‘It’s difficult to help when I am not sitting next to them’: How COVID-19 school closures interrupted teachers’ care for newly arrived migrant and refugee learners in Denmark

Abstract

Teachers play a critical role in providing social and emotional support for newly arrived migrant and refugee learners. Such care ordinarily takes place in the classroom, raising questions about the impact of the 2020 COVID-19 school closures on their care work. In this article we analyze qualitative data from phone interviews with eight teachers in Danish preparatory classes, paying particular attention to the challenges they faced staying in contact with, and supporting, migrant and refugee learners during the school closure. The interviews were coded and thematically analysed, revealing significant changes in the teachers' care work. We draw on the concepts of caringscapes and carescapes to unravel how the shifts in space, from physical copresence in the school classroom to distance learning, affected their care work. Despite many efforts, teachers reported difficulties staying in contact with the learners remotely due to their limited access to virtual communication platforms and language barriers. These communication difficulties and the lack of bodily copresence not only made teaching highly challenging, but interrupted their care work, including maintaining daily schedules and facilitating social closeness between learners. Furthermore, the teachers expressed concern about their inability to link and refer the most vulnerable learners to external support services, which were temporarily closed due to the societal lockdown. Our study highlights how COVID-19 induced school closures constrain the care work of teachers of migrant and refugee learners. The concerns and struggles raised in this article not only stress the importance of the physical school space and closeness in facilitating care for newly arrived migrant and refugee learners, but signal the vulnerabilities of this group of children during times of crisis.

Effects of School closures in COVID-19 era: Evidence from Uganda Martyrs University

“…Thus, having to teach and communicate with the learners remotely meant that teachers could not reach all learners equally due to technical and other limitations. Primdahl et al (2020) found similar results. In the context of widespread school closures to slow the spread of COVID-19, UNESCO is now working with many ministries of education in affected and concerned countries to ensure continued learning for all children and youths through alternative channels (UNESCO, 2020b).…”

“…A few notes were attached to each coded sound bite to remind the researcher of their content, and only sound bites deemed relevant for inclusion in this paper were transcribed. Drawing on Attride-Stirling's method ( 2001) of thematic network analysis, the researcher organized the sound bites thematically (Primdahl, et al, 2020;Attride-Stirling, 2001).…”

Clinical outcomes and risk factors for COVID-19 among migrant populations in high-income countries: A systematic review

“…Concerns have also been raised that border closures may increase smuggling of migrants ( Sarrica et al, 2020 ). COVID-19 may meanwhile pose a barrier to integration for migrants and refugees ( Falkenhain et al, 2020 ), for example due to the suspension and modification of resettlement schemes ( Brickhill-Atkinson and Hauck, 2020 , Rush, 2020 ), and education programmes ( Brickhill-Atkinson and Hauck, 2020 , Primdahl et al, 2020 , Mupenzi et al, 2020 , OECD 2020 , Silverman et al, 2020 ). Migrants who are particularly vulnerable may be disproportionality affected by the negative social impact of lockdown ( Zero and Geary, 2020 , Sabri et al, 2020 ).…”

Clinical outcomes and risk factors for COVID-19 among migrant populations in high-income countries: a systematic review

“…Concerns have also been raised that border closures may increase smuggling of migrants (61). COVID-19 may meanwhile pose a barrier to integration for migrants and refugees (62), for example due to the suspension and modification of resettlement schemes (63, 64), and education programmes (63, 65–68). Migrants who are particularly vulnerable may be disproportionality affected by the negative social impact of lockdown (69, 70).…”