Syrian Refugee Students Research Articles

An exploration of teachers’ perceptions of Syrian students in Turkey and implications for school social work

Low rates of school enrolment emerge as a significant problem among Syrian students in Turkey; however, enrolment in the school brings about new challenges not only for the Syrian refugee students but also for Turkish students and their teachers. In order to address this issue, this study aims to depict the perceived problems experienced by Syrian and Turkish students and their teachers. In the scope of the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 primary and secondary school teachers to gather their perceived opinion on the issue. The findings are discussed within the context of school social work interventions.

School Principals Views on Syrian Refugee Students’ Education in Turkey: Challenges and Recommendations

The aim of the present study was to identify the administrative problems that school principals face at schools in the city located in the east of Turkey with high Syrian student population and to provide suggestions for overcoming these problems. The city is a province in Turkey having the highest ratio of Syrian to Turkish population with 95.61 %. Therefore, the city is an important topic for the education and social integration of Syrian students. Based on the findings, it has been identified that school principals experience problems such as language and communication problems, crowded classrooms and environments, registration uncertainties, accordance between the parents (Turkish-Syrian), school culture, discipline and behavior. In addition, problems were also identified under headings such as financial resource insufficiency, personnel requirements and in-service training requirements. It has been emphasized that making courses more active, increasing the number of course hours for the targeted culture language will be more beneficial for overcoming the language issues. It has also been indicated that equal distribution of Syrian students to the schools and balancing the student ratio in the province through the use of transportation options if necessary will also be beneficial.

Investigation of School Kindness and Student Covitality Among Syrian Refugee Students, Turkish Internally Displaced Students and Natives at Turkish Primary Schools: The Case of Bursa

Investigation of School Kindness and Student Covitality Among Syrian Refugee Students, Turkish Internally Displaced Students and Natives at Turkish Primary Schools: The Case of Bursa

Teachers’ Attitudes to Syrian Refugee Students in Turkey

From the last decade on, the matter of refugees in Turkey has become a key issue in almost all social and political areas including education. Following the refugee influx from 2011 on, Turkey has immediately taken action to provide the Syrian refugee students with necessary educational opportunities in its mainstream schools. The present study was targeted at revealing Turkish teachers’ attitudes towards these Syrian refugee students in their classrooms. A total of 95 in-service teachers from different fields participated in the study. The data were collected through a composite instrument. Teachers’ attitudes were categorized under three main subheadings; communication, adaptation, and efficiency. The statistical results indicated that the teachers were eager to help the refugee students overcome their adaptation problems which were mainly caused by their language-related deficiencies. They also had positive attitudes to communicate effectively with these students although they did not have enough practice in their undergraduate years in regards with the refugee education. Moreover, the teachers with high efficacy beliefs had better attitudes toward refugee students in their classrooms. The results were discussed in line with the refugee education and teacher education policies in the literature.

Challenges of teaching Syrian refugee children in Lebanon: teachers’ insights

ABSTRACT Education is a basic need in the lives of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and teachers, specifically, play a critical role in the quality of education these children receive. Their experiences provide a critical view of the reality of refugee education in Lebanon. The present study examines the challenges teachers face when teaching Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. The research adopts a phenomenological approach, using in-depth interviews with teachers of Syrian refugee students in a public school in Beirut. Participants discussed psychological and academic needs of students, effectiveness of current methods, lack of parental support, their perceptions of the students, cultural and gender roles, personal experiences and beliefs, as well as teachers’ roles.

Stigmatisation and othering: the case of Syrian students in Turkish schools*

ABSTRACT In the last four years, with the implementation of the policy of integration of the Syrian refugee students into the public schools in Turkey, there has been a significant rise in the number of Syrian students in mainstream classrooms. Based on the analysis of the discourses of Turkish teachers and students about Syrian students, this study examines the ways in which attitudes towards the Syrians in the Turkish community are reflected into the classroom context and also the ways that such attitudes shape intergroup communication as well as contribute to the construction of collective identities within the multilingual classrooms in Turkish schools. Using linguistic ethnography as a methodological approach, data were collected through classroom recordings of natural interactions, teacher interviews, informal conversations and ethnographic classroom observations. Analysis of teacher and student discourses reveals how negative portrayals of the Syrian students as guests, outsiders, deprived, incompetent, cheaters and liars are being constructed and how those adversely affect communication and teaching practices within the classrooms. The authors argue for the need of the development and implementation of holistic educational policies in the country taking multiculturalism and multilingualism as pivotal points and focusing not only on language instruction but social integration as well.

