Asylum-seeking Students Research Articles

‘It is a university where I felt welcome’: poems of asylum-seeking students’ sense of coherence in Australian higher education

ABSTRACT Current social and political arrangements of higher education are inequitable for students from asylum-seeking backgrounds. In many countries, their access to university is limited and if they are accepted, their status as forced migrants puts them at multiple disadvantages. This inequity is in contrast with the universal aim of higher education institutions to serve all people and their societies. Utilising a voice centred relational method (VCRM) and the theoretical lens of Aaron Antonovsky’s salutogenesis, this article is a poetic presentation of the experiences of asylum-seeking students in Australian universities. We show that higher education can provide asylum-seeking students with the means for safety (making life manageable), belonging (making life comprehensible), and success (making life meaningful). Thus, we argue that higher education institutions have the potential to help facilitate students’ sense of coherence, which in salutogenetic terms refers to their ability to comprehend their own situation, and the capacity to use the resources available. However, asylum-seeking status poses barriers in achieving this, and this inequity should be addressed.

Explanation of the Perceptions on Children’s Rights of Syrian Refugee Students Studying at Primary School with Experience

Syrian citizens who took refuge in our country after years of civil war have social, cultural, and economic problems. The most problematic segments are children. Children also lack the use of their fundamental rights in addition to these compliance problems. The aim of the present study was to conduct research on the Syrian refugee students' perceptions of children's rights. In the study, explanatory sequential design was preferred among mixed method designs. The scale was applied to 178 students. In the qualitative part, eight of the students to whom the scale was applied were selected, and semi-structured interviews were conducted. With these interviews, it was aimed to determine the perceptions of the students about children's rights based on their experiences. As a data collection tool, the ''Asylum Seeker Students' Perception of Children's Rights Scale'' developed by the researcher and semi-structured interview questions were used. The SPSS package program was used in the analysis of quantitative data. As a result of the scale data, no significant difference could be found in the perceptions of the Syrian refugee students regarding children's rights according to gender, age, class level, and duration of living in Turkiye. There was a significant difference in the number of siblings variable. It was determined that this difference was different between the group that was marked '' I have no siblings'' and the other groups. As a result of the study, suggestions were made to work with different refugee children and to give more importance to the issue of children's rights in the Turkish education system.

Performing the good (im)migrant: inclusion and expectations of linguistic assimilation

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes how language is framed as a route to full inclusion, particularly for unaccompanied asylum-seeking students labelled as disabled. It is based on a qualitative study carried out in the Italian city of Rome, which, although cosmopolitan, is often characterised by nationalistic political landscapes. The manuscript reveals how institutional biases (re: race, ability, and migration) about unaccompanied forced migrant youth, often manifested in their construction as disabled and foreign by local professionals, hinder the likelihood that they successfully participate in the life of the host society. The paper also shows how the inclusion of migrant and refugee students living in foster care homes is conceptualised as a violent integration into monolingual and monocultural education settings. Drawing on Disability Critical Race Studies and Raciolinguistics, this contribution analyzes how unaccompanied forced migrant students respond to their linguistic urgency, learn power majority languages, and simultaneously devalue their home language to perform the ‘good (im)migrant.’ Lastly, the contribution shows how processes of racialization of disabled unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee students influence how western communities perceive their linguistic capacity and effort.

Communication Problems of Secondary School Teachers with Migrant and Asylum Seeker Students: The Case of Ankara Keçiören

