Private engagement in refugee education and the promise of digital humanitarianism

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the prevalence of technological interventions in education in emergencies through a case study of private participation in Syrian refugee education in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. This research is conceptually situated within critiques of ‘digital humanitarianism’, simultaneously interrogating the role of technology in humanitarian responses and the roles of private actors who promote this technology. Our study demonstrates that a pervasive optimism concerning education technology in emergencies accompanies a surge in private actor engagement in Syrian refugee education. Findings indicate that while access to technology in educational settings is important to the Syrian refugee populations, private actors’ disproportionate focus on technology is problematic, particularly when technological interventions are viewed as panaceas for refugee education; designed free from coordination; driven by profit motivations; and developed in a manner decontextualised from the learning context. This study attends to the necessity of countering the overwhelming optimism about technology as a panacea for refugee education, which fails to problematise the implications of interventions developed in the Global North for a distant ‘other’ in the Global South.

KEYWORDS:

• Refugee education
• education technology
• digital humanitarianism
• education in emergencies
• corporate social responsibility
• private sector

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Education International.

Notes on contributors

Francine Menashy

Francine Menashy is Associate Professor in the Department of Leadership in Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research explores global education policy, international financing of education, private sector engagement, and aid to contexts of humanitarian crisis.

Zeena Zakharia

Zeena Zakharia is Assistant Professor of International and Comparative Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her publications examine the interplay of language, conflict, and peacebuilding in education and advance a critical approach to refugee studies in the Middle East. These interests stem from over two decades of educational research and leadership in war-affected contexts, most recently in relation to the Syria crisis.