this may constitute the springboard to university or higher vocational training. This chapter has drawn on pedagogical research to acknowledge the academic importance of integrating refugees into national education systems upon their arrival to the host country. It also highlights the pedagogical challenges that such inclusion may pose. Key documents produced by the UNHCR and UNESCO analyzed in the first section of the chapter acknowledge the purpose of lifelong education for refugees as a contemporary priority to unlock refugee students’ potential, which helps us to identify several key factors leading to (re)conceptualizing lifelong education in the specific context of refugees. Applied in nature, the second section of the chapter has proposed a guiding framework useful for practitioners to create alternative forms of success and establish foundations for lifelong learning. The framework follows Fraser’s participatory conditions, through the redistribution of technology-enhanced resources, the recognition of refugee students’ needs, interests and strengths, and the representation of meaningful choice-making when

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planning, monitoring, and evaluating one own’s learning. The chapter concludes that lifelong learning opportunities for refugee students can only fulfill their potential if the support structures are built into the national system and based on the initial consideration of the prior knowledge and skills of the learner. When applied as described above, (re)conceptualizing lifelong learning as part of a continuum for those students who have accessed and progressed through educational levels provides an important incentive to continue and complete secondary education, and it is likely to “… promote lifelong learning opportunities for all,” as claimed by the SDG4. However, for such a strategy to successfully build durable futures for individual refugees and for their local and transnational communities, it is imperative to identify what policy-relevant factors are associated with this conceptualization. Much remains to be understood and analyzed, for example, about the reliable data from monitoring frameworks and national reporting that host-country education systems use to evaluate themselves. Consequently, there are systems that still need to be established to ensure that global commitments enshrined in the SDG4 and the Global Compact are translated into practice. Only then, empirical evidence will be ready for educational researchers to propose solutions for ultimately improving teaching and learning practices for refugee students. Points to Ponder

1. As students’ prior study-related background plays a significant role in their performance in higher education degree programs, reflect on a valid diagnostics of refugee students’ study preconditions, using the framework for analysis described in this chapter. First, make a list of what kind of refugee students’ data the diagnostics should collect to be effective. Then, create a survey using relevant questions to collect such data, in a way that would relay key information to educators about refugee students’ educational background. 2. How best can school personnel foster social integration between refugees and local students? Design a sample of age- and achievement level- appropriate activities that will support social ties between students of different backgrounds. 3. Reflect on what sort of technological innovations can be used to help refugee students acclimate to their new environment and communicate their experiences to their fellow students. After consulting key resources available on the Internet, such as the report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of MOOCs4inclusion project of the European Commission available at https://publications.jrc.ec.eur opa.eu (Colucci et al., 2017) propose digital tools that refugee students will find engaging and accessible. Justify your choice. 4. How can outside organizations be best used to support refugee students’ academic performance and social integration? Create a list of possible external organizations that support refugees in general and briefly describe how their expertise and tools can be used to support refugee students.

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More to Discover: Additional Activities This chapter offers a number of ways that educators can help refugee students to succeed as lifelong learners. 1. Refugee learners often experience different priorities that national and regional systems require. Reflect on what activities your school or learning center provide to help students focus and make choices at various transition points between school phases. 2. What resources and activities does your school offer to help learners connect their pre-arrival learning with the curriculum and learning activities proposed in the host country? 3. Based on Table 11.1, determine what activities help refugee students achieve recognition and greater interaction and what additional activities your school can implement. 4. Do you or the teachers in your school use metacognitive strategies to help students learn to become self-regulated learners? How effectively are these strategies applied? If metacognitive strategies are not applied or they are not applied effectively, how would you apply or enhance them to help refugee learners in your school?

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Daria Mizza is a researcher in the Department of Educational Studies of the American University in Cairo and the Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation (CTEI) of the Johns Hopkins University. Within the field of curriculum and instruction, Dr. Mizza focuses on educational technology and teaching methodology. She has written extensively about the role of technology in transforming curriculum and instruction, both at higher education and K-12 levels. Her papers and books stress the importance of a research-based plan and recognize the role of the proactive educators as catalysts for pedagogically enhancing innovative learning solutions, in which a structured framework for instructional design (ID) and the universal design for learning (UDL) apply

Part II Restoring Hope Through Access and Acceptance in Higher Education

Northward Bound Ana M. Fores Tamayo

Darkness with light: it approaches surreptitiously creeping red across the skies littered white and blue and gray. Its beauty threatened by unruly nightfall, darkness making black its king. There dreamed a starless sky, littered with catastrophic clouds as wolves howl at the reverie of moon. Blue sunsets spill their purpled vanity against the round globe smearing shadow twilight to its mountain greens... But the darkness of destruction past does not seem to settle on the tired smiles of weathered women walking to a beaconed light, searching for a peace of heaven, waiting for salvation in the prayers offered by their seasoned hopes, holding out a candle to guide their threatened path. ~Ana M. Fores Tamayo

Ana M. Fores Tamayo wanted instead to do something that mattered: work with asylum seekers. She advocates for marginalized refugee families from Mexico, Central America, and most recently, many other countries from which people flee. Working with asylum seekers is heart wrenching, yet satisfying. It is also quite humbling. Her labor has eased her own sense of displacement, being a child refugee, always trying to find home. In parallel, poetry is her escape: she has published in The Raving Press, Indolent Books, the Laurel Review, Shenandoah, and many other anthologies and journals, both in the US and internationally, online and in-print. Her poetry in translation with its accompanying photography has been featured in art fairs and galleries as well. Ediciones Valparaiso in Spain published her book of poems, Peregrina, this past June 2022. She hopes you like her art; it is a catharsis from the cruelty yet ecstasy of her work. Through it, she keeps tilting at windmills.

A. M. Fores Tamayo Refugee Support Network (RSN), North Texas, TX, USA

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2

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Promoting the Well-Being of Asylum-Seeking and Refugee Children Within and Beyond the School Gates: Insights from the United Kingdom

12

Mehmet Karakus , Anas Hajar , and Hasan Aydin Abstract

This chapter provides a narrative synthesis of the research findings on the wellbeing of asylum-seeking and refugee children in the United Kingdom. The authors identified 36 research articles published in peer-review journals and thematically analyzed them to document these children’s negative experiences that could impact their well-being. The reported studies also explained the support mechanisms and interventions needed to sustain and improve child welfare and the challenges encountered in supporting their well-being. The research findings suggest that asylum-seeking and refugee children have diverse socioemotional and behavioral challenges, needs, expectations, psychological resources, and coping mechanisms that require schools to develop socioemotionally, culturally, or/and religiously sensitive responses for a more inclusive school environment. Keywords

Well-being • Asylum-seeking • Refugee children • Schools • United Kingdom

M. Karakus (B) Research Centre for Global Learning (GLEA), Coventry University, Coventry, UK e-mail: [email protected] A. Hajar Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan e-mail: [email protected] H. Aydin College of Education, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_12

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Civil war, political unrest, and relentless poverty have led to vast numbers of displaced families, unaccompanied minors, and vulnerable people leaving their homes and seeking refuge in different parts of the world, including the United Kingdom (UK) (Koca, 2022). Researchers, policymakers, and mass media expressed their concerns about the increasing numbers of asylum-seekers and refugees in general and asylum-seeking and refugee children in particular. Among the 45,626 asylum applications in the UK in December 2020, 2291 were unaccompanied children under 18. Of the 5428 applications with dependents, 55% had children less than 18 (Asylum-GOV.UK, 2021). Adverse events in these children’s home countries forced them to have their education interrupted and endure challenging journeys to pursue protection, stability, and education. Those underlying challenges require special attention to nurturing the well-being of refugee/asylum-seeking children and fostering hope in them and their families. In 2020, the top five most common countries of people seeking asylum in the UK were Syria, Iran, Iraq, Albania, and Sudan (Walsh, 2021). Of all refugees resettled in the UK from January 2010 to December 2020, around 70% were Syrian due to the nation’s civil war. When compared to EU member states, the UK ranked seventh in the absolute number of people to whom it gave protection, including resettled refugees in 2020 (Walsh, 2021). In the UK, the right to quality education is recognized in statutory policy and guidance for all categories of refugee and asylum-seeking children. Local authorities in the UK have a legal duty to ensure that education is available for all children, irrespective of their immigration status or right of residence (Hutchinson & Reader, 2021). However, the growing number of asylum seekers in the UKcreates challenges in accommodating them and meeting their own cultural, linguistic, and religious needs in various institutional contexts like schooling. No accurate national statistical data exist for the number of asylum-seeking and refugee children in the British educational system. However, Rutter (2006) points out that at least 60,000 asylum-seeking and refugee children of school age resided in the UK in 2005 (Pinson & Arnot, 2010). Schools are an essential site of welcome for children and young people and an effective mechanism for supporting the integration of refugee students into the community. Several schools in the UK offer various interventions, including additional free-charging English and mathematics lessons, before, during, and after school. Related to this, ethnic minority and refugee communities have established and run supplementary schools to offer the children of these communities support in learning their mother tongue, cultural heritage and faith, and sometimes tuition in National Curriculum subjects intending to raise their academic achievement levels (Maylor et al., 2013; Simon, 2021). Racial and ethnic inequalities in child education and wellbeing have been described across population groups and contexts, particularly in developed nations such as the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (Müller et al., 2020; Robertson, 2022). This chapter presents a systematic review of the literature that tackled the issue of the well-being of refugee and asylumseeking children within and beyond the school gates in the UK. The existing evidence is analytically and critically reviewed and discussed to summarize the

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conceptual trends, reveal the knowledge production patterns, and suggest strategies that academics and policymakers can adopt to promote the well-being of these children and young people in the UK and beyond. Hence, overviewing and discussing research on child well-being in the UK is essential to allow researchers to detect areas that should be further explored, deepening its conceptualization and theorization.

12.1

Methodology

The relevant research studies on the well-being of asylum-seeking and refugee children in the UK context were retrieved, and their findings were thematically analyzed to answer the following questions: 1. What adversities negatively impact the well-being of asylum-seeking and refugee students? 2. What support mechanisms/interventions are needed to sustain and improve refugee students’ well-being? 3. What are the challenges of supporting refugee students’ well-being?

12.1.1 Literature Search Procedure The literature on child well-being in the UK context was searched through the following electronic databases: ERIC, Science Direct, Scopus, Emerald, Web of Science Core Collection (including Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Science Citation Index (SCI) Expanded, and Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) databases), and Google Scholar. We used the combinations of well-being related keywords together with school and migration-related keywords through the Boolean operators to identify the most relevant studies in the UK context: (wellbeing OR well-being OR “life satisfaction” OR “positive affect” OR “negative affect” OR affective OR affectivity OR affection OR emotion OR emotional OR eudemonia OR “meaning in life” OR “purpose in life” OR happiness OR “emotional intelligence” OR “emotion regulation” OR empathy OR psychology) AND (pupil OR student OR children OR kid) AND (immigrant OR migrant OR “asylum-seeker” OR refugee OR minority) AND (UK OR “United Kingdom” OR “Great Britain” OR England OR “Northern Ireland” OR Scotland OR Wales) AND (school OR education). The initial search yielded 128 results in the UK context. We examined the retrieved studies against our inclusion and exclusion criteria. We reviewed the regional focus, titles, and abstracts at the first stage. We retrieved 64 studies according to these inclusion criteria: (1) Regional focus: Only publications collecting data from the UK context were included (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and

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Wales); (2) Methodology: Literature reviews were excluded, and only the empirical studies were included; (3) Relevancy: Only the publications related to the well-being of asylum-seeking and refugee children were included; (4) Type of output: Book chapters, meeting abstracts, proceedings, editorial materials, news items, and dissertations were excluded from the search, and only the articles published in peer-reviewed journals were included; and (5) Language: Only studies written in English were included. After a comprehensive screening, we excluded 18 articles because of their irrelevance to our focus. Then, we had 46 full-text articles to evaluate their eligibility. See Appendix 12.1. At the second stage, we reviewed the full texts of these 46 articles and excluded 10 of them because of their unsophisticated analytical approaches and ambiguous explanations between migration-related experiences and children’s well-being components. After thoroughly reviewing the publications’ titles, abstracts, and full texts, we included 36 peer-reviewed articles in narrative analyses. Although we did not use a time limitation in our search, the first article in our final corpus was published in 2003, and the last was published in 2022.

12.1.2 Data Analysis We used a narrative synthesis approach. The findings of the articles in the final corpus were retrieved, compiled, organized, assessed critically, reconciled, and synthesized narratively using this approach (Petticrew & Roberts, 2006). The findings in the final corpus were categorized according to the types of refugee students’ well-being-related outcomes, their migration-related experiences, the interventions and support mechanisms used to improve and sustain their wellbeing, and the challenges of supporting refugee students’ well-being. After that, Braun and Clarke’s (2006) systematic guidelines for conducting thematic analysis were adopted to identify and interpret patterns of meaning (themes) across the findings of these studies: (1) the findings of 36 articles in the corpus were repeatedly reviewed; (2) the most relevant findings were identified; (3) each relevant finding was identified with a code; (4) codes that shared common features were collated to generate themes; and (5) the themes were identified after testing them against the coded data to answer the three overarching research questions.

12.1.3 Findings The systematic review results are reported under three main themes, which reflect the three overarching research questions. These are the adversities that negatively impact the well-being of migrant/refugee students, the support mechanisms/ interventions to sustain/improve the well-being of migrant/refugee students, and the challenges of supporting the well-being of refugee students at school. We categorized the findings from each main theme under relevant subthemes.

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Some studies in the corpus selected their samples from only refugee/asylumseeking children. We used the “refugee” term to specify the target group of those studies. However, other articles used more comprehensive samples in a single study, including the refugee/asylum-seeking children and the children of migrant families who migrated to the UK for work, study, or a similar reason. We used the “migrant” term to specify the sample of those more inclusive studies. Therefore, we mean all types of migrants, inclusive of refugee children, when we use the “migrant” term. The findings of the studies that included all types of migrants show that refugee children and other groups of migrant children experience similar problems.

12.2

The Adversities that Negatively Impact the Well-Being of Migrant/Refugee Students

The migrant/refugee students had experienced several adversities before and after the migration process that could seriously impact their well-being and behaviors. Those adversities were classified as pre-migration and post-migration experiences, racism and abusive behaviors, socioeconomic and cultural disadvantages, language problems and feelings of isolation, adaptation to the physical environment, the social and cultural adaptation process, transition processes and school changes, special educational needs, and gender.

12.2.1 Pre-migration and Post-migration Experiences The students from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds had pre-existing trauma, loss, fear, and isolation beyond the education staff’s control (McMullen et al., 2020). Several pre-migration traumas and post-migration stresses caused depression symptoms in children. The violent death of family members (Heptinstall et al., 2004) and disrupted social and family structures due to the experience of “staggered” family migration is a significant trauma during children’s immigration journeys (Hamilton, 2013a). The refugee children who had traveled alone to join a family member displayed a wide range of social, emotional, and behavioral issues (Fazel et al., 2009). The post-migration experiences of severe financial constraints and uncertain asylum status are also among the causes of depression (Heptinstall et al., 2004). Withdrawal from social interactions and aggressive and overt actingout behaviors are usual expressions of their distress, anxiety, anger, loneliness, and confusion (Fazel et al., 2009). Constant worry and feelings of insecurity throughout the asylum process inhibit their ability to focus on schoolwork (Fazel et al., 2016). There is also evidence that a family’s traumatic immigration history is linked to their psychopathology through the mediating effect of acculturation stress (Chartonas & Bose, 2015). The social, emotional, and behavioral problems during this journey increase the severity of their psychotic-like experiences (Laurens et al., 2008).

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Family members are expected to support migrant children to deal with stress during and after their immigration journeys. However, not all migrant children benefit from their family’s support during this process. In the absence of a mother or father, migrant children cannot cope with those stress factors effectively and can develop symptoms of depression, low self-esteem, and behavioral problems (Kalmijn, 2017; Lindsey et al., 2003). In addition to any pre-existing traumas and traumatic experiences on the way to the host country, British immigration detention centers do not operate in the best interests of refugee children. Their experiences during the detention period caused psychological distress and emotional symptoms, including anxiety, sleep problems, poor appetite, somatic complaints, depression, and behavioral difficulties (Lorek et al., 2009).

12.2.2 Racism and Abusive Behavior Ethnic, cultural, and religious differences make refugees a target for verbal abuse, aggressive behavior, and bullying at school, contributing to these students’ lack of confidence and feeling stressed and isolated during the initial transition period (McMullen et al., 2020). Racist abuse was among the precursors of the comparatively poorer mental health and well-being trajectories of children from minority ethnic groups (Harding et al., 2015; Morrow, 2004) and migrant adolescents (Astell-Burt et al., 2012). Negative portrayals of ethnic or racial identity that developed due to racist and abusive treatment caused migrant students to negatively position their identity and so experience race-related stress (Simon, 2021).

12.2.3 Socio-Economic and Cultural Disadvantages Living in relatively deprived neighborhoods and related socio-economic disadvantages are associated with migrant students’ social, emotional, and mental health difficulties (Astell-Burt et al., 2012; Schmaus, 2022; Strand & Lindorf, 2021). The research results suggest that family members’ reactions to such disadvantages can play a mediating role in developing adverse psychological consequences. Zilanawala et al. (2015) found that maternal psychological distress mediates the effect of adverse economic conditions on migrant children’s socio-emotional difficulties. McMullen et al. (2020) also found that parental mental health difficulties such as depression were often observed in their children.

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12.2.4 Language Problems and Feelings of Isolation Not having English as their mother tongue is a key risk factor related to the wellbeing of migrant children (Leavey et al., 2004). Linguistic disorientation and lack of familiarity with school structures, cultures, and routines are precursors of behavior problems and disengagement at school (McMullen et al., 2020). Developing lasting friendships is a challenging and time-consuming process closely related to their confidence levels in speaking English (McMullen et al., 2020). For migrant children to develop a sense of feeling accepted and secure, they need to establish friendships and a sense of belonging to a group (McMullen et al., 2020). Losing intimate social connections during the immigration process and failure to establish new relationships are significant causes of stress (Hamilton, 2013a). In addition to language problems and subsequent socialization issues, a parentification process which exacerbates feelings of isolation is often observed in migrant children who have to take on adult roles (McMullen et al., 2020).

12.2.5 Adaptation to the Physical Environment Social and cultural adaptation and adaptation to the new physical environment were reported to influence the well-being of migrant children. Being preoccupied with traffic in cities, spending more time in sedentary indoor activities because of bad weather, not having a place to play and exercise in their localities, and not being able to allow children to play outside without parental supervision due to fear of accidents and pedophiles were among environmental concerns (Condon & McClean, 2017; Morrow, 2004).

12.2.6 The Social and Cultural Adaptation Process Most migrant children experience a culture divide between their school life, which is their primary contact with the host culture, and family life, which still represents the culture in their home country (Chartonas & Bose, 2015). The most challenging factors that cause anxiety include conforming to the expectations of a new teacher and school environment, and establishing friendships while trying to master an unfamiliar language as a part of the adaptation process (Hamilton, 2013a). Conflicts between school and migrant families may arise, which can exacerbate children’s adaptation problems if parents feel that the school is not culturally sensitive and supportive enough (Chartonas & Bose, 2015). Adverse experiences at school (e.g., bullying) can also aggravate tensions if the school does not respond appropriately, and such experiences can mediate the link between acculturation stress and mental distress (Chartonas & Bose, 2015). In some circumstances, being away from newly formed social networks due to frequent returns to the home country can set back children’s social skills, confidence, and language proficiency, delay

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the development of secure attachments and thus, cause them to regress as their linguistic, relational, and cultural losses are re-experienced (Hamilton, 2013a).

12.2.7 Transition Processes and School Changes Children from ethnic minorities and lower socioeconomic status (SES) are more vulnerable to transitional stress between primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary schools or vocational training (Nauck & Genoni, 2019; Slee & Allan, 2019). The most culturally distant migrants’ well-being is the most adversely affected by these transitions, decreasing their life satisfaction and increasing their problem behaviors (Nauck & Genoni, 2019). Apart from the regular transition processes, refugee and asylum-seeking children change schools more frequently than any other group (O’Higgins, 2019). School changes lead to placement instability and difficulties at school due to these children’s underlying behavioral difficulties. It also has a strong negative impact on their exam scores (O’Higgins, 2019).

12.2.8 Special Educational Needs (SEN) Migrant children’s SEN status is among the most important predictors of emotional and behavioral difficulties (Lindsey et al., 2003). South Asian migrant children with SEN are more likely to be stigmatized and excluded by their own community due to religious or cultural values (Sheridan & Scior, 2013). It would be helpful to include the views of ethnic minorities whose religious and cultural values do not conform to inclusive values (Sheridan & Scior, 2013). But parental involvement is challenging for such families due to language barriers, lack of support groups, power differentials (professionals having a superior command of the English language, more knowledge of the processes, and higher perceived status), and being unwanted in mainstream settings because of their SEN status (Akbar & Woods, 2020). Low levels of parental involvement in school activities (less frequent communication with teachers and school) predict low levels of well-being in migrant children with SEN (Schmaus, 2022). In some cases, migrant children who have been high achievers in their home country are identified as students with special needs, which is demoralizing and demeaning for them (Hamilton, 2013b). Some teachers fail to recognize the individual abilities and needs of those migrant children because of the lack of information outlining prior learning and the initial language barrier (Hamilton, 2013b).

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12.2.9 Gender Research suggests that migrant boys are more likely to experience emotional and behavioral difficulties and peer problems (Leavey et al., 2004; Lindsey et al., 2003). The lack of a shared language and culture sometimes results in verbal and physical conflict between boys. They display more aggressive and disruptive behaviors (Hamilton, 2013a). However, other research has revealed contradictory findings that girls are more anxious, have lower levels of life satisfaction, show higher levels of problem behavior, and are more prone to displaying symptoms of depression (Morrow, 2004; Nauck & Genoni, 2019).

12.3

Support Mechanisms/Interventions to Sustain/Improve the Well-Being of Migrant/Refugee Students

This systematic review came across several interventional studies where most researchers preferred school-based interventional approaches. However, most of the studies in the corpus did not use any intervention. We classified the support mechanisms identified in those non-interventional studies as well.

12.4

Interventions

Six studies reported interventions to sustain/improve the social and emotional wellbeing of refugee children. Ehntholt et al. (2005) school-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) group intervention helped refugee or asylum-seeking children from war-affected countries overcome post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and emotional and behavioral difficulties. The primary purpose of this psychosocial-educational CBT program was to make children aware of the symptoms of PTSD and to teach them the necessary coping strategies (Ehntholt et al., 2005). Fazel et al. (2009) school-based mental health intervention improved refugee children’s peer problems and hyperactivity. The intervention involved collaboration with teachers, parents, and mental health professionals. Individual therapy (psychodynamic, supportive); family work (with or without the child); or group work (for the children/ adolescents or parents) with additional in-home and crisis intervention work were the treatment options included in the intervention. A school-based approach was adopted because families might resist hospital-based mental health services due to the complexity of institutional bureaucracies (Fazel et al., 2009). Frimberger (2016) used a “shared singing” intervention as part of their well-being-based language pedagogy approach. In this approach, other people, including teachers, try to learn a song in the native language of the asylum seeker or refugee teenager learners, and they all sing together. This intervention gave hope to learners’ future and celebrated diverse language practices as effective forms of embodiment. As a result, even the weakest and shyest learners were involved

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in all the activities. They became very confident and expressive when singing in their native languages, contributing to their social and emotional well-being (Frimberger, 2016). Obsuth et al. (2017) evaluated the school-based “Engage in Education—London (EiE-L)” program, which aimed to reduce problem behavior and exclusion by developing the social and communication skills of students in a high-risk school exclusion group (including ethnic minorities). Group and one-to-one sessions focused on social skills such as assertive communication, anger management, or appreciating the availability of various alternative responses in different situations. The results suggested a slight improvement in fixed-period exclusion after the intervention. (Obsuth et al., 2017). Ritchie and Gaulter (2020) used a dance intervention to support newly arrived migrant pupils’ psychological wellbeing. Sixty-minute dance classes were introduced each week, including small group tasks and pair-work to encourage collaboration between the participants and develop a sense of sharing and ownership. This intervention created opportunities for participants to connect with one another, engage meaningfully, build confidence, and feel safe, prerequisites for a sense of belonging (Ritchie & Gaulter, 2020). Slee and Allan (2019) used an “Outdoor Adventure (OA)” residential program, which included collaborative activities such as meal preparation, housekeeping duties, group-planned nature-based trips, presentations, role-play, songs, poetry, and narratives. This intervention improved pupils’ psychological well-being and ability to overcome transitional stress. The OA program helped the children to feel valued as group members (relatedness), show their strengths when performing certain duties (competence), become independent (autonomy), feel proud and content (well-being), and develop adaptive capabilities (Slee & Allan, 2019).