In general, migration is expressed as the mobility of people through all or a certain part of human communities and groups because of religious, economic, political, and other reasons. People who leave the country they live in and come to another country or region for temporary or permanent residence are called migrants, and people who leave the country in which they live in line with the claim of being a refugee but whose refugee status has not been finalized yet are called asylum seekers. The present study aims to determine the problems experienced by the children of immigrant and asylum-seeking families, who migrated from their hometowns to Turkey for different reasons, with teachers in the school environment. In Turkey, migrant education was initially aimed at directing the education process by working together with Syrian and local teachers; then, the Temporary Education Camps were reduced, and the integration of immigrant students into the Turkish education system was provided through official education institutions. The present study was conducted to determine the problems that secondary school teachers face with immigrant and refugee students. Determining the problems experienced by immigrant and asylum-seeking children is very important for both children and the quality of education provided to these children. The case study design, among the qualitative research designs, was used in the study. In this way, it was aimed to obtain detailed information about the communication problems of secondary school teachers with immigrant and asylum students. Keçiören District, where the number of immigrant and asylum-seeking families is high in Ankara, and such a study has not been conducted before, was chosen for the study. A total of 40 secondary school teachers working in secondary schools selected from different socio-economic districts of the Keçiören district of Ankara in the 2021-2022 academic year constituted the study group. A semi-structured interview form was used as the data collection tool. The opinions of the teachers were obtained with the approval of the Gazi University Ethics Committee and the permission of the Ministry of National Education. The content analysis method designed for qualitative research was used in the study. In this context, when the opinions of the teachers participating in the study were evaluated, communication with immigrant and asylum-seeking students was expressed as an important problem. As a result of the study, the teachers' opinions on the communication problem were determined as follows. The teachers stated that they communicated with students who could not communicate with the help of an interpreter, students who could not perceive the instructions correctly during the lesson because of the language problem, students who could not adapt to the environment and had difficulty in active participation in the lesson. About the negativities caused by the communication problems of the students, the teachers said that the students could not adapt to the classroom environment, their participation in the lesson was incomplete or none at all, students isolated themselves from the environment, they were dealing with extracurricular things when they could not communicate, the dropouts and absenteeism increased, and their academic success was affected negatively.

Questions of (Mis)Recognition in the Relationship Between Italian Teachers and Asylum-Seeker Students

The potential of the classroom as a place for the development of a more positive sense of self by asylum seekers has received scant attention in the literature. This paper explores this potential using Honneth’s theory of recognition. By employing narrative inquiry, the data shows clues of recognition in the interviewed teachers’ perceptions and values, relationships with learners, and teachers’ understanding and concern for learners.

SOCIOECONOMIC AND CULTURAL CHALLENGES OF SYRIAN REFUGEE STUDENTS IN TURKISH UNIVERSITIES

<p>In this study, the economic and social problems faced by Syrian students who were forcefully migrated to Turkey and studied in Osmaniye Ata University were examined. Many people who immigrated to Turkey due to the civil war that began in Syria in 2011 and were children in those years have started their university education today. The problems faced by Syrian asylum-seeking students studying at universities in the city of Osmaniye in their ability to meet their vital needs, sources of income, participation in education and adaptation processes were examined. The data of the study was obtained through in-depth interview and survey work, then analyzed through a statistical package program. As a result of the study, it was observed that Syrian students studying at Osmaniye Korkut Ata University faced many different economic problems in the city of Osmaniye where they lived. Many problems that Syrian students experience in their educational lives are financial, and financial concerns directly affect their social lives. In addition, it was revealed that as their stay in Turkey extended, they may experience anxiety about resettlement when they are sent back to their country.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0779/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

High-Stakes counselling: when career counselling may lead to continuing residence or deportation of asylum-seeking youths

In this article we analyse what happens to career counselling when it is intertwined with the asylum process. A Swedish example is an amendment to the education legislation, regarding residence permits for upper secondary level students. Following the resulting changes in juridical, educational and interpersonal conditions, career counsellors must deliver ‘high-stakes counselling’ that can profoundly affect individuals’ prospects of asylum or deportation. Our analysis is based on ethnographically inspired fieldwork, a survey and Bernsteinian theory. In current Swedish conditions, tight matching to demands of the labour market is essential in this ‘high-stakes counselling’. We conclude that a consequence is institutional introduction of conditional citizenship of asylum-seeking students. This allows countries to select migrants through education, which severely conflicts not only with counselling ideals, but also democratic and equality values regarding possibilities to make choices for the future, thus creating ethical dilemmas for counsellors.

