Protection in Refugee Education: Teachers’ Socio-Political Practices in Classrooms in Jordan

Summary

This research article explores the role of protection in classrooms, examining how and why teachers engage with forms of harms facing their refugee students.

Through a presentation of two classrooms in Jordan, the authors focus on the social relations between Jordanian teachers and Syrian refugee students, and the ways teachers develop protection practices to respond to the social, economic, and political forms of harms that face their students. Learning from these protection practices, the authors call for a more comprehensive conceptualization of protection in refugee education which integrates socio-political protection into classrooms, extending beyond legal and rights-based protection frameworks commonly found in humanitarian activities

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Key Takeaways

We offer the following practical steps and actions based on this research below (click to expand).

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Citation (APA): Salem, H. and Dryden-Peterson, S. (2023), Protection in Refugee Education: Teachers' Socio-Political Practices in Classrooms in Jordan. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 54: 75-95. https://doi-org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/10.1111/aeq.12436

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Integration & BelongingSarah Dryden-PetersonApril 5, 2024Curriculum, For Researchers, Belonging, Pedagogy, For Educators

INSIGHTS		ACTIONS
Refugee students describe experiencing local forms of harm, including social, economic, and political marginalisation that impact their learning and well-being.	➟	Policies must be enacted to reduce the financial and socio-political marginalisation that face refugee communities.
Classrooms can be important spaces for students to share and reflect on their experiences of displacement. Teachers of refugees are in positions to engage and respond to local forms of harms facing their students.	➟	Equipping schools and teachers with training and support to enable socio-political protection in classrooms, focused on social relations, dialogue, and activities.
While refugee teachers may be able to draw on shared experiences and understandings of culture, language, and displacement, national teachers experience their roles differently and may draw on different resources to navigate their classrooms	➟	Training must understand and respond the varying contexts teachers of refugees work in, to enable them to respond to students’ needs within their local contexts.
Teachers of refugees carry important responsibilities and often navigate their roles in challenging circumstances, impacting their own well-being.	➟	Ensure teachers of refugees are supported with resources and opportunities, both financial and structural, that protect teachers’ well-being.

INSIGHTS		ACTIONS
Refugee students may experience bullying and violence around and within schools, impacting their learning experiences.	➟	Ensure that schools and classrooms engage with these local forms through monitoring and through discussion to directly address students’ local forms of harms.
Refugee students look for their experiences of displacement and the local forms of harms they face to be recognised in classrooms.	➟	Foster relationships with students which are open to students’ realities through listening, dialogue, and activities.
Students’ sense of hope is strengthened by interactions which recognise students’ individuality and potential.	➟	Classroom sessions should aim to connect the curriculum with discussions, activities, and ideas that acknowledge the uncertainty of students’ futures, while remaining attentive to students’ individuality, skills, and interests.
Teachers of refugees may feel that they need to go beyond their usual teaching practices to respond to the experiences of their refugee students.	➟	Discuss these challenges with other teachers and exchange ideas for practices and approaches that may better respond to refugee students’ realities.