12.4.1 Support Mechanisms Support mechanisms in the non-interventional studies are classified under supportive school environment, peer support, family support, faith and religious practices, and ethnic, religious, and minority support groups, as explained below.

12.4.2 Supportive School Environment Migrant students need a series of socio-emotional and academic support mechanisms to successfully deal with the issues that arise during the transition process and maintain their well-being. A range of support strategies includes induction to the local environment, language development, buddy systems, parent groups, and programs to support social and emotional well-being, which all aim to make them feel confident, safe, and happy and sustain the well-being of migrant children (McMullen et al., 2020). Most migrant students found their teachers supportive

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and that teachers knew them well enough to identify when they needed additional psychological or academic help (Fazel, 2015). Most migrant children evaluated school provision in the UK favorably compared to their home countries because of opportunities to play, interesting and easier lessons, not having to carry around personal belongings, less didactic teaching methods, less homework, and free school resources (Hamilton, 2013b). Employing staff from diverse ethnic, cultural, or religious backgrounds and training current staff to give culturally sensitive responses to migrant students and their parents were reported to help sustain their well-being (Akbar & Woods, 2020). Culturally specific, school-based interventions could be promoted by integrating ethnic minority views to develop more inclusive policies and decrease stigma (Sheridan & Scior, 2013).

12.4.3 Peer Support Children and adolescents usually spend more time with their peers than with their family members (Morrow, 2004). Developing friendships in school helped the newly arrived migrants improve their well-being and support their settlement into school (Hulusi & Oland, 2010). The social recognition granted to migrant children and adolescents by their peers motivates them to make more friends, study harder, change activities when required, and have the confidence to seek psychological help when necessary (Fazel, 2015). Although peers are a strong source of support, they sometimes exhibit undesirable habits such as visiting fast-food restaurants, taking drugs, and smoking (Morrow, 2004). School-based events can cement friendships with local children; for instance, joining a school music band or athletic team, making a presentation in front of peers, and receiving positive feedback from peers made significant changes to the well-being of migrant students (Fazel, 2015). Raising children’s awareness of non-verbal ways of communication, fostering a respectful and caring environment, and buddying are ways of helping children build positive relationships (Hamilton, 2013b). Shared language peers can be buddied, where one child plays the role of an interpreter to promote friendship and aid the transition process; the child acting as interpreter feels more competent and purposeful in the new environment (Hamilton, 2013b).

12.4.4 Familial Support Participation in family activities such as watching TV or videos, playing indoor games, eating a meal, going for a walk or playing sports, visiting friends or relatives, and going to other places were predictors of better psychological well-being scores in migrant adolescents (Maynard & Harding, 2010). Parents and family networks shape the behavior of migrant children and adolescents, play a protective role against acculturative stress, and sustain their well-being (Chartonas & Bose,

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2015; Ochieng, 2014). Parents and family networks are also important sources of knowledge, and parents’ child-rearing practices, beliefs, and values can help them overcome social discrimination (Ochieng, 2014).

12.4.5 Faith and Religious Practices Most migrant adolescents described themselves and their families as spiritual, and they rely on religious principles in their daily lives (Ochieng, 2014). Religion has a significant impact on their values, lifestyle, identity, and aspirations (Harding et al., 2015). Families’ child-rearing practices can rely on their spiritual beliefs. Parents use teachings from religious books to discourage harmful or antisocial behavior (Ochieng, 2014). Faith and religious practices have been reported as among the factors that protect well-being (Akbar & Woods, 2020). Religious services function as an extension of the family by providing attendees with a sense of companionship and belonging, reinforcing their psychological and social well-being (Ochieng, 2014). Religion provides a sense of meaning and purpose in life to combat unpleasant experiences like discrimination and racism (Harding et al., 2015). Prayer and spiritual meditation are forms of relaxation that support good mental health by promoting optimism, hope, and resilience (Akbar & Woods, 2020; Ochieng, 2014). Religious practices also provide coping strategies to face challenges in their lives by reminding them of “the bigger picture,” helping them retain a sense of self-worth and praying for guidance (Harding et al., 2015).

12.4.6 Ethnic, Religious, and Minority Support Groups Children whose parents adopt a more traditional acculturation style and use their native language more often experience lower levels of acculturation stress and emotional and behavioral difficulties (Atzaba-Poria et al., 2004). Wu et al. (2018) findings revealed that assimilation-oriented young people have lower levels of resilience and, thus, have poorer mental health scores than those who are integration-oriented. Endorsing the new host culture and creating a balance between one’s original and new cultural identity produces greater resilience and positive mental health. Ethnic, religious, and minority supplementary schools help integrate children without abandoning their original identities, fostering a sense of belonging and positive group identity by counteracting negative identity discourses, helping them recover diminished or lost identities, and preserving the continuation of emblematic identity traits (Simon, 2021). In addition, less racism and discrimination were experienced in schools with high own-group density (Astell-Burt et al., 2012).

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12.4.7 The Challenges of Supporting the Well-Being of Migrant/ Refugee Students Practitioners, schools, and many local authorities without sufficient experience working with migrant children were caught unprepared when the unprecedented wave of migrants arrived in the UK post-2005 (Hamilton, 2013a). They experienced a series of challenges to their attempts to support the well-being of refugee students at school. We classified those challenges under seven categories in our systematic review: teacher workload, the training and support required by teachers, the language barrier, the underrepresentation of minorities, lack of structural and institutional support, lack of suitable teaching resources, and prejudices. Details are explained below.

12.5

Teacher Workload

Most teachers were able to cope with the needs of one or two refugee children. Still, many had difficulty meeting the diverse needs and expectations of more than this number (Hamilton, 2013b). School staff experienced time pressure and workload stress when they had to support newly arrived children with linguistic and cultural difficulties while still trying to address the needs of all the other children in the class (McMullen et al., 2020).

12.5.1 Training and Support Required by Teachers Addressing the well-being needs of migrant children is a new area that requires further staff development for most school staff and youth workers (McMullen et al., 2020). In practice, most school staff tried to develop their skills and strategies on the job because they had no adequate training for working with migrant children (Hamilton, 2013b).

12.5.2 Language Barrier Language is a major barrier to migrant children and their families who try to develop effective collaborative strategies with school staff and professionals (Hamilton, 2013a). Bilingual staff acting as interpreters at school was not considered an effective response to the problem by parents because they were not always available, provided poor quality service, and were perceived as the school’s representatives who did not meet parents’ expectations (Akbar & Woods, 2020). Linguistic and cultural barriers also influenced the work of teachers because it was challenging to deal with significant numbers of newcomer migrant children with little or no English proficiency, low levels of mother-tongue literacy, and no previous schooling experience (McMullen et al., 2020).

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12.5.3 Lack of Structural and Institutional Support Families complained about the lack of a centralized school admissions system and a shortage of professional interpreters. The upshot was that most migrant families arrived at schools sporadically throughout the school year, which resulted in a lack of specialized support for the induction of the children (Hamilton, 2013a). Parents also found that all the official processes were time-consuming, slow-paced, and frustrating (Akbar & Woods, 2020). In addition to political deadlock and paperwork, staff were over-stretched by funding and resourcing concerns (Akbar & Woods, 2020; McMullen et al., 2020).

12.5.4 Lack of Suitable Teaching Resources There is a lack of appropriate teaching resources and written guidance, and the limited support offered to many schools did not arrive in time (Hamilton, 2013b). The current resources are far from recognizing the cultural heritage, abilities, needs, and well-being of refugee students from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds (Hamilton, 2013a). Various curriculum pressures also made it challenging to address the individual academic and socio-emotional needs of migrant pupils (Hamilton, 2013a).

12.5.5 Prejudices Most school staff had negative views of migrant parents’ ability to develop appropriate socio-emotional skills in their children, which was among the factors that impeded the school’s efforts to improve the well-being of migrant children (Wood & Warin, 2014).

12.6

Discussion and Conclusion

This systematic review provides a thematic analysis of the research evidence regarding the well-being of asylum-seeking and refugee students in the UK. In total, we found thirty-six studies, of which six were interventional. The thematic analysis was based on the overarching research questions as the main themes: identifying adversities that negatively impact the well-being of migrant/refugee students, the support mechanisms/interventions used to sustain/improve the wellbeing of migrant/refugee students, and the challenges to supporting the well-being of migrant/refugee students at school.

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In the UK, the studies highlighted that most asylum-seeking and refugee children had negative experiences before and/or after migration that could adversely impact their social and emotional well-being and create behavioral difficulties. Pre-migration traumas and post-migration stress and anxieties such as war, loss, fear, isolation, financial and statutory insecurity, and staggered family migration caused children to develop symptoms of depression and emotional, social, and behavioral disorders. Many such children could not obtain adequate support from their families, and British immigration detention centers are not the ideal places to host them. Some other studies also argued that when migrants are stressed and concerned about unemployment and job loss, it exacerbates low socioeconomic status and influences their health outcomes (Ayón, 2015; Esses, 2021). In addition, the unemployment and underemployment that migrants experience can mean that migrant children are raised in poverty, which is linked to poorer developmental, health, and educational outcomes. In addition, when parents are forced to work long and irregular hours to survive, they have less time to spend with their children, and their children’s development and mental well-being also suffer (Ayón, 2015). Although researchers suggest the importance of social support for refugees, this knowledge has not been invoked to systematically develop culturally congruent support interventions that help refugees adapt to life in receiving countries (Steward et al., 2012). In addition, the literature highlighted that during the social, cultural, and physical adaptation processes, children need support from school staff, other professionals, family members, and peers. However, linguistic and cultural difficulties prevent them from getting adequate support other than family members. Thus, they feel more isolated. Linguistic and cultural differences make it harder for them to establish friendship circles, develop a sense of belonging to a group, and feel more accepted and secure in host communities. Researchers stressed that social support can reduce refugees’ isolation and loneliness (Bhui et al., 2006; Jaranson et al., 2004), enhance their sense of belonging and life satisfaction (Young, 2001), mediate the stress of discrimination, and facilitate integration into a new society (Stewart et al., 2008). However, refugee students with SEN are more vulnerable as they and their families cannot always access support services because of cultural and linguistic barriers in the UK. Lower socio-economic status is another vulnerability factor that could prevent refugee children from reaching adequate support. Transition to secondary or higher education levels, frequent changes of school, or unstable school life can bring additional challenges that could adversely impact refugee children’s well-being. Their cultural, religious, and ethnic differences make them vulnerable to discrimination, racism, and abusive behaviors, which exacerbate their acculturation stress and socio-emotional difficulties during the adaptation process. Various interventions were used to improve/sustain the social and emotional well-being of asylum-seeking and refugee children. Most researchers preferred school-based services to facilitate the involvement of families and children. Cognitive behavioral therapy, individual and group therapies, developing social

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and communication skills were the most common approaches to cultivate selfawareness and teach the required coping strategies (Cully & Teten, 2008). Some researchers, including Fancourt and Finn (2019) and Gaiha et al. (2021), argued that effectively employed arts-based interventions such as shared singing, dancing, nature trips, presentations, role-play, poetry, and narratives to improve children’s social and emotional well-being. Various support mechanisms were identified for asylum-seeking and refugee children’s well-being. A supportive school environment was crucial for meeting their socio-emotional and academic needs and helping them overcome their problems during the transition process. Current research evidence suggests schools need to be empowered to develop their own strategies to match the culture of the groups they serve. Therefore, culturally competent school services should be employed to effectively support migrant students (Morrow, 2004). In addition, researchers pointed out that a school culture where people embrace diversity in the classroom can positively impact the school community. When this happens, a school community creates a safe, supportive and purposeful environment for students and staff, which in turn allows students to grow—academically and socially (Aydin, 2012; Abubakar, 2021; Kampen, 2020; Strayhorn, 2022). Therefore, staff from diverse ethnic, cultural, or religious backgrounds could be employed to foster a welcoming environment. Also, current staff should be trained, and the views of the diverse learners could be integrated to develop more inclusive and responsive school policies and services. Parents, family networks, and peers are potent sources of information and support for migrant/refugee children. For instance, Warsi (2017) emphasized that refugee families are part of many communities, bringing rich cultural experiences to early learning programs. Because of the social and emotional impact that being a refugee has on migrants, specifically on children and their families, it is essential that educators create inclusive and nurturing classroom environments. Communication with family members and developing friendships with peers inside and outside school can satisfy their socio-emotional needs and help them deal with acculturation stress. Buddying with shared language peers at school proved to be an effective way to cement friendships and provide support during the adaptation process. Similarly, ethnic, religious, and minority support groups can also help refugee children deal with socio-emotional and behavioral difficulties and reduce acculturation stress. Maintaining a positive group identity about the original language, religion or ethnicity helps refugee children develop higher resilience, a sense of belonging, and positive mental health. Faith and spiritual practices also promote hope, optimism, resilience, give meaning to life, and a sense of companionship with other believers, reinforcing refugee children’s social and psychological well-being. Many studies, including the OECD (2015) report, have suggested that the psychological well-being of migrant students is affected by differences between their country of origin and country of destination and by how well the schools and local communities in their country of destination help them to overcome the myriad

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obstacles they face in succeeding at school and building a new life. However, the relevant studies about the UK pointed out several challenges when supporting the well-being of migrant/refugee students at school (O’Higgins, 2019; Walsh, 2021). For example, migrant students’ arrivals were irregular and outside the school year/ term due to the lack of a central admissions system, so there was a lack of professional support for the induction of refugee students. Most school staff need additional training to develop the necessary skills to support migrant students adequately. Teachers were not provided with adequate teaching and financial resources to address the diverse and individual needs of different groups of students. Linguistic and cultural barriers made it difficult to build up collaborative structures between family and school staff and identify their actual needs and expectations. Studies recommended that if new arrivals, refugees, or asylum seekers do not speak English, it will take them some time to learn the language. In the meantime, one way to build a collaborative structure is ensuring that there are games and activities available that do not require language proficiency to help newcomers feel comfortable in the new environment (Warsi, 2017). In addition, school staff’s negative views and prejudices against migrant families that undermine efforts to develop effective collaboration strategies between school and families must be addressed. Ethnic minorities are under-represented among school staff, making it hard to deal with linguistic and cultural barriers. Notwithstanding all challenges, many refugee children and their families have been arriving in the UK hoping for a peaceful life and better education and employment opportunities. Hope for a better future gives them the required resilience to deal with the traumas and challenges they experience before, during, and after the migration. Good quality school-life experiences and good quality education received in the UK are important preconditions for their well-being, making refugee students more hopeful when they think they have better job opportunities and quality life in the future. Refugee children have culture- or religious-specific psychological resources and coping mechanisms they employ, consciously or unconsciously, to sustain their hope, optimism, resilience, self-efficacy, and well-being. Refugee children also have unique and diverse needs and expectations, which require culture-specific and sometimes individualized efforts to develop adequate support mechanisms/ interventions to foster hope in them. Therefore, schools must carefully identify each target group’s unique needs, expectations, psychological resources, and coping mechanisms to develop adequate responses to their psychosocial and behavioral issues. Schools need more financial, staff, and infrastructure support to develop a more inclusive school environment. Teachers and other school staff need more training opportunities and educational resources to provide the required academic and socio-emotional support.

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This study gives insights to policymakers and practitioners to develop more inclusive policies and practices to improve and sustain the well-being of refugee/ migrant students. However, more research is needed on improving resilience building and appraising the impact of interventions that could improve their school outcomes. Points to Ponder This chapter provides insights to educators and policymakers about strategies to improve and sustain the well-being of refugee children. • What support mechanisms are in place and which of them are more effective in sustaining/improving the well-being of refugee students? • What infrastructure, financial, and staff resources do schools need to provide the required socioemotional support services to refugee children? • How can schools create culturally sensitive interventions conducive to a more inclusive and supportive school climate for refugee students? More to Discover: Additional Examples Some studies in the corpus provide practical insights for educators on how to nurture the well-being of refugee/asylum-seeking children. Ritchie and Gaulter’s (2020) dance intervention, Slee and Allan’s (2019) “Outdoor Adventure” residential program, Frimberger’s (2016) “shared singing” approach as an application of their arts-based and well-being-focused language pedagogy, Wood and Warin’s (2014) “Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL)” program, and Hulusi and Oland’s (2010) “Talking Stones” approach provide practical examples for educators on how to deal with well-being issues of those vulnerable children and foster hope in them. Those practical approaches, along with other interventions, are underlined in this chapter. Researchers provided a specific example from Ritchie and Gaulter’s (2020) dance intervention. This approach includes six 60-min dance classes. The sessions begin with a cued response teaching style and continue with small group tasks, such as working in pairs and improvising a group pose to encourage collaboration. This approach proved to be helpful in sustaining the migrant students’ well-being and creating a sense of sharing and ownership.

Appendix

Sample

Approximately 19,000 children in the UK

The leaders of 16 (minority) supplementary schools in West Midlands, England

550,000 pupils aged 5–11 years

13 female migrant secondary school pupils aged between 11 and 15

Newcomer pupils, school staff, and youth workers selected from 8 schools in Northern Ireland

10 Pakistani ethnic minority parents who have kids with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

100 school children aged 11 years from three secondary schools in the north of the UK. They were representatives of lower SES households and ethnic minorities

Author(s)/date

Schmaus (2022)

Simon (2021)

Strand and Lindorff (2021)

Ritchie and Gaulter (2020)

McMullen et al. (2020)

Akbar and Woods (2020)

Slee and Allan (2019)

Qualitative: semi-structured focus groups with students, researchers’ observations, and field diaries

No

Yes

Yes

Qualitative: semi-structured interviews No

Evaluating the efficacy of a bespoke Mixed-methods study: questionnaire Outdoor Adventure (OA) program for and interviews developing school children’s psychological well-being and self-determination

Pakistani parents’ experience of having a child with SEND

No

Quantitative: secondary analysis of the No National Pupil Database in England

Qualitative: interviews

Quantitative: secondary analysis of the No Millennium Cohort Study

The mental health needs of newcomer Mixed method: questionnaire, online pupils in schools in Northern Ireland surveys, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions

Examining whether dance might influence the wellbeing of migrant pupils, in particular, their sense of belonging

Reasons behind the disproportionalities of special needs for ethnic and language minority students in England

The wellbeing of adolescents and young people from Black and minority ethnic (BME) communities

Reasons behind the disproportionalities of special needs for ethnic and language minority students in England

(continued)

Interventional

Appendix 12.1 Information of the sources on child well-being in the United Kingdom Method

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Focus

12 185

Sample

Students aged 14–15 years in 952 classes in 480 schools in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden

167 refugee and asylum-seeking young people (aged 16) who were in care for 12 months or more and who were enrolled for GCSE exams

194 cross-border and internal migrants aged 10–17 years from six countries Australia, Canada, China, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK

644 students aged from 12.85 from several ethnic minorities, the largest of which was Black African/Black Caribbean in London, UK

28 parents of pre-school children who had migrated to the UK within the last 10 years. Parents were from Romania, Poland, Somalia, and Pakistan

Tenth graders in England, ninth-graders in Germany, third graders of secondary schools in the Netherlands, and eighth-graders in Sweden. The children were about 14 years old

Author(s)/date

Nauck and Genoni (2019)

O’Higgins (2019)

Wu et al. (2018)

Obsuth et al. (2017)

Condon and McClean (2017)

Kalmijn (2017)

Appendix 12.1 (continued) Focus

Method

Qualitative: five focus groups

Quantitative: a cluster-randomized controlled trial (c-RCT)

Quantitative: a questionnaire

No

No

Yes

No

Quantitative: secondary analysis of the No data obtained from the Department for Education in England in 2013

Describing differences in family Quantitative: a questionnaire structure between minority children and majority children and comparing the effects of family structure on children’s well-being among minority groups

Explored parents’ views on maintaining children’s health following migration

Evaluating a 12-week-long intervention with the aim of reducing school exclusions and problem behaviors

Investigating how different acculturation patterns (i.e., integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization) had influenced the mental health of migrant youth

Analyzing the educational outcomes of unaccompanied refugee and asylum-seeking children in care

(continued)

Interventional

Investigating the well-being of Quantitative: the children of migrants No adolescent migrants compared to their Longitudinal Survey in Four European native counterparts during the status Countries (CILS4EU) transition at the end of lower secondary school

186 M. Karakus et al.

40 teenage ESOL learners aged 16–19 with asylum and refugee backgrounds, newly arrived in Glasgow

6643 children from ethnic minorities Examining the role of psychosocial aged 11–13 in London factors in nurturing the health and well-being of ethnic minorities growing up in the UK

12,376 migrant children aged 7 years Investigating ethnic differences in old children’s socioemotional difficulties and possible explanations for any observed inequalities

An 8-year-old girl of Eritrean origin

Fazel et al. (2016)

Frimberger (2016)

Harding et al. (2015)

Zilanawala et al. (2015)

Chartonas and Bose (2015)

No

Yes

Presenting a challenging clinical case Qualitative: interviews of an 8-year-old girl who presented with very disorganized behavior, which matched a culturally accepted construct of spirit possession, in the context of migration trauma, acculturative stress, and new sibling transition

No

Quantitative: data were collected from No the fourth sweep of the Millennium Cohort Study when children were aged 7 years

Mixed methods: questionnaires and interviews

Exploring the conceptual background Qualitative: auto-ethnographic and pedagogical realities of reflections and interviews establishing a well-being-focused language pedagogy in the context of an informal education event called Language Fest

Examined young refugees’ Qualitative: semi-structured interviews No impressions and experience of mental health services integrated within the school system

Sample

40 adolescent refugees from three school-based mental health services in the UK

Author(s)/date

(continued)

Interventional

Appendix 12.1 (continued) Method

Promoting the Well-Being of Asylum-Seeking and Refugee Children Within …

Focus

12 187

53 adolescents of Black African origin residing in a county in the north of England

402 staff members, including headteachers, assistant headteachers, senior management staff, teachers, teaching assistants, welfare staff, other support staff, administration staff, and maintenance staff

40 children aged 3–11, 23 teachers Examining some of the factors Qualitative: classroom observation, from 13 primary schools; 8 English impacting migrant children’s learning interviews, and key documents as an Additional Language (EAL) and well-being provided by the local authority teachers; 9 Eastern European parents (7 were Polish, and 2 were Lithuanian); and 6 community practitioners

Wood and Warin (2014)

Hamilton (2013b)

Method

Ochieng (2014)

Focus

Fazel (2015)

Investigating the interpretation and use of Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) in primary schools in the UK

A mixed-method: interviews and a questionnaire

Examining Black adolescents’ Qualitative: semi-structured in-depth experiences and views on the interviews interrelationship between their families’ parenting practices and their wellbeing

Describing the role of schools in Qualitative: semi-structured in-depth supporting the overall development of interviews refugee children and the importance of peer interactions

Sample

Forty refugee and asylum-seeking young adults (over 16 years)

Author(s)/date

Appendix 12.1 (continued)

No

No

No

(continued)

Interventional No

188 M. Karakus et al.

6645 adolescents aged 11–16 from 51 schools in 10 of London’s 32 boroughs

A 16-year-old male new arrival from Outlining the Talking Stones Afghanistan approach and how it could be used to support newly arrived children and young people developed a coherent narrative for their experiences

Sheridan and Scior (2013

Astell-Burt et al. (2012)

Hulusi and Oland (2010)

Maynard and Harding (2010) 4349 Black Caribbean, Black African, Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi, and White British boys and girls aged 11–13, in 51 schools

737 participants aged 16–19 years

Hamilton (2013a)

Qualitative: a case study/interview

Quantitative: a questionnaire

Quantitative: participants completed a demographics questionnaire and the community living attitudes scale—ID version

Qualitative: classroom observation, interviews, key documents provided by the local authority

Exploring whether family activities Quantitative: a questionnaire explained ethnic differences in mental health among adolescents in London, UK

Investigating the effect of racism, own-group ethnic density, diversity, and deprivation on adolescent trajectories in psychological well-being

Assessing attitudes towards people with ID among British South Asians (BSA) and comparing these with a White British (WB) sample

Examining some factors which impacted migrant children’s social and emotional well-being and thus their learning

Sample

100 individuals, which included: 40 children ( 23 boys and 17 girls aged 3–11; 30 children from School M and 10 children from eight other primary schools); 14 teachers from School M; 23 teachers from 13 other primary schools; eight English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers; nine Eastern European parents; and six community practitioners

Author(s)/date

No

No

No

No

No

(continued)