Planning for Belonging: Including Refugee and Asylum Seeker Students

Abstract The education of students from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds is an international concern. It calls for inspired teachers, sensitive interventions, and informed leadership. This writing discusses the views of students, teachers, general staff, parents, and the principal of a primary school in regional New South Wales, Australia regarding the sense of belonging that is so critical to the very diverse school culture. It is intended to inform and challenge others engaged in school leadership to reflect on their strategies and policies for welcoming students with refugee and asylum seeker status into their communities. It details the strategies and perspectives planned by one principal and his staff to provide an authentically inclusive environment for refugee and asylum seeker students in an already fractured community. Working with the principles of the components of the SCARF model, status, certainty, acceptance, relatedness, and fairness, originally designed as a collaborative workplace model, the principal adopted this model to guide the creation of unique, social justice-focussed school ethos and culture in a dominantly white education system and local culture. The data from the participants is recorded in their own words and includes comments from refugee parents and their children. This study provides evidence of the need for strategic planning for inclusion and the importance of perspectives, which acknowledge the vulnerabilities and difficulties of these communities whilst also interacting and developing relationships of human dignity and respect.

Social Cohesion and Conflict Areas of Syrian Asylum Seeker Students in Higher Education

The number of Syrian students in higher education in Turkey is increasing every year. In the 2019-2020 academic year, this number has reached 37,236. During this period, Harran University ranks first among 209 universities with 2,677 Syrian students, with the highest number of Syrian students studying in the university. One of the most fundamental facts inherent in migration is the human encounter experienced by the migrants and host communities. Both communities are affected by this encounter in various ways. In this study, social inclusion problems faced by Syrian asylum seeker higher education students throughout their education and daily life have been highlighted, and an evaluation has been made on the social experiences and problems faced by Syrian students studying at Harran University. For this purpose, two focus group meetings were held, each with six participants. The data obtained from focus group interviews were analyzed within the framework of various basic problems such as acceptance, social interaction, uncertainty, foreignness, stigmatization, and marginalization. The main problem of this study is that Syrian students have a high desire to participate in society and live together, but they continue to experience problems such as marginalization, exclusion, and deprivation of psycho-social support in different ways.

El derecho a la educación de los menores refugiados y solicitantes de asilo desde el enfoque basado en los derechos humanos: dificultades, finalidad e intervención educativa

The aim objective of this article is to understand the main barriers faced by refugees and asylum-seeking students in the academic context in the host country. It is also especially interesting to discuss about the purpose of educating to these minors. For this reason, we have reviewed different researches, which have focused on this topic. Once we identified and described the most common difficulties found by these studies, the problem will be analyzed using the Approach Based in Human Rights. In this way, it is possible to know the responsibilities of agents involved in the schooling of these minors. States, local authorities, educational centers and teachers are mainly responsible for guaranteeing the right to education of these children. The most common barriers are: the acquisition of the language of the host country, culture, school harassment, xenophobia and lack of teacher training. To solve this current situation, we will present four intervention programs to respond to their specific needs of refugees and asylum-seeking students based on international human rights legislation.

A Qualitative Exploration of the Tertiary Education Experiences of Refugee and Asylum Seekers in Australia

The world currently has the highest documented level of displaced people in recorded history. This includes a large number of individuals who are spending their youth as asylum seekers or refugees, which often impedes their access to and engagement with educational pursuits. Given that education has been shown to be a fundamental factor to facilitative resettlement and acculturation for newly-arrived refugee families and individuals, continued research attempting to understand the barriers to accessing education is warranted. This study qualitatively examines the educational experiences (with a focus on access to education) of 10 refugee and asylum-seeking students in Australian tertiary education using thematic analysis on semi-structured interview data. Six themes were identified from the interviews as barriers to or facilitators in accessing education. These are: relationships, emotional well-being, logistics, knowledge, instability, and financial hardship. The findings from this study add to a limited empirical knowledge base on this topic, and improve our understanding of the experiences of accessing education for students with refugee backgrounds. This is discussed in relation to its implications for institutes and policy makers.

