imo, WhatsApp, YouTube – Digital Media Usage and Media Education (“Medienbildung”) in Young Refugees’ Lifeworlds

Author(s):

Henrike Friedrichs-Liesenkoetter(presenting / submitting)Caroline Schmitt(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

06. Open Learning: Media, Environments and Cultures

Format:

Paper

Session Information

06 SES 13, Media Framing Experiences: Young refugees, computer games

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-25

13:30-15:00

Room:

K6.15

Chair:

Petra Grell

Contribution

State of Research and Theoretical Perspective

In recent years, the total number of asylum applications in Germany has been risen significantly. In 2016, more than 700.000 people have applied for asylum, many of them young adults and unaccompanied minors (BAMF, 2016). Having arrived in Germany, the young people are living under severe insecurities, e.g. regarding the safety of their family and friends who are staying in other countries, their housing situation, provision with professional support, residence status and linked to this, their possibilities to participate in society, work and to do an apprenticeship or study in Germany (e.g. Berthold, 2014; Homfeldt & Schmitt, 2012).

First studies show that digital media play an important role for young refugees: during flight and in Germany, the smartphone serves as navigation system to cope in new environments. Via digital media, the young people can interact with friends and family and inform themselves about the political situation in their country of origin (Fiedler, 2016; Gillespie et al., 2016; Leung, Finney Lamb & Emrys, 2009; Richter, Kunst & Emmer, 2016). Furthermore, studies indicate that some forms of media usage can be understood as informal learning practices (e.g. Kutscher & Kreß, 2016).

Current research gives an overview about the refugees’ media usage. It describes different smartphone apps the young ones use, while there is still a lack of studies about the relation of media use and educational processes (German: Medienbildung). Medienbildung means education and learning in a world full of media. The main idea is that media have immanent potentials for education and learning. Media can lead to a development and change of a subject’s relation to the world and to the self (Jörissen & Marotzki, 2014). We use the theoretical concept of Medienbildung as sensitizing concept for our analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Our lecture sheds a light on Medienbildung under the circumstances of flight, refuge and forced transnationality. We focus on two aspects: First, we analyze the varieties of ways young refugees (now living in Germany) use digital media in their daily life. From a theoretical standpoint, we ask about the potential and role of media for their education and learning processes and for getting along with challenges in their transnational lifeworlds. Second, we reconstruct the role of Medienbildung in interactions between young refugees and social workers. Unaccompanied minors are addressees of the German youth welfare and educational system. They are living in specific refugee houses or houses of youth welfare, go to school and – in some cases – take part in optional media education projects. Medienbildung refers in this case to the role of media in educational contexts with young refugees which can challenge the social workers.

Research Questions

Which role do digital media play in the transnational lifeworlds of young refugees?
Which forms of media usage does the interview material show and which relevance do media have for learning and education processes of the young people (Medienbildung)?
How do digital media frame the interaction between young refugees and social workers engaged in the field of refugee work?
Which kind of media education do social workers implement?

Method

The lecture is based on two qualitative-empirical research projects in Germany carried out at the Bielefeld University and the Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz. Both projects include guideline-based interviews with young refugees as well as expert interviews with social workers (Meuser & Nagel, 1997). Until now, we have been collecting 20 interviews with young refugees and 11 interviews with social workers. Data collection is still going on. The sample covers young men and women of different age and from different countries as well as social workers in various working positions and institutions – such as refugee houses, houses of youth living, schools, media education institutions and advisory services. For this lecture, we analyze our data according to the Grounded Theory Methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). We build inductive categories based on the material to get an insight into how media and media education (Medienbildung) become relevant and to grasp the subjective viewpoints of our interviewees. The interviews with the refugees took and still take place in German, English and Arabic language. Thus the sample involves young refugees who mastered one of these two languages at the time of the interviews and others whose mother tongue is Arabic. The interviews with the social workers were and are held in German language. Contacts with young refugees were established on the one hand through volunteers in the refugee work, and on the other hand through the support of social workers. The entrance to the field needs to be sensitive. The creation of a basis of trust is essential: the young people are partly sceptical as they experience interrogation in the asylum procedure and through policemen in the past.