Interventional

Appendix 12.1 (continued) Method

Promoting the Well-Being of Asylum-Seeking and Refugee Children Within …

Focus

12 189

Sample

24 children in detention 11–155 (median 43) days and their parents

47 teachers of children aged 5–17

2588 children aged 9–12 and 597 caregivers

26 children (aged 11–15 years) who were refugees or asylum-seekers from war-affected countries

40 refugee children aged 8–16 who lived in London with at least one parent or a refugee relative and their parents

197 boys and 132 girls with a mean age of 13.2 years

Author(s)/date

Lorek et al. (2009)

Fazel et al. (2009)

Laurens et al. (2008)

Ehntholt et al. (2005)

Heptinstall et al. (2004)

Leavey et al. (2004)

Appendix 12.1 (continued) Focus

Method

Quantitative: survey, the Birleson Depression Self-Rating Scale, and the teacher-rated version of the SDQ

Quantitative: a questionnaire

Quantitative: a questionnaire completed by teachers

Mixed methods: interviews & Self-report questionnaires

Examining the prevalence of psychological problems among refugee and migrant schoolchildren compared to their UK-born peers

Quantitative: two questionnaires were completed by students

Examining the effect of pre-migration Mixed method: two questionnaires and post-migration experiences on the completed by students and interviews mental health of refugee children with parents

Evaluating the effectiveness of a school-based group intervention designed for children who had experienced trauma

Examining the associations of ethnicity and migrant status with a triad of putative antecedents of schizophrenia in a UK community sample of children

Describing a school-based mental health service developed to address the psychological needs of refugee children

Assessing the mental and physical health of children held within a British immigration detention center

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

(continued)

Interventional No

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101 boys and girls in two age bands: 12–13 years old and 14–15 years old with a significant proportion from minority ethnic groups from two schools located near London

Teachers and parents of 262 children Estimating the rate of emotional and (180 girls, 73 boys aged 3–4 years behavioural disturbance among old) children aged three and four years living in the strictly orthodox Jewish community in North London

Atzaba-Poria et al. (2004)

Morrow (2004)

Lindsey et al. (2003)

Mixed method: a questionnaire completed by parents and teachers followed

Quantitative: a questionnaire

Exploring 12–15-year olds’ Qualitative: participatory research subjective experiences of their methods (freewriting, child-led neighborhoods, their quality of life, photographs, and focus groups) and the nature of their social networks

Examining differences between the English and Indian children in the level of externalizing, internalizing, and total problem behaviors they exhibited

Sample

125 children (66 Indian—36 boys and 30 girls; and 59 English—28 boys and 31 girls) between the ages of 7 and 9 years and their parents and teachers from 29 schools in West London

Author(s)/date

No

No

No

Interventional

Appendix 12.1 (continued) Method

Promoting the Well-Being of Asylum-Seeking and Refugee Children Within …

Focus

12 191

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British Educational Research Journal, 39(1), 107–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411926.2011. 614689 Maynard, M. J., & Harding, S. (2010). Ethnic differences in psychological well-being in adolescence in the context of time spent in family activities. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 45(1), 115–123. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0047-z McMullen, J., Jones, S., Campbell, R., McLaughlin, J., McDade, B., O’Lynn, P., & Glen, C. (2020). ‘Sitting on a wobbly chair’: Mental health and wellbeing among newcomer pupils in Northern Irish schools. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 25(2), 125–138. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/01629778.2020.1763095 Morrow, V. (2004). Children’s “social capital”: Implications for health and well-being. Health Education, 104(4), 211–225. https://doi.org/10.1108/09654280410546718 Müller, L. M., Howard, K., Wilson, E., Gibson, J., & Katsos, N. (2020). Bilingualism in the family and child well-being: A scoping review. International Journal of Bilingualism, 24(5–6), 1049– 1070. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006920920939 Nauck, B., & Genoni, A. (2019). Status transition in the educational system and well-being of migrant adolescents in cross-national comparison. Zeitschrift Für Erziehungswissenschaft, 22(1), 47–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-019-00887-z Obsuth, I., Sutherland, A., Cope, A., Pilbeam, L., Murray, A. L., & Eisner, M. (2017). London education and inclusion project (LEIP): Results from a cluster-randomized controlled trial of an intervention to reduce school exclusion and antisocial behavior. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(3), 538–557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0468-4 Ochieng, B. M. (2014). Minority ethnic adolescents’ wellbeing: Child rearing practices and positive family influences. Health Education Journal, 73(3), 324-331. https://doi.org/10.1177/001 7896912471053 OECD. (2015). Helping immigrant students to succeed at school—And beyond. OECD Press. O’Higgins, A. (2019). Analysis of care and education pathways of refugee and asylum-seeking children in care in England: Implications for social work. International Journal of Social Welfare, 28(1), 53–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsw.12324 Petticrew, M., & Roberts, H. (2006). Systematic reviews in the social sciences: A practical guide. John Wiley & Sons. Pinson, H., & Arnot, M. (2010). Local conceptualisations of the education of asylum-seeking and refugee students: From hostile to holistic models. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14(3), 247–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603110802504523 Ritchie, A., & Gaulter, A. (2020). Dancing towards belonging: The use of a dance intervention to influence migrant pupils’ sense of belonging in school. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 24(4), 366–380. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2018.1464069 Robertson, A. S. (2022). Scottish children’s panels: Where volunteers are essential for fostering child well-being. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 16(1), 7–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/155 48732.2020.1792389 Rutter, J. (2006). Refugee children in the UK. Open University Press. Schmaus, M. (2022). Disproportionate identification of special needs for ethnic and language minority students in England–patterns and explanations. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 43(1), 40–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2021.2002682 Sheridan, J., & Scior, K. (2013). Attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities: A comparison of young people from British South Asian and White British backgrounds. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34(4), 1240–1247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2012.12.017 Simon, A. (2021). ‘We must name ourselves’: ERI construction within the supplementary schooling context. Pastoral Care in Education, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2021.197 7992 Slee, V., & Allan, J. F. (2019). Purposeful outdoor learning empowers children to deal with school transitions. Sports, 7(6), 134. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports7060134 Strand, S., & Lindorff, A. (2021). Ethnic disproportionality in the identification of high-incidence special educational needs: A national longitudinal study ages 5–11. Exceptional Children, 87(3), 344–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402921990895

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Stewart, M., Anderson, J., Beiser, M., Makwarimba, E., Neufeld, A., Simich, L., & Spitzer, D. (2008). Multicultural meanings of social support among immigrants and refugees. International Migration, 46(93), 123–159. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2008.00464.x Stewart, M., Simich, L., Shizha, E., Makumbe, K., & Makwarimba, E. (2012). Supporting African refugees in Canada: Insights from a support intervention. Health and Social Care in the Community, 20(5), 516–527. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2524.2012.01069.x Strayhorn, T. L. (2022). Exploring ethnic minority first-year college students’ well-being and sense of belonging: A qualitative investigation of a brief intervention. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 6(1), 42–58. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/11422 Walsh, P. W. (2021). Briefing: Asylum and refugee resettlement in the UK. Retrieved from https:/ /migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/migration-to-the-uk-asylum/ Warsi, S. (2017). Welcoming refugee children into early childhood classrooms. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/aug2017/welcoming-refugee-children-into-cla ssrooms Wood, P., & Warin, J. (2014). Social and emotional aspects of learning: Complementing, compensating and countering parental practices. British Educational Research Journal, 40(6), 937–951. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3122 Wu, Q., Ge, T., Emond, A., Foster, K., Gatt, J. M., Hadfield, K., Wouldes, T. A., & et al. (2018). Acculturation, resilience, and the mental health of migrant youth: A cross-country comparative study. Public Health, 162, 63–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2018.05.006 Young, M. Y. (2001). Moderators of stress in Salvadoran refugees: The role of social and personal resources. International Migration Review, 35, 840–869. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379. 2001.tb00043.x Zilanawala, A., Sacker, A., Nazroo, J., & Kelly, Y. (2015). Ethnic differences in children’s socioemotional difficulties: Findings from the Millennium cohort study. Social Science and Medicine, 134, 95–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.04.012

Mehmet Karakus is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Global Learning: Education and Attainment, Coventry University, UK. He has 17 years of experience in educational research and practice. He has worked as an Associate Professor in the Department of Higher Education, Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University between 2019–2021. His research focuses on emotions and emotionality in educational administration and leadership, teacher psychology, and the well-being, personality, and job outcomes of educational leaders and teachers. He has employed advanced statistical methods for data analysis and developed many original models in his area of expertise. He also has expertise in systematic literature reviews, meta-analysis, and scientific mapping of literature. Anas Hajar is a graduate of Warwick University holding a PhD in Language Education. He won the Giving to Warwick Prize for his PhD thesis. He worked as a Postdoctoral Research and Teaching Fellow at Warwick, Coventry, and Christ Church Universities in the UK and as an Assistant Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong SAR. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Multilingual Education and the PhD Program Director at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. He is particularly interested in motivational issues in language learning and intercultural engagement. He also works in the areas of internationalization and education abroad, language learning strategies and shadow education. Hasan Aydin is a human rights defender and a Professor of Multicultural Education in the Department of Leadership, Technology and Research at Florida Gulf Coast University. His scholarship focuses on multicultural education, bilingual education, Kurdish language, and cultural rights, human rights, social justice, diversity and equity in education, educating refugee students, citizenship education in a global context, and international education. He is the author of several books

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and published numerous articles, and has had many conference presentations. His most recent book (co-edited with Winston Langley) was Human Rights in Turkey: Assaults on Human Dignity, which Springer Press published. He is also a founding editor and editor-in-chief for the Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies and the American Journal of Qualitative Research, and an associate editor for Intercultural Education.

Multicultural School Events: Possibilities and Pitfalls for Refugee Students and Their Families

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Thor-André Skrefsrud

Abstract

Multicultural school events have become a useful tool for schools to highlight the different cultures and languages present in the school and draw attention to international solidarity and tolerance of diversity. While prior research has found that multicultural school events play a powerful role in the mobilization of group-based identities—often in ways that promote cultural stereotypes and essentialist cultural identities—much less research has focused on how the events are experienced by the participants, especially by students and families from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds. This chapter examines how refugee students and their families experience the practice. A theoretical lens of belonging and diasporic identity is used to critically discuss the possible limitations of such events as well as their positive potential. The chapter identifies the risk of reducing multicultural education to exotic happenings separated from the everyday activities in school. At the same time, the chapter draws attention to the productivity of multicultural school events by presenting counter-narratives about diasporic identity, belonging, and learning. Keywords

Multicultural school events • Diasporic identities • Refugee students • Multicultural education Around the world, multicultural school events have become a widespread and popular practice for schools to highlight the different cultures and languages present in the school and draw attention to international solidarity and tolerance of diversity (Niemi et al., 2014; Watkins & Noble, 2019; Wood & Homolja, 2021). Such events often take place around October 24, which is International United Nations T.-A. Skrefsrud (B) Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Hamar, Norway e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_13

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(UN) Day. In January, many American schools celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, including activities and lessons designed to enhance tolerance (in the spirit of Kings’ dream). During this time, the schools often set aside the teaching schedule and organize learning activities across grades, celebrating diversity and initiating intercultural exchange. The multicultural school event may culminate in a joint afternoon festival to which parents, families, students, teachers, and others are invited. As part of the school festival, the participants share food from different countries, present folk dances and traditional clothing, and become familiarized with the works and products the students have created during the event, for example, posters showcasing different countries (Ngo, 2010; Troyna, 2012; Watkins & Noble, 2019). This chapter discusses the possibilities and pitfalls of multicultural school events for refugee students and their families. While prior research has found that such events play a powerful role in the mobilization of group-based identities—often in ways that promote cultural stereotypes and essentialist cultural identities—much less research has focused on how the events are experienced by the participants, especially by students and families from refugee and asylumseeking backgrounds. Based on previous empirical work conducted at a multicultural school event in Norway (Dewilde & Skrefsrud, 2021; Dewilde et al., 2018, 2021), this chapter examines how refugee students and their families experience the event. A theoretical lens of belonging and diasporic identity is used to critically discuss the positive potential of such events and their potential limitations. Hence, the purpose of the chapter is to provide a nuanced understanding of schools’ use of multicultural school events and the implication of this practice for students and parents with refugee backgrounds. The objectives of the chapter are as follows: • To draw attention to the productivity of multicultural school events for refugee students and families by presenting counter-narratives about diasporic identity, belonging, and learning. • To discuss the possible negative effects the practice of multicultural school events may have on students and families with refugee backgrounds.

13.1

Multicultural School Events: Practice, Intentions, and Critique

Multicultural school events are diverse practices that take many forms and shapes in schools around the world. A common trait is the desire to recognize and celebrate diversity through different pedagogical activities, often combined with exhibitions and performances at the school, with a particular focus on food, dance, and music (Troyna, 1984, 2012). In previous studies, we observed a primary school in eastern Norway celebrating diversity through a number of activities during a multicultural event week

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(Dewilde & Skrefsrud, 2021; Dewilde et al., 2018, 2021). During the week, the students were grouped across ages and grades to participate in workshops, seminars, and lessons highlighting issues of diversity from different perspectives. The offerings ranged from courses in Zumba dancing, initiated by one of the Polish assistants at the school, to traditional Sami handcrafts (making small decorative objects, etc.), highlighting culture from the indigenous people of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the far north of Russia. The students participated in workshops comparing Somali and Norwegian folktales, and parents held lectures presenting pictures from countries like Myanmar and Romania. As with many other schools, the week ended with a joint afternoon festival organized by the school’s parent committee in collaboration with some of the teachers. At the festival, different countries were represented by stalls providing information about the countries and drawings of the flags. Parents brought food from their home countries, inviting people to walk around tasting samosa, dolma, and other traditional dishes. Visiting the stalls, the participants could learn about the different countries and see different ethnic groups presenting traditional dances and songs. The school festival ended with a fashion show, displaying traditional folk costumes, and the participants were invited to take part in traditional dancing performed by different ethnic groups. The intention of multicultural school events is to undermine cultural stereotypes, encourage friendship among parents and students from different backgrounds, and thus build a sense of belonging for all students and families, including those with refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds. Hence, multicultural school events are designed as a response to the call for diverse and inclusive initiatives to facilitate increased understanding, cultural exchange, and cohesion in schools (Wood & Homolja, 2021). Some schools use multicultural school events to celebrate the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home countries to escape conflict or persecution, while other schools emphasize their multicultural diversity through work on migrant- and refugee-related issues. The consistent effort that many teachers, school leaders, parents, and students put into these events may be interpreted as resistance against the spread of xenophobic attitudes, prejudices, and behavior that characterizes political flows in many countries, including Norway (Backes & Moreau, 2012; Muis & Immerzeel, 2017). Exclusionary protectionism is often characterized by a view on diversity and immigration as a threat to the nation state and rejects, excludes, and vilifies persons based on the perception that they are foreigners. The participants’ engagement in multicultural school events can thus be seen as a contribution to reducing prejudice in school and cultivating greater tolerance of cultural, linguistic, and religious differences (Dewilde & Skrefsrud, 2021). As such, multicultural events aim to construct hope for refugee families by creating trust and positive experiences in education. However, while many schools see these events as tools for enhancing social cohesion and creating a sense of belonging among the participants, researchers have expressed doubt about the events’ positive potential. According to Banks and Banks (2005), these types of events may be problematic when reduced to one-off

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occasions without integrating the multicultural perspective into everyday activities. Moreover, as noted by Watkins and Noble (2019), when multicultural education practices are reduced to exotic happenings separated from the everyday activities in school, they may function against their well-intended aims and paradoxically reinforce the boundaries they were intended to help dissolve and negate. According to Hoffman (1996), Ngo (2010), and Troyna (1984, 2012), the practice of multicultural school events runs the risk of cementing existing subaltern identities by exposing and displaying selected cultural motifs, artifacts, and practices in a superficial and harmonious way that overlooks power relations and hierarchies. From this perspective, multicultural school events are more than neutral celebrations of cultural differences; rather, they are “sites of exclusion and alienation” (Simonsen et al., 2017, p. 638) that represent a problematic way of engaging with a diverse student population. Hence, instead of building trust and hope among refugee families, the events both essentialize and depoliticize cultural diversity in a way that reinforces powerlessness. My interest, however, is to look beyond the critique dismissing this kind of pedagogical practice and critically discuss the potential of such events for refugee students and their families. Before I present the study of a multicultural school event in Norway and discuss the possibilities and pitfalls, I introduce the concepts of belonging and diasporic identities. Applying these concepts to the discussion of multicultural school events may help us to better understand what such events mean for refugee students and their families.

13.2

Belonging and Diasporic Identities

Belonging is a vaguely defined notion that is taken to have a somewhat selfexplanatory meaning (Antonsich, 2010; Yuval-Davis, 2006). However, according to Antonsich (2010), the diversification of school and society requires a more critical and analytical approach to the concept. On the one hand, belonging can be understood as “a personal intimate feeling of being ‘at home’ in a place” (Antonsich, 2010, p. 654). From this perspective, the feeling of belonging can be related to a geographical place but also to “a symbolic space of familiarity, comfort, security and emotional attachment” (p. 647). On the other hand, the feeling of belonging also has a social dimension. As noted by Yuval-Davis (2006, p. 197), the social side of belonging includes the construction of particular collectives and experiencing membership to a group, such as a family, schoolmates, or a diasporic community. The sense of place-belongingness can be just as important within the social dimension of the concept. However, similar to the personal side of the concept, social belonging is no longer exclusively identified with territory and geographical embeddedness but also with networks, common memories, and shared imaginary places/spaces. Antonsich (2010) argues that in recent decades there has been a change in the conceptualization of belonging, from seeing the notion as a state of being to thinking of it as a process of becoming. In this regard, Probyn (1996) has drawn

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attention to the last part of the word—longing—emphasizing that belonging is not a static condition but rather is constantly being performed and negotiated through individual and collective practices. For Probyn (1996), belonging is thus about power, meaning that feelings of belonging are always conditioned by politics, discourses, and existing practices and routines, and not every form of belonging is possible for all. For people with a refugee background living outside of their home country, longing for the “lost” place is often a permanent condition, which brings us to the concept of diasporic identities. In contemporary use, diaspora refers to the displacement of people from their homeland, often forcefully, resulting in unwilling separation, loss, and suffering (Cohen, 2008). In an earlier study (Dewilde et al., 2021), we highlighted three rather different ways of defining diaspora, which all are rooted in historical diasporic experiences. First, diaspora may refer to the dispersion of people away from a territory. Second, the notion involves the community of people living outside their homeland. Third, it includes the geographical places where the displaced communities are established (Dewilde et al., 2021). While such distinctions make the concept more useful in a descriptive sense, Cohen (2008) has identified some common traits of diasporic communities to clarify the concept further. Longing for the homeland due to dispersion and displacement often results in the creation of myths of return and collective memories of what was left behind (see also Antonsich, 2010; Dewilde et al., 2021). Being separated from the land of origin, myths and collective memories often become highly idealized, telling heroic stories about achievements, national figures, and history. Moreover, the myths and memories are refined through creative cultural expressions, such as cultural and religious narratives, folkdances, and food, which bind people together and nurture a common diasporic identity. Finally, the diasporic group will often strive to gain acceptance for their cause in the receiving country, based on their shared experience of exile and common histories and identity in the group (Cohen, 2008; Dewilde et al., 2021). In this way, there is a close relation between the concepts of belonging and diaspora. For people being dispersed from an original homeland, belonging is not only about being recognized as an integral part of the local and national community but also involves membership to an ethnic or trans-ethnic group sharing the diasporic longing.

13.3

The Study

Before discussing how issues of belonging and diasporic identities may come into play for refugee students and their families at multicultural school events, I will briefly introduce the study from which I draw my examples. Our research drew on ethnographic data collected during an international week, including a multicultural school festival, at a Norwegian primary school in 2017 and 2018. At the time of the study, the school had 450 students from grades 1 to 7 (age 6–13) and approximately 100 employees. While around 20 percent of the students spoke a language other than Norwegian at home, 39 different languages

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were spoken at the school. The school is one of two schools in the municipality that offers a transition class for newly arrived migrant students at the primary school level. The school was chosen due to its multicultural profile and its long tradition of using multicultural school events to highlight the different languages and cultural diversity at the school. The data collection consisted of participatory observation, including extensive field notes, observations, photographs of food and cultural artifacts at the stalls, and video recordings of music, dance, and traditional clothing presented on the stage. The two-hour event allowed us to mix and mingle with the participants, conducting field conversations with both students and parents. In addition, we conducted indepth interviews with two of the Kurdish participants, one is a Kurdish mother who was responsible for the Kurdish stall at the event and the other the leader of the Kurdish Cultural Society of the county (Dewilde et al., 2021, p. 219). In the discussion that follows, the Kurdish example is particularly interesting. First, the Kurds represent a diasporic migrant group who have fled their home of origin and are dispersed from a homeland that strives to be recognized as an independent state. Second, they illustrate what is often a shared experience for refugee families: the ambivalent relationship with their country of origin, characterized by love and adoration for the homeland on the one hand and feelings of disillusionment on the other.

13.3.1 The Potential of Multicultural School Events Research has revealed the significance of developing and sustaining educational practices that recognize and value the experiences of students with refugee backgrounds (Cummins & Early, 2011; Karkouti et al., 2020; Keddie, 2012). Several studies have also emphasized that the practice of multicultural school events may offer visibility to ethnic groups, allowing them to distinguish themselves and to have their cultural backgrounds, traditions, and identities affirmed as part of the school community (Ngo, 2010; Niemi et al., 2014; Wood & Homolja, 2021). In our study, the event clearly presented an important opportunity for refugee groups, such as the Kurds, to present what they regarded as significant traditions and show that their culture is very much alive and diverse. The Kurdish parents put a lot of work into the stall, displaying posters about Kurdistan, presenting traditional costumes, and serving the traditional dish dolma, which some of the mothers had spent the whole previous day preparing. At the same time, it was important for the parents to highlight the differentiation of being Kurdish, for example, by showing different styles of traditional clothing and jewelry. In the interview, one of the Kurdish parents said: Well, there are differences, different styles. Like for instance, this one is mine [pointing at a picture]. It is from Northern Iraq. That one is from Iran. Kurdish people in Iran uses that style. The other style is from Kurdistan, Turkey.

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Hence, being allowed to present themselves not only as Syrian, Turkish, Iranian, or Iraqi refugees, the parents enjoyed the freedom to define their diverse identities as a Kurdish diaspora (Dewilde et al., 2021, p. 222). In many countries, cultural and racial stereotyping of ethnic groups has marginalized people with refugee backgrounds, manifested in the negative framing of refugees in the media and politics (Watkins et al., 2018, p. 20). Thus, by establishing an arena for students of refugee backgrounds to tell another story, schools may help to counteract feelings of non-belonging, place-lessness, and rootlessness (Antonsich, 2010; Yuval-Davis, 2006). In our research, members of the Kurdish group were allowed to show that their diasporic identity had not been erased or outcompeted by Western culture (Dewilde et al., 2021). At the same time, this challenged potentially negative attitudes toward the refugee group by telling the community that ‘we are not what you may think we are, we know something, we have something of value’. As noted by Cohen (2008), for people living in diaspora, the retelling of collective memories—often highly idealized—is an important part of making oneself at home in the new context. For the Kurdish families in our study, it was clearly important to portray Kurdistan in a positive light by showing sides of their homeland seldom covered by traditional media. For example, as highlighted by one of the Kurdish participants, Kurdistan should be presented as a beautiful land of waterfalls and mountains, not as a place of war (Dewilde et al., 2021, p. 223). Moreover, one of the participants had brought translated versions of two classical Norwegian children’s books to the stall, a creative way to reach out to the Norwegian society by saying, ‘we belong here, your heritage matters to us’ (Dewilde et al., 2021). Hence, the school facilitated a space for the Kurdish group, a small diasporic community, to present alternative stories challenging pervasive and hegemonic assumptions. In this way, the event also raised awareness about how students of refugee background are positioned within the broader community (Watkins et al., 2018). For refugees settling in a new and foreign country, the need to rebuild networks and contacts should not be underestimated (Antonsich, 2010; Yuval-Davis, 2006). In this regard, schools are not only sites for enhancing the refugee students’ school performance. They should also provide safe spaces where the students and families can develop familiarity, friendships, and belonging within their school, the local community, and the broader society. According to our findings, the event played a consolidating role for the Kurdish parents, bringing together the Kurdish diasporic community in the region (Dewilde et al., 2021). Moreover, for the Kurdish parents in our study, the event presented an opportunity to connect with other refugee groups. In the interviews, one of the participants told us that the event was not a place for discussing politics or reviving old conflicts (Dewilde et al., 2021). Rather, he urged solidarity with other refugees in a similar diasporic situation, underlining the argument of Antonsich (2010) and Yuval-Davis (2006) that belonging and diasporic identity are not solely a personal matter. These findings correspond with other research on multicultural school festivals, emphasizing the significance of such events for creating “a sense of togetherness through their affiliation with the school, transcending ethnic or other

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differences” (Wood & Homolja, 2021, p. 387). As students, parents, and teachers meet, converse, and become familiar across linguistic and cultural backgrounds, they build cross-cultural friendships and create productive relationships. Hence, from this perspective, multicultural school events can play a significant role in creating belief and hope in a better future for the families by facilitating welcoming attitudes towards refugees and promoting a sense of social cohesion in the local communities.