“Cultura e accoglienza”: The inclusion of asylum seeker students in university language courses. Initial experience and data

AbstractIn 2016 the University of Padova and its Language Centre (Centro Linguistico di Ateneo– CLA) became involved in the two-year “Cultura e accoglienza” Project (see Dalziel and Piazzoli in this volume), the aim of which was to encourage around 30 refugees and asylum seekers to pursue university studies by means of a personalized training programme with support from language teachers and tutors. This report first describes some of the main national projects regarding the inclusion of refugee/asylum seekers in Italy and then describes the “Cultura e accoglienza” project, highlighting some of the opportunities and challenges it presented. For the Language Centre this was the very first experience of this kind.

Conditions of Syrian asylum seeker students in a Turkish university

ABSTRACT In this study, the conditions of the Syrian asylum seeker students in Turkish universities were addressed and discussed. This study was conducted by adopting a phenomenological approach from qualitative research methods. In this regard, interviews were held with fifteen Syrian asylum seeker students continuing their education in various departments of Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, a state university in Turkey. A semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers of this study was used for collecting data. In line with the examinations, important findings such as identity and citizenship crisis–which means being the others- and psychological problems caused by war and migration, desire to migrate to Europe were obtained. In addition to the basic needs of the Syrian asylum seeker students, such as nutrition, and sleep, there are also various problems in important areas such as economic conditions, transportation, legislation, social inclusion and support, Turkish language and academic opportunities. It was determined that these conditions may cause unwanted/unexpected situations such as early marriage, human trafficking, school dropouts, and crime.

TEACHING SYRIAN STUDENTS IN TURKISH SCHOOLS: EXPERIENCES OF TEACHERS

The Syrian civil war has resulted in approximately three and a half million Syrians relocating in Turkey. In 2016, the Ministry of Education implemented an inclusive approach to schooling of Syrian asylum-seekers’ children by educating them in public schools with their Turkish peers. This was intended as a means to address their educational needs, assist them with integration into Turkish culture, and prevent a generation gap. Public schooling, as a basic human right and as a way of integration to Turkish society, is provided for free at all levels of education in Turkey. The inclusion of Syrian students into the Turkish school environment is a new experience for Turkish teachers, and if the inclusion process is not managed properly, the consequences can have negative effects on both students and their teachers. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of teachers teaching Syrian students in the city of Kilis, where the number of asylum-seekers outnumbered its original population and almost one-fifth of the students in public schools are Syrians. The guiding question of this research was “What are the lived experiences of primary and middle school teachers educating Syrian children in inclusive classrooms?” Five teachers from four different primary and middle schools were interviewed. The six open-ended interview questions allowed the participants to reflect on their experiences. The data were collected during the spring semester of 2017. The interviews were analyzed according to thematic methods. Three themes emerged: Language barriers, lack of family support, and teachers’ lack of pedagogical skills for teaching asylum-seeker students. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sm-2018-0019

Teaching Syrian Students in Turkish Schools: Experiences of Teachers

Summary The Syrian civil war affected Turkey so much that approximately three and a half million Syrians live in Turkey. Ministry of Education implemented an inclusive approach to schooling of Syrian asylum-seekers’ children by educating them in public schools with their Turkish peers in the same classrooms in 2016 in order to address their educational needs, integration into the Turkish culture, and to prevent generation gap. Education, as a basic human right and as a way of integration into the Turkish society, is provided for free at all levels of education in Turkey. The inclusion of Syrian students in the Turkish school environment is quite a new experience for Turkish teachers and if the inclusion process is not managed properly, it may have negative effects on both students and their teachers. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of teachers teaching Syrian students in the city of Kilis, where the number of asylum-seekers outnumbered the local population and almost one-fifth of the students in public schools are Syrians. The guiding question of this research was “What are the lived experiences of primary and middle school teachers educating Syrian children in culturally inclusive classrooms?” Five teachers from four different primary and middle schools were interviewed. The six open-ended interview questions allowed the participants to reflect on their experiences. The data were collected during the spring semester of 2017. The interviews were analyzed according to thematic methods. Three themes emerged: language barrier, lack of family support, and teachers’ lack of pedagogical skills to teach asylum-seeker students.

