Supporting the educational integration of young people seeking asylum and refuge: examining good practices from Germany, Sweden and England

ABSTRACT

The educational integration of Newly Arrived Migrant and Refugee (NAMR) children and youth in a host country is complex. It requires educational systems responding to their diverse needs. Some of these needs are exacerbated by NAMR young people and their families’ limited understanding of the host country’s policies, structures, and procedures. Amidst these complexities, policy makers, practitioners, and other stakeholders strive for guidance in developing effective interventions that are transferable across different settings. This paper builds on the good practices that were identified and exchanged between seven partnering countries from Europe and the UK in 2017–18 as part of SIRIUS network’s RefuEdu project. Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners shared good practices that were grounded in their knowledge, experience, and examples. A set of core principles and individual sets of good practices are highlighted with action steps from the contexts of Germany, Sweden and England (UK). This may assist policy makers and practitioners in comprehending the challenges and opportunities within the educational integration of NAMR children and youth. The implications are for strengthening their holistic integration alongside positive educational experiences and advancing further research.

KEYWORDS:

• Newly arrived migrants and refugees
• children
• youth
• educational integration
• policy and practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vinathe Sharma-Brymer

Dr. Vinathe Sharma-Brymer is a Lecturer in Social Work at the School of Law and Society in University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. Her interdisciplinary work is spread across Australia, the UK, and India. She has solid experience of working with the grassroots communities addressing disadvantage, marginalisation, and barriers to individual voice and agency. Her research engagement is with human capabilities, gender and development, and nature-human relationships for improving wellbeing. Vinathe’s translational research has diverse applications for enhancing the quality of life across the lifespan.

Michalis Kakos

Dr. Michalis Kakos is an Associate Professor in the Carnegie School of Education in Leeds Beckett University, UK, a Visiting Professor at The University of Education, Freiburg, Germany and the founding director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in in Citizenship, Education and Society (CIRCES). Michalis’ research interests include citizenship education, the role of the school in supporting the social inclusion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and the educational inclusion of refugee and migrant students.

Claudia Koehler

Claudia Koehler is a sociologist; her areas of expertise include migration, education, youth and community development in Europe and Africa. She is the Executive Director of Farafina Institute – a think tank working on issues of participation, migration, and wellbeing of people of African descent. She is also the founder of Farafina Travels – a social enterprise for educational travels to Africa. Claudia has over ten years of experience as a consultant for project and project proposal evaluations and scientific studies. Previously she was a senior researcher at the european forum for migration studies for ten years. She has recently conducted comparative studies on educational opportunities of young migrants and refugees in Europe, as well as youth capacity building and exchange projects in Europe and Africa.

Monique Denkelaar

Monique Denkelaar is a Dutch Strategic Partnerships Manager at the Department of International Affairs at Fryshuset in Sweden. Her work spans various fields such as youth leadership, engagement, participation, social work, education, migration, and peacebuilding. She primarily focuses on promoting the inclusion of young people in society, particularly those facing marginalization and barriers. Her experience encompasses managing various processes, including the development of empirical and applied knowledge, compiling policy recommendations, designing toolkits, handbooks, and training programmes. She has led an array of global initiatives, seeking innovative solutions and opportunities to empower young people by fostering connections among stakeholders from public, private, and civil society sectors.