13.3.2 The Possible Pitfalls of Multicultural School Events While the practice of multicultural school events may present possibilities for refugee students and their families for recognition, networking, and positive interrelations, it also has some potential pitfalls. First, multicultural events are often designed so that different countries are represented with a stall, positioning the participants to take pride in a specific national background (Dewilde et al., 2021; Watkins & Noble, 2019). For many refugees, however, being unwillingly and forcefully separated from their country of origin can lead to ambivalence toward homeland politics, making it difficult for them to represent all sides of their native country. In our study, a woman who had fled Myanmar with her husband told us she hesitated to tell her Norwegian-born children about what they had left behind. For the mother, Myanmar represented chaos, violent politics, and poverty, and there was nothing for her to take pride in at the school event. At the same time, she expressed a deep love for her country: “It is very important for us. We love our home country, our society and traditions. And we miss it while we live here” (Dewilde et al., 2018, p. 478). Hence, it is crucial for school staff to understand and acknowledge the contradictory feelings that may arise when refugee students and parents are expected to represent a country they have fled when designing multicultural school events. This also requires having knowledge about the situations of different refugee groups. For example, the Kurdish case relates to a homeland without legal status in the international community. Attempts to represent the longing for an imagined home country rooted in the border regions of other countries can lead to conflict with other participants who view the Kurdish movement as a separatist organization rather than as a diasporic ethnic group striving for freedom. Second, although the Kurdish parents in our study experienced the possibility to present a diverse understanding of what it means to identify as Kurdish in diaspora, nuances and differences within the refugee group may have been toned down. The design of the event appeared to presume that refugee groups would speak with one voice, presenting perspectives that everyone apparently agrees on. In doing so, multicultural school events run the risk of promoting essentialized understandings of culture and traditions that reinforce problematic labels for refugee students and their families (Ngo, 2010; Watkins & Noble, 2019). The practice may also put restrictions on the participants, delimiting which cultural traditions they want to present and how they want to present them. Moreover, expecting the refugee groups to express the same opinions and understandings, schools may overlook

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the power relations and hierarchies working within the groups. In our research, the representative of the Kurdish Cultural Society took a leading role, making a public speech in which he highlighted Peshmerga’s (the Kurdish branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces) achievements as a Kurdish resistant movement (Dewilde et al., 2021). For another Kurdish participant, however, the speech was considered inappropriate, as it implied a politicization of the event. For schools, it is thus important to acknowledge that participants may have different perspectives on how they want to present their home country and that negotiations of belonging and identity are processes in which power relations come into play. It is also crucial that schools are aware that identity should never be reduced to national affiliation; rather, it is dynamic and non-categorical. Sometimes it can be important to signal belonging to a national community, but other times it may not be, depending on the situation and context. Hence, although the participants at the event are expected to affiliate with their country of origin, a person’s cultural identity is seldom bound to a particular community but is continuously produced and reproduced in transformative processes of intercultural exchange (Cohen, 2008). Third, even well-intentioned practices like multicultural school events may entail understandings that reinforce problematic views on what it is like to be a refugee. As noted by Halilovic (2013), being a refugee does not equate some distinct identity, rather it defines a temporary – and more often than not prolonged – state in which ordinary people find themselves, when going through extraordinary ordeals as a result of social and political upheaval in their homeland. (p. 129)

However, in cases where refugees are portrayed only as powerless victims, the events may overlook the complexity of the refugee experience, unintentionally reinforcing a view of refugee students and their families as culturally and socially deprived. Instead, multicultural school events should acknowledge the creative cultural expressions that life in diaspora often stimulates (Cohen, 2008) and see the knowledge and competencies these groups bring to the school community as a valuable resource. Finally, as noted by Watkins and Noble (2019), a multicultural school event may function counterproductively to its aim of inclusion when reduced to a oneoff event. When practices of multiculturalism are held alongside the mainstream of education, the school continues to favor a majority-centered practice, reducing multicultural events to a “box-ticking” exercise. Alternatively, schools should acknowledge that the increasing linguistic and cultural diversity affects all sides of teachers’ professional work. As such, the practice of multicultural school events should be developed in close relation to schools’ overall diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and priorities. When this is the case, multicultural school events can become something other than simply exotic happenings. Indeed, multicultural events can strengthen schools’ multicultural work, contributing to building a school culture that values diversity in the classroom.

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Conclusion

In this chapter, I have discussed the practice of multicultural school events, drawing attention to both the potential and pitfalls for refugee students and their families. Building on previous empirical work at a multicultural school event in Norway, the chapter argues that such events may ascribe agency to the participating families and not regard them only as victims of a majority-dominated and non-inclusive practice. Potentially, schools’ use of multicultural events can reduce a deficit thinking leaving a message that students and families with a refugee background do not belong. As such, when schools use multicultural events to create spaces for confronting long-held notions, stereotypes, fears and understandings, the events can inspire hope for students and parents who have been forcibly displaced from their homes. For this to happen, however, schools must acknowledge the complexity of refugee experiences. Conducted in ways that recognize diversity within and between refugee groups, the events may provide an arena for refugee students and their families to play an active role in schools, resisting essentialization by re-telling their stories with a more complex and rich reality. Moreover, as parents, students, and teachers meet across backgrounds, they share and exchange cultural experiences, which may have a positive effect on the whole school culture. Finally, as the events clearly highlight diversity as a positive resource, students’ cultural and linguistic repertoire could be viewed as a resource in ordinary school activities as well, which means that multicultural school events have the potential to become more than single, disconnected occurrences. Points to Ponder • Conducted in a critical and reflexive way, multicultural school events are an excellent way to acknowledge the diverse cultures represented within the school community and to build social connectedness among students, family members, school staff, and community. • Volunteers from different refugee groups and other ethnic minorities in the school community can be engaged to share traditional stories, memories, and cultural experiences. • As part of the multicultural event, schools could host performances of traditional music and dance and decorate stalls with arts, maps, and visual symbols from cultural traditions. • An idea is to invite all attendees to bring a favorite family dish, introducing cultures through an international cuisine. Hosting cooking demonstrations and sharing lists of ingredients may inspire the sharing of cultures. • Parents, students, and school staff should be engaged in a critical reflection on how multicultural school events can become more than one-off celebrations and be seen as an integrated part of the school’s work on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The problem of essentializing culture may be addressed by facilitating group discussions on how cultural identity can be affirmed without creating or reinforcing stereotypes.

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More to Discover: An Example How to Enhance a Multicultural School Event: An Example

To avoid reducing the multicultural school event to a superficial celebration of cultural diversity, the school in our study had organized a group of key teachers who were responsible for planning and evaluating the event every year. The group was strategically balanced with a wide representation of teachers who were collaborating closely with the parent board. In this way, the school had reached a level where most parents expressed a sense of ownership of the event. For the coordinators, the event was seen as a work in progress that had developed continuously throughout the years. Setting aside time for an open and self-critical discussion of the event had helped the group to develop the practice from a top-down organized event that started off with only enthusiasm, to build a broad basis of participation and involvement. Critical reflections also helped the organizers to avoid identifying students and families with a particular essentialized background. Instead, the event was created as a social space where marginalized voices became the center of attention, enhancing the participants’ awareness of what it means to be diverse school.

References Antonsich, M. (2010). Searching for belonging—An analytical framework. Geography Compass, 4(6), 644–659. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8198.2009.00317.x Backes, U., & Moreau, P. (2012). The extreme right in Europe: Current trends and perspectives. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht. Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A. M. (2005). Multicultural education. Issues and perspectives (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons. Cohen, R. (2008). Global diasporas. Routledge. Cummins, J., & Early, M. (2011). Identity texts: The collaborative creation of power in multilingual schools. Trentham Books. Dewilde, J., Kjørven, O. K., Skaret, A., & Skrefsrud, T.-A. (2018). International week in a Norwegian school. A qualitative study of the participant perspective. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 62(3), 474–486. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2017.1306800 Dewilde, J., Kjørven, O. K., & Skrefsrud, T.-A. (2021). Multicultural school festival as a creative space for identity construction—From a minority parent perspective. Intercultural Education, 32(2), 212–229. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2020.1851173 Dewilde, J., & Skrefsrud, T.-A. (2021). Revisiting studies of multicultural school events from the perspective of strategic essentialism. Nordic Journal of Pedagogy and Critique, 7, 196–209. https://doi.org/10.23865/ntpk.v7.2145 Halilovic, H. (2013). Ethical approaches in research with refugees and asylum seekers using participatory research methods. In K. Block, E. Riggs, & N. Haslam (Eds.), Values and vulnerabilities: The ethics of research with refugees and asylum seekers (pp. 127–150). Australian Academic Press.

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Hoffman, D. M. (1996). Culture and self in multicultural education: Reflections on discourse, text, and practice. American Educational Research Journal, 33(3), 545–569. https://doi.org/10.2307/ 1163276 Karkouti, I. M., Wolsey, T. D., & Toprak, M. (2020). Restoring hope for Syrian refugees: Social support students need to excel at school. International Migration, 58(4), 21–36. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/imig.12642 Keddie, A. (2012). Pursuing justice for refugee students: Addressing issues of cultural (mis)recognition. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 16(12), 1295–1310. https:// doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2011.560687 Muis, J., & Immerzeel, T. (2017). Causes and consequences of the rise of populist radical right parties and movements in Europe. Current Sociology, 65(6), 909–930. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0011392117717294 Ngo, B. (2010). Doing “diversity” at dynamic high: Problems and possibilities of multicultural education in practice. Education and Urban Society, 42(4), 473–495. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0013124509356648 Niemi, P.-M., Kuusisto, A., & Kallioniemi, A. (2014). Discussing school celebrations from an intercultural perspective—A study in the Finnish context. Intercultural Education, 25(4), 255– 268. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2014.926143 Probyn, E. (1996). Outside belongings. Routledge. Simonsen, K., Koefoed, L., & de Neergaard, M. (2017). Festival as embodied encounters: On Kulturhavn in Copenhagen. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 38(6), 637–650. https://doi.org/10. 1080/07256868.2017.1386633 Troyna, B. (1984). Multicultural education: Emancipation or containment? In L. Barton & S. Walker (Eds.), Social crisis and educational research (pp. 75–97). Croom Helm. Troyna, B. (Ed.). (2012). Racial inequality in education. Taylor and Francis. Watkins, M., & Noble, G. (2019). Lazy multiculturalism: Cultural essentialism and the persistence of the Multicultural Day in Australian schools. Ethnography and Education, 1–16. https://doi. org/10.1080/17457823.2019.1581821 Watkins, M., Noble, G., & Wong, A. (2018). It’s complex: Working with students of refugee backgrounds and their families in New South Wales public schools. New South Wales Teachers Federation. Wood, B. E., & Homolja, M. (2021). Strategic solidarities: Cultural festivals, relational encounters and diasporic youth identities. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 42(4), 377–393. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/07256868.2021.1939278 Yuval-Davis, N. (2006). Belonging and the politics of belonging. Patterns of Prejudice, 40(3), 197– 214. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313220600769331

Thor-André Skrefsrud is Professor of Education at the Faculty of Education at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway. His research interests include multicultural education, intercultural dialogue, and educational philosophy. In recent years, Skrefsrud has been involved in a research project using case studies to explore multicultural school and community events from the perspectives of the participants. His latest publications include articles in Journal of Peace Education, Intercultural Education, and Nordic Journal of Pedagogy and Critique.

Part III Restoring Hope in the Community

Elegy to a Refugee Girl Ana M. Fores Tamayo

The teacher collected the young child’s drawing. Looking it over, she stared intently at the little girl’s work: she saw a young child, separated by bars. a large splash of crimson covering the trees she had drawn. A larger lady in the background faraway, brown on brown her hair falling wildly on the page, so that all she could see were splashes of sepia with a little green but much more blood red. the wild woman seen in the image had something shackling her ankle, her face blotched with droplets upon her cheeks. What did you paint? the teacher slowly questioned the young child with the immense, sorrowful eyes. And the girl looked up, giant eyes tearing, voice quivering, repeating softly-my mami, she whispered. my mami was taken away. She flew to the trees there, to the blue in the sky. She was put in that carcel, you see? but her spirit flew like the birds when they soar through the sky, stormy yet safe.

A. M. Fores Tamayo Refugee Support Network (RSN), North Texas, TX, USA

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2

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And the teacher stared at the sanguine red, what seemed to be the color of gore, and again she gazed inquisitively at the child... My mami is a rose, and the wilderness in her spirit breaks free as she wails for my papi, red blood screaming pain. Me escondi, a stifled sigh to the teacher. Tenía miedo... I hid myself under the cama, the bed skirt muting my silent shrieks as I saw my papi’s red sangre spilling from him. I stayed still and quiet under that bed afraid they would see me, those ugly green suits taking my papi and hitting him, again and again, so that he became a scarlet jumble of pain. my mami had no time to react as those ugly men took her and threw her on top of me... they did not know I was hiding under the bed. But my mami knew, and she tried to be still as the beasts tore into her, they ripped off her clothes, I think, they strangled her cries, they heaved themselves on top of her. First one, then the other. Then a third. My mami did not move. I sang blue songs in my head and listened to the fairy birds ringing out their tune of love, of my mami and papi and their love for me... It was a long time the men were there and my mami not moving. But finally what seemed to hump and hump and hump again stopped moving, and the bad ugly men in their green army suits all splattered with red were gone. I stayed under the cama, afraid to come out afraid to have the red stain my hands, sink through my fingers. so I crawled into myself, staying below. But finally I felt some movement. My mami came back from the skies from the blue heavens with the loros singing... she did not leave me, she stayed that rosa in the ground for her baby girl.

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my mami stumbled almost falling. She lowered her body crawling beneath that cama, holding me, closely, loving me, touching me to make sure I was real flesh and bone and not the red of my father, the body limp without movement. His eyes -- I finally saw -- were open wide staring blankly at nothing. No heaven was open to his rust stained drip spilling all over the floor. I knew my mami was hurt. I knew it was hard to walk but we took off, my mami and me, and we traveled the death roads for heaven thinking if we made it to el norte, good people would see us and gather us into their embrace. How strange it is that I am here in a school while my mami is jailed for a crime she never committed? For being forced by some bad bad men and she only trying to save me? Why is it that others do not see mi dolor, my mami’s ache, because I weep inside like a salamander devastated by poison? The teacher looked at my drawing again, then she looked at me. I saw her face, too, blotched with droplets upon her cheeks... Why does she cry like my mami? And will I see my mami again? Why do these ugly men -- now wearing blue suits instead of the green I despise -take my mami away? Why have they placed me in this escuela, in this place with other sad children who say nothing look at nothing feel nothing because ellos también tienen miedo? Please teacher, maestra, take me to my mami. Don’t let her cry alone, por favor... Don’t let her fly in that cell room forsaken, let me be with my mami, please. I don’t want to learn English, I don’t want fine things if my mami is destroyed in your cell. the young girl with the immense, sorrowful eyes

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voiced long silent stabbings with her muted gaze. You are killing me, not softly, not kindly, she uttered. killing killing killing killing ~ Ana M. Fores Tamayo

Ana M. Fores Tamayo wanted instead to do something that mattered: work with asylum seekers. She advocates for marginalized refugee families from Mexico, Central America, and most recently, many other countries from which people flee. Working with asylum seekers is heart wrenching, yet satisfying. It is also quite humbling. Her labor has eased her own sense of displacement, being a child refugee, always trying to find home. In parallel, poetry is her escape: she has published in The Raving Press, Indolent Books, the Laurel Review, Shenandoah, and many other anthologies and journals, both in the US and internationally, online and in-print. Her poetry in translation with its accompanying photography has been featured in art fairs and galleries as well. Ediciones Valparaiso in Spain published her book of poems, Peregrina, this past June 2022. She hopes you like her art; it is a catharsis from the cruelty yet ecstasy of her work. Through it, she keeps tilting at windmills.

Part IV Restoring Hope Through Effective Leadership

Education of Refugee Students: Social Justice Leadership and Ecology of Education Omer Caliskan

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and Hilal Buyukgoze

Abstract

This chapter takes a holistic look at social justice leadership practices and the education of refugee students in Turkish context. Building on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, we elaborate on multiple and interwoven dynamics shaping and influencing the schooling of refugee-background students. From the school ecology to the national education policies, this study maps the terrain of social justice leadership in Turkey by depicting the practices, actions, and initiatives utilized to overcome the challenges and barriers faced in creating socially just schools and supportive communities. This study contributes to the scholarship and understanding of social justice leadership by providing a multilevel approach for both educational researchers, practitioners and school leaders in examining the phenomenon. Keywords

Social justice leadership • Ecology of education Refugee education • Turkey

•

Ecological systems theory

•

About 80 million people have been documented as being displaced by force around the world, with four million of them being hosted in Turkey (UNHCR, 2021a). Turkey welcomes refugees from neighboring countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria; but Syrian nationals have the largest share of the refugee community across the country (UNHCR, 2021b). Following the outbreak of the

O. Caliskan (B) University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany e-mail: [email protected] H. Buyukgoze Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_14

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Syrian Civil War in 2011, Syrian asylum-seekers in Turkey dramatically accelerated to 1.5 million in 2015 and nearly 3.7 million in 2020 respectively (UNHCR, 2021a). Children under the age of 18 constitute fully half of this refugee presence across the country, over 600,000 of whom are school-aged Syrian refugees (UNICEF, 2019). Correspondingly, ensuring that these young people receive quality education and schooling has been a priority for Turkey since then (Örücü, 2019). Therefore, the government and the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) have implemented a variety of education policies and accompanying regulations to address the issue and restore hope for those influenced, as hope is considered as the core of social justice (Locke, 2020). First, “the Law on Foreigners and International Protection” was ratified in 2014, and “Temporary Protection Regulation” was endorsed within the same year. The MoNE’s circular entitled “Foreigners’ Access to Education” was issued in 2014, as well. The circular introduced “Temporary Education Centers (TECs)”, where an adaptation of Syrian curriculum was taught (Gümü¸s et al., 2020; MoNE, 2014), yet TECs began to close in 2017 in order to integrate Syrian students into the Turkish school system (European Commission, 2019). The MoNE also launched the “Accelerated Learning Program” in 2018 to reach Syrian children of 10–18 years with prior missing schooling (EU Delegation to Turkey, 2020). Further, a European Union-funded project “Promoting Integration of Syrian Children into the Turkish Education System (PICTES), and a UNICEF joint program “Inclusive Education Training Program” have been inaugurated to develop school staff’s capacities and to provide more inclusive environments for all children. Several civil and public initiatives and partners still contribute to the schooling and education of Syrian children in Turkey, enhancing the sense of hope within refugee-background students toward endurance and social progress. Yet, the unprecedented expansion in the numbers of refugee-background students in a fairly short time has created its concomitant educational challenges, relevant needs, barriers, and issues, destroying the efficacy of hope for resilience (Eagleton, 2009). Recent research findings document that Syrian students experience local language barriers, discrimination and social isolation, bullying in schools, cutoffs in schooling, socio-economic hardship, and limited access to educational resources and services (Aydin & Kaya, 2017; Karsli-Calamak & Kilinc, 2019; Sirin & Rogers-Sirin, 2015; Soylu et al., 2020). To overcome the respective marginalization of disadvantaged groups in education, acting on hope is seen as a catalyst for social justice (Locke, 2020), and social justice leadership is much stressed in the extant literature (Theoharis, 2009). However, the issue of social injustices experienced by refugee students cannot be adequately addressed by just focusing on school principals because school principals already report that they have difficulty in creating a socially just school environment due to crucial socio-economic issues of refugee-background children (Caliskan, 2020) and teachers are lacking basic skills and knowledge of multicultural education (Arar et al., 2020). This suggests that social justice leadership cannot be only restricted to the leaders at schools; instead, the impact of wider

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context (e.g., peer, family, government policy) should also be taken into consideration for accurate implications about the extent of social justice efforts. That is, refugee education and social justice leadership should be approached at multiple organizational levels (cf. Kemmis, et al., 2012). Given that there exist multiple and interwoven dynamics shaping the education of refugee students in the Turkish context, this chapter seeks to explore social justice leadership (SJL) and refugee education within the framework of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory (1976). In ecological systems theory, Bronfenbrenner (1976) includes five social systems to describe how an education system is under the influence of a wider context. These systems are microsystem (individual, school, family, and peers), mesosystem (interactions between multiple social microsystems), exosystem (local policies, mass media, and industry), macrosystem (ideological values of a given society), and chronosystem (changing socio-historical circumstances). It is assumed that each system of influence is likely to shape social justice leadership practices at schools. To portray and discuss the association between SJL and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, we will benefit from current policies shaping refugee education, challenges of refugees, and several influential dynamics in SJL practices in the Turkish context. This chapter will contribute to the education of refugee students by displaying the interconnected social dynamics which impact school leadership practices.