Expected Outcomes

The lecture gives an overview about first results of both studies. Our results show that the young people use digital media to cope with challenges in their transnational lifeworlds: They maintain contacts to family and friends in other countries via imo and WhatsApp, while they try to acquire knowledge about their environment in Germany at the same time. This acquirement becomes visible when they use the internet and learning apps to learn German. Thus, digital media may have the potential to support the young people in their capacity to act, although new challenges using digital media also occur. Not only do digital media have an impact on the young refugees’ lifeworlds, they also frame the social workers’ engagement in the field of refugee work. Our data underpin that digital media lead to specific challenges for social workers: The professionals need to deal with the fact of limited language skills in media education projects. In addition, digital media change the field of action of those professionals who do not have any experience with digital media or media education projects. One question in the field is whether to communicate with the young refugees (and their relatives in other countries) via Social Media like WhatsApp or not. Furthermore, digital media impart happenings in war zones directly into the interaction between social workers and the adolescents. Thus, social workers need to be sensitive for new challenges and possibilities emerging from digital media in the social work with their addressees. On the ECER 2017, we would like to present and discuss the first results of our empirical studies. One of our discussion points is the media usage of the young people. Another discussion point is the role which our results play in the context of media education and social work.

References

Berthold, T. (2014): In erster Linie Kinder. Flüchtlingskinder in Deutschland [In the first place children. Refugee children in Germany]. German Committee of UNICEF e.V. Köln. https://www.unicef.de/blob/56282/fa13c2eefcd41dfca5d89d44c72e72e3/fluechtlingskinder-in-deutschland-unicef-studie-2014-data.pdf (18.01.2017). Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees) (2016): Aktuelle Zahlen zu Asyl [Current Data regarding Asylum]. December 2016. http://www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/DE/Downloads/Infothek/Statistik/Asyl/aktuelle-zahlen-zu-asyl-dezember-2016.html?nn=7952222 (13.01.2017). Fiedler, A. (2016): Information to go: Kommunikation im Prozess der Migration am Beispiel syrischer und irakischer Flüchtlinge auf ihrem Weg nach Deutschland [Communication in the process of migration using the example of Syrian and Iraqi refugees on their way to Germany]. In: Global Media Journal. Vol. 6, No.1. https://www.db-thueringen.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/dbt_derivate_00035504/GMJ11_Fiedler.pdf (17.01.2017). Gillespie, M., Ampofo, L., Cheesman, M., Faith, B., Iliadou, E., Issa, A., Osseiran, S. & Skleparis, D. (2016): Mapping Refugee Media Journeys. Smartphones and Social Media Networks. Research Report. The Open University / France Médias Monde. http://www.open.ac.uk/ccig/sites/www.open.ac.uk.ccig/files/Mapping%20Refugee%20Media%20Journeys%2016%20May%20FIN%20MG_0.pdf (18.01.2017). Homfeldt, H. G.& Schmitt, C. (2012): Unbegleitete minderjährige Flüchtlinge - transnationale Vernetzung als Potenzial [Unaccompanied Minor Refugees - Transnational Networking as a Potential]. In: Homfeldt, H. G. & Gahleitner, S. B. (eds.): Kinder und Jugendliche mit speziellem Versorgungsbedarf [Children and Youth with Specific Needs]. Weinheim/Basel. pp. 159-183. Jörissen, B. & Marotzki, W. (2014). Medienbildung in der digitalen Jugendkultur [Media Education in the digital Youth Culture]. In: Hugger, K.-U. (eds.): Digitale Jugendkulturen [Digital Youth Cultures]. 2. Edition. Wiesbaden, pp. 317-331. Kutscher, N. & Kreß, L.-M. (2016): „Internet is the same like food” – An empirical study on the use of digital media by unaccompanied minor refugees in Germany. In: Transnational Social Review, pp. 200-203. DOI: 10.1080/21931674.2016.1184819 Leung, L., Finny Lamb, C. & Emrys, L. (2009): Technology’s Refuge. The Use of Technology by Asylum Seekers and Refugees. UTS Shopfront Monograph Series No 5. UTS Press: Broadway. Richter, C., Kunst, M. & Martin, E. (2016): Aus der Forschungspraxis: Flucht 2.0 –Erfahrungen zur Befragung von Flüchtlingen zu ihrer mobilen Mediennutzung [From the research practice: Flight 2.0 – Experiences for the Interviewing of Refugees to their Mobile Media Use]. In: Global Media Journal. Vol. 6, No. 1., pp. 1-15. Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1990): Grounded Theory Research: Procedures, Canons, and Evaluative Criteria. In: Qualitative Sociology. Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 3-21. Beltz: Weinheim.

Author Information

Henrike Friedrichs-Liesenkoetter (presenting / submitting)

Leuphana University of Lüneburg

Institute of Educational Sciences

Lüneburg

Caroline Schmitt (presenting)

Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz

Institute of Education

Mainz

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