It is becoming increasingly clear that the school closures caused by the Coivid-19 pandemic have impacted more adversely those from disadvantaged backgrounds. (Cullinane and Montacute, 2020; Gouseti, 2021). Emerging research shows that among the most disadvantaged are learners from newly arrived migrant (NAM) and refugee backgrounds (OECD, 2020). This may be unsurprising given the language barriers that most learners from these groups face and the significance of language proficiency for academic achievement (Strand and Lindorff, 2020). However, the challenges for NAM/refugee students and their families seem to extend further than language barriers (Armalys et al., 2022) and the full picture of the experiences of families and schools in achieving educational inclusion of NAM/refugee students during lockdowns and online learning is not yet clear.

This small study looks closely at these experiences and aims to identify the key elements of this complex picture. Moreover, it aims to explore the possible opportunities that families’, students’ and teachers’ engagement with educational technology (EdTech) might have revealed about the potential of online schooling in supporting the educational inclusion of NAMs/refugees.

It has indeed been suggested (Armalys et al., 2022) that the adoption of EdTech increases learner autonomy, furthering the individualising goals of personalised education, which are said to be particularly significant for NAMs/refugees, but a focus on autonomy raises questions about the social nature of education. Furthermore, migrant children have been found to be at a disadvantage in adapting to new EdTech in schools (Armalys et al., 2022).

Clear indications of the complexity of the ‘digital divide’ and the exacerbation of inequalities through digital exclusion have been emerging even before pandemic-era shifts to distance learning (Goedhart et al, 2019).  In one rare study focusing particularly on migrant students, Gornik et al (2021) show how school closures and distance learning during the pandemic contributed to the reproduction of inequalities between migrant and non-migrant learners in Slovenia and attribute this mainly to pre-existing inequalities in digital literacy skills, access to equipment, language constraints, lack of relevant skills among teaching staff and appropriate educational interventions for intercultural learning in online educational environments. Recent reports (Armalys et al., 2022) suggest a more complex picture. Existing methods that supported intercultural learning in physical classrooms were not fit for the virtual environment. NAM/refugee learners reported that they were then unable to follow lessons or understand instructions, which were suddenly only available in the host country’s language, and they were not able to draw on their usual peer support. It was also felt that NAM/refugee children’s opportunities to improve their language skills suffered, impinging on their learning of all subjects. Younger migrant children were found to have low levels of ability in using various standard software and difficulties were also reported in maintaining co-presence. Non-verbal communication, critical for care work and for language learners, could not take place.

This study aims to offer more clarity about the experiences of those involved in NAMs/refugees’ online learning during school closures, and will analyse the interplay of multiple factors that may have affected the educational and social inclusion of NAMs/refugees when learning moved online.   

Research Questions

•           What were the distinct experiences of NAMs/refugees and their families from online learning during lockdowns?

•           What effect on educational culture has the mediation of children’s social learning through digital platforms had?

•           What were teachers’ experiences of supporting the educational inclusion of NAMs/refugees during school closures? 

•           What opportunities are there to close gaps between NAMs/refugees and other learners, in terms of educational outcomes, participation and integration?

By furthering understandings of children’s and families’ own strategies of social engagement and participation, the tools they favour and the specific needs and opportunities they identify, this research will provide a caveat to mainstream messaging of best practice emerging from the pandemic. This is important because without centring the experiences of NAMs/refugees with this critical approach, we risk both skewing the representation of appropriate ways for schools to adapt pedagogy and reinforcing existing disadvantages by neglecting these perspectives in the design and development of pedagogies and systems (Armalys et al., 2022). This study is a collaborative project that draws on primary data from Germany, The Netherlands and the UK. It uses qualitative data generated from semi-structured interviews with migrant families and survey data capturing teachers’ perspectives as well as parents’. Parents’ responses also served as a recruitment tool for the in-depth interviews, with interview questions building on participants’ answers. Families were recruited through NGOs working with NAMs/refugees. Teachers were recruited through professional networks. The research took an interpretive approach to the interview data as part of a general inductive methodology, emphasising the value of data generated through empirical research and privileging the formulation of theory as an outcome of research rather than seeking to test inflexible pre-determined hypotheses (Bryman 2008). This approach was guided by purposive reasoning around themes that the project sought to explore, namely: how might we theorise levels of engagement with/detachment from education and school communities, without making assumptions about the position of NAM/refugee learners and their families or the relative privilege of other students (whose various disadvantages this study’s nuanced approach might also shed light on)?; how have conditions under lockdown changed the positions of stakeholders in the school community?; how has the use of EdTech mediated stakeholders’ (teachers, parents and students) experiences of, and relationships to, education and the school community? We are informed by critical pedagogy, which draws attention to the key concepts of education as a public good or private right, co-intentionality and praxis. This helps us to see how NAMs/refugees’ perspectives are informing their class’s learning and whether and how we might look to amplify the pupil voice of this group of learners.

Preliminary survey results confirm findings from other studies about the effect of pre-existing inequalities in the educational inclusion of NAMs/refugees during school closures. Language barriers, lack of access to equipment and lack of appropriate space in students’ homes are recognised by parents and teachers as key factors that shaped students’ experiences. However, deviating somewhat from previous studies, our survey analysis suggests that teachers perceive non-NAM/refugee learners’ attendance and attainment to have been more negatively affected by lockdown than that of NAMs/refugees. Interviews with teachers are expected to allow us to understand the reasons for this and to reveal whether this is indicative of differences in teachers’ approach to the learning and academic performance of the two groups. NAM/refugee parents’ responses shed light on families’ adjustment to lockdown conditions. The home learning environment was seen as challenging in terms of study space and dearth of opportunities for social learning, with children seen to be missing out in their lack of contact with both peers and teachers. Parents also revealed the effects that home/online schooling has had on their own confidence in supporting their children academically, especially in the delivery of a curriculum that is alien to them. School closures also highlighted existing difficulties in the communication between parents and schools and, on some occasions, further exacerbated them. However, parents recognised that online schooling also created significant opportunities for improvement of their understanding of the educational experiences of their children and for individualised learning opportunities, tailored to their children’s’ needs. Our further analysis will allow a more holistic understanding of the challenges, complexities and opportunities of online schooling for educational inclusion based on the personal experiences of those involved in the education of NAMS/refugee students.

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