Together in the Classroom. Children from Ukraine in Polish Schools Potentials and Challenges in Building a Multicultural School in the Context of the War in Ukraine, Teachers' perspective (original) (raw)
Education: Modern Discourses
The aim of the study was to find out about the education in Polish schools of young people from Ukraine, who began to study there in connection with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation on February 24, 2022. The research focuses on the educational processes themselves, both in terms of teaching, care and upbringing, as well as the broader conditions of these processes in the pedagogical, psychological and social perspective (as well as in the formal and legal context). The main research questions are as follows: 1. What are the previous experiences of schools and teachers in working with foreign children (including children from Ukraine)? What preparation of schools and teachers undertaken to admit children who came to Poland as a result of the outbreak of the war? 2. How is the process of educating children from Ukraine who came as a result of the war organized at the local level and at the level of specific schools? 3. How, in the opinion of teachers, are t...
Religions, 2024
Following the Russian Federation's attack on Ukraine, many women and children were forced to flee their homeland out of fear for lives. Poland, as a country bordering Ukraine, has accepted the most refugees, compared to other EU states. Soon after, Ukrainian school-age children began their education in Polish schools, but the process of their enrolment and adaptation to a new environment, as well as the provision of psychological assistance, became a significant challenge. The aim of the study was to inquire about the actions taken by principals of primary schools in Poland in connection with accepting refugee students from Ukraine to their institutions, as well as determining the possibilities of providing these students with spiritual support. The following survey research conducted in the four voivodeships that accepted the largest number of refugees, in urban and rural environments, allowed the identification of the practical solutions used by school principals in organising the assistance provided to refugee students from Ukraine in learning and integration with peers. As the research has indicated, the most important challenges in working with Ukrainian children affected by war are psycho-emotional experiences, depression and adaptation problems. Therefore, the priority in working with them was to use the strategy of spiritual support and solidarity, focusing on the prioritised human values-humanism, tolerance, faith, love, empathy, kindness, and mutual help. The conclusions drawn from the experience gained by Polish schools, in particular, in terms of the spiritual support for children of war, can be used by educational systems in other countries.
Social Sciences
This article presents the situation of the education of Ukrainian refugee children in Lithuania. It analyses the political and practical actions taken by the Lithuanian state when, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, schools unexpectedly received a large number of children from Ukraine who had not come of their own free will, having fled the war. This article presents how Lithuanian municipalities have acted and the decisions taken to strengthen the psychological microclimate and devise a suitable model of language education. The aim of this study was to describe the experience of different regions of Lithuania in integrating Ukrainian war refugee children into educational institutions in terms of psychological, material, and linguistic support. Semi-structured group interviews (n = 12) were carried out with municipal education department staff, the staff of pedagogical qualification centres, and school managers (n = 206) who have worked on the integration of war refugee child...
Perception of Makarenko to Understand Today’s Children at Risk: Refugee Pupils in Italy
Dialettica Pedagogica Giornale Internazionale Interdisciplinare della Ricerca Educativa, 2019
The wave of migration and refuge has made Italy a hotspot due to its strategical location in South Europe therefore the foreign origin youth is rising there. This youth has a risk in many ways to lose their life goals while challenging life circumstances. Immigrant and refugee students being in disadvantaged group is the outcome of their past experiences which are reflecting in the learning environments. Makarenko’s pedagogical perception which goes against with the practical standards of the times, explains that upbringing and proper education were the most important factors influencing the formation and development of an individual. Considering his perception is accepted beyond time, respecting and understanding disadvantaged children and children at risk such as refugee or immigrant children in modern conditions; in order to provide quality education to avoid early marriages, child labour, the dangers of radical groups, the tendency to crime, the feeling of exclusion and to gain the power to direct their own lives. This paper highlights refugee pupils in Italy as children at risk within Makarenko’s point of view.
