Educational psychology and the resilience and learning capabilities of the refugee children, an example of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and Syrian refugees in the EU
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| Educational psychology and the resilience and learning capabilities of the refugee children, an example of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and Syrian refugees in the EU |
A classroom is a different place for children incorporating their confidence on the beautiful aspects of life encouraging children to think positively, forget outside world conflicts and dream for a better life. However, human history witnesses the physical and psychological displacement of war and conflict-affected victims forced to live in makeshift societies in inhuman conditions. The traumatic growth in an unfriendly environment produces chances for researchers and theorists to focus on cognitive psychological processes to understand and evaluate the cognitive dissonance of refugee children concerning their learning environment. The psychological shift of children between the concepts of ‘centre and periphery’ which can be translated as ‘home and outer world’ a marginal concept of boundary reveals their thrust and learning resilience in a comparatively unknown world. This assists to investigate educational vulnerability and adaptation of new unfriendly environment diverse and different from children’s home educational environment. The interaction with a new culture, language and social environment with limited facilities often results in a negative outcome because of unfamiliarity with temporary and insufficient educational services.The flashback of past classroom experiences, emotional bond with old school teachers and the association with homeland often paralyze the emotional concepts of refugee children further crippling these children from comprehending the educational concepts different from theirs’.The population of half of the Rohingya refugees is consisting of children mostly residing in Cox Bazar Refugee Camp in Bangladesh. The similar condition is with Syrian refugee children residing in refugee camps in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. A significant number of Syrian Children are living in Germanyand Greece in an environment which is opposite to their socio-cultural backgrounds. This research tends to explore the ethnographic elements related to these refugee children’s learning environment largely affected by regional war conflicts. This makes the research a juncture to understand the psychological, educational, emotional and socio-cultural norms in the context of refugee children’s learning resilience, capabilities and adaptation of new learning environment in an artificial habitat.
Education is not a luxury but it’s the right of every child on the face of the earth. Is it the same for refugee children? The answer is 'no'. Over the last few decades, millions of migrants have left their homes either because of ethnic conflicts or wars. Half of the refugees are children. The obsessive concepts of racial dominance, religious fanaticism, and the lust for geographical encroachment have made millions of children displaced around the globe. Post arrival learning experiences of refugee children in refugee camps are different, diverse and highlight the difference of educational models used in these makeshift schools. UNHCR figured 4 million refugee children had no access to educational facilities in these refugee camps. Education facilitiesare essential for children to develop their emotional wellbeing. The vulnerability of refugee children who were forced to leave their homes increases with the deprivation of education facilities. The psychological impression of forced displacement affects the children similar to adults which further contain children’s positive behavioural and emotional growth.The population size in Cox Bazar refugee camp is almost 864,000 plus with half a population of children. The number of refugees in Turkey is 3 million. Children of various socio-cultural backgrounds encounter serious problems to get accommodated with each other and to cope with lacking education facilities. The number of Syrian displaced children is almost 663,138 in these refugee camps.The research framework of this article also highlights lifestyle differences within a single community based on social classes from lower-income to high-income families' children.
Majority of refugees’ children are from less developed or poor countries with limited facilities back at home. However, their experience from a single-family culture to 'mob culture' appals them further infuriating the sense of loneliness, depression and uncertainty. Article 19 of Human Rights entitles a person to get and share the information which entitles children to get education opportunities regardless of their cultural, lingual, religious or familial backgrounds. The difference of socio-cultural background not only affects the acquisition of education process in refugees' schools but results in poor psychological and physical health. In this research, I have focused on the concept of inclusive education if this type of education produces similar results in refuge education context. It is a debatable issue because circumstances’ difference needs to be evaluated before generating or delegating any results. A normal vs. paranormal situation cannot be compared with each other. The comparison of education facilities in normal circumstances and refugee camps are beyond comparability. However, a unanimous point is that, all the children have the right to get the education to make their future better. The right to get the education is constructive not only for individual children but for a whole society because this develops a sense of improving personal and community’s condition. Education facilitates the normalization of mind and thoughts and interaction with other children and getting opportunities to speak of their minds and sharing their ideas and stories boost children’s confidence. Children can prove better teachers for their peers comparing with adult teachers because peers know the level of psychological stress better than those who never undergone the traumatic experiences of migration and displacement.
