The Local Enactment of Refugee Integration in Regular Education Systems: A Sensemaking Approach

• In Event: New Dynamics of the Educational Integration of Survival Migrants in Latin America

Proposal

Global recommendations regarding refugee education have evolved from educating children in separate schools to integrating them into the regular education system of the host country. Countries have implemented various policies based on these recommendations, reflecting national understandings of refugees' futures. However, there is limited knowledge about how these policies are enacted at the local level. To address this gap, our study examines the integration of Venezuelan refugees in Colombian schools. Given Colombia's role as the main recipient of Venezuelan migration, it offers a crucial case to understand the impact of the recent massive Latin American interregional mobility on education. Drawing on sensemaking theory, we identify the cues that education stakeholders derive from this migration and how they interpret them within their cognitive frameworks, encompassing prior knowledge and past experiences. Additionally, we employ a multilevel approach to analyze the interplay between national and local governments, as well as humanitarian organizations, which collectively shape the contexts of schools and subsequently influence refugee educational integration.
In line with our multilevel approach, our study employs a vertical case study design to examine relations across humanitarian organizations, national government, sub-national authorities, and schools. Through open-ended interviews with officials and staff at each level and organization, we identify the exchange chains of cues that guide the sensemaking of actors and their subsequent responses to migrants.
Our findings reveal that stakeholders at all levels are influenced by factors such as the relative number of refugees in their jurisdictions compared to the local student population, their previous experiences and understandings of inclusion, and their perceptions of Venezuelan migrants. The national government acknowledges the significant influx of refugees but perceives the educational system as having the capacity to accommodate them. National decision-makers view the migrants as temporary guests and draw on experiences with internally displaced populations to redefine integration as mere access. This perception permeates down to subnational authorities and schools. Subnational bureaucracies adopt and disseminate this message unless the concentration of migrants pushes them to explore additional solutions, their interactions with humanitarian organizations expose them to alternative understandings of integration, or their past experiences with inclusion involve working with diverse populations and marginalized groups. Lastly, schools tend to follow the lead of national and subnational governments unless their leaders possess a background that mobilizes inclusive understandings, incorporating curriculum and pedagogical transformations that recognize the identities and learning needs of migrant children. These intricate chains of influence underline the need to address the sensemaking process across the entire education system to ensure the inclusion of refugees.
Our study makes a critical contribution by analyzing the role of frontline and intermediate actors in the educational inclusion of migrant children. It also provides insights into how international organizations and national governments can promote inclusive educational environments for refugees. By understanding the dynamics between various actors and their interpretive processes, policymakers and practitioners can work towards creating educational systems that support the needs of all students, including involuntary migrants.

Author

• Claudia Milena Diaz-Rios, OISE University of Toronto