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The Influence of Microsystem on SJL Practices

The microsystem primarily focuses on the interconnected relations between “the individual”, and “the setting including that person” (Bronfenbrenner, 1976). Here, the individual is identified with their personality, life experience, knowledge and skills, whereas the setting refers to a place with specific characteristics in which the individual engages in (e.g., home, work, and school). A setting is basically composed of “the factors of place, time, physical features, activity, participant, and the role” (Bronfenbrenner, 1976, p. 514). However, these contextual elements of the settings appear to be usually neglected in social justice leadership research (Berkovich, 2014). The components of the microsystem of Bronfenbrenner’s (1976, 1986) socioecological theory in a school setting are considered to influence the social justice practices of the educational leader in the school, namely the school principal. Within this perspective, peers, teachers, students, and families are vibrant dynamics and actors which are closely linked to school principals’ attitudes and actions (Caliskan, 2020). It is also well documented that the elements of the microsystem have a tangible role in principals’ social justice practices (e.g., Ryan, 2006; Scheurich & Skrla, 2003; Sirin & Rogers-Sirin, 2015). For example, Ryan (2006) argues that the support of the school staff for “institutional inclusive practices and processes” (p. 5) helps mitigate the problem of prejudices and possible bias against marginalized groups such as refugee students. In this view, Caliskan’s (2020) study

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results affirm that school principals feel empowered and gain confidence in creating a socially just learning environment for all students, more specifically for the refugee-background children, when supported by the teachers in their schools. Arar et al.’s (2020) findings complement the previous study, that is, principals reported that they had difficulty in directing the school in a culturally responsive way, as teachers are inexperienced in multicultural and inclusive education, which in turn leads to a more challenging school environment to cope with (Bourgonje, 2010). Besides the role of the school staff on principals’ practices, students are also notable actors of principals’ SJL approaches in the school context. Örücü et al. (2021) identified three main barriers, “(i) financial, (ii) structural/cultural and (iii) psychological and health issues” (p. 43) for refugee education. More specifically, language barriers, gender inequality, educational disruptions, and socio-economic hardships refugee students contend with create a much-despised environment at administrative and operational levels in schools (Sirin & Rogers-Sirin, 2015), and shape both individual attitudes and school policies regarding refugee education and inclusion (Dryden-Peterson et al., 2019). Likewise, research has suggested that these barriers apparently constitute challenges for school principals in organizational, psycho-social, and political aspects within the school community (e.g., Bogotch & Kervin, 2019; Örücü et al., 2021). Syrian students are predominantly reported to present problems due to their language barriers (Arar et al., 2019; Aydin & Kaya, 2017; Caliskan, 2020; DrydenPeterson et al., 2019; Sirin & Rogers-Sirin, 2015; Soylu et al., 2020). The vast majority of principals and teachers also noted that Syrian students’ academic performance is highly dependent on their Turkish language proficiency (Aydin & Kaya, 2017). Regarding this issue, in accordance with the Ministry of National Education’s policies, Turkish language courses have been widely provided for both the Syrian students and their parents (Arar et al., 2019) to enable them to easily socialize within the school community and integrate within Turkish society. Turkey, to a wide extent, performs co-educational schooling where school-aged girls and boys attend classes and study together in the same school buildings. Yet, Syrian parents do not like the idea of mixed-gender education (Gümü¸s et al., 2020). This makes some Syrian families abstain from sending their school-aged girls to schools, and so this perpetuates larger gender inequality among refugee students in attaining education and decreases the representation of girl students (Arar et al., 2020). Further, Syrian girl students above the age of 10 or 12 are forced to get married by their parents and/or guardians usually because of the lack of regular or sufficient income (Çelik & White, 2021), which is also rooted in gender inequality and morosely results in low school attainment for girl students (Arar et al., 2020; Gümü¸s et al., 2020). Principals and teachers cope with the situation by visiting students’ families and trying to persuade them to send students back to school. Research on refugee education and social justice leadership also revealed that Syrian refugee students are highly disadvantaged regarding financial and civic opportunities (Caliskan, 2020; Sirin & Rogers-Sirin, 2015), leading to increased numbers of student drop-outs, absenteeism and exclusion (Bourgonje, 2010), and

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attempts to get employed (Arar et al., 2020; Gümü¸s et al., 2020). Unfortunately, some Syrian families even stoop to unfavorable ways of money making such as street begging and child labor (UNHCR, 2017). As the principals are mostly aware of refugee students’ economic hardship and further understand that these can have unwelcome ramifications both at student and school levels, they pay maximal attention to equitable distribution of the materials brought by the government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and/or the UNHCR. It is also reported that some principals bring both wealthy families and refugee families together, encourage wealthy families to support economically disadvantaged refugee students (Caliskan, 2020), and/or make financial donations to their schools (Örücü et al., 2021). Yet, the majority of school principals add that improvement of all facilities is necessary on the long run in terms of refugee education and inclusion of war-torn refugee students (Arar et al., 2019, 2020; Örücü et al., 2021). Relatedly, the age group of these refugee and asylum-seeking children can pose different challenges and barriers for the school administration as well (Arar et al., 2021; Bourgonje, 2010). While school principals have tendency to think that the management of pre-school and elementary school is easier than that of secondary and high schools, yet primary school students need and depend upon their parents’ or caregivers’ help more to carry on their education and learning (Anderson & Hira, 2020). Looking closer, a number of challenges at the secondary education level are related to second language acquisition and mastering the Turkish language. Some other barriers remain with respect to negative psychological effects of exile such as trauma, losses, and violence (Sirin & Rogers-Sirin, 2015), which can both dampen the educational experiences of students and aggravate the situation for school principals (Bourgonje, 2010). To tackle the issue, principals mainly try to work with school counseling centers efficiently and make active use of support programs. The last challenge of school principals to be portrayed in their social justice leadership practices at the microsystem level underscores the parental involvement in schooling. Syrian refugee children in Turkey are unaccompanied by their parents in school activities most of the time. Örücü et al. (2021) touch on the importance of parental engagement and state that Turkey does not have a selective admission policy for Syrian refugees, that is why children’s families do not take education seriously and engage in their kids’ educational processes closely. Further, education is seen as a way of warranting social aid brought by the governmental agencies more than building a decent life for their kids (Kondakci et al., 2021; Sirin & Rogers-Sirin, 2015). Yet, it is emphasized that involving children’s parents or caretakers in the schooling process of their child is considered essential to support and encourage refugee students (Bourgonje, 2010). Indeed, parental involvement is viewed as important in helping these students concerning their academic achievement as well. Concerning the issue, the lower levels of parental engagement are typically voiced by school principals (Gümü¸s et al., 2020; Örücü et al., 2021). Thus, they handle the problem with their personal effort by improving co-operation with the families and networking with the local municipalities and/

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or local administrations of the Ministry of National Education to change families’ attitudes toward education and schooling of their children (Kondakci et al., 2021). Overall, it is crystal clear that the microsystem level mostly depends on the personal efforts of the school principals, illuminating their agency in creating socially and culturally just school environments for all children (Slater et al., 2014).

14.2

The Influence of Mesosystem on SJL Practices

A mesosystem is characterized as “a system of microsystems” (Bronfenbrenner, 1976, p. 515). A mesosystem includes the interrelations and processes among main settings, and identifies “the influences operating, in both directions, between the principal settings in which human development occurs” (Bronfenbrenner, 1986, p. 723). Likewise, within educational contexts, these processes running in diverse settings cannot be considered and understood independent of each other (Furman, 2012; Neville & Mobley, 2001). Following Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework, school principals’ social justice leadership practices at the mesosystem level can be analyzed in terms of school culture and peer groups, and school-family partnerships (Arar et al., 2021; Caliskan, 2020). Research demonstrates that principals working in schools with large numbers of refugee and immigrant students usually do not simplify schools’ function of delivering information, rather they stress and believe in the human side of school culture for communicating with and integrating students and parents (Arar et al., 2021; Aydin & Kaya, 2017; Slater et al., 2014; Wang, 2016) and being “committed to transforming oppressive and exploitative social relations in and out of schools” (Rapp, 2002, p. 226). Though mainly relied on their own “humanitarian value system” (Örücü, 2019), principals administratively have kept pace with the policies of the government towards refugee students in terms of achieving equitable outcomes for all groups of students and establishing a safe, socially just and positive school culture (Arar et al., 2021; Caliskan, 2020; Kondakci et al., 2021). Relatedly, the relationships between refugee and local students are another aspect of this multi-layered challenge for school principals. School-aged Syrian children in Turkey voiced commonly articulated problems including discrimination, stereotyping, and overall lack of respect (Aydin & Kaya, 2017; Çelik & White, 2021; Kaya, 2016) in peer groups. Till 2017, refugee and local students were educated in separate classes and to a certain extent, buildings. In 2017, all students joined same classes to integrate Syrian students into Turkish school system and concomitantly into immediate school community (European Commission, 2019) which made principals’ job easier to shape a socially and culturally fair learning environment for refugee students. Regarding school community relationships, for example, Örücü (2019) reports that it was difficult for school principals to persuade local students’ parents to build tolerance for refugee students and their families, yet, after a while, parents calmed down and built rapport with them. Some activities and meetings aiming

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at getting together both local and refugee families were held by parent–student– teacher association of the schools and by some NGOs, which likely helped each side of the community to become familiar, increase contact among the members, gain awareness, and reduce negative attitudes and prejudice towards the “other” (Caliskan, 2020). One last challenge to mention here may be the return aspirations or future ambitions of these refugee families. Clayton and Holland (2015) argue that many Syrian migrants have fled to Turkey in the hopes of eventually entering the European Union in quest of a more decent life. That is, they are mainly lack of future prospects in Turkey (Kaya, 2016; Kayaoglu et al., 2021). This ambiguity, unsurprisingly, may in turn lead to parents’ indifference and non-cooperation with the school administration, which in turn affects refugee students’ social and academic life quality in the school. Accordingly, it gets difficult for both teachers and the school principals to motivate and engage students in learning again.

14.3

The Influence of Exosystem on SJL Practices

The exosystem is the extension of the mesosystem, which impacts the immediate schooling experience through some major structures as the chief institutions of the society, both purposely structured and naturally evolving, like mass media, laws, government policies, and economy (Bronfenbrenner, 1976). These elements can be regarded as relatively external to the education and lives of refugee students considering the observable boundaries of school building, but the entire school system can be impacted by not only the external environment in which refugee population live but also by what happens in other environments where refugee children’s families and members of schools have life experiences. Assumed as a core operator in transforming schools, school leaders are embedded in this exosystem like other members of society; therefore, school leaders’ understanding of social justice issues are likely to be driven by this system. School leaders’ ideological philosophies towards eliminating the inequities of disadvantaged groups are important; so, social justice requires “a deliberate intervention that requires the moral use of power” (Bogotch, 2002, p. 140). The role of exosystem elements, mentioned above, cannot be neglected in shaping perceptions and attitudes of people, including school leaders’ standpoint towards refugee students. For example, in a study of social media analysis regarding Turkish citizenship debate about refugees, Bozda˘g (2020) notes that social media promotes normalization and trivialization of discrimination and hatred against Syrian refugees by way of spreading the discourse of “Othering”, feeding bottom-up nationalism. Likewise, the common public perception that asylum-seekers maintain their life with the support of government, deal with trade without giving tax, and take the jobs of local people has become widespread throughout the years, transforming refugees from ‘guests’ to ‘enemies’ in the eyes of some local people (Koca, 2016), which are also perpetuated by mainstream newspapers (Onay-Coker, 2019; Yaylacı & Karaku¸s, 2015). Such an ever-increasing negative attitude are likely to generate

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more tension and conflicts, even criminal cases as it has happened in a suburb district of Ankara, where anti-immigrant protestors attacked the properties of Syrians after the alleged killing of a local teenager by a Syrian refugee (BBC News, 2021). Inevitably, these undesirable conditions are likely to be felt and discussed within the school setting, and the school leader’s endeavors in eliminating injustices will be curbed. For example, in a study carried out with school principals, Caliskan (2020) reports that school principals experience challenges in responding to complaints of local students, in which refugee students are thought to be supported by government while local poor people do not receive such support. The highly centralized nature of the Turkish education system also limits flexible decision-making processes by school leaders in social justice work (Arar et al., 2019). The incoming refugee students’ academic background, skills, and needs are diverse, so mandating a typical program for all students would not serve the intended purpose. This on-going and increasing discontent is mostly related with the naïve government policies, in areas of economic, social, and educational lives. Unlike the traditional migrant host countries of Europe and North America, Turkey has witnessed a tremendous entry of refugees into the country in very short time, upon the break-out of Syria civil war. Therefore, the current condition is quite recent and unexpected for Turkish community and schools, which inevitably causes unrest. In that sense, the mass media, laws, government policies, and economy as exosystem elements are likely to affect the school leader’s orientations, choices and potentials while practicing social justice in their school settings. Considering the Turkish school principal’s limited autonomy and centralized education system, combatting the undesirable consequences of exosystem elements would be very challenging for school principals.

14.4

The Influence of the Macrosystem on SJL Practices

Macrosystem is depicted as the overarching institution of culture and sub-culture, the manifestations of which are seen through the local micro-, meso- and exosystem (Bronfenbrenner, 1976); namely, macrosystem corresponds to the beliefs, values norms, and customs of the society which are likely to shape sub-cycles of the entire system and so individuals’ understanding of social justice. In relation to the question how the values and culture of a society can shape social justice understanding, the literature regarding the features of modern and traditional societies gives us some implications. As discussed by Oplatka and Arar (2016), in their dichotomy of modern and traditional societies through which they reveal possible manifestation of leadership for social justice between two societies, they listed the following features (Table 14.1). The authors conclude that social justice is, to a large extent, based on the modern values and understanding than the traditional ones. Similarly, Rawls (1999) explains social justice with four principles; equal treatment, regarding people as

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Table 14.1 Comparison of modernism–traditionalism

Characteristics of traditional society

Characteristics of modern society

Collective orientation

Individual orientation

Affective, face-to-face relationships

Affective, neutral relationships

Ascribed status

Achieved status

Particularistic orientation

Universalistic orientation

Autocracy

Democracy

Maintenance

Change and innovation

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individuals, equal opportunity, and concerning for the disadvantaged ones, which can be mostly associated with Western values. More traditional communities or developing countries are thought to be less capable in applying the requirements of social justice (see Oplatka & Arar, 2016). For example, in traditional societies, critical consciousness and dialogue in education is not much welcomed; instead, preservation of social structure (status quo) and exclusion of disadvantaged ones are observed (Fua, 2007; Wasonga & Bageni Mwita, 2012). In such societies, promotion of democratic discourse, human rights and individual choice are not a priority. Instead, collective orientation, obedience, and ascribed status are more apparent. Also, in traditional communities, commitment to social justice values can be shaped by dominant ideology, tribal/communal values, and so universal understanding of social justice can be weak. Even, the use of “national” resources for the sake of “others” can be considered as irrational and waste of resources while the locals, closer members of the community/family need them. Last, a social justice leader is expected to decrease achievement gaps for all, but, in traditional communities, some distinctions in gender or ethnicity can be regarded as natural and reasonable in their own society (Coleman & Fitzgerald, 2008; Ismael & Ismael, 2008). However, it should also be noted that traditional values with their distinctive elements may ultimately contribute to social justice issues in varying forms (Oplatka & Arar, 2016); otherwise, forcing Western-dominated concepts as social justice in traditional societies may not be sensible. Drawing upon the perspective above, we believe that macrosystem aspects are likely to influence the consciousness, deliberate actions and daily practices of school leaders in their social justice manifestations. It is not reasonable to expect a cultural transformation for school leaders; instead, new interpretations of social justice through benefitting from modern values can be a solution.

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The Influence of the Chronosystem on SJL Practices

Chronosystem is the last cycle of the ecological system theory and refers to all environmental changes happening over the lifetime, along with the changing sociohistorical conditions. In explaining chronosystem, the impact of time on various environmental systems and process is highlighted (Bronfenbrenner, 1976). In our particular case, the issue of refugee with its distinctive features like a huge influx of immigration in short-time and Turkey’s capabilities to respond to this unexpected change are important dynamics to consider because all these matters have impact the implementation of refugee education. In that sense, the assumed operators of social justice at schools, school principals, have been apparently affected. Accordingly, current refugee education with its timing and specific circumstances challenge not only the policy makers but also the school principals.

14.6

Conclusion

In this chapter, we presented a theoretical framework, which may help us to broaden our perspective regarding the interpretation and application of social justice leadership in varying educational settings. While doing so, we also discussed and elaborated on how social justice leadership can play a role for the education of refugee children. As documented in the relevant literature, the implementation of social justice with its all requirements is not an easy one (Furman, 2012; North, 2006); therefore, different perspectives are offered to explain it (Berkovich, 2014; Furman, 2012). In that sense, social ecological framework contributes to those different perspectives by providing a multi-staged approach for school leaders to overcome the challenges and barriers confronted in creating a socially just atmosphere and supportive school community, especially for refugee children. It should be noted that Bronfenbrenner originally used this ecological theory to explain child development, but in time, this theory has evolved significantly, and has been used to explain the interrelationships between the person and the environment in different areas (e.g., Johns et al., 2017; Leonard, 2011). Therefore, the offered framework should be considered as a new lens through which social justice issues in education can be better understood and handled properly. Points to Ponder This chapter offers a holistic perspective towards understanding the education of refugee students and practice of social justice leadership at schools through showcasing the current practice of the respective topics in Turkish context. As an offered theoretical framework in this chapter, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory

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illuminates the multi-layered aspects of social justice leadership and challenges of refugee education. • School principals should recognize that refugee children and their family members face a variety of issues outside of the school buildings, including economic challenges, various forms of traumas, and stigmatization in public, all of which adversely affects their educational process. • Policy makers and government officials should approach the education of refugee with a holistic perspective through establishing mechanisms to address the issues faced by refugee children and their families. • Researchers may benefit from the offered theoretical framework to further understand the education of refugee children and conduct empirical researches in the field. More to Discover: Practical Suggestions for Schools

Systems of SJL

Practical suggestions for strengthening social justice

Individual system

– Recognizing the disadvantages that refugees experience because social justice is a manner built upon respect and empathy – Equipping school staff with pedagogical skills that are specific to refugees – Raising school staff’s awareness of refugees and social justice issues

Microsystem and mesosystem – Building a school culture that regularly reaches out to the community and refugee groups – Maintaining a cooperation between the school and immediate community about the problems of refugees Exosystem

– Discussing openly about the discriminations and prejudices toward refugees, especially fostered through mass media – Preparing school level extra-curricular programs assisting the adaptation of refugee students

Macrosystem

– Emphasizing inherent human rights like equity, equality and justice in educational, social, economic, and personal dimensions of life – Strengthening socio-cultural values that are supportive of disadvantaged groups

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Emotion management and feelings in teaching and educational leadership (pp. 193–212). Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78756-010-920191017 Örücü, D., Arar, K., & Mahfouz, J. (2021). Three contexts as the post-migration ecology for refugees: School principals’ challenges and strategies in Turkey, Lebanon, and Germany. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 20(1), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2020.1833044 Rapp, D. (2002). Social justice and the importance of rebellious, oppositional imaginations. Journal of School Leadership, 12(3), 226–245. https://doi.org/10.1177/105268460201200301 Rawls, J. (1999). A theory of justice. Harvard University Press. Ryan, J. (2006). Inclusive leadership and social justice for schools. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 5(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700760500483995 Scheurich, J. J., & Skrla, L. (2003). Leadership for equity and excellence. Corwin Press. Sirin, S. R., & Rogers-Sirin, L. (2015). The educational and mental health needs of Syrian refugee children. Migration Policy Institute. Slater, C., Potter, I., Torres, N., & Briceno, F. (2014). Understanding social justice leadership: An international exploration of the perspectives of two school leaders in Costa Rica and England. Management in Education, 28(3), 110–115. https://doi.org/10.1177/0892020614537516 Soylu, A., Kaysılı, A., & Sever, M. (2020). Refugee children and adaptation to school: An analysis through cultural responsivities of the teachers. Education and Science, 45(201), 313–334. https://doi.org/10.15390/EB.2020.8274 Theoharis, G. (2009). The school leaders our children deserve: Seven keys to equity, social justice, and school reform. Teachers College Press. UNHCR. (2017, July 25). Turkey: 3RP regional refugee and resilience plan 2017–2018 in response to the Syria crisis. Retrieved from https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/TUR KEY%20country%20chapter%20%28English%29.pdf UNHCR. (2021a, February 04). Refugees and asylum-seekers in Turkey. Retrieved from https:// www.unhcr.org/tr/en/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-turkey UNHCR. (2021b, February 04). UNHCR Turkey stats. Retrieved from https://www.unhcr.org/tr/en/ unhcr-turkey-stats UNICEF. (2019). UNICEF Turkey humanitarian situation report (No. 36). Retrieved from https:/ /www.unicefturk.org/public/uploads/files/UNICEF%20Turkey%20Humanitarian%20Situ ation%20Report%20No.%2036%20-%20End-Year%202019.pdf Wang, F. (2016). From redistribution to recognition: How school principals perceive social justice. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 15(3), 323–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2015.104 4539 Wasonga, T., & Bageni Mwita, M. (2012). Mitigating the educational policies in rural Kenya. In C. Boske & S. Diem (Eds.),Global leadership for social justice: Taking it from the field to practice (pp. 3–20). Emerald. Yaylacı, F. G., & M. Karaku¸s. (2015). Perceptions and newspaper coverage of Syrian refugees in Turkey. Migration Letters, 12(3), 238–250.

Omer Caliskan is Alexander von Humboldt fellow at International Center for Higher Education Research (INCHER) at University of Kassel, Germany. He received his Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Planning from Middle East Technical University in 2017, Ankara/Turkey. His research interests include education policy, educational leadership, and higher education. Hilal Buyukgoze is a research assistant in the Department of Educational Sciences at Hacettepe University, Turkey. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Hacettepe University in 2021. Her research interests include school improvement, educational leadership, and higher education.

Leadership for Refugee Education Bünyamin Han

15

and Rasim Tösten

Abstract

This chapter discusses the key responsibilities of school administrators’ leadership qualities in making schools more responsive to refugee students. It also explores strategies that education leaders should implement to increase the capacity of schools to meet the diverse needs of refugee students. School leaders have multidimensional responsibilities related to this complex process such as academic, social, emotional, financial, resource and extracurricular activities. School principals can contribute to refugee education by increasing the academic success of refugee students, ensuring their integration into society, and eliminating the language barrier. They can use some strategies to maintain a stable and nurturing environment, such as working with parents and guardians, and building a strong relationship with parents. They can lead emotionally vulnerable refugee students by engaging them in school activities. In addition, there are some facilities that school leaders can do regarding the economic problems of refugees such as finding a safe place to take shelter, living needs, clothing and food supply, and school expenses. The school administrator’s leadership skills and effective strategies are clearly demonstrated in terms of facilitating the education of refugee students and making the process effective. Keywords

Refugee • Migration • Education • Refugee student • School administration

B. Han (B) Department of Educational Studies, Kütahya Dumlupınar Üniversitesi, Kütahya, Türkiye e-mail: [email protected] R. Tösten Department of Educational Studies, Siirt Üniversitesi, Siirt, Türkiye © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_15

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Education is important for everyone and at all times, however, it is seen as much more important, especially in times of displacement. Education can sometimes be the only hope for someone who has lost his belongings such as homeland, family, relatives, and future at the time of displacement. Refugee students are a particularly vulnerable group due to their forced displacement which further complicates refugee education and points to the need for the cooperation of many institutions. The planning and management of refugee education has a multi-component structure and should be examined from multiple perspectives. This presents the idea of multifaceted and comprehensive management of refugee education. Schools are one of the main stakeholders of this process, so the contribution of school principals to the education of refugee students is seen as very crucial. An effective leadership for refugee students increases their hope for a better life and future by increasing their integration to the society and school. The term refugee is used to describe someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group (UNHCR, 2020). The term refugee already expresses a problem area for displaced persons and those who work with them in education and other fields because it includes concepts such as force, cruelty, war, and violence. The definition of the term itself implies several problematic aspects related to refugee education. The planning and management of refugee education has a multi-component structure and should be handled from multiple perspectives. McCarthy (2018) revealed that educational policymaking for refugees is an extremely complicated task that at times contradicts the political realities of a nation-state. Indeed, the governments have responsibility for refugee protection and rights under the 1951 Refugee Convention, on the Rights of the Child, and Sustainable Development Goal 4 to ensure inclusive, equitable quality education for all as well as relevant national legal and policy frameworks and UNHCR’s Refugee Education Strategy 2012–2016. However, the inclusion of the huge number of displaced children into state education systems especially in developing countries is not seen as an easy task (McCarthy, 2018). In this respect, policies on refugee education made by governments alone are not sufficient. In addition, all sectors related to education such as education stakeholders, non-governmental organizations, education administrators, school principals, and teachers are expected to contribute to this process. In today’s world inflicted with mass displacement and refugee crises, there is a need for assessing political dynamics and milieu regarding the education of refugees (McCarthy, 2018). Although forced migration and the presence of refugee groups in the society is an increasing phenomenon, more research is necessary (Cerna, 2019; Dahya et al., 2019; Pinson & Arnot, 2007; Ramsay et al., 2019), and this reveals the necessity of rethinking refugee education. According to the UN (2015) report, refugees have undergone a lot of stressful processes including displacement from their country, traveling to the target country, sheltering in a

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place, living in a different socio-cultural environment, integration into the new culture, education, and so on. In addition, not knowing if one’s status in a new country is permanent, living in poor housing and with limited resources and even living with parents or other caregivers that may be suffering from trauma or stress themselves can contribute to refugee children’s daily stress, and may further intensify trauma they may have already experienced. Refugee students are a particularly vulnerable group due to their forced displacement, but their needs are not always met by education systems, which can hinder the integration potential of these students (Cerna, 2019). According to Han et al. (2019), immigrant students experience adjustment problems, have low academic success, have parents that are indifferent to the school, have tendency to violence at school, and experience financial problems. In recent decades, several challenges in terms of quality education for refugee and asylum-seeking children have surfaced. Combating prejudice, overcoming social exclusion, and facilitating integration are only part of the overall problem (Bourgonje, 2010). All of these problems make refugee education even more complex, making it more difficult than an institution or individual can handle alone. This situation reveals the idea of multi-facet and comprehensive management of refugee education (e.g., Brooks et al, 2017).

15.1

The Importance of Education for Refugees

Education is an indispensable phenomenon for all members of society. In particular, the role of education in the development of people with low social and economic levels is quite evident. At this point, refugee education plays a critical role. Moreover, education is seen as crucial every time especially, in times of displacement. It can foster social cohesion, provide access to life-saving information, address psychosocial needs, and offer a stable and safe environment for those who need it most. It also helps people to rebuild their communities and pursue productive, meaningful lives. With the increasing numbers of refugees, schools all over the world are welcoming increasing numbers of refugee children. Schools are facing new challenges in making sense of forced displacement and its complexities. In recent years, the number of refugee students in the school environment significantly increased. According to Patoor (2016) for many decades, ‘refugee education’ has been primarily associated with the education of refugees in countries far away from developed countries. However, as refugee students from all over the world have entered European classrooms, policymakers, educators and researchers need to rethink refugee education ‘at home’ in order to ensure quality and equity. In refugee education, the government should consider not only the idea of return but also a long-term effort linked to the ongoing nature of conflict and displacement (Dryden-Peterson, 2017). The problem of educating refugee students is not only the governments’ problem but also a problem for school principals and teachers (Toker Gokce & Acar, 2018). In this case, school administrators should

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now accept refugees in their schools as a part of the school population and should develop policies accordingly. The literature emphasizes the importance of education in determining the future of young refugees and its potential to transform lives for those who have access to it (Thomas, 2016). Many refugee children and parents share this abiding faith in the role that education can play in securing prosperous, happy, and healthy futures (Dryden-Peterson, 2011). It is recognized that for children whose lives are affected by war, violence, displacement, and the general disruption of normal life, education plays an important role in providing protection (Kirk & Winthrop, 2007). Thus, education is seen as hope and remedy by refugee students, their families, the society they live in, and other stakeholders. Education is important for the individual survival chances of refugees and the current stability of states (Dryden-Peterson, 2016). At this point, one of the important skills necessary for refugees to adapt to the target society is to learn the language of the host country. The ability of the students to learn the language of the host country is an essential dynamic of a high-quality refugee education. Refugee children who have acquired the language of the host country are more likely to successfully adjust to the education system of the host country (Also read Chap. 10 for more on this topic), and experience less isolation (Aras & Yasun, 2016). It can be claimed that the schooling of refugees is one of the most effective factors in learning the language of the target society and adapting to the host culture.