Realities of School ‘Integration’: Insights from Syrian Refugee Students in Jordan’s Double-Shift Schools

Abstract Recent agendas have sought to encourage governments to integrate refugees into national education systems. However, clearer nuances of integration and examples of positive and negative approaches are necessary to help understand the effects of policies on students’ learning and well-being. This article explores the perceptions of Syrian refugee students who have been integrated into Jordan’s schools through the double-shift system. Drawing on a broader study which explored students’ perceptions through semi-structured interviews, this article illustrates how educational settings have shaped students’ perceptions of their spaces, learning, and aspirations. It portrays the issues that arise from a system that formally integrates refugee students in formal school while keeping them physically and socially segregated from native students. By shedding light on the ways in which educational spaces enhance or reduce differences between societies, this article argues that harmonized policies, structures, and practices are essential for inclusive and equal learning opportunities.

Educational problems of Syrian refugee students

This qualitative study tries to explore the problems faced by the Syrian Refugee primary school students who immigrated to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) with their friends in the educational settings and the solutions to those problems from the perspectives of those students. The qualitative data were collected through semi-structural interviews from the 15 Syrian Students in different grades. The data were analyzed by the content analysis and descriptive analysis technique in NVivo 12. It was found out that the students were exposed the mostly ‘’ violence/ hit’’, ‘’ be disturbed’’ and ‘’ignorance’’ by their classmates. The refugee students think that those problems can be solved by their teachers, principles, and families. Some of the students said that they could solve the problems they faced by ‘’ staying away’’ or by ‘’fighting with those who behave badly.’’ Based on the interview decoding, all the Syrian refugee students expect ‘’ not to exclude them’’, ‘’respect’’ and ‘’love’’. According to these results, providing social-psychological support, language teaching programs, and teaching tolerance to local students would help to solve the immigrant students’ problems having with their friends at school.

Access for Syrian refugees into higher education in Germany: a systematic literature review

ABSTRACT In the early years of the twenty-first century, the European Union faced an influx of refugees from war-torn areas of the world. By the end of 2015, nearly a million new refugees had arrived in Germany alone, half of them from Syria. Understanding how the Syrian refugee population has interacted with the German system of higher education is crucial for serving those students. This systematic review of studies published on this topic between 2015 and 2020 discusses the challenges experienced by Syrian refugee students accessing German higher education, the support they have received from German higher education institutions (HEIs), and policy reforms recommended by the studies reviewed for managing the influx of refugees into German higher education. I offer a synthesis of the contributions and gaps in the literature and propose thoughts for future research in this area for advancing our knowledge on the experiences of refugee students in accessing HE and easing their integration into HEIs, to the benefit of the internationalization of Germany’s HEIs and the country’s labor market.

الطمأنینة النفسیة وعلاقتها بالعجز المتعلم لدى الطالبات اللاجئات السوریات فی محافظة الکرک

