Project description
How language classes impact refugee integration
Education is a basic human right, also enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention. The United Nations Refugee Agency promotes the inclusion of refugee children into national education systems in countries of first asylum. However, refugee children’s schooling experiences exemplify that education is a site of continuous struggle over legitimate membership and equal opportunity. The EU-funded LearningtoBelong project will study the barriers to social inclusion in public schooling. It will examine how language preparatory classes frame conditions of social acceptance and how refugee communities respond to such educational initiatives. It will also address the relation between care-givers' gendered resistance to exclusion and children's educational achievement. Based on research in Turkey, the findings will inform national and global policymaking on refugee education.
Objective
Public education creates places for children in the future of a society. This is what the United Nations Refugee Agency intends by promoting the inclusion of refugee children into national education systems in countries of first asylum. However, everyday schooling experiences of refugee children exemplify that education presents less a magic portal to social inclusion than a site of continuous struggle over legitimate membership and equal opportunity. The proposed project aims to better understand the barriers to social inclusion in public schooling by examining how language preparatory classes socialize refugee students and their caregivers. While becoming proficient in the official language of the host country is understood to be a prerequisite for both educational and social inclusion, language learning is not a simple matter of an acquisition of a new skill. Rather, language learning constitutes a power-laden process, which introduces learners to broader social hierarchies. Accordingly, the proposed project seeks (i) to acquire new knowledge on how language preparatory classes frame conditions of social acceptance and how refugee communities respond to such educational measures, (ii) to contribute to the global discussion on barriers to social inclusion within refugee education while informing policymaking on a national scale in the country where it takes place, and (iii) to develop a collaborative and empowering research methodology when working with refugees. For this purpose, the study will employ a participatory action research methodology, which is based not only on inviting refugee caregivers to become active investigators of the study but also on developing a university-community partnership. The fellowship will support the researcher’s career development by expanding her methodological skills, improving her networking and cooperation skills, and building her capacity for higher social impact.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
34956 ISTANBUL
Türkiye
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.