Re-conceptualizing Inclusive Education: An Exploration of Refugee-led Education for Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Lebanon

• In Event: Rethinking Inclusion: Power, Policy, and Teacher Agency in Refugee Education

Proposal

In the context of education in conflict and emergencies (EiCE), inclusive education (IE) remains a critical yet elusive concept, particularly when refugeehood intersects with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). According to UNESCO (2007), inclusion involves dismantling barriers to access, participation, and achievement for learners who are systematically excluded from educational opportunities, such as refugees and children with SEND.
Global conventions and strategies, including the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol, UNHCR 2030 Strategy, and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, highlight the importance of IE for refugee children. Despite this recognition, however, the perception, and provision of IE in mainstream classrooms for refugees with SEND remain limited and lack sufficient empirical evidence, particularly in the Global South. Many global and national efforts focus narrowly on structural access, overlooking the intersectional needs of refugee children with SEND. The provision of IE also faces several challenges, such as insufficient funding, inadequate teacher training for inclusive environments, and a lack of inclusive curricula. These challenges are further compounded by societal stigmatization, which views refugees and individuals with SEND as burdens on social and economic resources.
This study, based on extensive engagement with a refugee-led non-formal educational organization (RNFEO) in Lebanon, examines how inclusion is understood and practiced for Syria refugee children with SEND by educators. By collaborating closely with RNFEO educators - most of whom are refugees themselves - the research follows a bottom-up approach to explore inclusion within Lebanon’s socio-political landscape. Grounded in decolonial feminist epistemologies and critical refugee studies, the analysis of this study highlights the role of educators as cultural actors, who adopt engaged pedagogies to humanize the educational experience for refugee children with SEND.
This research contributes to the growing literature on EiCE by re-examining the concept of inclusion for refugees with SEND and focusing on the nuanced approaches refugee educators bring through their inclusive pedagogical practices. More specifically, by emphasizing relational inclusion and humanizing education revealed from the findings, the study seeks to expand the current global framework on inclusion. It challenges traditional, top-down policies that are primarily outcome-focused and often prioritize structural access at the expense of addressing the humanizing aspects of education.

Authors

• Elnaz Safarha, University of Maryland College of Education

• Zeena Zakharia, University of Maryland College Park