Towards an inclusive education for refugees? How national policy environments shape education provisions in Australia, Lebanon and Turkey.

• In Event: Between “policyscape” and practice: learning from diverse experiences of refugee education

Proposal

This empirically driven paper discusses the implications of different national approaches to refugee education for the educational experiences of Arab refugee children in Australia, Lebanon and Turkey. Data is qualitative and quantitative and comes from an ongoing cross-national study in Australia, Lebanon and Turkey. Policy analysis, statistical analysis of survey data collected from refugee and national students and, findings from interviews with education actors shed light on the ways in which national policy environments shape education provisions and ultimately, outcomes for refugees. In particular, the paper seeks to understand how ideas of refugee “status” and corresponding assumptions about the length of refugee asylum shape education provisions and prospects for refugees and what this means for the dominant policy discourses of refugee inclusion and integration. By drawing attention to the empirical links between policy context, education provisions and more conceptual elements of pedagogy, curriculum, teaching practices and psychosocial well-being, the paper underscores the need for holistic and flexible policies that can support localized responses to address the educational challenges that refugee and host state nationals face.

Authors

• Jo Kelcey, New York University

• Aya Aboul Hosn, Centre for Lebanese Studies, Lebanese American University

• Maha Shuayb, Center for Lebanese Studies