Migrant and Refugee Children in Polish Schools in the Face of Social Transformation
Die Vielfalt der Kindheit(en) und die Rechte der Kinder in der Gegenwart, 2019
This article addresses the situation of migrant and refugee children in Polish schools and environments connected with them. It outlines the contexts of socio-cultural transformations and political assumptions related to the processes of migration and refugeeism that impact the situation of the children in question in the place and space of school as well as in a broader context, in so-called host communities. The aim of the text is to illustrate dominant (non) discriminatory school praxis. I refer to research results from 2014–2017. The article is an attempt at a critical look at the place and space—Polish schools—where migrant and refugee children function.
Integrating Refugee Children into a Host Country Community
2019
Modern society develops in complex geopolitical conditions, characterized by the processes of globalization, ethnic and religious conflicts, outbreaks of xenophobia and extremism, manifestations of various forms of violence and terror. Migration processes in the modern world are intensifying, the number of refugees, forced due to ethnic and religious conflicts to move to other countries, is growing. method of mathematical statistics. As a result of the survey, the following problems were revealed: lack of knowledge of the Russian language and Russian national characteristics by migrant children, which brings further psychological and behavioral problems to migrant children. The results confirm the long-term observations of migrant children by their teachers; help determine the degree of readiness of teachers to work in poly-ethnic schools; determine the necessary measures to support both children and staff working with migrant children. The conclusions are formulated about the insufficiently developed methods of teaching and adapting children of migrants, recommendations on language and sociocultural adaptation of both children of migrants and their parents are given. Attention is drawn to the need for teacher training to work with migrant children. The results of the study emphasize the need for interdisciplinary, first of all, humanitarian approaches to the problem under consideration. A conclusion was drawn that it is necessary to improve the legal and regulatory framework related to financing, to find new ways of interaction between the school and the system of additional education and culture, the family, guardianship, and trusteeship bodies, internal affairs, the Federal Migration System, public ethnic associations, and others. In other words, it is necessary to have a managerial will to build a new system of relations of the educational institution, which itself cannot solve a set of complex problems that go beyond its competence with other structures.
The significance of the defined issue of psychological and pedagogical support of children affected by the russian military aggression in Ukraine (2022-2023) is substantiated in the article based on the analysis of scientific literature and monitoring of media resources. Several types of crimes against Ukrainian children are presented, such as kidnapping, deportation, forced russification, etc. The questionnaire has been developed and the results of the survey of Ukrainian and Polish students (prospective teachers) with pedagogical experience of dealing with temporarily displaced persons due to the war are presented. Typical challenges they face from a psychological and pedagogical perspective have been identified: psycho-emotional worries of students; communication problems in educational activities; homesickness (which can sometimes be accompanied by depression, sleep disorders and high levels of anxiety); adaptation to new surroundings; periodic air raids, military operations (like those in Ukraine); low motivation to study, lack of interest; double workload for students in Poland (studying in Ukrainian schools online and in foreign schools offline), etc. Based on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the questionnaire findings, recommendations for the professional training of future teachers to deal with children in crisis, in particular children with war trauma, are proposed. The author emphasizes the importance of developing infomedia literacy, critical thinking, future teachers' skills in creating a media lesson, and media hygiene as the use of electronic communication and distance learning is a priority in the postwar period and requires information safety from ideological manipulations. Considerable emphasis is given to the development of teacher resilience as the capacity of the human psyche to recover, increase stress resistance, and prevent burnout when dealing with students who have suffered from russian aggression or are experiencing other crisis conditions.
Adjusting the Teaching Process for Refugee Students from Ukraine. The Perspective of Polish Teachers
2022
Teaching refugee students in inclusive classrooms is challenging for Polish teachers as the number of these students in schools has dramatically increased. This research aimed to explore Polish teachers' experiences with adapting their teaching process for these students. An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was used, and 30 teachers participated in six focus group interviews. Two themes were identified in the analysis: 1) collaboration with others, 2) essential elements of direct work with students: communication; didactic aids; teaching methods; learning content; and learning objectives. Several recommendations for teaching practice are made.
