Barriers to the inclusion of refugee and asylum-seeking children in schools in England

McIntyre, Joanna; Hall, Christine

Abstract

© 2018, © 2018 Educational Review. This article reports a study of the barriers faced by headteachers seeking to include young asylum seekers and refugees into secondary schools in England. We trace the new discourses and assemblages of authority created at city level by recent policy changes. Drawing on in-depth interviews with headteachers, we share their experiences of navigating layered ecologies of systemic challenges to their inclusive stance towards provision for newly arrived children. We argue that structural and policy moves in England towards greater emphasis on controlling (im)migration and economistic measures of educational performance, alongside centralised funding and governance and the reduction of place-based regional autonomy, have led to greater invisibility of asylum-seeking and refugee pupils and to greater vulnerability and visibility/accountability of school leaders. These changes have had an adverse impact on inclusion in English schools and cities.

Citation

McIntyre, J., & Hall, C. (2020). Barriers to the inclusion of refugee and asylum-seeking children in schools in England. Educational Review, 72(5), 583-600. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2018.1544115

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 22, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Dec 10, 2018
• Publication Date: 2020
• Deposit Date: Oct 22, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 11, 2020
• Journal: Educational Review
• Print ISSN: 0013-1911
• Electronic ISSN: 1465-3397
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 72
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 583-600
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2018.1544115
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1178623
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00131911.2018.1544115
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Educational Review on 10 December 2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00131911.2018.1544115
• Contract Date: Oct 22, 2018