هدفت الدراسة الحالية للتعرف إلى مستوى کل من الطمأنينة النفسية والعجز المتعلم لدى الطالبات اللاجئات السوريات في محافظة الکرک/ الأردن، والعلاقة بينهما، تکونت عينة الدراسة من (110) طالبة من الدارسات في مديرية الکرک, ممن تتراوح أعمارهن ما بين (14-15) سنة، ولتحقيق أهداف الدراسة تم تطوير مقياسين لأغراض هذه الدراسة، وتمتعا بدلالات صدق وثبات مناسبين، وهما: مقياس الطمأنينة النفسية، ومقياس العجز المتعلم. وأشارت النتائج إلى أن مستوى کل من الطمأنينة النفسية والعجز المتعلم جاءا متوسطين، وأن هناک علاقة دالة إحصائيا وعکسية بين مستوى الطمأنينة النفسية والعجز المتعلم، وخرجت الدراسة بمجموعة من التوصيات، أهمها: ضرورة بناء برامج إرشادية لفئات الطلبة اللاجئين, لمساعدتهم في رفع مستوى الطمأنينة النفسية وخفض مستوى العجز المتعلم. The study aimed to identify the level of psychological recurrence and learned helplessness, and correlation between them among the Syrian refugee students in Al-karak governorate/ Jordan. The study sample consisted of (173) the Syrian refugee students whose ages ranged from (14-15) years. To achieve the aims of the study, two valid and reliable scales were developed: psychological recurrence and learned helplessness. The results of the study indicated that the level of psychological recurrence and learned helplessness were moderate. Also, there was a relationship between psychological security and psychological alienation. The study recommended the necessity of conducting studies on other variables related to these two variables, such as: psychological well-being, psychological perfectionism, psychological prosperity, psychological wellness, social interests. The study concluded with a set of recommendations, the most important of which was the necessity of designing counseling programs for refugee student groups to help them raise the level of psychological comfort and reduce the level of learner's disability.

Turkish Language in the Perspective of Syrian Refugee Students: A Metaphor Study

One of the biggest obstacles to learning a language as a foreign language is the perception developed against that language. The obligation to learn the foreign language to be learned determines how the perception towards language is. In this context, Syrian refugees, who took refuge in Turkey leaving their country due to war and especially wish to continue their education in Turkey, had to learn Turkish. In this sense, knowing the perceptions of the relevant audience towards Turkish will directly affect many issues from developing a language education program to preparing books, from teacher training to redesigning methods and techniques to be used in lessons. In this connection, Turkish perceptions of Syrian refugees were tried to be determined through metaphors with this study. The study group of the study consists of 235 Syrian students who learn Turkish at Aydın TÖMER, Istanbul Aydın University. While collecting the data of the study using phenomenology approach, one of the qualitative research methods, students were asked to complete the sentence “Turkish is like ..............., because ...............”. Based on the findings obtained in the research, it was determined that 46% of Syrian students learning Turkish consider Turkish as a need, 25% have a positive feeling towards Turkish, 8% find it confusing, 7% find it easy, 6% find it difficult and 5% find a similarity between another language and Turkish. When the themes are examined in terms of their effect on the Turkish learning process, it is possible to say that the themes of need, positive feeling, finding it easy and similarity between languages have a supportive effect on students' motivation to learn Turkish, whereas the themes of finding it difficult and finding it confusing have an inhibitory effect on the learning process. When an evaluation is made in this respect, it is possible to say that nearly 90% of the students have a supportive perception of their own learning processes.

Suriyeli Mülteci Öğrencilerinin Eğitim Sorunları ve Teknolojisine Erişim ve Çözüm Önerileri: Konya-Selçuklu Örneği

Bu çalışmada; Suriyeli mülteci öğrencilerin eğitim sorunlarının belirlenmesi ve bunlara yönelik çözümlerin geliştirilmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Suriyeli Mülteci öğrencilerin eğitim sorunlarını belirlemek için bir anket oluşturulmuştur. Anket, demografik değerlendirmelere ek olarak 5'li Likert tipi bir ölçekten oluşmaktadır. Anket uygulamasında Konya'nın Selçuklu ilçesinde faaliyet gösteren liselerde öğrenim gören Suriyeli mülteci öğrenciler dikkate alınmıştır. Bu kapsamda, Selçuklu İlçe Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü ve Konya İl Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü ile yazışmalar yapılmış ve Anket Toplama için gerekli izinler alınmıştır. Saha çalışmasına konu olan bölgedeki Suriyeli mülteci öğrencilerle ilgili bilgiler Selçuklu İlçe Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü'nden alınmıştı. Buna göre Selçuklu ilçesindeki 35 lisede 199 öğrencinin kayıtlı olduğu ve bunlardan 194'ünün okula devam ettiği belirlenmiştir. Bu öğrencilere uygulanan anketler değerlendirilmiş ve bu formlardan 139'u analizlerde dikkate alınmıştır. Anket formlarının değerlendirilmesinde SPSS 22.0 sürüm istatistik paket programı kullanılmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında Suriyeli öğrenciler Türkiye'deki eğitim kurumlarına kolaylıkla ulaşabildiklerini ifade etmişlerdir. Ancak Türkçeyi iyi bilmemenin eğitimi olumsuz etkilediğini belirtmişlerdir. Öte yandan öğrencilerin neredeyse yarısı Suriye'deki savaşın bitmesi durumunda ülkelerine dönmek istediklerini vurgulamışlardır. Öğrencilerin %29’u Türkiye’de kalmak istediklerini ortaya koymuşlardır. Nitekim öğrencilerin % 42'si Türkiye dışında bir ülkeye gitmek istemediklerini belirtmişlerdir.

