Refugee education: Introduction to the special section

Abstract

This special section focuses on education in relation to diverse refugee groups by exploring and engaging interdisciplinary perspectives. A collection of nine articles articulates the plight of refugees in the resettlement context at the nexus of conflicts with host citizens, pre‐migration trauma and post‐migration stress, and educational opportunities for survival and upward social mobility. Refugees discussed in this special section come from different countries of origin, while facing similar challenges of integration in different host countries. Beginning with the context and common background of refugees, this editorial analyses the underlying mechanisms of anti‐refugee sentiments based on the host countries studied in the nine articles, including Australia, Canada, Greece, Kenya, the United Kingdom, the United States, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey. It then discusses the following themes derived from the nine articles: (1) the gap between refugees’ educational aspirations and opportunities; (2) refugees’ identity negotiation; and (3) educational practices, policies and leadership for refugees. Lastly, it synthesises the central arguments of the articles to give a sense of how anti‐refugee sentiments are interconnected with barriers to learning for refugees and to provide a rationale for institutionalising inclusive education for them. This special section is aimed at encouraging readers to adopt a multi‐layered lens for examining refugee education to better understand how refugees are not only traumatised victims of extremist ideologies, but also ostracised in a wide range of settings including schools, universities and communities in their host countries.

An integrated conceptual model for enhancing refugee education

“…Many studies of refugee education have drawn upon Fraser's (2008) theory of social justice (Lee, 2021;McIntyre & Neuhaus, 2021). Although significant, some researchers have criticised this theory for failing to account for affective relations adequately (Hanlon, 2022;Lynch, 2012;Zembylas, 2022).…”

The future of educational research: Observations from the outgoing editors of the British Educational Research Journal

“…As editors, we can encourage the journal to open up and continue conversations, stretching our understandings of what the discipline is and who the discipline is for. Certainly, the Special Issues we have published (Aldridge, 2020; Biesta & Aldridge, 2021; Hussain & Yunus, 2021; Lee, 2021) have been partly aimed at provoking and encouraging these conversations.…”