The population size of the research consists of 50 children in Islahiye 2 tent camp in Gaziantep province Turkey and 50 Rohingya children in Cox Bazar refugee camp. The observational aspect helps to identify a cross-comparison of real-time learning attitude of refugee children and answers based on interviews conducted during the field research in these refugee camps. The hypothetical notion if education process, attitudes, resilience and adaptation of learning environment in an estranged environment is different from normal circumstance? The answer appears positive. This might sound strange what this comparison can bring and how the results can help to understand the ethnographical elements of learners belonging to different social groups and cultures. Can Rohingyan and Syrian refugee children be compared within a socio-cultural framework aligning their educational backgrounds and lifestyles? The answer is no. The second question is if the educational needs of the children of these migrant communities from two different parts of the world can be compared in post displacement traumatic circumstances? The answer is yes, and this is the principal theme of comparability as it should have similar grounds for comparison to map the resilience, capabilities and emotional response to provided education facilities. Syrian refugee children enjoyed the liberty of a profound education system in their country before the civil war erupted. However, the case with Rohingyan refugees is different because this ethnic group migrated to Myanmar for economic purposes and practised their cultural and religious norms without incorporating with Buddhist cultural norms. The educational and political systems in Arakan region were not strong enough to facilitate world-class education to Rohingya children in pre-displacement time. Despite this fact, they had their education system and liberty to attend schools and colleges. These socio-cultural backgrounds of these refugee children make them different from Syrian refugee children. However, the learning attitude and wish for getting quality education among Syrian and Rohingyan children has similar traits based on their intentions and thrust for learning.
The primary concept in these refugee camps is survival to cope up with harsh realities of life. However, for children, the temporarily established schools provide grounds to utilize their potential to learn new aspects of life and to resume their educational growth. The access to education is limited, the conceptual learning is possible but practical skills are out of reach. The host governments establish two types of schools for refugee children which include camp-schools and outside camp schools to give refugee children chances to interact with local communities. However, the chances of learning for meaning and trust development between native children and refugee children are a far cry. Inside camp schools especially in Rohingya camps have been built in huts, tents and the luxury of walled schools is out of reach for these children. The Bangladeshi government has planned to repatriate refugees back to Myanmar within the next two years. The temporary schools offer informal learning which is different from regular or formal learning. Syrian refugee education experience is different from Rohingya children because most of the children have been placed in regular schools with Turkish children to keep continuing their education. However, in both situations, students come across learning difficulties appearing in the form of lingual and cultural barriers. For Rohingya children, it is out of the question to study the Bangladeshi curriculum while the designing of a new curriculum is not possible due to repatriation fears. Fund donors as stakeholders seem reluctant to invest in and this further deepens the psychological stress among children and their parents. A forced barrier between Bangladeshi native children and Rohingya children further alienates refugee children. Pain and sufferings make people more cautious and perceptive. The observational experiences of this research identified a high level of emotional tone among children. The development of emotional tone is natural in such circumstances when the sense of loss increases among adults and children. The emotional tone among children encapsulates their learning needs and desires to be accommodated within a regular education system. These unfriendly circumstances make refugee children more cautious fragile and vulnerable questioning about their identity. The desperate urge of identity recognition gets intensified because of the circumstances that Haven inflicted on migrant children incorporated with political hypocrisy of host countries.
