Turkish University Students' Perceptions towards Their Syrian Classmates

Abstract

Keywords

Counter-effect of Refugee Movement in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Classrooms

“…The teachers added that when the local students were told to feel empathy with the refugee students and tried to understand them and put themselves in their places, local student became more sensitive, thoughtful and helpful towards their refugee classmates. A similar finding was also observed by Ergin (2016) who also reported that the participant students had generally positive attitudes towards their classmates when they spent time together.…”

“…Studies reporting the current situation of the refugee students in Turkey were in surge. These studies included analysis of educational policies about refugees (Alpaydin, 2017), problems regarding educating refugees (Akkaya, 2013;Arabaci et al, 2013), teachers' practices in classrooms with refugee students (Erden, 2013;Emin, 2016); refugee students' experiences (Döner, Özkara, & Kahveci, 2013) and local students' perspectives on refugee students (Ergin, 2016). However, studies on how refugee students affected local students were limited.…”

“…The common theme found in the interviews was that refugee children had serious problems because they did not speak Turkish, the language of local students. Ergin (2016) conducted a study at a university in the Marmara Region of Turkey and surveyed what Turkish students' opinions were on the Syrian guests' access to the higher education in Turkey. The findings suggested that local students at universities who had refugee classmates had positive thoughts and attitudes towards the refugees' participation in higher education; however, they also had serious concerns about their access to and right for higher education in Turkey.…”

Integration Policy for Syrian Refugees’ Access to Turkish Higher Education: Inclusive Enough?

“…Forced displacement has been a "tragic destiny" of humanity (Ergin 2016). Even the first human beings, Adam and Eve, experienced it when they ate the "forbidden fruit", according to the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions.…”

“…Being one of the neighboring countries, Turkey has become a destination for 3.6 million Syrians, which has made it host to the largest group of refugees (UNHCR 2020). With a welcoming open-door policy, Turkey has provided the Syrian refugees with humanitarian aid, the right to education, residence and work permits (Ergin 2016). It was recently reported that government spending on the Syrians in Turkey has already exceeded USD 40 billion (Euronews 2019).…”