Research in many countries has revealed the marginalization of ethnic minority students in school systems. Educational policies and practices frequently exclude, devalue, or marginalize students from migrant, minority or non-dominant language backgrounds and position them within a deficit framework, rather than acknowledging and affirming their strengths and abilities (May & Sleeter, 2010; Race & Lander, 2014). Research in Iceland shows similar findings (see e.g. Gunnþórsdóttir et al., 2018; Gunnthórsdóttir & Ragnarsdóttir, 2020; Hama, 2020). In many cases, the majority language becomes the criteria by which student ability is measured, entailing that lack of majority language abilities is regarded as deficiency and results in labelling and categorization (Nieto 2010; Skutnabb-Kangas et al., 2009). Schools face various challenges when working with refugee children, including teachers’ limited understanding of the experiences of these children and the children’s lack of sense of belonging. Block et al. (2014) note that with the global increase of refugees, recognition of the importance of the school environment for promoting successful settlement outcomes and including young refugees is growing. However, schools may be poorly equipped to recognize and respond to the multiple challenges that refugee children and young people face.   

It is well established that education plays a critical role in assisting the social inclusion of refugee children into their new community. Furthermore, their social relationships and social positions often develop in schools and leisure activities. Findings of Archambault & Haugen’s (2017) research with refugee children in Norway indicate that their positive experiences included finding places of belonging in the everyday practices, such as after-school activities which helped feeling included in school. According to Beiser, Puente-Duran and Hou (2015), social competence – the ability to form friendships and to get along with others – is critical for the well-being of youth confronting changes in country, values, and cultures. Additionally, according to research, strong educational partnerships with parents are likely to assist the social inclusion of both children and their families into their local communities. Schools are in many cases the first and most important contact points with the new society for migrant and refugee children and their families (Ragnarsdóttir, 2016). While there exist many intractable internal inconsistencies within the research data, the overall data point to the significant challenges that migrant and refugee children face in social inclusion, participation as well as learning the language of their new country. These children are far more likely to drop out of school early and perform worse on standardized tests (OECD, 2010, 2015).  The racialization of refugee children and youth can further influence how they navigate everyday racism, their access to educational resources and processes of their identity formation in schools and society (Jaffe-Walter, 2016).   

As part of the qualitative research project A Part and Apart? Education and social inclusion of refugee children and youth in Iceland (ESRCI) this paper will draw on theoretical approaches related to the role of education and culture for the socio-cultural inclusion of refugee children aiming to explore the opportunities and challenges that refugee children and youth and their teachers and principals experience in Icelandic schools at different levels (pre-, compulsory, and upper secondary).    

Research question:    

1.1: What are the main opportunities and challenges which refugee children and youth experience in their schools, educationally and socially (including during unusual and difficult times such as Covid19)?  

This research is part of the qualitative research project A Part and Apart? Education and social inclusion of refugee children and youth in Iceland (ESRCI). Participants are Syrian and Iraqi refugee children and youth and their parents who have diverse educational and socio-economic backgrounds. Altogether our sample consists of 40 families with children in schools at one or more levels (pre-, compulsory and upper secondary) in eleven municipalities in Iceland, as well as the children’s teachers, principals and where relevant, school counsellors in the children’s schools, municipality persons, social services and NGOs. Multiple case studies will be conducted with quota refugee children and youth in the 40 families in urban and rural contexts in Iceland. Semi-structured in-depth and focus group interviews (Morgan, 1997) will be used for data collection, and emphasis will be put on exploring the children’s voices, including child friendly, emancipatory approaches. To ensure children’s participation and agency, data will also be collected through active instruments such as participatory place-based methods, child led tour “walk-along” interviews and short diaries and narratives (Dennis, et al, 2009). The analytical process will be informed by qualitative procedures and take place concurrently through the research period. The data gathered will be transcribed, categorized and coded with the use of Atlas.ti software and interpreted based on the results from the content analysis (Creswell, 2009).

The data analysis is ongoing at the time of writing the abstract, but findings will focus on the experiences and challenges which refugee children and youth face in education in Iceland. The findings will shed light on good practices as well as obstacles and will provide important information for implementing policies and developing more suitable educational practices and support for diverse student populations in Iceland. These first findings from the ESRCI project will be an important contribution to municipal authorities and national educational policy development regarding formal education and social participation for refugee children, thus transferring new knowledge to a larger context in Iceland and elsewhere. Furthermore, the ESRCI project will contribute to reform in teaching and educational practices in municipalities in Iceland, and to reform in teacher education, thus benefitting all participants in our research as well as providing comparison for the international context.

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