Being the Teacher of Syrian Refugee Students: Teachers’ School Experiences

This study aims to focus on the class and school wide experiences of teachers working with Syrian refugee students and to reveal what these experiences indicate in terms of inclusive education. The main hypothesis of the present study is that inclusive education should be reconsidered in terms of teachers’ in-service /preservice training, beliefs, attitudes and competencies. Qualitative design was employed in the study since it explored teachers’ lived experiences on refugee student phenomenon. The sample consisted of 21 teachers who were voluntary to participate and chosen from five schools located in two different districts of Kayseri where refugee population is dense. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through content analysis. The results showed that teachers put into practice actions to boost refugee students’ active participation in classroom and reduce discrimination against them. However, the teachers believed that their efforts to provide refugee students with qualified and equal education were not sufficient. They also believed that they were not proficient to train refugee students. As for assessment, the results revealed that differences of refugee students were ignored, and this was caused by lack of legal regulations and knowledge. It was determined that teachers put forth an effort to design social environment in the classroom to include belonging and they had experiences consistent with reactive and preventive approaches. Lastly, it can be said that the main source of occupational motivation for teachers is affection for children. It was suggested that curriculum be designed in a way that it included refugee students, long-running studies be planned, and preservice / in-service trainings be reconsidered contextually.

The Level of Social and Academic Adjustment among Syrian Refugee Students in Jordan and its Relation with Underachievement students

Research on the level of social and academic adjustment and the ties between both Syrian refugee students in Jordan is still insufficient due to the lack of research and interest among academics and researchers. This is happening even though the rise of refugees has impacted students from the Syrian Refugee Education Center SREC in Jordan in the last five years. Therefore, the current study examines the connection between social adjustment and academic adjustment among Syrian refugee students in SREC in Jordan. A total of 108 SREC-contained students from one school were studied. The results of the study showed that social adjustment is poor (52%) and academic adjustment is small (67 %). Furthermore, there is a statistically important negative association (-0.522) between the overall social adaptation and the total academic transition. In this report, the findings, shortcomings, and recommendations were also addressed.

Eğitimin Milliyeti: Mülteci Öğrenciler ve Türkiyeli Öğrencilerin Kademelere Göre Değişen Öğrencilik Deneyimleri

This research conducted to observe how the Turkish and the Syrian refugee students experience studentship while both were placed in same class.Thus, the study aims to discover how students interact with different cultures, conditions of economic classes, legal rights and different languages. In this context, in-depth interviews were conducted with Syrian and Turkish students. The citizenship status of participants were not taken into account. The data obtained as a result of the interviews were analyzed according to the education levels, and the differences in levels were tried to be determined. According to the data, regardless of the education level, the first factor that stands out in interaction is language. This was followed by teacher attitude and income level. In light of the research, some suggestions have been made in order to make the differences to be a constructive factor in providing access to education and ensuring equality of opportunity in education.

Adaptation with the University Environment by Syrian Refugee ‎Students in Zarqa University

The present study aims at identifying the Adaptation with the University Environment by the Syrian refugee ‎students in Zarqa University, the descriptive survey approach methods is used. The sample of the study consists of (80) Syrian refugee ‎students in Zarqa University. A questionnaire is prepared, and the results of the study showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the average degree of students' adaptation to the university environment according to sex, as well as the absence of statistically significant differences between the average degree of students' adaptation to the university environment according to the college. Keywords: Adaptation, Syrian Refugee Students, the University Environment.

