Democratic Values and Practices: Educating Syrian Newcomers in Two Regions of Canada and Germany

• In Event: 64.086 - MTCC Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: 64.086-2 - Negotiating Leadership, Student Needs, and Democratic Values in Global Contexts

Abstract

Democracy is in crisis (Freedom House, 2018), that is, political rights deteriorated to their lowest point in more than a decade. The US, in particular, saw its steepest decline in democratic standards. In contrast, two regions in Canada and Germany stood apart from these trends. This study focuses on the policies, leadership and education of newcomers in two School Boards in Ontario and in NorthRhein, Westphalia, as these two regions opened their borders to Syrian refugees beginning in late 2015. We make evident how these educators practiced democratic values and processes at all levels of their educational systems. This cross case study describes how educators received the “gifts” of immigration while facing daily and stress-filled challenges of implementing democratic education.

Authors

• Ira E. Bogotch, Florida Atlantic University

• Brenton Cyriel Faubert, University of Western Ontario

• Michael Pfeifer, Technical University of Dortmund

• Cole P Kervin, Florida Atlantic University

• Dustin Pappas, Florida Atlantic University