Journal of Preschool and Elementary School Education, 2022
The subject of this article is the preparation of Polish preschool and earlyschool education for working with the refugee children who have fallen victim to the war in Ukraine. The main aim of the research is to review and analyze the Polish and foreign literature on the subject of early childhood education and care (ECEC). As a result of the archive and library searches, it was ascertained that rather little research into the matter has been conducted in Poland (the reason for which is the absence of previous experience with minors being war refugees) and that there is a rich experience in the countries of the West, as confirmed by the extensive literature of the subject. This article indicates the principal directions of research and activities-the problem of war trauma as experienced by a child, supporting the families of refugee children, and providing ECEC teachers with the necessary competences for working with children refugees afflicted by war. This article constitutes a sui generis introduction to research on preparing Polish ECEC teachers for the challenges connected with the war in Ukraine and the presence of Ukrainian children refugees in the Polish institutions of education.
The formation of the identity of juvenile refugees from Chechnya in Poland in the face of the cultural strangeness Key words: refugees, asylum seekers, the cultural adaptation, fluent identity, ethnic and culture identification, enculturation, acculturation. Bringing up children abroad and their enculturation is an extraordinary difficult and complicated process. It is connected with numerous problems with which have to face their parents or foster-fathers who are responsible for their preparation to the living in the society. Among dilemmas standing before them are those associated with creating the cultural heritage of the young generation and constructing their identifications (ethnical, cultural, religious). This problems refers also to the refugees from Chechnya and asylum seekers from others Caucasian countries who have been living in Poland - both benefiting already from the international protection and applying only for the refugee status. The issues concerning their acculturation, adaptation, socialization of children and coping with culture stress and shock are the main subject of my research interests for a few years. Since 2009 I have possibility to broaden them thanks to the research project granted by Polish National Centre of Science enabling me multi-sited field researches and study visits in “refugee centers” in Poland. The analysis carried out by me shows that the responsibility for the culture adaptation and self-defining of the youngest generation of refugees lies with the different processes competing each other for the influence on the identity being under construction. It, whom they will become depends both upon the national community to which they belong, as to the host society also. These problems led me to the reflection about the way in which they construct their individual cultural and national affiliation and the processes which mediate in this. Not less interesting found I the problem of self image’s creation by them in response to the needs/ tasks of complicated and not unequivocal culture reality in which they have found themselves. In this paper I try to answer the crucial question: to which degree the identity of juvenile refugees is built from elements of the new culture (the host culture) which replace the patterns of their own culture ( “deconstructed identity”), and in which, from elements of the culture of their origin which are replicated in the present environment but in changed social-cultural context (“reconstructed identity)”. These problems stay in the circle of the multicultural issues and the integration policy which becomes more and more current every year especially in the context of growing intense of global movement and radicalization of attitudes toward immigrants in Europe.
Children with Migration Backgrounds in Polish Schools - Problems and Challenges
Annales. Annals for Istrian and Mediterranean Studies, Series Historia et Sociologia, 30, 2020, 4, 2020
ABSTRACT: This paper will reconsider the problems and challenges of children with migration background in Polish schools. The author refers to his own studies conducted as a part of the MiCreate project, supplemented by previous academic research in order to find the tools and solutions that could support the integration of migrant children, aid their wellbeing and empower them in their new environment. Legal aspects of the Polish educational system are described in the beginning in order to understand the background for the integration practices. Par-ticular emphasis is placed on the intercultural competences of teachers and the development of the profession of intercultural assistants. Keywords: interculturalism, education, migrant children, teaching, diversity, social work. SINTESI: BAMBINI CON ESPERIENZA DI MIGRAZIONE NELLE SCUOLE POLACCHE – PROBLEMI E SFIDE Il contributo tratta dei problemi e delle sfide dei bambini con esperienza di migrazione nelle scuole polac-che. L’autore fa riferimento ai propri studi condotti nell’ambito del progetto MiCreate, integrati da precedenti ricerche accademiche, al fine di identificare gli strumenti e le soluzioni in grado di supportare l’integrazione di bambini migranti, favorire il loro benessere e responsabilizzarli nel loro nuovo ambiente. Gli aspetti giuridici del sistema di istruzione polacco sono descritti all’inizio per consentire la comprensione dello sfondo su cui sono basate le pratiche di integrazione. Un’enfasi particolare viene posta sulle competenze interculturali degli insegnanti e sullo sviluppo della professione degli assistenti interculturali. Parole chiave: interculturalità, istruzione, bambini migranti, insegnamento, diversità, lavoro sociale