Towards more multilingual practices in the mathematics assessment of young refugee students: effects of testing language and validity of parental assessment

ABSTRACT The study focuses on the assessment of young refugee students, and the role of language and parents therein. Low achievement at tests can stem from lack of knowledge of the content being tested. However, it can also be due to low proficiency in the language of testing. Additionally, poor communication between refugee parents and schools caused by language or cultural differences may lead to underestimation of children’s potential. We investigated, first, to what extent the language factor affects the performance of young Syrian refugee students in the Netherlands in mathematics and, second, the validity of parents’ judgements of their children’s mathematics ability. A linear mixed-effects model with random intercepts per participant was used to analyze the data. Results showed that the students performed significantly better in their mother tongue than in the school language. Additionally, parents’ ratings of their children’s mathematics ability correlated significantly with the mathematics scores on both versions of the tests. The study confirms the value of linguistically appropriate assessments and parental assessment when accommodating refugee students.

Factors Affecting Academic Self-efficacy of Syrian Refugee Students: A Path Analysis Model

In this study, the effect of resilience, perceived social support, life satisfaction and self-regulation variables on the academic self-efficacy of Syrian refugee undergraduate students were examined with a path analysis model. The sample consisted of Syrian undergraduate students living in Turkey. The sample of the research was randomly selected and participation was voluntarily. Data collection tools used were demographic information form, Arabic versions of academic self-efficacy, resilience, perceived social support, life satisfaction and self-regulation scales. In the data analysis, self-regulation and perceived social support selected as the exogenous variables, academic self-efficacy was selected as the endogenous variable, and resilience and life satisfaction were selected as the mediator variables. In the study, the direct and indirect effects from exogenous variables to academic self-efficacy were examined. The findings of the research revealed that self-regulation and perceived social support directly affected academic self-efficacy, life satisfaction had a mediating effect on perceived social support, and resilience had self-regulation. It is concluded that in order to increase the academic self-efficacy of refugee students, self-regulation and social support from the society should be increased, as well as life satisfaction and resilience against difficulties.

The Quality Level of Education of the Syrian Refugee Students in the North of Jordan: Educational Supervisors' Point of View

This study was conducted to identify the quality level of the education of the Syrian refugee students at the schools of the north of Jordan as seen by the educational supervisors and their proposals to improve it. The researcher adopted the analytical descriptive approach for the study. The population of the study consisted of all the educational supervisors of the governorates of education in the north of Jordan while the sample consisted of 110 members of them. The researcher designed a sixty item questionnaire as an instrument for collecting the data for the study. That came up with a set of findings, the most important of which are: The level of the quality of the education offered to Syrian students at the schools of the north of Jordan was average for all the variables of the study, but it was high for the curricula variable. The educational supervisors put forward a set of proposals to improve the level of the quality of the education offered to Syrian students at the schools of the north of Jordan such as: obtaining funding resources to finance the schools for the refugee Syrian students, solving the student family problems arising from the adverse refuge conditions of the families of the students , improving the curricula to suit the students conditions and their interests, providing the students with adequate knowledge of rules and regulations that serve them. The researcher discussed and interpreted the findings stressing that the important findings should be presented to the decision makers of the Jordanian Ministry of Education. The researcher recommended the following: implementing the proposals of the educational supervisors to raise the level of the quality of education, conducting a number of studies on the average quality variables, solving the families' problems because of the conditions of migration, improving the curricula to suit the conditions of the students and their interests, familiarizing the students with the rules and the regulations that serve their interests. Finally, the researcher discussed and interpreted the findings stressing that the important ones of them should be presented to the decision–makers of the Jordanian Ministry of Education.

A Review of the Inclusion Process of Syrian Refugee Students in the Formal Education System of Turkey

The purpose of this study is to examine the opinions of classroom teachers, administrators, students and parents regarding the inclusion of refugee students in Turkey