Hope Among Refugee Children Attending the International School of Peace on Lesbos

Abstract

Abstract The study focuses on refugee children who live in a temporary transit camp on the Island of Lesbos in Greece, and attend a unique school, which, in the camp’s temporary conditions, endeavours to provide the children with safety, security, and an adaptive learning experience. It examines hope among the refugee children by means of the Children’s Hope Scale (Snyder, 1997), which was administered to 132 children aged 6-16 who attend the school. The general hope scores among the refugee children were similar to those found in other children’s populations. Hope scores in the Adolescent group (aged 12-16) were lower than in the other groups, and highest in the Intermediate group (aged 9-12). Additionally, differences were found between groups of children from different countries of origin. The findings indicate that the Adolescent children are more aware of the difficulties and dangers entailed in fleeing, and of the price they have paid for leaving their homes and being cut off from their extended family and community. The findings highlight the school’s contribution as a space, albeit temporary, where the children can function normatively as students in a safe environment that enables new growth in cognitive, emotional, and social realms.