International electronic journal of elementary education, 2024
The sudden and unexpected war in Ukraine led to a large flow of citizens displaced abroad. Almost half of them are preschool-and school-age children. The peculiarities of their adaptation to the educational environment of another country necessitates the study of the main aspects of adaptation in these conditions. The aim is to identify the psychological and pedagogical aspects of adaptation to the educational environment of another country of school-age refugee children. The research included the use of surveys, questionnaires (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ), analysis of official information sources. The research found that the studied 203 children relocated to other countries have high rates of adaptation to the educational environment. Their performance indicators improved, high satisfaction with school, teachers, and relationships with classmates was revealed. The SDQ found a low overall level of adjustment difficulties (M=16.3, SD=1.9). The study showed that, in general, displaced Ukrainian children have high rates of adaptation to the educational space of other countries. They are emotionally stable, sociable, moderately hyperactive, have no behavioural disorders, and have high prosocial behaviour. The obtained results can contribute to the development of a programme to support Ukrainian children of immigrants to the educational environment of other countries, which will contribute to their psychological and pedagogical adaptation to it. T he war in Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, became a crisis period for many citizens. A large number of people were forced to leave the country, seeking asylum in other countries. They include, in particular, a large proportion of children who had to adapt to the sociocultural and educational environment of another country. Analysis of data from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees indicates an increased flow of refugees to European countries. According to the
Educational strategies to support the inclusion of displaced pupils from Ukraine in Italian schools
International Journal of Educational Research Open, 2023
The war in Ukraine caused a huge number of displaced people in a very short time. Amongst the refugees were many school-age children who needed to continue studying in the schools of the host countries. Host schools and teachers had to arrange inclusive strategies to integrate the displaced pupils. This study analysed the factors that facilitated the inclusion of displaced pupils from Ukraine in Italian schools during the first months of the war. We involved in the study 208 teachers from all Italian areas working at all school levels who welcomed 461 Ukrainian pupils in their classrooms. The teachers completed an online qualitative instrument in which they had the opportunity to describe their experience from a personal and a professional point of view. The findings revealed five main factors that affected the effectiveness of inclusion. On these bases, some educational guidelines are provided to support teachers and schools in arranging successful contexts and actions to welcome and include displaced children.
Education in Emergencies: Case of a Community School for Syrian Refugees
With the break of the civil war in Syria, many Syrians have been displaced either internally or as refugees. Turkey, one of the leading host of Syrian refugees, has made changes to the policies to accommodate the needs of Syrians. Education is one of the most prominent needs of displaced refugee children. While 80 percent of refugee children living in camps have access to formal education, only small number of children living outside the camps are attending schools. With the increased number of children, many of the governmental organizations, municipalities, and NGOs have been involved in an effort to establish schools for Syrian refugee children living outside of the camps. This article reports the results of a study conducted at a newly established host community school for Syrian refugee children in the City of Gaziantep during the 2014-2015 school year. The aim of the study was to look at the experiences of administrators, teachers, and a parent who were involved in the establishment of the schools. The study made use of qualitative case study methodology, where interviews, focus group, and field notes were the data sources. The results of the study indicated that there were many systematic challenges involved in the establishment of the school, but nevertheless the teachers, administrators and the parents were happy to have the opportunity to be involved in this effort. The curriculum used in the school provided cultural relevance for the students and made their transition to the context easier. Although the school was established with support from the municipality for that year, there were not solid plans in place to provide sustainability of the school. This study provides a unique insight into the current status of Syrian refugee children living in Turkey and should serve as a bridge to policy makers in designing educational programs for refugees.
Technium Social Sciences Journal, 2023
This study explores changes in attitude and coping strategies to some pressures and stressors generated by global social problems, felt at the individual level. The aim of the study was to identify how teenagers / civil society perceive the (difficult) situation that refugees are going through, and how they (teenagers) have adapted to the new reality and design ways out of the crisis in case of would face a similar problem. The specific objectives of the study are 1) how civil society adapted to the pandemic; 2) how civil society adapted to the wave of refugees following the war.The study took place between March 1-15, 2022 and targeted the Dobrogea area, especially Constanţa county.
