Civic Education and the Education of Refugees

 

Summary

Refugee REACH director Sarah Dryden-Peterson explores the civic education of refugees within the context of a radical global policy shift to include refugees in national education systems. She argues that such a shift has promoted structural inclusion of refugees in national schooling but has not adequately engaged with the relational processes of inclusion.

This article is part of Intercultural Education's special issue on global migration and civic education.

Key Takeaways

We offer the following practical steps and actions based on this research below (click to expand).

+ For Policymakers


INSIGHTS ACTIONS
Marginalization limits refugees’ spaces to imagine or enact civic behaviors. Civic education generally features national narratives that do not include refugees as civic actors. ➟ Integrate civic education curricula and pedagogies that include representation of refugee communities.
There is a mismatch between refugee students’ structural inclusion in national education systems and the lack of relational inclusion at school and in other social, political, and economic spaces. ➟ Supplement inclusive education policies with relationally inclusive experiences at school and holistic social, political, and economic inclusion outside of school.
Purposes of education related to economic, social, and political participation are misaligned with refugees’ legal abilities to engage in such participation. ➟ Create effective and sustainable policies for economic, social, and political participation that allow for the purposes of education to be realized for refugee students.

+ For Educators


INSIGHTS ACTIONS
Single narratives of nationhood result in an oversimplified civic identity, sometimes blurring differences between individuals and alienating refugees and others who do not fit that specific identity. ➟ Present multiple narratives of nationhood, highlighting the intersectional nature of identity to include refugees and other groups in curricula and conversation.
Refugees use national languages of instruction that are often unfamiliar to them, limiting opportunities to engage in classroom activities that are foundational to civic learning. ➟ Take steps in schools to mitigate the civic alienation of national language use. When possible, support formal and informal use of languages that refugee students understand.
Alternative forms of civic education, such as those practiced in community-based schools and in non-school activities, can provide examples of methods to enable refugee children to see themselves represented as civic actors, while also considering risks and challenges related to uncertain legal and social status. ➟ Adapt alternative education practices to link with national schooling and/or for use in national schools to meet the needs of refugee children and other marginalized national children.

+ For Researchers


FURTHER RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO EXAMINE:
  • Alternative forms of civic education in addition to, or in replacement of, formal national education;

  • How refugee students negotiate, make sense of, and act on their civic learning in national schools, community-based spaces, and inside and outside of school;

  • What and how children are learning in educational spaces outside the national education system. Lessons from school- and classroom-based practices in these contexts might be applied to national schools as ways to better enable refugee children to see themselves represented in the curricula of national schools.
Additional Reading

Citation (APA): Dryden-Peterson, S. (2020). Civic education and the education of refugees. Intercultural Education, 31(5), 592-606.

 
Integration & BelongingSarah Dryden-PetersonCivic Education, Migration, Curriculum, Equity, For Policymakers