Is Refugee Education Exempt from Colonial Conversations?

• In Event: Refugee education and the experiences of migrant parents and teachers

Proposal

Introduction
Migration throughout history has been driven by disasters, diseases, conflicts, economic, and political unrest, forcing individuals to seek refuge. Beyond relocation, migration involves the transfer of knowledge, beliefs, and ideas across regions. Understanding historical migration patterns helps to address present-day refugee challenges, prompting a reevaluation of educational systems. This study explores how colonial legacies continue to shape refugee education, emphasizing the need for more inclusive and just educational practices by addressing power dynamics and global disparities.
2. Conceptualizing Refugee Education
Refugee education is conceptualized from multiple perspectives, emphasizing its diverse roles in crisis response and development. Dryden-Peterson (2019) defines it as providing learning opportunities across all education levels for displaced individuals, highlighting the broad support required. Mendenhall et al. (2017) emphasize integrating refugees into host countries' education systems, tailored to their specific needs. Refugee education empowers individuals, providing normalcy, critical skills, and facilitating integration or repatriation (UNESCO, 2019). It also supports social integration, mental health, and rebuilding communities (Kirk & Cassity, 2007; Winthrop & Kirk, 2008). The field has evolved from basic literacy in camp settings to including higher education and vocational training, driven by global policy shifts like the 1951 Refugee Convention and the Global Compact on Refugees (UNHCR, 1951; UNHCR, 2018), reflecting a move towards sustainable, long-term educational planning (Dryden-Peterson, 2011).
3. Conceptual Framework
Qualitative research approach to studying displacement and migration impacts on education is essential for capturing depth, context, and lived experiences. This methodology aligns with Quijano's (2000) "coloniality of power," examining enduring colonial structures, and Said's (1978) critique of Western "Other" constructs. This approach deconstructs narratives shaping refugee education policies, revealing how colonial legacies and power influence educational experiences.
3.1 Data Collection
I facilitated 5 workshops with 15 refugee high school students and university freshmen. These workshops, designed as a space for expression beyond the formal interview setting, enabled students to articulate their challenges, successes, and aspirations. The research site is highly populated with Kurds, and more than 15,000 refugees in the southern Turkey. Each workshop comprised two parts: in the first, participants designed their own schools, while in the second, they ranked various statements about refugee education.
3.2 Data Analysis
Critical content analyses and visual analyses were employed to elucidate how colonialism is embedded within refugee education and how participants perceive and experience colonial practices through their educational journeys. By examining both the verbal and non-verbal expressions of the participants, the study aimed to uncover the nuanced ways in which colonial praxis manifests and is received in the context of refugee education.
3.3 Theoretical Framework
This study employs Quijano's concept of the coloniality of power to understand the ongoing influence of colonial structures in contemporary refugee education. Quijano (2000) argues that coloniality extends beyond the period of formal colonization, embedding hierarchical power structures within social, economic, and educational systems globally. These structures classify individuals based on sociocultural markers such as race, ethnicity, and gender, perpetuating Eurocentric dominance and marginalizing non-Western knowledge systems and identities.
4. Preliminary Findings
The study's findings highlight how colonial legacies continue to influence refugee students' education through deficit-based approaches, marginalization, and cultural suppression. Participants expressed that the education system focuses on their traumas rather than their strengths, leading to practices that aim to "fix" them instead of empowering them. Refugees are often excluded from decision-making processes, both globally and locally, including curriculum design and classroom dynamics. Additionally, they face cultural suppression as they navigate multiple identities, feeling pressure to assimilate into the dominant culture, which erases their own cultural knowledge and perpetuates marginalization.
5. Discussion
The deficit-based approach in refugee education focuses on refugees' traumas and needs, neglecting their strengths and aspirations. This mirrors colonial views that saw colonized people as deficient. Marginalization occurs at both policy and classroom levels, reflecting colonial power dynamics that exclude refugees from decision-making processes. Cultural suppression forces refugee students to assimilate into the dominant culture, erasing their cultural identities.
5.1 Colonization and Refugee Education
The intersection of colonization and refugee education involves examining the lasting impacts of colonial legacies on refugees' educational experiences and opportunities. Colonial legacies manifest in the educational systems of post-colonial states through language, curriculum content, and pedagogical approaches (Jansen 1989), diverging significantly from those in host countries and posing adaptation challenges for refugees. Education for refugees becomes a space for identity negotiation amidst cultural displacement, influenced by colonial practices of cultural suppression.
Nguyen (2012) captures the existential crises faced by refugees, portraying them as symbols of instability and isolation. This perspective can be integrated into the analysis of refugee education and colonialism's effects. Refugees often find themselves suspended in time and space, embodying instability and isolation. The deep and complex impacts of colonialism on refugee education refer to lasting power structures, as explained by scholars like Aníbal Quijano (2000, 2007), influencing how refugees experience education today. Colonial legacies shape attitudes, perceptions, and treatment toward refugees, embedding hierarchies that categorize individuals based on race, ethnicity, gender, and other sociocultural markers (Maldonado-Torres, 2014; Mignolo, 2007; Balaton-Chrimes & Stead, 2017).
The education provided to refugees often adopts a deficit-based approach, focusing on their traumas and needs rather than their capabilities and aspirations (Dryden-Peterson, 2016). This perspective mirrors colonial views that saw the colonized as lacking and needing "civilizing." Curricula for refugee students frequently prioritize the host nation's culture and history while ignoring their own. Power dynamics within refugee education often mirror colonial systems, with decision-making authority typically residing with host
In conclusion, colonial influences continue to shape refugee education practice. These influences affect perceptions of refugees, the curricula they receive, and the language of instruction, perpetuating structures of authority rooted in colonialism that marginalize refugee voices. Acknowledging these patterns is a step toward confronting and reshaping them.
6. Conclusion
The preliminary findings reveal that colonial legacies continue to shape the educational experiences of refugee students. These findings underscore the need for a reevaluation of educational policies and practices to create a more inclusive and empowering environment for refugees. At this point, colonization does not a exempt from discussion about refugee education!

Author

• Adnan TURAN, Arizona State University