Cross-Border Lives in The Eyes of the Children: A Qualitative Study
Turkish Migration 2016 Selected Papers, 2016
In recent years, forced migration by war has stayed up to date as a global economic, psychological and social concern. Civil war in the countries and forced migration of local community, adverse effects brought about by the war and adaptation problems in the countries migrated to affect physical, psychological, social, economic and cultural developments of the individuals’ at all ecological levels. The individuals who essentially need to be protected from the war and migration are the women, children and elderly people. Primarily, traumas and unfavorable experiences resulting from the wars and migration may result in steady problems in development of the children and their future lives. The people of Somali in Saharan Africa have been struggling against domestic disturbances and war for the last 25 years. Due to insufficient institutional state structure in Somali, unfounded civil peace and piracy, the community was forced to migrate and they requested asylum to Turkey by 1999. In 2009, they settled in Isparta province, which was designated as one of the “satellite town for refugees”. That there are Somalian children migrated to Turkey with or without any company makes important that analyzing and investigating experiences of those children. Therefore, it is of great critical importance that the problems encountered by the children during the war and migration and discovering adaptation problems in the countries migrated. According to findings Somalian children’s experience emerge 5 themes. These are being stateless, experience more than one migration, war experiences, being without parents and life in Turkey.
Views from Teachers, Children and Parents on the Reception of Refugees in Primary School in Greece
Journal of Studies in Education, 2020
The refugee issue facing our country in recent years has triggered a heated debate in the social sciences about its impact on students. Most research focuses on the education of refugees and their smooth integration into society and the psychological support of families. However, there is a lack of interest in the research field for refugee reception about the teachers, pupils and parents' views and what their perspective is on this, as they directly and indirectly affect them. In this context, the present study focuses on the perspective of teachers, pupils and parents on the refugee issue, what they feel and how they perceive it, and we will examine whether the formal curriculum and informal curriculum through actions taken teachers can influence students' attitudes. In the direction indicated by the international literature, this research will be structured in a sample data collection (25 teachers, 25 students, 25 parents in Thessaloniki, Greece) through questionnaire and interview questions in primary school children on the perspective of teachers, students and parents on the refugee issue. The research findings are expected to illuminate the perspective of teachers, students, and parents on the current issue of refugee issue.
2023
Within the framework of the project titled EDUA uainfo.hu – Information equality and knowledge-sharing communities in the access of Ukrainian refugee children to education" implemented by the Civil College Foundation (CCF) and the Civil Platform for Public Education (CPPE), our project team collected the information available on the topic and shared it on the uainfo.hu website, conducted a questionnaire-based survey among pedagogues and Ukrainian parents, organised a conference, online meetings and consultation sessions and participated in events held on the topic. This policy recommendation was prepared based on the experiences gained in the project, on the research results and on the overview of the international practice. The structure of the recommendation package follows the set-up of the European Commission's recommendation in 2022 – Policy guidance on supporting inclusion of Ukrainian refugees in education – supplemented with the topic of access to information. Following the international overview as well as after reviewing and assessing the situation of children who fled from Ukraine to Hungary, we focus and make recommendations on the following areas: 1. Entry and integration into the education system 2. Preparing the educational institutions and their educational staff for hosting refugee children 3. Preparing the education system for involving Ukrainian teachers and the staff of early childhood education and care (ECEC) 4. Targeted activities promoting the inclusion of refugee children in education 5. Addressing refugee families and communities and ensuring multi-actor, cross-sector cooperation 6. Long-term measures to promote inclusive education We have identified the following major problems: - lack of data and other details, incomplete information; - methodological and mental unpreparedness of the educational system (institutions and pedagogues); lack of experience in dealing with children whose mother tongue is not Hungarian, who studied under a nonHungarian curriculum, or who are traumatised due to their refugee status; being left alone with their problems - lack of well-considered ideas for central situation management and lack of flexible adaptation to the situation. We intend to help solve and alleviate these problems with our proposals addressed to the education government, other state administrative bodies and institution maintainers – primarily the Klebelsberg Centre, school districts, vocational training centres and local governments (municipalities).