Let's talk and share! Refugees and migrants building social inclusion and wellbeing through digital stories and online learning resources

ABSTRACT

Social inclusion and wellbeing are a fundamental human right and intimately connected with the right to reside in a country. For refugees and migrants this takes on multiple and new forms as digital experiences increasingly wrap every part of our being. It can refer to maintaining social capital through shared digitally mediated conversations and images with friends and relatives in the homeland. It can also be about producing and accessing digital information and learning resources that can support social inclusion and wellbeing in the new country. In this paper, we explore how digital learning resources developed in the Erasmus+ ReGap project (Reducing the Educational Gap for Migrants and Refugees) can support the desire to be socially included and to experience a sense of wellbeing. A key finding is that in creating such resources as digital stories, refugees and migrants, who are co-producers and users of these stories, experience social inclusion and a sense of wellbeing. The paper proposes an innovative set of indicators to measure the success of the online learning resources developed.

KEYWORDS:

• Online learning
• digital storytelling
• wellbeing
• social inclusion
• refugees
• migrants
• refugeeness

Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank the three storytellers “Adnan”, “Senait” and “Karolina”, as well as all the informants. Thanks also to Pam Berry, Victoria University of Wellington, for executive support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Brit Svoen is Associate Professor in Education and Project Management. Centre for Lifelong Learning, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences.

Stephen Dobson is Professor and Dean of Education, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ. Professor II Centre for Lifelong Learning, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences.

Linda Tangen Bjørge is MSc – Research Associate. Centre for Lifelong Learning, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Termed konene in Māori.

2 Trieb überall zu Hause zu sein (the wish to be everywhere at home). Novalis, cited by Carlyle (2010, 1–55).

3 Quotation:

The shared corporeal experience of touched-touching, seen-seeing, spoken-hearing. An inter-corporeality is founded, termed a chiasm by Merleau-Ponty. There is also the flesh of signifiers composed of metaphors and metonyms and the flesh of a community embracing the social bonds between different actors.

4 The resources were developed with refugees through focus groups and their feedback throughout the project. Ultimately, the resources are for other refugees.

5 https://elmcip.net/organization/center-digital-storytelling

6 The template contained markers for social belonging and wellbeing, cultural and gender sensitivity, learning needs and teaching strategies.

7 menti.com

8 The names are pseudonyms.

9 The three main characters and their family and friends generously shared private photos to the ReGap project, and also gave permission to use them in this article.

10 Informant 1.

11 Informant 2.

12 Informant 3.

13 Informant 4.

14 The Vietnamese have a special word for it: it co don.

15 Informant 5.

16 Informant 6.

Additional information

Funding

This study was co-funded by the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership – Adult Education programme, Agreement No. 2017-1-NO01-KA204-034182. The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.