Participation?! Educational Challenges for Young Refugees in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This article focuses the educational settings in the everyday life of young refugees in the context of distance education under the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. It explores dimensions and intensifications of education-related digital inequality during this period in formal and non-formal educational settings. Based on ethnographic interviews with teachers, young refugees and social workers, different dimensions of inequality as well as interrelations between informal (leisure), non-formal (child and youth welfare) and formal (school) educational contexts for empowering the educational participation of young refugees, especially regarding online learning, are discussed. The empirical data show that during the period of distance education the specific needs of young refugees are only taken into account to a limited extent and thus increasing risks of exclusion from education emerge. Lack of technical access, media expertise, language skills and personal support turn out to be major challenges in enabling educational participation of vulnerable groups such as young refugees. Therefore, educational policy at federal and national level in Germany needs to outline a scheme on how to meet these challenges by further developing non-formal as well as formal educational support structures.

The educational, social, and emotional impact of COVID19 on Rohingya refugee youth: Implications for educators and policymakers

“…Among the challenges, Rohingya youth noted struggles with adapting to online learning, particularly given their limited computer literacy as well as difficulties maintaining a reliable internet connection. These findings support existing literature on the need for schools to evaluate refugee youth’s digital literacy as well as their access to reliable internet ( Fujii et al, 2020 , Sugarman and Lazarín, 2020 ; Santiago, Bustos, Jolie, Flores Toussaint, Sosa, et al, 2021). Rohingya youth in this study also spoke at length about the challenges in maintaining a suitable home learning environment.…”

“…Our findings contribute to the existing literature on the impact of COVID 19 on refugee youth ( Fujii et al, 2020 , Kollender and Nimer, 2020 , Medina et al . 2020; Sugarman & Lazarín, 2020 ).…”

“…The negative effects of COVID-19 on education are particularly stark for refugee youth, who are affected by barriers to accessing both digital and language learning in host countries. An ethnographic study of refugee youth, teachers, and social workers in Germany reveals structural difficulties, namely under compensation of educational advantages, difficulties in maintaining contact (Primdahl et al, 2021) and individual inequalities of lower quality youth participation and digital literacy in a population already attempting to gain and utilize vital language skills ( Fujii et al, 2020 , Sugarman and Lazarín, 2020 ). In a COVID-19 policy brief, Germany and Turkey report similarities in lack of accessibility to technological devices, internet connections and rooms and equipment for refugee youth living in shelters, exacerbated by communication problems due to language barriers ( Kollender & Nimer, 2020 ).…”

Segmentation of the Young Elderly Based on Technology Readiness

“…The need for social media IL during the current pandemic is even more crucial -so as to avoid fake news, myths, and rumours about COVID-19, to make sense of the right information, to identify the most relevant information, and to use the information in the right way (Fujii et al, 2020). Previous studies lack an understanding of the variations in IL that exist among refugees and immigrants within a social media context and how IL impacts IA; hence, we propose:…”

Smart Services for Energy Communities: Insights on Options and Priorities from a Multicriteria Mapping Study in Germany

“…The need for social media IL during the current pandemic is even more crucial -so as to avoid fake news, myths, and rumours about COVID-19, to make sense of the right information, to identify the most relevant information, and to use the information in the right way (Fujii et al, 2020). Previous studies lack an understanding of the variations in IL that exist among refugees and immigrants within a social media context and how IL impacts IA; hence, we propose: H4: Information literacy has a significant effect on social media IA, such that the higher the level of literacy in a female refugee or immigrant is, the higher the likelihood she will be able to deal with unwanted and irrelevant information DIGITAL SUPPORT FROM CRISIS TO PROGRESSIVE CHANGE H5: Information literacy has a significant effect on the user information satisfaction, such that the more literate a female refugee or immigrant is, the more likely she will be satisfied with the use of information…”