Integration Processes of Adolescent Refugees in the Austrian School System – A Multi-level Analysis

Abstract

This study aims at a better understanding of the integration process of adolescent refugees. This study addresses how school administrators as well as participants handle and adjust to more diverse student groupings, as there have long been debates regarding whether and to what extent refugees and displaced individuals may be integrated. Participants in the study include principals, teachers, local students, parents of refugees (both parents and children who have left owing to the Syrian war or out of fear of persecution in Afghanistan), national and federal school officials, and principals. To ensure diversity and openness of data for this study, interviews with the aforementioned participants who were assigned to different levels (i.e., micro-, meso-, or macro-level) of the Austrian school system were undertaken. The analysis revealed that opinions about what constitutes the proper judgments leading to the proper measurements in connection to the integration of adolescent refugees appear to vary based on the productivity of each protagonists’ in the Austrian school system. For those working at the same level, decisions made by school administrators and educators are understandable, but decisions made at a different (typically higher) level are frequently viewed as unsupportive or even convey a negative image, leading to disappointment, frustration, and a lack of interconnectedness between different levels.