Abstract
Across the world, children are forced to leave their homes for far‐flung destinations. This global phenomenon has particular impact in Europe, where there are now more child refugees than since World War II. Education plays an important role for children with extraordinary experiences seeking to build meaningful lives in their new context. This article offers a new theoretical approach to underpin reforms to educational policy and practice for refugees in schools in resettlement contexts in Europe. The new conceptual framing is grounded in empirical work in England and Sweden, and brings two theories together: ‘participatory parity’ (Fraser) and ‘resumption of an ordinary life’ (Kohli). Kohli’s concepts of ‘safety’, ‘belonging’ and ‘success’ have resonance with practitioners from Sweden and England as they work to meet the needs of their new arrivals. Fraser’s conceptual lenses of redistribution, recognition and representation highlight the barriers to achieving the right to inclusive education for refugee children in each context. The interdependence of both theories shapes a new framework. The theoretical understandings offered in this article have been developed with practitioners and add to the field by offering a robust moral and operational approach to shaping pedagogical principles for policymakers and educators working in resettlement communities.
Highlights
Whilst human movement within and across borders is not a new phenomenon, recent global events have led to an increase in forced migration, resulting in more than 12,500,000 displaced children across the world (UNHCR, 2018)
Key themes which are repeated across studies of refugee education in resettlement contexts are the importance of models of inclusive education (Taylor & Sidhu, 2012), including those which recognise that holistic inclusive models incorporate learning contexts in and out of school (Pastoor, 2017); education which recognises the heterogeneous backgrounds of refugee children (Rutter, 2006; Leo, 2019); the role of school leadership (Taylor & Sidhu, 2012; Wilkinson & Kaukko, 2019); the multi-layered academic, social and psychological challenges refugee children and their educators navigate (Stewart, 2011); the ways in which schools and individual teachers can create welcoming and compassionate environments (Pinson et al, 2010; McIntyre & Hall, 2020) and understanding of how schools can support equity and recognition for new arrivals (Keddie & Niesche, 2012)
Drawing on our work with schools in England and Sweden, we offer a conceptual model for practitioners, schools and policymakers which uses two complementary theoretical frames to conceptualise best practice for refugee children and their ‘possible futures’ (Dryden-Peterson et al, 2019)
Summary
Whilst human movement within and across borders is not a new phenomenon, recent global events have led to an increase in forced migration, resulting in more than 12,500,000 displaced children across the world (UNHCR, 2018). Whilst the article reported that our initial comparison of policy landscapes suggested that Noor was better served than Ammar, it illustrated important issues that the empirical work raised about integration and inclusive classroom practices for newly arrived pupils in each context, and what practitioners in each context could learn from each other. The article highlighted questions at the heart of our ongoing project: exploring the barriers and opportunities for quality inclusive education provision for young refugees and asylum seekers in Swedish and English schools. The broader project has since evolved to develop a conceptual model of practice drawn from empirical data and close work with practitioners in both contexts. This conceptual model is the focus of our article
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