Provision of quality education in the context of Syrian refugee children in the UK: opportunities and challenges

Madziva, Roda; Thondhlana, Juliet

Abstract

While existing research has shown the importance of the three interrelated domains of the wider policy, the school and home/community environments in the development of quality education for learners, this literature does not fully capture the experiences of the refugee population. In this article we focus on a group of Syrian refugees that came as part of the first large cohort that was welcomed in the UK in December 2015. We adapt Tikly’s quality education frameworks and develop a model that highlights not only the importance of the three intersecting environments, but also the specific inputs/processes that are critical to achieving quality education for refugees. In so doing, we stress the critical role of English as a tool for refugee children’s inclusion and integration in schools. Consequently, the contribution of the paper is an understanding of the inputs/processes that are key to the development of quality education for migrant/refugee children.

Citation

Madziva, R., & Thondhlana, J. (2017). Provision of quality education in the context of Syrian refugee children in the UK: opportunities and challenges. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 47(6), 942-961. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2017.1375848

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 1, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Sep 18, 2017
• Publication Date: Sep 18, 2017
• Deposit Date: Sep 4, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 19, 2019
• Journal: Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education
• Print ISSN: 0305-7925
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-3623
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 47
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 942-961
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2017.1375848
• Keywords: Quality education; Refugee children; Syrian refugees; English as an additional language; Refugee integration
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/883475
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/bEAfhnCBCHIMGXyI5KDB/full
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education on 18.09.2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/03057925.2017.1375848
• Contract Date: Sep 4, 2017