The potential of narrative construction in promoting classroom integration for refugee children

: a case study of sub-Saharan refugees in an Algerian national school

Abstract

Refugee studies have lately emerged as a focused area of research, yet there is a vast knowledge gap vis-à-vis the integration experiences and socialisation processes of diversified refugee students in different educational settings. This research looked into the diverse experiences of sub-Saharan refugee children in an Algerian mainstream secondary school. The study explored the complexity of the integration processes experienced by refugee children. Highlighting these diverse perspectives assisted in understanding ways integration could be facilitated amongst refugee students within mainstream school classrooms.

Subsequently, this study investigated the possibility of narrative construction in exploring and dealing with different issues of integration met by refugees in the predefined context. Accordingly, storytelling activities were used to discuss some of the values designed by the Living Values Education (LVE) that reflected issues of integration that emerged from the context. This study invokes the theoretical framework provided by Jerome Bruner’s works on constructing the narrative through real-life experiences.

Two phases of data collection were undertaken. The first phase explored the challenges that refugee children encounter in their education. In this phase, classroom observation and semi-structured interviews were held to explore the context. The second phase aimed at addressing these issues from the refugees’ perspectives through narrative construction. Storytelling workshops were held throughout the second phase to provide the space and the tools for the young tellers to explore their integration experiences. This research revisited the existing integration models for refugee children in host societies and developed an integrated model that combines structural, relational, and contextual elements of integration.

The research finding highlights that this integrated model needs to be informed by children’s voices and their sense-making of their own experiences to both inform the integration processes and plans that host societies integrate.

Date of Award	24 Jun 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Supervisor	Lizzi Milligan (Supervisor) & Shona McIntosh (Supervisor)