15.2

Schooling of Refugee Children

Schooling is one of the most highlighted issues in refugee education, but it is still difficult to say that enough success has been achieved in refugee schooling. Accordingly, schooling will continue to be a common subject of education administrators and researchers for a long time with the recent increasing refugee population. In 2019, the UN conducted research on refugees in 12 countries (Chad, Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Turkey, and Uganda). According to recent UN reports, more than 1.8 million children are out of school across these countries is 48 percent of all refugee children of school age are out of school. The most recent data on school enrolment once again highlights how the educational options for refugee children dramatically fade away after primary school (UNHCR, 2020). This data points to the fact that there is still a big problem in the schooling rate of refugees. Some of the school-age refugee children live in camps and rural areas outside the city centers, which hurts schooling. Mendenhall et al., (2017) reported that sixty percent of today’s refugees live scattered and embedded across large urban areas. The urbanization of refugees is creating new obstacles for refugee children who find it difficult or impossible to

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attend school, even though they are entitled by international law to do so. This situation reveals the idea that there are many administrative steps necessary in some areas, especially schooling, in refugee education. UNHCR announced a policy on Refugee Protection and Solutions in Urban Areas. This policy recognizes that education is a basic service to which refugees, no matter where they reside, have a right to attend school (UNHCR, 2019). The existing literature emphasizes the role of schooling in refugee education (Arar et al., 2019; Rah, 2013). Schools have the potential for a significant impact on the lives of students with a refugee background (Miller et al., 2018). According to Deane (2016), an appropriate education policy response to the refugee crisis can reduce the risk of stigma, isolation, intra-community tensions, marginalization, and even radicalization. Schools are a stabilizing feature in the unsettled lives of refugee students. They provide safe spaces for new encounters, interactions, and learning opportunities. They also deliver literacy, the key to educational success, post-school options, life choices, social participation, and settlement (Matthews, 2008). Educational institutions might play a more active role in facilitating transitions to citizenship for refugee youth through an inclusive approach (Taylor & Sidhu, 2012). Schools, and especially the relationships established at school, can provide an incredibly positive and supportive experience in the lives of refugee children helping them to overcome difficult times. The schooling problem encountered in refugee education is not only related to schooling in target countries. Schooling in the countries where refugees come from is also an important factor in this process. Most of the refugees originate from countries where access to formal schooling was difficult or disrupted. Pastoor (2017) states that refugees originate from countries where access to formal schooling was difficult or disrupted. Limited access to education for refugees in both camp and urban settings has immense economic and social consequences, for both individuals and societies (Arar et al., 2020; Dryden-Peterson, 2011; Koyama & Kasper, 2020). In this case, it can be claimed that the low schooling rates of refugees are not only related to refugee education policies in the target country, but also refugees’ own culture, and their own country’s policies and understandings. Since the start of the 2011 Syrian war, Turkey has accepted more than 3.5 million refugees, including many school-age children. For this reason, providing education to Syrian child refugees has become an important agenda in Turkey. To address this problem effectively, the Turkish government has developed education policies and legal regulations (Gümü¸s, et al., 2020). One of the important projects carried out by Turkey in the field of education for Syrian refugee children is the establishment of temporary education centers (TEC). In this regard, there is a remarkable policy implemented toward Syrian refugee students in Turkey. Accordingly, in order to increase the schooling rate of Syrian refugees, the Turkish government offers them both the opportunity to study in their own language or to study in the public schools by learning the language of the target country. Syrian students can choose to attend either Turkish public schools or temporary

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education centers. Temporary education centers are primary and secondary education centers that provide educational opportunities for school-age Syrian children in Turkey (MEB, 2014). Currently, approximately 78% of Syrian refugee students attend TECs, and 22% attend other schooling institutions, consisting of mainly Turkish public institutions (Aras & Yasun, 2016). With similar practices, many countries offer schooling opportunities for the refugee children they host.

15.3

Can Schooling Be the Only Remedy for Refugee Education?

It is seen that the most obvious problem in refugee education is schooling, but the education problems of refugees are not limited to this. Although the rate of refugees’ access to the school system is seen as the most obvious educational problem, it is not possible to say that educational problems disappear when access to school is achieved. In other words, it seems that the completion of schooling rates will not end the educational problems of refugees. Therefore, it is important to focus on the educational problems of refugee students who continue their education at school. As stated in the Education Report (2020) “You can’t just throw kids into school and say, ‘here you are, aren’t you lucky’—it’s about making the commitment and making it work” (p. 38). In this sense, UN Education Brief (2015) highlights the inclusion in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education at national and local levels, the government department of refugee affairs, UNICEF, UNESCO, and other relevant partners are seen crucial. Ensuring refugee children’s access to school should not always be seen as the only way, because in many countries the educational environments provided for their own citizens are dealing with many problems. At this point, refugee children, who already have many problems, may experience more complex problems with the addition of the school’s own ongoing problems. As Kirk and Winthrop (2007) stated that we cannot take for granted that schools are always positive and beneficial places for children. Authoritarian and abusive behaviors (including corporal punishment) from teachers create quite the opposite of a healthy and healing classroom environment. Moreover, schools may be poorly equipped to recognize and respond to the multiple challenges faced by children and young people who must learn a new language while grappling with unfamiliar educational and social systems (Block et al., 2014). It is understood that schooling is a very important factor in refugee education, but not all problems can be solved with schooling. At this point, the school leaders, who are the implementers of government policies in schools, have an important mission to accomplish.

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The Role of School Principals in Refugee Education

School principals are the implementers of the policies made by international organizations and governments for refugee education in the field. School principals have a critical role in the success of refugee education by organizing and managing all the stakeholders of the school. Pastoor (2016) emphasizes the importance of a whole-school approach to refugee education, which includes education policy, school structures, classroom practice, curricula, pedagogy, and teaching materials, as well as cultural awareness and refugee competence. Some other research also emphasizes the role of the school leaders and teachers in refugee education (Arar et al., 2020; Koyama & Kasper, 2020), as they are the social actors who encounter refugee children early on at the school level. The school leaders can support refugee education, with a view to enhancing how teacher agency can be used to support refugee students and the staff who work with them (Rose, 2019). Refugee children have a variety of learning, social, and emotional needs that have to be addressed before integration can be successful. These range from education, safety, communication, belonging, and identity to overcoming loss and trauma (Cerna, 2019). Refugee students entering target schools are deprived of various forms of social, linguistic, and cultural capital that are considered natural in regular classrooms (Ferfolja & Vickers, 2010). An appropriate education policy response to the refugee crisis can reduce the risk of stigma, isolation, intra-community tensions, marginalization, and even radicalization (Deane, 2016). Research has also revealed that school principals mostly have communication, adaptation, accreditation, absenteeism, and psychological and financial problems related to refugee students (Toker Gokce & Acar, 2018). Accordingly, school principals have very important duties in both solving the problems related to refugee children and ensuring the integration of refugee children into school and society, in order to achieve social integration. As school leaders, principals have multidimensional responsibilities related to this complex process. Here are some responsibilities of school leaders in refugee education categorized as an academic, social, emotional, financial, resource, and extracurricular activities.

15.5

Academic Roles

Today, the situation of refugees in primary and secondary schools has become part of many educators’ daily work. Many teachers now have refugees or asylum-seekers in their classrooms. Teaching newcomers often requires certain qualifications, but some instructors are not aware of them. Educational leaders should take some steps in refugee education by organizing a refugee-friendly school environment, enabling teacher awareness about refugee training. Moreover, the school administration may contribute to refugee education in terms of fostering students’ academic success, adaptation to the courses, language acquisition if there is a language barrier, and so on.

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Teachers have communication and interaction with refugee students most of the day. Therefore, one of the activities that the school principal can do to improve refugee education is to ensure the development of teachers in this regard. Ferfolja and Vickers (2010) state that school-based tutoring centers may assist in the development of refugee students’ academic and acculturation needs. Turkey is one of the countries that attaches importance to teacher training in order to increase the academic success of the increasing number of refugee students in this regard. With different projects, 12,838 volunteer Syrian refugees were provided a teaching training program and then employed to train Syrian refugee students across the country (Emin, 2016). Recent data from the Turkish Ministry of National Education show about 20,500 volunteer Syrian teachers were given various training, including pedagogical guidance (MEB, 2017). The results of this project showed that language training, backup training, catch-up training, and training for school leaders had positive effects on grades, and a sense of belonging and decreased the rates of absenteeism, and grade repetition of Syrian refugee students (Cerna, 2019). Accordingly, school principals should take the initiative to improve the academic success of refugee students and contribute to the academic success of refugee children by increasing the professional development of teachers in this regard. School principals can carry out the various activities suggested below to ensure, maintain, and increase the academic success of refugee students: 1. One of the biggest obstacles to the academic success of refugee students is the absence of the target language. Students who cannot understand and speak the language of the host country may fall behind their peers academically. Therefore, school principals can provide extra assistance such as language courses to students who are learning another language. 2. Refugee students may have lower academic achievement in some subjects compared to their classmates. At this point, the school principal can try to increase academic success with supportive training and courses. 3. School principals can guide refugee students to set goals for their future lives and give specific courses in special areas so that they can achieve these goals. Thus, they can help these students toward more long-term orientation. 4. One of the reasons for academic failure for refugee students is low or insufficient family support. In this regard, school principals can increase the academic success of refugee students by including their families in the education process. 5. Some of the refugee students may not have parents or families, or they may live separately; in this case, the school principal can increase the family contribution by providing support to people such as the caregivers, and relatives of the refugee children.

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Social Roles

The school leaders have some responsibility in terms of socializing refugee students. It is known that teaching newcomers often comes with specific needs relating to adaptation to a new culture and environment. In this respect school leaders may use some strategies such as working with parents and guardians, and building a strong relationship with parents so that the continuum of a stable and nurturing environment. School and most importantly the relationships formed at school can be an incredibly stabilizing, positive, and nurturing experience in a child’s or a student’s life, which can help them overcome challenging times (UNHCR, 2019). Young refugee students have to adapt to the expectations and culture of formal education (Ferfolja et al., 2010). In addition to the refugee child’s adaptation to the new environment, schools, teachers, and current students also need to adapt to refugee students. It is essential to know how best to prepare teachers to meet the needs of refugee children and how to create schools that can meet those needs (Hamilton, 2003). Schools have a duty to promote community cohesion (Bourgonje, 2010). With the positive and encouraging policies implemented by the school principal, refugee children can be integrated into society and school. In addition, perhaps, more importantly, the integration of schools, teachers, students, and society with refugee children can be achieved. While many refugee-background students do well following resettlement, others experience difficulties coping with school because of their experiences (Block et al., 2014). In that sense, effective education is a way for refugees to become integrated into a new culture and is a process involving social inclusion (Thomas, 2016). Therefore, schools have a critical role in facilitating transitions to citizenship and belonging of refugee young people (Taylor & Sidhu, 2012). Refugee children have a strong need to bond with others and to feel a sense of belonging to the new community and school. Refugee youth are separated from their peers in their home country and are required to establish new friendships in a host country (Cerna, 2019) (See Sect. 3, Chap. 12 for more on this topic). Bellino and Dryden-Peterson, (2019) reported multifaceted problems in the integration of refugee children into public schools based on their interviews and classroom observations at Kakuma Refugee Camp. School principals should deal with multicultural issues in their daily activities, especially focusing on individual students or specific programs to accommodate refugees (Gardiner & Enomoto, 2006). Therefore, it is seen that the positive policies that the school principal will implement toward refugee students are very important in social integration. In this way, the school principal can utilize the school’s opportunities for the integration of refugee students and use the potential of refugee students in developing the school.

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School principals can conduct the following activities in order to ensure the social adaptation of refugee students to school and to support their social development: 1. When refugee students are new to a school, the school principal can provide social support by introducing the school, its departments, rules, norms, dressing style, and cultural expectations while helping students at the host school to recognize and understand the culture and norms students who are refugees bring to the school. 2. The school principal can increase the social recognition of refugee students by introducing them and their cultural elements to other students, staff, parents, and teachers. 3. School principals can provide social support by including refugee students in social activities and student clubs at school while taking into account their abilities. 4. School principals can provide social assistance to refugee students through student-partner applications to provide peer support. 5. School principals can make an important contribution to this process by partnering with families in order to provide social support to the families of refugee students.

15.7

Psychological Roles

Some refugee children may suffer from stress or trauma preventing them from participating fully in school activities, and requiring specific types of support. According to the UNHCR (2019), not knowing if one’s status in a new country is permanent, living in poor housing and with limited resources and even living with parents or other caregivers that may be suffering from trauma or stress themselves, can contribute to refugee children’s daily stress and may further impact trauma they may have already experienced. At this point, the school principal can lead emotionally fragile refugee students by ensuring their participation in school activities. Many refugee children have traumatic experiences and disrupted education, and are then tasked with adapting to a new culture (Thomas, 2016). The educational and psychosocial needs of resettled refugees are diverse and complex, as most refugees are exposed to traumatic events before they arrive in the destination country (Pastoor, 2017). Young people, and sometimes their families, may lack literacy in first languages and many are coping with the impacts of trauma associated with forced displacement (Block et al., 2014). In this regard, school principals should take the initiative and work proactively to identify and treat the traumatic experiences of refugee students. Beyond providing children with literacy, numeracy, and an array of crucial skills, education opportunities for refugee children in protracted situations

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are vital because schools can give social and emotional support (Beste, 2015). Indeed, schools are places that can be safe and protective environments, and provide refugee children with hope and aspirations (McCarthy, 2018). The schools may support refugee education by enabling greater equity for these students through reflective practice and enriching students’ perspectives (Keddie, 2012). Schools must not discriminate against refugees and have a duty to promote good relationships between children from different backgrounds (Bourgonje, 2010). Accordingly, the critical role of schools in the psychological development of refugee students is becoming clear. The school principals should lead activities that will enable refugee students to develop emotionally and psychologically by using the school’s facilities: 1. With refugee students’ initial involvement in the school environment, school principals can offer general awareness of psychological needs and support for these children. 2. One of the important fields that refugee students need psychological support is their family. The school principal can provide psychological support for students with family trauma. 3. Psychological support services can be established to provide professional support to refugee students who experience trauma such as stress, violence, war, exile, migration, and coercion. 4. The school principal can provide psychological support to refugee students by providing vocational guidance for their future professional goals. 5. The school principal can offer support to refugee students to gain positive psychological feelings such as hope, optimism, and resilience.

15.8

Financial Roles

Refugee students also experience economic difficulties along with many other problems. While these economic problems are effective in many areas of their lives, they also affect their educational life. The quality and continuation of the education and school life of refugee children are largely related to their economic opportunities. Living in a challenging financial situation adds more stress to refugee life. Therefore, school leaders can facilitate aspects related to the economic problems of refugees, such as finding a safe place to stay, and providing living needs, clothing, food, and school expenses. According to the UNHCR report, lack of financial resources and inconsistent applications limit the progress in refugee education (Dryden-Peterson, 2011). One of the important areas in organizing and improving the education of refugee students is to provide resources. School principals can take responsibility for providing material and non-material resources for refugee students. Other resources such as funding, scholarships, dressing (e.g., uniforms), and school textbooks can be supplied for refugees during their educational process. Supportive help at home

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or out of school life from parents, siblings, other family members, and guardians, and peers will help refugee students overcome the challenges they are experiencing without additional help (UNHCR, 2019). School resources are often stretched, which in turn limits providing enough services for refugees (Bourgonje, 2010). School principals, who are responsible for the school’s resource management, can try to enrich and develop these resources, taking into account refugee students. Some of the many activities that school principals can take about finance and resource allocation for refugee students include: 1. School principals can obtain or provide direct financial assistance to refugee students in need. 2. School principals can find some ways to help refugee students in need of clothing, uniforms, and other needs. 3. School principals can assist refugee students by providing school supplies, textbooks, and materials in case of need. 4. School principals can offer support by finding sponsors for refugee students who have problems paying school fees. 5. School principals can support refugee students economically by preparing joint support projects with school-family associations. 6. School principals can provide financial support by providing part-time job opportunities for families of refugee students if needed.

15.9

Extracurricular Activities

Many refugees have been exposed to traumatic events before arrival. Because the educational and psychosocial needs of resettled refugees are diverse and complex, schools are unlikely to meet all of them. At this point, not all problems of refugee students can be solved at school, so school administrators can improve it by using some out-of-school activities. Engagement in a variety of settings, activities, and practices beyond school can expand young refugees’ opportunities for meaningful learning and promote their social inclusion (Pastoor, 2017). School principals might share important school concepts and cultures that impact academic and personal achievement (UNHCR, 2019). While school principals give importance to in-school activities in the integration of refugee students into school and society, they can also make refugee students participate in out-of-school activities. At this point, the following extracurricular activities can be used as an important development area: 1. The school principal can provide social, psychological, and moral support to refugee students by organizing out-of-school trips. 2. The school principal can direct refugee students to out-of-school vocational courses according to their abilities.

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3. The school principal can speed up the adaptation process by organizing visits to other official institutions and organizations in the country where the refugees live. 4. The school principal can provide out-of-school support to the students by promoting social, sports, entertainment, and recreation opportunities in the neighborhood where the refugee students live.

15.10 Conclusion Refugee education is no longer just a concept related to the education of people in the countries where immigration has taken place; on the contrary, refugees are an integral part of daily life in almost every country of the world. Refugee education has become a phenomenon that needs to be managed universally, especially with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus could destroy the dreams and ambitions of these young refugees. It threatens to cause a ‘pandemic of poverty’ in the world’s most vulnerable communities, and the steady and hard-won increases in school, university, technical, and vocational education enrolment could be reversed—in some cases permanently (Education Report, 2020). In this regard, international organizations, governments, local authorities, schools, teachers, and the whole public should fulfill their responsibilities. The coronavirus pandemic has had dramatic effects on the lives of school-age children. Schools have been closed; exams were canceled, postponed, or moved online; and parents–including in forcibly displaced communities have taken on bigger roles in their children’s learning. But adapting to the limitations imposed by Covid-19 has been especially tough for 85% of the world’s refugees who live in developing or least developed countries. Mobile phones, tablets, laptops, good connectivity, cheap data, and even radio sets are often not readily available to persons in displaced communities. Keeping education going in the time of a pandemic has required resourcefulness, innovation, invention, and collaboration (Education Report, 2020). Therefore, the leadership roles of school administration can be concluded as one of the crucial elements of successful support for refugee education. Increasing digitalization in education, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic, has made refugee education a phenomenon that needs to be supported by different resources and experiences in many subjects. In this process, school leadership is still considered a very important component for the quality, continuation, sustainability, effectiveness, and success of refugee education. Points to Ponder • Schools are one of the main stakeholders of the refugee process, so the contribution of school principals to the education of refugee students is very crucial.

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• The policies on refugee education made by governments alone are not sufficient, instead all sectors related to education such as non-governmental organizations, education administrators, school principals, and teachers are expected to contribute to this process. • School leadership is still considered a very important component for the quality, continuation, sustainability, effectiveness, and success of refugee education. • Educational leaders should take some steps in refugee education by organizing a refugee-friendly school environment, enabling teacher awareness about refugee training. • School principals can contribute to refugee education by increasing the academic success of refugee students, ensuring their integration into society, eliminating the language barrier, maintaining a stable and nurturing environment, working with parents and guardians, building a strong relationship with parents, finding a safe place to take shelter, living needs, clothing, and food supply, and school expenses. More to Discover: Additional Resources School leaders may find useful information that helps them in their roles as leaders to support academics, social, psychological, finances student’s needs, and extracurricular activities. The following three articles describe a program to support students (ASCD, 2013), resources for everything from how the school system works to language resources (Department of Education, 2022), and how to marshal support for refugees at your school (The Guardian, 2015). ASCD. (2013, Sept 1). Building the resilience of refugees. Educational Leadership online, 71(1). https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/building-the-resilience-of-refugees. Department of Education—United Kingdom. (2022, September) Resources to help support children and young people arriving from Ukraine https://www.gov.uk/gov ernment/publications/helping-ukrainian-students-in-schools/resources-to-help-sup port-children-and-young-people-arriving-from-ukraine. The Guardian. (2015, October 4). Refugee crisis: How your school can help. https:/ /www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/oct/04/refugee-crisis-how-schoolhelp.

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Bünyamin Han graduated from METU English Language Teaching. He completed his master’s and PhD in the field of “Educational Management” at Dicle University. He started to work as a faculty member at Kütahya Dumlupınar University since 2020 and got the associate professor title in 2022. He studied “Informal Communication Types” in his Ph.D. thesis. He has many scientific studies published in various national and international journals. He is a co-author of a book called “Management and Leadership”, a chapter author in the books “Ethics in Education”, “Ethics and Values”, “New Generation Classroom Management”. He has a chapter in a translation book titled “Globalizing Education Policy”. He organizes many radio and television programs on educational management, communication, school climate, teacher training, classroom management, and discipline practices, and gives training seminars for teachers, students and parents. Rasim Tösten completed his undergraduate education at Kafkas University Education Faculty Primary School Teachers Program (2008), his master’s degree was at Kafkas University Social Sciences Institute Educational Sciences Department (2011), and his doctorate from Gaziantep University Educational Sciences Institute Educational Sciences Department (2015). He received the title of associate professor in the field of Educational Administration in 2020. Between 2011 and 2015, he worked at Dicle University Ziya Gökalp Faculty of Education and then transferred to Siirt University. He still works as an associate professor at the same university. Educational management, organizational behaviors, and positive psychological capital are his fields of study.

School Leadership Makes Hope Possible: Five Things School Administrators Can Do Right Now Thomas DeVere Wolsey

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and Ibrahim M. Karkouti

Abstract

Sometimes getting started is the most difficult aspect of creating a more inclusive culture in the school. This chapter offers practical suggestions for school leaders that they can implement right away. Keywords

Inclusive education • Refugee students’ needs • Visuals • Advocates For many students, school is the safest, most normal place they know. For refugee students, school can be a source of certainty or a source of more pain. Nearly 50 million children are refugees, and almost half of them do not attend school. For those that do, new problems confront them when they walk through the schoolhouse doors.

16.1

Supporting Refugee Students

Refugee students need social-emotional support as much as they need academic support. Schools should be venues where they feel strongly and genuinely supported, feel welcome, understood, and cared for. Such a positive school climate is

This chapter provides examples and guidance for educational leaders; therefore, we have not added additional points to ponder. This is deliberate and not an oversight! We thought you should know. T. D. Wolsey (B) Salou, Tarragona, Spain e-mail: [email protected] I. M. Karkouti Department of Educational Studies, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Cairo, Egypt e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_16

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vital as studies link social support to increased resilience, better health, well-being, decreased feelings of isolation and loneliness, and an elevated sense of belonging and integration into a new society (Karkouti et al., 2019, 2021). Educators may be more able to serve students who are displaced using a framework for types of support. House (1981) proposed emotional, informational, instrumental, and appraisal support, by which he means that human needs are met in a variety of ways (see table 1). Emotional needs may be met when a teacher or peer displays empathy, is trustworthy, and demonstrates genuine concern to the wellbeing of the student. Informational support occurs when a teacher or peer can provide advice; for example, a student who is new to the school may need to know where the restrooms are and what procedure to use to see a nurse. Refugee children often lack access to basic school supplies or may need assistance with finding food at lunch that is ethnically or religiously suitable, and educators are ideally suited to providing this instrumental support. Because of the uncertainty of a new culture, new school, and possibly a new language, refugees need and even crave useful and caring feedback that they can use to navigate their new environment. Along with social support, schools need to provide social structures that include practices of social integration and social networks. Social networks nested in such schools should go beyond quantity of relationships and prioritize quality social relationships with refugee students that foster their self-efficacy and well-being. Please see Table 1 in Chap. 7 (“Leveraging Multiculturalism and Social Support: Helping Syrian Refugees in Lebanon”) for a summary of the social support structures. Like so many Syrians, refugees from South and Central America, Africa, and other regions are now faced with forced relocations due to legal obstacles, and many are going hungry because school was their main source of healthy meals. As they seek to navigate the dense bureaucratic thickets that surround forced migration, they are now confronted with the specter of the pandemic. What was uncertain is now magnified.

