Empowering refugee children with the use of Persona Doll

Abstract

This study focuses on Arabic-speaking children with a refugee or/and migrant background and its purpose is to explore if and how the Persona Doll method can influence this target group in terms of their attitudes and learning. The present study is a qualitative research in the form of action research. On the basis of data collection through participant observation, interviews and identity texts, a Persona Doll was designed that mirrored specific characteristics of the participant children and shared stories that reflected their personal experiences. The designed sessions with the Persona Doll were based on Brown’s methodology and were implemented in a non-formal education setting. In this paper, a detailed description is provided and after content analysis, the major findings are presented. Specifically, it was demonstrated that the Persona Doll generated positive attitudes, contributed to language education and empowered bicultural identity.