3-095 - Variation in implementation of social-emotional programs for refugee children in low-, middle-, and high-income countries

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The world currently faces the largest refugee crisis since WWII, affecting one in 200 children worldwide (UNHCR, 2017). In an effort to accommodate the rapidly increasing refugee child population, host countries and iNGOs have been implementing various social-emotional learning (SEL) programs in formal and non-formal education settings. However, front-line service providers in humanitarian contexts face numerous challenges that can compromise how these programs are delivered (Winthrop & Kirk, 2009). Refugee children and their families, too, experience many barriers to utilize these services as they navigate unstable lives as refugees in a strange land, and often have few resources alongside painful memories of war and violence (Eisenbruch, 1988; Dryden-Peterson, 2011).
This symposium will present child-, teacher-, and structural-level variation and challenges of implementing non-formal education programs supporting SEL of children affected by conflict in three humanitarian contexts: Niger (with children affected by Boko Haram attacks), Lebanon and Germany (with Syrian refugee children).
The first paper uses mixed-methods approach and examines variation in structural quality and classroom interaction predicting refugee child development in a transitional child-care program for refugee children in Germany. The second paper presents adaptation and implementation processes of two SEL interventions in Niger by examining mixed methods data on teachers’ reflections and SEL activity use. Finally, the third paper examines within- and between-classroom variation in Syrian refugee children’s attendance to a classroom-based SEL program in Lebanon and identifies contextual risk factors.
Together these papers highlight the challenges and promises of implementing classroom-based SEL programs for refugees in humanitarian settings.

Sub Unit

• Prevention and Interventions

Chair

• Ha Yeon Kim, Global TIES for Children, New York University

Discussant

• Stephanie Jones, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Individual Presentations

• Specialized Childcare for Refugees: 
Holistic Services Support Children and Parents in Germany - Presenting Author: Julian Busch, Ruhr University Bochum; Non-Presenting Author: Thimo Buchmüller, Ruhr University Bochum; Non-Presenting Author: Birgit Leyendecker, Ruhr-Universität Bochum

• Low-Cost Targeted Strategies Improving Conflict-Effected Children’s Well-being: Adaptation and Implementation Findings From Niger - Presenting Author: Rebecca Bailey, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Non-Presenting Author: Sonya Temko, Harvard University; Non-Presenting Author: Sophie Barnes, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Non-Presenting Author: Stephanie Jones, Harvard Graduate School of Education

• Student- and Classroom-Level Predictors of Refugee Student Attendance Trajectories in Lebanon: Implications for Interventions - Presenting Author: Abigail C. Keim, The Pennsylvania State University; Non-Presenting Author: Ha Yeon Kim, Global TIES for Children, New York University