The (in)coherence of Canadian refugee education policy with the United Nations’ strategy

Abstract

This study assesses the coherence of Canada’s educational policy regime with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) Refugee Education 2030 strategy. We articulate a theoretical framework that combines theories about policy coherence, policy attributes, and policy tools, which informs a two-phase methodology. First, we conducted jurisdiction-based scoping reviews of policies in Canada’s 13 provinces and territories which have constitutional authority over education. This yielded a sample of 155 documents, which we then analyzed for its vertical coherence with Refugee Education 2030. Our analysis focused on five categories of need in the UNHCR strategy with respect to refugee students, namely access to education, accelerated education, language education, mental health and psychosocial support, and special education. The findings reveal there are policies across Canada that target responses to the five categories of need. Although some policies are exemplary in their coherence with Refugee Education 2030, Canada’s refugee education policy regime is characterized by many inconsistencies and significant gaps. Policymakers in Canada could use the specific findings to develop or revise policies to address shortcomings. Researchers and policymakers in other countries who find value in our approach could replicate the study’s method in their own jurisdictions, using the instruments provided in appendices to identify strengths and gaps.

Beyond the door frame: The role of educational policies and guidelines in (un)welcoming Black refugee students

“…Through post-structural and critical race epistemologies and theoretical lenses (Bell, 1995;Derrida, 1978Derrida, , 2016Foucault, 2010;Harris, 1995;Kumashiro, 2000;Lawrence, 1995), in this paper I provide a critical analysis of six curriculum documents published since 2011, which are available on Manitoba Education's website. As a consequence of the paucity and shortcomings of critical policies (Cranston & Crook, 2020;Ghosh et al, 2019;Schutte et al, 2022;UNHCR, 2019), inhospitable approaches to education prevail, and refugee students continue to fall through the cracks of the provincial educational system (von Stackelberg, 2020). In the pursuit of hospitable education for Black refugee students, it is therefore fundamental to understand the educational system in which Black refugee students have arrived-structures which shape and are shaped by discourses that weave the complex fabric of social relations (Dahlberg et al, 2007;Foucault, 2010).…”

Procedures for claimant asylum within Canada, acceptance and rejection

“…Schutte et al (2022) reviewed 155 education policies from Canada's 13 provinces and territories and then analyzed them for vertical coherence with the UNHCR Refugee Education 2030 strategy which identifies access to education, accelerated education, language education, mental health and psychosocial support, and special education as key. Schutte et al (2022) found that most policies across Canada focussed on these five areas with some notable examples with a high level of coherence with Refugee Education 2030. However, they stated that «Canada's refugee education policy regime is characterized by many inconsistencies and significant gaps» (p. 2).…”

Syrian Newcomer Students’ Feelings and Attitudes Regarding Their Education in Canada

“…Forced migration, as described by De Haene et al (2007), is a "pervasive and adverse long-term experience" that involves losses and transitions that cause mental health challenges for refugees (p. 233). The mental health and psychological needs experienced by refugee students is "one of the most challenging categories related to the education of children and youth with refugee backgrounds" (Schutte et al, 2022).…”