The ethnographic element of this research enabled me to review and analyse the scale of sufferings concerning identity questions raised by children. The qualitative nature of the study produced the grounds to examine the question from a broader perspective narrowing it down to focused points of education resilience, adaptability and capabilities. The purpose is not to ignoring quantitative aspects of the research but the development of a logical argument with the support of research points which might convince readers that refugee children despite being vulnerable are more perceptive to their education. My intentions to use a qualitative method using interviews and observation techniques correspond with the inductive research interventions to get first-hand information concerning refugee children’s educational needs and their inclination to learn in a less facilitated environment. The cross-examining of the data gathered from interviews, observation and UNHCER reports indicate the discomfort of life has forced children to elaborate on issues which might not possible for children living in normal circumstances. The question "are we, not human beings" indicates the pain of young learners when the education barrier between native children and refugee children is enforced. The unique feature of refugee children in the context of educational psychology is their resilience and inclination to learn and to know life. This reflects the urge for learning development in harsh circumstances. The deliberate deprivation can run negative emotions contributed by poor living standards, and scanty of food leading them to intervene in the criminal atmosphere.
Fear reshapes the psychological traits of children and brings changes in their learning attitudes. The process of identifying, recognize, interpret and understand the learning concepts become a complex process for refugee children because of the horrors and miseries they suffer in refugee camps and during their displacement process. The communication gap among children and living in a horror prevalent environment reduces their capacity of learning. The psychological development for a continuum of learning requires new levels of confidence, potential and participation in the classroom to develop the understanding of educational concepts to acquire knowledge. The freedom of speech affected by war and displacement largely marginalizes the capabilities of refugee children. Refugee children in camps have similar rights of education, participation and communication to native children of a host country. Learning problems are not limited to psychological limitations but physical, environmental, cultural and social factors too. Learning in a mass population and learning in a classroom of a limited number of students are far different both educationally and psychologically. The physical conditions largely affect the mental capacities of learners. Inhuman living standards in Cox Bazar Bangladesh and in some Syrian refugee camps, lack of hygiene, malnourishment affect the learning capabilities. These contribute to maladaptive behaviours leading to crimes, sexual violence child labour and prostitution. In classrooms, refugee children studying with native children suffer from moral and spiritual negativity further demising the development of their character. Discrimination, violence, reluctant behaviour of teachers, and gender-based issues hinder the learning capacities of refugee children. The participation level of migrant children while studying with native children reduces because of fear of rejection by classmates and teachers. Refugee children are incredibly resilient who try to cope up with unfriendly circumstances and move forward for learning. The flexibility of getting accommodated with tough circumstance without much moral or familial support is a single part of their resilient nature. The phase of recovery from paranormal conditions of war, displacement and poor circumstance of refugee camps are miraculous and encouraging. The adaptation of unfriendly circumstance, different culture, language and social environment demands courageous attitude, flexibility and openness which refugee children strive for to make their presence prominent among their peers. On the contrary, native children study in their home environment with better facilities and opportunities. Segregated environment (education in refugee camps) and integrated (learning with native children in mainstream educational institutions) learning environment have their effects with different scales of positivity and negativity. In a segregated environment, refugee children learn from their migrated teachers without hardships of learning a new language but experience improper facilities and the absence of a regular education system. In contrast, the integrated system facilitates refugee children to benefit from all learning facilities on the cost of learning a new language. This is one of the biggest hurdles that consume immense time. The gap in regular education because of learning a new language, sometimes drift learners’ intentions and educational spirit away from the right path. However, during the due course of time, they become bilingual. Languages barriers sometimes make it impossible to interact with other children further alienate refugee children resulting in escape from education and indulge in labour. The biggest problem for refugee children is constantly shifting from one camp to another camp largely affecting their education resilience and capabilities. Losing one to two years of education is a common story in Syrian refugee camps in Turkey. Cultural constraints are another issue affecting their mental growth. However, a good number of learners attending regular and refugee schools is one of the positive signs for the mental growth of refugee children and character building. The integration of refugee children in integrated school could lead to an integrated society because of knowledge sharing. The forced repatriation of Rohingya children is catastrophic and further demotivating their learning spirit. The segregated schools inside camps lack facilities, teachers and complete absence of national or central curriculum reducing learners’ capabilities. The resilience of refugee children for learning and the adaptation of a new learning environment in Cox Bazar refugee camp motivational enough to warm hearts. Learners teach their peers and talk about their experiences; the psychological traumatic experiences strong enough to sadden adults have deep effects on children’s mentality. However, a wishful smile with hope for a better future and learning from each other temporarily provides a shield to these refugee children. The wish of a child “I might go back to Myanmar one day and get education in the university" is strong enough to show the emotional bond with their culture, society and geographical environment which they were brought up.