16.2

Schools Offer Hope

The students we interviewed in Lebanon offered a complex picture of hope and hopelessness and of frustration and hardship like those of their counterparts around the globe even as they recognized that education is their best way forward. Forward, if they can find the support they need.

16.2.1 Start at the Door When parents bring their children to school, they are often confronted with registration requirements that are daunting and often in a language they don’t know well. The first impression the school makes on parents and their children can last

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throughout the child’s career in that school. Parents bring various points of view about schools and schooling to the schoolhouse door; for example, some parents do not believe they should interfere in education out of respect for the teachers. Nevertheless, parents are partners, and nothing can replace a smile from the secretary and an invitation to parents sit with the principal or counselor to discuss how best to serve the child. If an interpreter is needed, school personnel should know that they speak to the parent and not the interpreter. The paperwork has to be done, but it can wait until a positive relationship between family and school is established.

16.2.2 A Single Point of Contact and Pictures Anyone who has gotten lost in an endless chain of automated voice systems has some inkling of what it might be like to be a student and a refugee at a large school. One easy step for schools is to make sure there is a single person or office, a single point of contact, where refugee students and their families can go to obtain school supplies, advice on school policies, and outreach to the community for medical care and other social services. It is bewildering enough to have left one’s home and shuffled to a new life in a new place without having to deal with navigating the procedures at school. Along with the idea of making school friendly and welcoming, pictures are incredibly useful tools. In the student information packet, add a picture of the clocking showing the time when school starts and when it ends. A blizzard of text can be overwhelming, but graphics and photos add a level of clarity. Classroom teachers can get into the images act, as well. Pictures that illustrate complex concepts represented in speech or text can make the idea clear when the language of school and the language of the child differ (Cummins, 2000). A photograph of a scientific phenomenon or drawing of a math equation can go a long way toward building understanding.

16.2.3 Watch Our Words The students we interviewed in Lebanon often spoke of how difficult it is to simultaneously learn subjects taught in English instead of Arabic. Learning another language while immersed in an unfamiliar land is tough, but how we view language in the classroom is also an opportunity. Inclusivity in school means that students need to work with others who share their language and culture as well as participate in the diversity of the school with students who speak English and have different worldviews. For example, in schools where inclusivity is valued, one student may explain a concept to a peer in Spanish or Arabic followed by the peer re-explaining in English what she just heard. One’s language is perhaps the most intimate aspect of a person’s identity, and schools that serve refugee students well respect that.

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This does not imply that students can ignore learning the language of their host school and country, but it does mean that respecting the individual and learning through one’s first language are complementary. Reminding students that their home language should not be forgotten is crucial, as well (Mendenhall et al., 2017).

16.2.4 Build Inclusivity into the Culture of the School Inclusive schools don’t spontaneously appear; rather they are nurtured by all of those charged with supporting the students and their families. In addition to the adversities of being forced to leave one’s homeland, learn a new language, make new friends, and figure out mores that are unfamiliar, refugee students are often the victims of bullying and insensitive speech. While boys may snigger when they knock each other’s baseball caps off, snatching the hijab from a Muslim girl is no laughing matter. Asking insensitively if all Guatemalans want to join a caravan and leave their homes is callous. Inclusive educators recognize that there are opportunities to foster inclusivity when such unfortunate events occur, and they must be the fount of trust at school.

16.2.5 Advocates at School Every child needs an advocate at school, a person who will do what he or she says and will look after the best interests of the student even when, especially when, it seems no one else will. Back to the schoolhouse door—as soon as a refugee family comes through the doors, they should feel and believe that there is someone, many someones, on whom they can rely. Many teachers have never known real poverty, but that means only making the extra effort to understand, to empathize, a life so unlike theirs that they inspire trust in the lives of the students who have found so few they can trust in their lives. Fady, one of the Syrian middle school students we interviewed, told us, “I would love it if my teachers and school administrators treat us better, not as refugees, but as people”. Fady’s words suggest a clear path for educators who work with refugees and other students who are displaced.

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References Cummins, J. (2000).Language, Power and Pedagogy: Bilingual Children in the Crossfire. Multilingual Matters. House, J. S. (1981). Work Stress and Social Support. Addison-Wesley. Karkouti, I. M., Wolsey, T. D., & Toprak, M. (2019). Restoring hope for Syrian refugees: Social support students need to excel at school. International Migration, 58(4), 21–36. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/imig.12642 Karkouti, I. M., Wolsey, T. D., Abate, T., & Toprak, M. (2021). Empowering teachers during refugee crises: Social support they need to thrive. Teacher and Teacher Education, 107, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103471 Mendenhall, M., Bartlett, L., & Ghaffar-Kucher, A. (2017). “If you need help, they are always there for us”: Education for refugees in an international high school in NYC. The Urban Review, 49(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-016-0379-4

Thomas DeVere Wolsey is a literacy education consultant, and he teaches graduate courses in research and literacy. He leads professional development for teachers in Egypt, Guatemala, Mexico, China, on the Hopi Reservation and throughout the United States, among other places. He is the author or co-author of eleven books https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-DeVere-Wolsey/e/ B001H6SWX8 for teachers and teacher educators with two more in development. Dr. Wolsey has developed training materials for the California Department of Education, TextProject http://textpr oject.org/, San Diego State University, and North County (San Diego) Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program. His specialties include exploring intersections of literacy and technology, middle grades and secondary literacy practices, teacher preparation, and green school design. In addition, he owns an olive grove in Catalonia, Spain where he produces olive oil. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Mastodon https://mstdn.social/@TDWolsey or Twitter @TDWolsey. Ibrahim M. Karkouti is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the American University in Cairo. An independent thinker, a young scholar, and a life-long learner, his research focuses on diversity issues in higher education, refugee education, educational technology, and the types of social support teachers need to implement reform.

Part IV Restoring Hope Through Effective Leadership

The Big Blue Sky Ana M. Fores Tamayo

The mid-afternoon dazzled, I dashing uphill to meet my friend, Breathlessly flashing my sparkling new peter-pan collar. Lovely, isn’t it, I squealed? Brashly enough to whitewash the not-so-new fading blue corduroy that flaked around my knees, My wobbly legs protruding in an abundance of joy and childhood. Let’s race to the top, I mouthed: there, where no one will see us, where no one can stop us, where no one shall make us behave como las chicas we’re supposed to be instead of these wild creatures we are– loving the world… We streaked to the crest of that hill, chanting our joy, our exuberance at being alive, me not caring that mami and papi slaved away trabajando, or perhaps not not caring, but no queriendo comprender, because we were children and we loved our lives and the merry-go-round and rolling down the hill so that my blue corduroy skirt became grass-stained & muddy but it didn’t matter: I just wanted to love the sun and the clouds and the big blue sky looming above. When we reached the apex, I unfurled my arms to the sun, to the sky, to the fluffy white clouds scampering like dinosaurs rampaging wind, and I laughed at the speed of their getaway: where were these clouds going? My friend and I threw ourselves to the ground and slouched down, legs sprawled and arms outstretched: we saw bears and whales and hyenas scuttling through the blue, the face of God blowing them forward in an exodus of flight. Part of my mind brought back my mami ironing the three hand-me-downs I would wear to la escuela next week, plus the shorts she scrounged to buy me

A. M. Fores Tamayo Refugee Support Network (RSN), North Texas, TX, USA

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2

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because I came home one day llorando the boys would pull up my blue corduroy and laugh at my pantaletas de refugiada… I didn’t want to think of my mami and my papi’s toil. So instead I thought of the tarantula my papi brought home one late afternoon, its big hairy body with its multi-colored legs crawling about, trapped in a jar. Wanting to please his flock of children – this was one of the few things he supposed might bring us joy… I would delight in telling my horrid schoolmates I was first to witness una tarantula viva, yet my mami scolded: ¿cómo se te ocurre traer algo tan peligroso a la casa? How dare you? she thundered. This horrid creature is poison! Don’t we have enough troubles without having that insect escape, biting one of the children? My mami could see no fun in the spider: she only fretted about doctor bills, worries. But my papi murmured, head hung low, it was crawling about, camouflaged among the stems of bananas. The boats are filled with thousands of pallets, and I’m sure a few odd insects come on board for the ride. Much later I found out this was the festering legacy the United Fruit Company shipped weekly… I knew it was hard labor what my papi did: for months he carried those giant banana bunches on his ailing back, hora tras hora each day, Moving them out of those massive white boats reflecting the sun so as to keep the temperatures down. The company cared more about the stems of bananas than ever they cared about workers. For measly pay, my papi slaved, his life in tatters. El dinero no era bastante to feed the entire lot of my brothers and sisters, yet it was the only job he could get – not speaking the language – at least the United Fruit Company paid him enough to help us survive… I closed my mind to it all. I would look at the clouds now lingering across the big blue sky, I would forget my mami and papi and even my best friend Marlenè, I would stargaze, that big blue sky with the clouds swimming by, I would fill up with dreams we could survive these painful days crammed with worn-out corduroys and many-legged tarantulas, bursting with broken English and sueños perdidos. I gazed at the clouds and peeking past them I would create a colossal benevolent snow-woman kindly showering me with gifts, fantasías y dragones dancing through the red blue sun-streaked skies. I kept staring at that big blue sky as it turned orange sunset.

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I would forget Marlenè and my mami and papi, I would forget the tarantula and my refugee panties… And then as I conjured the azure skyline turning violet orange with the clouds ambling off dreamily past the horizon, I witnessed a splendorous phoenix emerge, its magnificence overwhelming, giving me fuerza, the strength to get up, to go down that hill, to walk into mi futuro, Head held high. Ana M. Fores Tamayo

Ana M. Fores Tamayo wanted instead to do something that mattered: work with asylum seekers. She advocates for marginalized refugee families from Mexico, Central America, and most recently, many other countries from which people flee. Working with asylum seekers is heart wrenching, yet satisfying. It is also quite humbling. Her labor has eased her own sense of displacement, being a child refugee, always trying to find home. In parallel, poetry is her escape: she has published in The Raving Press, Indolent Books, the Laurel Review, Shenandoah, and many other anthologies and journals, both in the US and internationally, online and in-print. Her poetry in translation with its accompanying photography has been featured in art fairs and galleries as well. Ediciones Valparaiso in Spain published her book of poems, Peregrina, this past June 2022. She hopes you like her art; it is a catharsis from the cruelty yet ecstasy of her work. Through it, she keeps tilting at windmills.

Part V Restoring Hope Across Generations

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Fostering Hope Through Generations—Overcoming Trauma Thomas DeVere Wolsey

Abstract

This chapter explores how trauma, such as forced displacement, is manifested in the children and grandchildren of refugees. After a brief discussion of what generational trauma is, the chapter focuses on what teachers and school leaders can do when they are working with students whose families have been displaced. A framework is provided. Keywords

Empathy • Optimism Mitigation

•

Iteration

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Resilience

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Transgenerational trauma

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We might argue that being a refugee is always a result of oppression in its many guises. Being a refugee is to be deprived not just of home, possessions, culture, and history, but of public (Bender, 2021) and private autonomy (see Habermas, 1995). Essentially, to be a refugee means you cannot go where you want or engage legally with others as you once did, and you have little or no access to public discourse as a curative. Being a refugee or the children of refugees may mean the disruption of familial and societal relationships. This chapter asks how the trauma of displacement is transmitted over time and to future generations. We examine the traumas and the mitigation of those traumas where possible for the children and grandchildren of refugees. Along the way, we will also explore some practices and mindsets that may help teachers and other school personnel to inspire and instill hope whenever it is needed.

T. D. Wolsey (B) Salou, Tarragona, Spain e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_17

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What is Transgenerational Trauma?

We begin with an example. During the late 1800s and into the twentieth century, the government of the United States separated Native American children from their families. The purpose was to assimilate Native Americans into the mainstream culture by forcing them to attend Indian schools hundreds of miles from their homes, cultures, and families (e.g., Rancaño, 2018). The assimilation plan was built around the premise, figuratively “Kill the Indian, save the man” (Adams, 1995). In the mid-twentieth century, Native Americans were once again forced from the homes on reserves and reservations to live in cities and thus reduce the burden on the national debt. These two instances of displacement and separation from home and family illustrate the traumas that Native Americans suffered, and the trauma their children and grandchildren suffered as a result. In one recent study, researchers found that grandparents who had been displaced tended to drink more alcohol due to anxiety and depression resulting from being forced to live in an unfamiliar, urban culture, often with low-paying work. It was not simply the grandparents’ generation who paid the price, though. Walls and Whitbeck (2012) used multiple measures with 507 indigenous youth aged 10 to 12 years and their mothers. Through a process known as path analysis, grandparents (G1) who experienced relocation trauma had daughters (G2) who were prone to depressive symptoms, substance use, and often resorted to coercive or lowered monitoring as a parent. In turn, the grandchildren (G3) of the mothers (G2) in the study exhibited the same conditions as well as antisocial behaviors and delinquency. Trauma is often transmitted from one generation to another. The terms intergenerational trauma and transgenerational trauma are often used somewhat interchangeably. The condition first came to the attention of therapists in Canada (Sigal & Rakoff, 1971) who noticed an increase in referrals in the children of parents who survived the Holocaust. While transgenerational trauma can be a result of abuse and other traumas, we will concentrate in this chapter on the trauma of children and grandchildren of refugees and other displaced persons. To be specific, the children and grandchildren were not refugees, themselves; yet the effects of transgenerational trauma ripple out (e.g., Walls & Whitbeck, 2012) to future generations. These traumas are typically collective in nature; that is the trauma was experienced by a group of people such as the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, the survivors of the Armenian genocide, Southeast Asians after the wars of the 1950’s to 1970’s. As with many traumas, the manifestations of transgenerational trauma are varied and include psychiatric problems, health issues, and a weakened ability to cope with stressors (Sangalang & Vang, 2016). Second and third generations who were not refugees may exhibit excessive attachment or detachment issues, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, problems with self-esteem, aggression, or a fear of failure (Fossion et al., 2003). Parents, may not talk about the trauma at all, or they may talk too much. They may not provide a warm and nurturing environment, and they may lack the ability to control their children or act as a caregiver

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(e.g., East et al., 2018). Dickson-Gómez (2002) recounts the story of children in a village in the postwar period in El Salvador whose parents were paralyzed with fear that they were unable to provide the discipline needed. As a result, the children engaged in violent behaviors even though they had not experienced the war themselves. In essence, the second and third generations absorb the trauma of the first-generation parents. Some evidence suggests that the way genes transmit information that effects behavior also play a role (CDC, 2020; O’Neill et al., 2018). Regression analysis and correlational data found in Karen (Burma) mothers who experienced torture indicated that their children then living in Minnesota, USA demonstrated negative impacts on youth development when mediated with the physical and mental health of the mother (Hoffman et al., 2020). However, as we shall see, not all refugees and the next generations experience transgenerational trauma, and many exhibit resilience that might inform our practice as educators.

17.2

Trauma and Mitigation

To make sense of complex interactions within families, cultures, and the nationstate, we are going to need a framework. Fortunately, Yosso (2005) provides a useful approach to thinking about the types of capital (not to be confused with “capitalism”) that second and third generation students may bring to school. Here, we adopt, for consistency, the definitions of the United States Census Bureau for the otherwise vague terms for generations (2021). A first-generation American (or other host nation) was born outside the territorial boundaries of the host nation but then immigrated. The second generation is thus the generation who were born in the host nation to foreign-born parents, and so on to the third generation, etc. Second-generation (and third, and so on) students from refugee families often face a variety of stereotypes and oppression in its many forms. Schools and universities are often a source of hope for the future, but they are also a source of oppressive forces. I argue that where the prevailing, default capital of a host nation can and often does overshadow and marginalize the children of refugees, different lenses are necessary. From this, we might try at inclusiveness based on Yosso’s (2005) framework. According to Yosso (2005), there are at least six types of capital the refugee families might maintain. Because schooling systems are typically founded preserving the prevailing and often majority culture; these types of capital are of particular importance. These include: 1. Aspirational capital is exhibited when an individual maintains faith in the future even while conditions and circumstances seem insurmountable. 2. Linguistic capital includes the skills realized through knowledge of and communication in one or more languages, dialects, or styles. Second-generation children of refugees and other immigrants often serve as a linguistic mediator or bridge between their parents and school (Bauer, 2016).

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3. Familial capital is the cultural knowledge nurtured among families, nuclear and extended, that are constructed from community history, historical and family memory, and cultural intuition. 4. Social capital are interrelationships between people and community resources on which people might rely including political relationships. 5. Navigational capital are the skills necessary to understand and navigate the cultural and political environments of an institution; for example, knowing what forms need to be filled, and knowing to whom they should be given to enroll in school. 6. Resistant capital means the knowledge and skills learned through resistance to inequality. To this list, I add Kwan’s (2019) affective capital, which she explains as Affective capital is the ability to access affects of awe, inspiration, motivation, and gratitude given community struggles with war, violence, and displacement. It inspires refugee children to both seek greater educational aspirations and remain resilient as they navigate through the challenges of postsecondary education (p. 39).

To make use of the capitals framework, it is first necessary for school personnel to recognize their positionality, the relative distance between their world at school and university and that of their students. Recognizing the bubble from which teachers often come is not enough, however. Critically, we must learn from and with our students and their families (Moll, 2015). The funds of knowledge, as Moll and his colleagues call them, are more than recognition of who a student may be and where the student’s family originated, they are the essence of social justice in the school. What a student knows about his or her own culture and how it is portrayed or not within the school walls is at least as important as what the school as an institution might privilege in a curriculum. This point bears repeating: Deficit conceptualizations of what a student knows and can do are not going to help. Trauma, in addition to physical injury, according to the American Psychological Association (APA, 2022), is …any disturbing experience that results in significant fear, helplessness, dissociation, confusion, or other disruptive feelings intense enough to have a long-lasting negative effect on a person’s attitudes, behavior, and other aspects of functioning. Traumatic events…often challenge an individual’s view of the world as a just, safe, and predictable place. (para. 1)

It stands to reason that a refugee’s family and friends would experience some of the trauma of being forced from one’s home without a sense of what will happen next. Generations after such an event would necessarily experience the trauma of forced displacement. The question schools face is, how might teachers and other

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school workers recognize these traumas and mitigate them? Three critical points worth noting: 1. Not all children of refugees experience profound challenges due to transgenerational trauma. 2. Children that do might exhibit behaviors that present educational challenges such an intense focus on grades and scores (rather than learning), delinquent and antisocial behavior, depression, anxiety, phobias, pessimism, (see Sorscher & Cohen, 1997; Kwan, 2019), and vulnerability to PTSD (Burchert et al, 2017; Dalgaard et al, 2019). 3. However, some mechanisms for coping with the generational trauma of displacement result in useful, adaptive responses (e.g., Atallah, 2017).

17.3

Resilience in the Schools

Trauma comes in all sorts of forms, sizes, and shapes. Here we focus on transgenerational trauma, but students may not even be aware of the trauma that changes their behavior for better or worse. Teachers may not know the source of the trauma, either. However, teachers, school leaders, university professors, and many others do have the tools to help mitigate trauma. One thing school might do is assess their readiness to work with students who are traumatized. Resources are in the readings section at the end of this chapter. The first step is assessment of what your school can do now, and where it might improve. The Trauma Responsive Schools Implementation Assessment (TRS-IA) is a useful resource from the National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH) at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine. A link to the assessment is in the Additional Readings section at the end of this chapter (access is free but you will need to sign up). Teachers and most school personnel are not therapists, and they should not aim to be (Centre for Education Statistics & Evaluation, 2020). However, knowing what trauma looks like and where to get support is vital.

17.3.1 Empathy + Optimism + Iteration = Resilience Some of the world’s most intractable problems are solvable, and the individuals who face those problems are most likely to have the perspective needed to solve them. Human-centered design is a way of thinking, a mindset, for solving problems that puts the people first and not the institutions who serves them (Ideo, 2015). This type of thinking can be uncomfortable because it means that to solve the problem you must recognize that you don’t know the answer. Even if you think you do. Several principles underlay human-centered design thinking that might help us envision how schools can help students who are refugees or the children of

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refugees, and so on. While a full discussion of human-centered design is not possible here, the principles on which we draw include empathy, optimism, and iteration (Ideo, 2015). When we look for ways to help those who experience the trauma of displacement, whether directly or indirectly, these are three good places to begin. Empathy is the ability to get inside another person’s challenges, successes, behaviors, and emotions (e.g., Meyers et al., 2019). For teachers, this is integral to their work, but for those who experience trauma directly or indirectly, this quality is of particular importance for their teachers and school leaders. Empathic teachers can set boundaries while still communicating understanding of what a student needs and what frustrations the student faces. Doing so leads to the building of student/teacher relationships that are safe, caring, and predictable. For many traumatized students, these qualities are essential. Teaching with optimism is similarly important and related to the relationships teachers build with their students. Students who have experienced the trauma of displacement or are the progeny of those displaced forcefully, may exhibit behaviors and attitudes of despair. Although the literature on the topic of optimism in classrooms with refugee students is limited, still we can extrapolate from other work. For example, Vehkakoski (2020) found that students in a special education setting in which teachers inverted negative utterances (“I can’t” becomes “Yes, you can”), pointed to peers’ successes, and explicitly praised past successes helped students to foster a sense of optimism, or “can do!”. Iteration is of special relevance because it implies the idea that teachers do what they can with what they know, but then they learn from each interaction with their students and keep working toward solutions that are effective, empathetic, and optimistic. At the same time, students become accustomed to the idea that failure is just a chance to try again, to do something over (see Ideo, 2015). For students whose lives are filled with danger, loss, and failure, the knowledge that being allowed or encouraged to try again, learning a little bit at a time, is big deal. Inside the prism of empathy, optimism, and iteration, we can build resilience among all our students, particularly those who are refugees and children of refugees. Approaches we use are drawn from the capitals framework of Yosso (2005) and Kwan (2019). There is overlap, of course, but like any model, this framework provides a way to think about working with students who may experience transgenerational trauma. The examples provided here are not intended to be comprehensive, of course.

17.3.1.1 Aspirational Some students in Kwan’s study (2019) felt that it was their obligation to honor their parents’ sacrifice as refugees to obtain a good education and make something of their new lives. Helping students know that their aspirations for education, work, and other successes are possible can be transformative. Uncertain times lead to despair (Karkouti et al., 2019); in our study of Syrian refugees, students who wanted to return to Syria to rebuild their home believed that it might never happen. Teachers might feel helpless in such situations, but they know the system, and they

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know what pathways are available or might be. As they build empathetic relationships with students, they can suggest options and pathways students might take to realize their aspirations (Centre for Education Statistics & Evaluation, 2020).

