Integrating Syrian refugee children in Turkey : The role of Turkish language skills (A case study in Gaziantep)

• This study discusses issues around the integration of Syrian refugee children into the Turkish school system by using the case study of a secondary school in the city of Gaziantep in the southeast of Turkey. Based on focus groups with teachers at the school who engage with the growing number of Syrian refugee children in their classrooms, this study highlights in particular the role of Turkish language skills in ensuring the integration of Syrian children in the Turkish educational system. The data obtained from the teachers illustrate the significant challenges they face given the lacking Turkish language competency of Syrian students. The study presents the solutions suggested by the teachers at the secondary school and their assessment of the success of the Promoting Integration of Syrian Children into the Turkish Education System (PICTES) (2016–2018) which was implemented to address the specific educational needs of Syrian refugee children. Using Paolo Freire's concept of the pedagogy of the oppressed as theoretical framework, the paper argues that while enhancing Turkish language competency is crucial, it will not be effective as long as the intervention programmes primarily focus on language. Such programmes also need to consider the emotional well-being and mental health of Syrian refugee children, who suffer from the repercussions of the traumatic experiences caused by civil war and displacement, and provide avenues for integrating their perspectives in the classroom and in the wider school community.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Integration

Language skills

Pedagogy of the oppressed

Secondary school

Syrian refugee children

Traumatic experience

Publikations- och innehållstyp

art (ämneskategori)

ref (ämneskategori)