The lingual and educational frameworks of Turkey are far different from the Syrian Arabic and educational framework. The emotional fight to learn new lingual concepts enabled thousands of children to stay in mainstream Turkish schools. There are almost 20,000 Syrian refugee children in Greece learning in refugee schools and mainstream schools. The focus of Greece education ministry is preparing these children for future challenges. However, learning Greek and English along with other subjects indicates a tough learning mechanism for these refugee children. Learning three languages at a single time adversely affects learner’s abilities to accomplish the task of education. The inclusion of refugee children in the Greek education system and Rohingya children in Bangladeshi system has proved a dream showing the further reluctance of refugee children to study outside camp schools. Insufficient teacher training further contributes to worsening the situation. Learning needs of refugee children are associated with psychological needs, refugee children require an immense level of caring attitude and encouragement from teachers. Native teachers might not be able to understand the learning background of refugee children resulting in communication and interaction gap between teachers and learners. Racial issues, insufficient teacher training and discrimination are certain aspects of refugee children’s lives that demise the trend of learning among these forsaken children. Masten’sterm ‘ordinary magic’ well defines the resilience among ordinary children who in all types of circumstance have the ability and capacity to afresh their memories to move forward. The work of Norman Garmezy, E. James Anthony and others indicate the resilience of children in the form of adaptation of new environment which is a regular phase of their mental development motivating children to seek and learn focusing on new things. In the context of Syrian and Rohingya refugee children, children developed a resilient attitude towards their circumstances due to the length of an adverse period. This helped refugee children to the adaptation of a new atmosphere, learning styles and self-contain attitude especially, in Cox Bazar refugee camp which has no proper education facilities. Harsh circumstance and fight for existence in unfavourable circumstance are among those factors leading children to focus on learning to improve their future life. Education resilience, the adaptation of a new learning environment, and learning capabilities have a direct link with human emotions. The emotional impact in the form of suffrage leaves no difference between happiness and sadness further strengthening refugee children to develop a unique nature based on fighting principles. Competence factors further resolute refugee children to win and prove their dignity over native children to secure better education prospect. However, the adaptation issue differs in gender contexts. Female education among Rohingya refugees has been a dominant issue influenced by so-called, self-articulated religious doctrine stopping female children to avoid mixing with male children. A socio-cultural model which creates a difference among children on the bases of gender from an early age incapacitates the education resilience among female students. The fear of masculine dominance, domestic violence, sexual violence and misconceptions about host culture are some of the issues which female Syrian refugee children have been facing from their families. The similar traits exist in Rohingya refugee camps further crippling the initiatives of human rights agencies and education providers to improve the perceptual concepts of parents. Parental behaviour deeply shapes the psychological character of children which largely affects their performance during the learning process. Children might be resilient to adopt a new learning environment; however, the negative influence of family or native children might reduce their capacity to get accommodated in the educational environment resulting in renunciation and a psychological setback for the development of their character. Social, cultural, lingual, political and religious factors construct or deconstruct the learning capacities of refugee children who because of their resolution and constant struggle achieve their target in a deprived environment. Family support makes children confident to accomplish their learning dream which reduces their vulnerability in a challenging learning environment.
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