17.3.1.2 Affective When working with students who share traumatic refugee experiences vicariously with their parents, it can be easy to focus on the negative aspects of the shared experiences between generations. However, as Kwan (2019) suggests, that trauma may be a burden, but it can also be a source of inspiration. For example, children of refugees may recognize the difficulties of displacement their parents faced and work more diligently to do well in school or university. Schools and universities are institutions, and because of that, they have rules and policies. Systemic injustice can and often does creep in and become the “way we do things”. Diverse human occupants of schools from multiple backgrounds, religions, and ethnicities, bring with them the individual and collective traumas they have experienced. Sometimes without knowing it, schools can retraumatize students (Gaffney, 2019). Retraumatization can be the result of inflexible rules (e.g., dress codes) and consequences such as bullying, xenophobia, and erasure (e.g., talking about racism only in the past tense). Resisting retraumatizing students is part of the work teachers must do, and it takes the form of reviewing policies and rules, of teaching with a trauma-informed mindset, and establishing relationships built on empathy (Centre for Education Statistics & Evaluation, 2020). 17.3.1.3 Linguistic As second and third generation, asylum seekers learn the dominant language(s) of the host country, it is equally important that schools and other educational agencies work to help those students maintain or even improve the mother tongue. There are numerous benefits that accrue to multilingual individuals (e.g., Barac & Bialystok, 2012), and transgenerational children may also help preserve endangered languages, as well (Endangered Languages Project, n.d.). In addition, students sometimes become language brokers between parents and other family members and the school (see Nuffield Foundation, 2014). There are advantages and pitfalls, however. A useful guide is found in additional readings. Schools and universities can help by recognizing and protecting the multilingual gifts that students bring with them to school, and they can create an atmosphere of trust and inquiry rather than bullying or marginalizing students who may not speak the dominant language fluently. UNESCO provides several examples as well as guidance for schools; please see the additional readings section. 17.3.1.4 Familial Earlier, we discussed the idea that teachers must identify their own positionality in relation to their students whose lives and worldviews can be very different from their own. Further, teachers can then leverage the funds of knowledge students bring with them to the classroom, funds that are often expressions of cultural knowledge and familial experiences. Establishing empathy and a relationship of

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trust between teacher and students is critical. For example, in our work with refugee students (Karkouti et al., 2019, 2021) we found that middle school boys relied heavily on their older siblings, friends, and family members when the school was not able to provide the stable relationships they needed to thrive. The raw emotions of a traumatic event or series of events can be very difficult to process. Denham (2008) suggests there is strength in family and cultural tradition in his ethnographic study of a Native American, four-generation family who had experienced historical trauma through displacement, violence, and economic challenges over time. Rather than view the trauma as a source of anger and despair, the family actively employed the stories of the family from past generations toward resilience. Together, the family looked for and found strength through adversity. If meaningful family traditions and ties to culture both old and emerging can help bring trauma into focus, we might turn to narrative in our classrooms, as well. The raw emotions mentioned above are not cohesive and lack the structure an individual needs to make sense of events (Denham, 2008). Cliff, one of Denham’s study participants, describes how family and even personal narratives can be shaped to give meaning and perhaps teach others as well. Doing so can change the narrative from one of suffering to one of resilience. Teachers often have little or no training (e.g., Perry & Hart, 2012) in working with refugees or with transgenerational trauma, but there are strengths on which teachers might draw. Stewart (2015) flipped the script when she taught a class of adolescents from multiple refugee backgrounds. While first generation refugees, the principles she used are applicable in subsequent generations. She realized that she did not know much about the varied experiences of her students, and she noted the challenge of learning about so many groups of people at any given moment in the classroom. Thus, she designed a curriculum that accomplished two goals. Using mentor texts including picture books and other accessible texts, the students wrote and illustrated in writer’s workshop their own stories and those of their families, shaping a narrative of meaning and resilience, a story of hope that empowered them and gave them a chance to shape the events of their lives in a meaningful way. At the same time, Stewart was able to learn about the unique humans in her classroom who represented in some way the people groups from which they came. Imad (2020) called this type of teaching and engaging with others cultural appreciation; it is respectful and requires an investment in the people and culture from which they come. This is teaching with empathy and optimism. It is also how students can learn the nuances of resilience, iteration by iteration.

17.3.1.5 Social Social capital is the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition—or in other words, to membership in a group (Bourdieu, 1986, p. 21). Social capital consists of more than the groups where a membership card is needed. Rather, social capital is the reliable network of mothers who cover childcare for each other when one of the group has to work late. It is the group of

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friends who study together for exams, and it is the neighborhood food bank. In schools, social capital increases when there is trust in the institution and the people who work there and the students who learn there. It means that teachers build relationships with their students, but they also promote supporting one another–– student to student (see Boyd, 2018). For students who experience trauma, a place where they are safe and where they can find help is an immense gift amongst the uncertainty life may have handed them outside the school walls.

17.3.1.6 Navigational Schools and universities are institutions, and as institutions they have procedures and processes that keep the organization running. They have physical facilities that may seem confusing or even scary as students make their way across campus (e.g., Uline et al., 2009). Teachers can provide identifiable markers that indicate that here is a room that is warm, and you are welcome, just like the teachers in our study (Wolsey & Uline, 2010) did by decorating their doors with art by students, with artifacts that show students how to locate the room and especially that the classroom is a place to belong. Here, in this classroom, you are not an outsider; you are one of us. Having a single point of contact to help parents and students understand what forms need filling, where to find a doctor, and so many other tasks found in a new environment can help (Kwan, 2019). Other navigational suggestions can be found in the in Five Things an Administrator Can Do Now, Chap. 16. 17.3.1.7 Resistance There are many forms of resistance. Refugees and their extended families must resist racism and xenophobia in their host countries. In 2021, a South Sudanese teenage boy was kidnapped, raped, and tortured by Egyptian youths, for example (EgyptWatch, 2021). Bureacratic hurdles abound, and injustices often go unreported out of fear. Schools can help by providing a haven and advocates that know who to turn to for help. Resistance comes in the form of rebuilding a community (or reexisting, as Mignolo might call it, 2017) in a new country or region, and resistance comes in the form of providing hope and opportunities for the family and friends who were left behind. Resistance is the democratic response to injustice; it is a source of hope and amplifier of stories. Perhaps it is fitting to end this chapter with the theme of resistance. As Mays (2021) wrote, one way to help students push back the trauma is to help them find their sense of purpose. We began the chapter with the statement that being a refugee is always a result of oppression, but we can end our exploration of transgenerational trauma in refugee communities with the hope that resistance to oppression can change lives.

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Points to Ponder This chapter offers educators insights and actionable strategies for working with second and third generation children (inclusive of adult children) of refugees. • Transgenerational trauma often manifests itself in maladaptive behaviors. How does understanding the nature of transgenerational trauma change the way you work with students who may be experiencing this type of trauma? • One key for teachers working with children who have experiences trauma is empathy. However, empathizing is difficult work, and it requires that teachers take care of themselves. What strategies might you use to ensure that you do not become exhausted yourself? • This chapter suggests that helping students find their sense of purpose can foster resilience. How might your purpose as an educator help students to find their purpose in society, family, and in themselves? More to Discover: Additional Readings and Resources Because there are many aspects and manifestations of transgenerational trauma, I am providing a list of helpful resources and readings. Trauma includes continued violence across generations, neglect, and silencing of the voices of those who suffer. Working with children who experience transgenerational trauma requires institutional responses, trauma-informed teaching, and an understanding by all involved (teachers, administrators, parents, school communities, and students) to be aware of and learn to respond in these situations. Cline, T. & Crafter, S. (2014). Child language brokering at school. [Project]. Nuffield Foundation. https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/project/child-language-brokeringat-school. National Center for School Mental Health. (2022). The Trauma Responsive Schools Implementation Assessment (TRS-IA) https://www.theshapesystem.com/trauma/. National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). (n.d.). Interventions. https:// www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/trauma-types/refugee-trauma/interventions. Substances Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHA). (2022). Resources for Child Trauma-Informed Care. https://www.samhsa.gov/childrens-awarenessday/child-traumatic-stress-resources. UNESCO & UNICEF. (2020). Approaches to language in education for migrants and refugees in the Asia–Pacific Region. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0 000373660. What is collective trauma? (n.d.) https://www.healingcollectivetrauma.com/.

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References Adams, D. W. (1995).Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875–1928. University Press of Kansas. APA. (2022). Trauma. In APA Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org/ trauma Atallah, D. G. (2017). A community-based qualitative study of intergenerational resilience with Palestinian refugee families facing structural violence and historical trauma. Transcultural Psychiatry, 54(3), 357–383. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461517706287 Barac, R., & Bialystok, E. (2012). Bilingual effects on cognitive and linguistic development: Role of language, cultural background, and education. Child Development, 83, 413–422. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01707.x Bauer, E. (2016). Practicing kinship care: Children as language brokers in migrant families. Childhood, 23(1), 22–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568215574917 Bender, F. (2021). Refugees: The politically oppressed. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 47(5), 615– 633. https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453720931924 Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 15–29). Greenwood. Boyd, N. (2018). Five simple ways to boost social capital in schools. In NASSP Blog. Retrieved from https://www.nassp.org/2018/08/09/five-simple-ways-to-boost-social-capital-in-schools/ Burchert, S., Stammel, N., & Knaevelsrud, C. (2017). Transgenerational trauma in a post-conflict setting: Effects on offspring PTSS/PTSD and offspring vulnerability in Cambodian families. Psychiatry Research, 254, 151–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.04.033 CDC. (2020).What is Epigenetics? Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/disease/epigen etics.htm Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation. (2020). Trauma-informed practice in schools: An explainer. In NSW Department of Education. Retrieved from https://education.nsw.gov.au/ about-us/educational-data/cese/publications/research-reports/trauma-informed-practice-in-sch ools Dalgaard, N. T., Diab, S. Y., Montgomery, E., Qouta, S. R., & Punamäki, R. L. (2019). Is silence about trauma harmful for children? Transgenerational communication in Palestinian families. Transcultural Psychiatry, 56(2), 398–427. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461518824430 Denham, A. R. (2008). Rethinking historical trauma: Narratives of resilience. Transcultural Psychiatry, 45(3), 391–414. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461508094673 Dickson-Gómez, J. (2002). The sound of barking dogs: Violence and terror among Salvadoran families in the postwar. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 16(4), 415–438. https://doi.org/10. 1525/maq.2002.16.4.415 East, P. L., Gahagan, S., & Al-Delaimy, W. (2018). The impact of refugee mothers’ trauma, posttraumatic stress, and depression on their children’s adjustment. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 20(2), 271–282. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0624-2 EgyptWatch. (2021). Tiktok Clip Shows a South Sudanese Refugee Tortured and Enslaved in Cairo. Retrieved from https://egyptwatch.net/2021/05/12/tiktok-clip-shows-a-south-sudaneserefugee-tortured-and-enslaved-in-cairo/ Endangered Languages Project. (n.d.).Endangered Languages: Why So Important? Retrieved from https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/about_importance/ Fossion, P., Rejas, M. C., Servais, L., Pelc, I., & Hirsch, S. (2003). Family approach with grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 57(4), 519–527. https:// doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2003.57.4.519 Gaffney, C. (2019). When schools cause trauma. In Teaching Tolerance (Issue 62). Retrieved from https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/summer-2019/when-schools-cause-trauma Habermas, J. (1995). Reconciliation through the public use of reason: Remarks on John Rawls’s political liberalism.The Journal of Philosophy, 92(3), 109–131. https://www.jstor.org/stable/ 2940842

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Hoffman, S. J., Vukovich, M. M., Gewirtz, A. H., Fulkerson, J. A., Robertson, C. L., & Gaugler, J. E. (2020). Mechanisms explaining the relationship between maternal torture exposure and youth adjustment in resettled refugees: A pilot examination of generational trauma through moderated mediation. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 22(6), 1232–1239. https:// doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-01052-z Ideo. (2015).The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design. Retrieved from https://www.designkit. org/ Imad, M. (2020).Seven Recommendations for Helping Students Thrive in Times of Trauma. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/06/03/seven-recommendationshelping-students-thrive-times-trauma Karkouti, I. M., Wolsey, T. D., & Toprak, M. (2019). Restoring hope for Syrian refugees: Social support students need to excel at school. International Migration, 58(4), 21–36. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/imig.12642 Karkouti, I. M., Wolsey, T. D., Toprak, M., & Abate, T. (2021). Empowering teachers during refugee crises: Social support they need to thrive. Teacher and Teacher Education, 107, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103471 Kwan, Y. Y. (2019). Providing asset-based support for Asian American refugees: Interrogating transgenerational trauma, resistance, and affective capital. New Directions for Higher Education, 2019(186), 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.20322 Mays, K. T. (2021).The Afro-Indigenous History of the United States. Beacon. Meyers, S., Rowell, K., Wells, M., & Smith, B. C. (2019). Teacher empathy: A model of empathy for teaching for student success. College Teaching, 67(3), 160–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/875 67555.2019.1579699 Mignolo, W. D. (2017). Coloniality is far from over, and must be decoloniality.Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry, 43, 38–45. https://doi.org/10.1086/692552 Moll, L. C. (2015). Tapping Into the “hidden” home and community resources of students. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 51(3), 114–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/00228958.2015.1056661 Nuffield Foundation. (2014).Child Language Brokering at School. Retrieved from https://www.nuf fieldfoundation.org/project/child-language-brokering-at-school O’Neill, L., Fraser, T., Kitchenham, A., & McDonald, V. (2018). Hidden burdens: A review of intergenerational, historical and complex trauma, implications for indigenous families. Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma, 11, 173–186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-016-0117-9 Perry, K. H., & Hart, S. J. (2012). “I’m just kind of winging it”: Preparing and supporting educators of adult refugee learners. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(2), 110–122. https://doi. org/10.1002/jaal.00112 Rancaño, V. (2018). ‘We’ve been there’: Native Americans remember their own family separations. In The World. Retrieved from https://theworld.org/stories/2018-08-14/we-ve-been-therenative-americans-remember-their-own-family-separations Sangalang, C. C., & Vang, C. (2016). Intergenerational trauma in refugee families: A systematic review. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 19(3), 745–754. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10 903-016-0499-7 Sigal, J. J., & Rakoff, V. (1971). Concentration camp survival: A pilot study of effects on the second generation. Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 16(5), 393–397. https://doi.org/10. 1177/070674377101600503 Sorscher, N., & Cohen, L. J. (1997). Trauma in children of Holocaust survivors: Transgenerational effects. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 67(3), 493–500. https://doi.org/10.1037/ h0080250 Stewart, M. A. (2015). “My journey of hope and peace”: Learning from adolescent refugees’ lived experiences. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 59(1), 149–159. https://doi.org/10.1002/ jaal.445 Uline, C., Tschannen-Moran, M., & Wolsey, T. D. (2009). The walls still speak: A qualitative inquiry into the effects of the built environment on student achievement. Journal of Educational Administration, 47(3), 395–420. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230910955818

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United States Census Bureau. (2021).About the Foreign-Born Population. Retrieved from https:// www.census.gov/topics/population/foreign-born/about.html Vehkakoski, T. M. (2020). “Can do!” Teacher promotion of optimism in response to student failure expectation expressions in classroom discourse. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 64(3), 408–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2019.1570547 Walls, M. L., & Whitbeck, L. B. (2012). The intergenerational effects of relocation policies on Indigenous families. Journal of Family Issues, 33(9), 1272–1293. https://doi.org/10.1177/019 2513X12447178 Wolsey, T. D., & Uline, C. L. (2010). Student perceptions of middle grades learning places. Middle School Journal, 42(2), 40–47. Yosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/136133205200 0341006

Thomas DeVere Wolsey is a literacy education consultant, and he teaches graduate courses in research and literacy. He leads professional development for teachers in Egypt, Guatemala, Mexico, China, on the Hopi Reservation and throughout the United States, among other places. He is the author or co-author of eleven books https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-DeVere-Wolsey/e/ B001H6SWX8 for teachers and teacher educators with two more in development. Dr. Wolsey has developed training materials for the California Department of Education, TextProject http://textpr oject.org/, San Diego State University, and North County (San Diego) Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program. His specialties include exploring intersections of literacy and technology, middle grades and secondary literacy practices, teacher preparation, and green school design. In addition, he owns an olive grove in Catalonia, Spain where he produces olive oil. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Mastodon https://mstdn.social/@TDWolsey or Twitter @TDWolsey.

Conclusion Thomas DeVere Wolsey

and Ibrahim M. Karkouti

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This book explores how educators are meeting the demands of the large and growing population of students who are refugees. We also recognize that additional research that informs educational practice is still needed. To conclude the book, we identified three themes that we believe can yield positive gains for research and practice for educating refugees; however, these are not all inclusive. The themes are: 1. The built environment (e.g., schools and libraries) and tools (e.g., digital technology). 2. The social support that displaced students and their families need to be successful given the traumas they have encountered and continue to experience. 3. The means by which educators can foster well-being for students. Worldwide, many people are asylum seekers or internally displaced in their own countries (refugees, collectively). Of those, many are students. While there is a great deal of attention given, appropriately, to the experiences of refugees, less

Portions of this conclusion are adapted from the description of a symposium chaired by Thomas DeVere Wolsey titled Teaching Refugees: The Research We Have and the Research We Need at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association in Chicago, Illinois, United States on April 15, 2023. T. D. Wolsey (B) Salou, Tarragona, Spain e-mail: [email protected] I. M. Karkouti Department of Educational Studies, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Cairo, Egypt e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_18

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attention has been afforded to the application of research related to teaching and leadership practices pertaining to serving children who are refugees. Given the large percentage of displaced persons around the world, this volume brought together experts to promote dialog about effective instruction for refugee students. We hope that readers of this book will expand the discussion to what research is needed and how to bring theory into practice in schools and similar educational enterprises. The chapters in this book argue that the significance of research for educators lies primarily in how it enriches and improves practice in schools and other educational enterprises. In the case of what is needed to teach displaced children and adults, research that addresses the diverse cultures and unique circumstances that refugee students face in higher education and PK-12 is essential as their needs are unique. The book brings together what has, so far, been piecemeal approaches to a framework for teaching displaced students. Given the trauma, the dehumanizing circumstances that lead to seeking asylum, and the polarized political environments that exacerbate the extreme conditions faced by refugees, the discussion to promote effective practices through solid research is past due. In this way, we investigate consequential education research in pursuit of truth and equity for some of the most vulnerable students in schools and universities today. Refugee students yearn to fit in and belong, but the intersectional challenges of being a non-native speaker and resourceless shaped these students’ experiences of being left out, unvalued, and lost as outsiders. However, at the same time, some refugees were able to construct ‘spaces of belonging’. We ask our readers to pose questions and inquire into the practices that lead from theory to praxis. Some questions that may spark others are: 1. How does the built environment at my school (e.g., schools and libraries) and tools students use (e.g., digital technology) support refugees? What features of the built environment are barriers? 2. What social support do displaced students and their families need to be successful given the traumas they have encountered and continue to experience? 3. How can we identify and implement the means by which educators can foster well-being for students? How can teaching refugees be an act of love? We thank you, dear readers, for all that you do to help refugees build hope for their futures and for generations to come.

Thomas DeVere Wolsey is a literacy education consultant, and he teaches graduate courses in research and literacy. He leads professional development for teachers in Egypt, Guatemala, Mexico, China, on the Hopi Reservation and throughout the United States, among other places. He is the author or co-author of eleven books https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-DeVere-Wolsey/e/ B001H6SWX8 for teachers and teacher educators with two more in development. Dr. Wolsey has developed training materials for the California Department of Education, TextProject http://textpr oject.org/, San Diego State University, and North County (San Diego) Beginning Teacher Support

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and Assessment Program. His specialties include exploring intersections of literacy and technology, middle grades and secondary literacy practices, teacher preparation, and green school design. In addition, he owns an olive grove in Catalonia, Spain where he produces olive oil. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Mastodon https://mstdn.social/@TDWolsey or Twitter @TDWolsey. Ibrahim M. Karkouti is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the American University in Cairo. An independent thinker, a young scholar, and a life-long learner, his research focuses on diversity issues in higher education, refugee education, educational technology, and the types of social support teachers need to implement reform.

Index

A Academic achievement, 74, 144, 168, 221, 238 Advocate, 57–59, 145, 252, 271 Afghan, 79, 80 Arabic, 4, 53, 57, 251 Asylum, 2, 129, 143, 168, 171, 175, 183, 187, 269 Australia, 168

B Built environment, 277, 278

C Canada, 168 Central Asia, 79 Chicago, 5, 50, 52, 55, 59, 60 Colombia, 98 Community, 4, 5, 17, 18, 20, 26, 28–31, 36–39, 41, 43, 50, 52–62, 65–67, 69–75, 130, 132, 133, 149, 150, 152, 154, 168, 174, 182, 188–191, 200–206, 217, 220, 222–227, 239, 251, 266, 271 Courage, 16, 39, 199 Culture, 3, 13–15, 17–20, 29, 38, 39, 42, 51, 53, 55, 60–62, 67, 72–74, 110, 129–131, 133–135, 152, 173, 175, 178, 182, 183, 197, 199, 202–207, 222, 224, 227, 233–235, 239, 240, 242, 250–252, 263–266, 270

D Diasporic, 198, 200–204 Digital technology, 277

Displaced, 2, 3, 5, 6, 12, 13, 25, 26, 28–32, 36, 51, 75, 110, 112, 142, 168, 201, 206, 217, 232, 243, 250, 252, 264, 268, 278 Diversity, 79

E Economic, 1, 2, 12, 28, 110, 115, 135, 140, 141, 144, 172, 221, 224, 227, 233, 235, 241, 270 Education, 200 Egypt, 98 Emotional support, 27, 241 English language learners, 2 Ethnoscapes, 14 Europe, 79 Experiential, 4, 15, 26, 29, 30 Extracurricular, 4, 26, 28, 76, 131, 227, 237, 242, 244

F Family, 2, 4, 12, 17, 18, 29, 30, 53, 55, 58, 59, 62, 71, 135, 146, 149, 150, 171–173, 175–178, 181–183, 186, 189, 200, 206, 219, 225, 227, 232, 238, 241, 242, 251, 252, 264, 266, 269–272 France, 98 French, 4 Friend, 4, 17, 30, 44, 55, 59, 129, 132, 135, 177, 252, 266, 270, 271 Future, 2

G Generational trauma, 6, 267

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 T. D. Wolsey and I. M. Karkouti (eds.), Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students, Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2

281

282 Geneva, 113 Germany, 28, 98, 141, 186 Greece, 2, 28

H Higher education, 5, 36–38, 110–112, 122, 128, 140, 143, 145, 155, 181 Houston, 26, 30 Humanizing pedagogy, 4, 12, 14, 15, 21

I Immigrate, 1 Inclusion, 19, 32, 38, 42, 75, 133, 140, 142, 154, 169, 205, 206, 220, 221, 232, 236, 239, 242 Informational support, 2, 3, 5, 12, 14, 17, 19, 74, 149, 181, 240, 250 Interrupted formal education, 5, 128 Intervention, 20, 37, 41, 58, 67, 70, 74, 133, 134, 168–170, 175–177, 180–184, 186, 190, 223 Iraqi, 4, 30, 203, 205

J Jordan, 80

K Kenya, 5, 112, 115, 234 Kurd, 202

L Lebanese, 4 Lebanon, 4, 19, 80, 98, 234, 250, 251 Life-long learning, 5 Literacy, 15, 29, 31, 51–56, 58, 59, 62, 140, 149, 179, 235, 240 Love as a critical act of resistance, 12, 14–16, 21

M Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), 111–113, 117 Mediation, 26, 30 Multicultural, 79, 197–207, 220, 239 Multicultural education, 5, 218 Multicultural education framework, 84

Index N Narrative, 4, 19, 36–44, 58, 71, 110, 117, 170, 176, 182, 189, 198, 201, 270 New Zealand, 168

O Outsiders, 278

P Political, 2, 12, 13, 28, 31, 75, 128, 129, 135, 141, 144, 147, 168, 180, 199, 205, 220, 232, 266 Poverty, 1 Principal, 12, 61, 131, 218–224, 226, 227, 232, 233, 237–244, 251

R Racism, 37, 73, 171, 172, 178, 181, 189, 269, 271 Refugee camp, 2, 5, 51, 54, 55, 112, 113, 115, 116, 120–122, 239 Resilience, 2, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 37, 40–42, 178, 182–184, 218, 241, 244, 250, 265, 267, 268, 270, 272 Restore hope, 218 Restoring hope, 4, 5, 71 Reunited, 2

S Scaffold, 113 School climate, 2, 73, 79, 184, 249 Social Justice Leadership (SJL), 218–224, 226, 227 Social support, 83, 277, 278 Social wellbeing, 79 South Africa, 4, 12–14, 186 Spain, 98 Spanish, 50, 52, 251 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), 185 Standards, 60, 73 Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), 140, 142, 143, 148, 155 Syria, 4, 168, 217, 224, 268 Syrians, 80

T Transgenerational, 269

Index Transgenerational trauma, 264, 265, 267, 268, 270–272 Trauma, 2, 3, 12, 13, 17–19, 26, 27, 30, 31, 37–41, 43, 44, 51, 55, 56, 58, 69, 128, 171, 172, 181, 183, 187, 190, 221, 227, 233, 237, 240, 241, 263–272, 277, 278 Turkey, 28, 80, 98, 202, 217, 218, 220–224, 226, 234–236, 238 Turkish, 218–221, 223, 224, 226, 235, 236, 238

U Uganda, 98

283 Ukraine, 1 Ukrainian, 79, 80 Uncertainty, 2, 3, 128–130, 250, 271 United Kingdom (UK), 141, 144, 145, 168, 169, 171, 177, 179–181, 183, 185–190, 244 United States (US), 1, 5, 51, 54, 68, 128, 129, 133, 144, 145, 149, 168, 264, 265

W Well-being, 2, 3, 5, 14, 17, 18, 31, 39, 43, 66, 70, 75, 76, 130, 143, 168–189, 250, 277, 278 Western Europe, 98