Acculturation patterns and education of refugees and asylum seekers: A systematic literature review

The global refugee crisis has resulted in the widespread resettlement of forcibly displaced peoples into foreign cultures. These refugees are forced into new and sometimes very different cultures, and thus must undertake the psychological process of acculturation as a result of this resettlement. Research has begun to focus on how host cultures can facilitate this adjustment, and a body a growing evidence suggests that factors related to education can facilitate or hinder this process of acculturation. This systematic literature review synthesized the evidence that has explored patterns in the relationships between the acculturation strategies of refugees and asylum seekers and education-relevant outcomes. We conducted a systematic search across five databases for English language journal articles and dissertations that present evidence on this topic. A meta-synthesis of 19 articles revealed that a majority of the existing research provides evidence for psychological acculturation (increasing identification with the host culture, independent of identification with the home culture) being related to the level of education, school adaption, school attachment, academic achievement, and social/school support. Specifically, we found evidence that relationships exist between positive education-relevant outcomes and both integration and assimilation strategies (although the latter to a lesser degree). Importantly, the research also showed that a lack of identification with the host culture was associated with lower levels of these education-relevant outcomes. These findings suggest that schools and tertiary institutions could play a vital role in the integration of refugee and asylum-seeking students.

Seeking Refuge: Implications when Integrating Refugee and Asylum Seeker Students into a Mainstream Australian School

Abstract This article describes one school’s response to the inclusion and education of refugee and asylum seeker students within a mainstream educational setting. Australian government statistics released on 31 March 2016 stated that there were presently 50 children being held on Nauru, 17 children held in detention on the mainland and 317 children held in community detention on the mainland (ChilOut, 2016). Refugee and asylum seeking students are subject to the impact of war and conflict; the cumulative time spent in detention may severely limit a young person’s access to formal education. Whilst it is understood that children will benefit from access to education, the reality is that “little appears to have been written on asylum seekers” in an educational context (Reakes, 2007, p. 94). This represents a concern when it is acknowledged that “sustaining teachers in culturally and linguistically diverse schools has been a prominent issue for years” (Williams, Edwards, Kuhel, & Lim, 2016, p. 17). This article responds to the limitations of current literature by articulating considerations that would likely assist other schools seeking to establish similar inclusive frameworks. Specifically, the thematic grouping of staff observations seek to articulate the cultural considerations that likely influence the sustainability of an inclusive and liberating approach to integrative school enrolment. This paper draws on the authors’ observations and experiences in schools, the published literature and the observations of the two authors – specifically, drawing on their educational and therapeutic expertise. These observations are then grouped into themes outlined by Akinsulure-Smith and O’Hara (2012) as key reasons for therapeutic referral, namely: employment barriers, medical challenges, language barriers, social services and legal challenges.

Tackling with Refugee Children’s Problems in Turkish Schools

The main aim of this study is to produce a solution to improve the refugee and asylum seeker students' adaptation to the Turkish schools and classrooms by using action research approach which is often preferred for solving the problems encountered by the educators. The sample of the study consists of selected students at a primary school in Denizli province in 2014-2015 academic years. This sample consists of one school and 14 students. It uses qualitative data collection tools including teacher and principal interviews, student interviews, and observation of the researcher and implementers. Results showed that the action research is useful. Having special education helped refugee and asylum seeker students to read, write and speak the Turkish language quicker and have communication and adaptation to their classmates and teachers easier.