Experiences of young (minor) asylum seekers in further education in Malta

Abstract

This study appraises the particular challenges that minor asylum-seeking migrants who are in the 16-18 age category confront when pursuing their studies in a vocational college in Malta, a central Mediterranean island which is the smallest EU member state. The study explores how they exercise resilience in their desire to forge a future for themselves and traces their passage from Africa to Malta and their prospective aspirations to eventually settle elsewhere. It also explores how they integrate their lives as college students with these aspirations and how they see this as contributing to their lifelong education and ongoing processes of personal growth.

Daily life and school engagement: An empirical study privileging the first-person perspectives of unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents in a Danish context

“…Similar findings are reported by Spiteri (2015), who drew attention to the fact that asylum-seeking children and adolescents need to be supported by like-minded others. Kovacev and Shute (2004) point out that effects of acculturation on adjustment are mediated by peer social support.…”

“…Similar ideas are evident in Spiteri (2015) who used interviews to try to understand adolescent asylum-seekers' experiences in further education in Malta. In the interviews, the adolescent asylum-seekers also expressed a feeling of stagnation, though without a feeling of limited action potence, stating 'All I have is "now".…”

What do older people learn from young people? Intergenerational learning in ‘day centre’ community settings in Malta

“…However, at a deeper level, for learning to take place successfully, people would need to acquire the self-eicacy to process, understand and adopt the information which is handed to them by others (Spiteri, 2014a). his can be seen when older people mention learning how to use a computer or learning new recipes; there is always something new to be learnt, and efort needs to be expended in order to learn it.…”

Pathway planning with unaccompanied young people leaving care: Biographical narratives of past, present, and future.

“…This lack of knowledge is causing growing concern (Joint Committee on Human Rights, ). Emerging research has noted that the leaving care transition represents a juncture at which immigration policy supersedes child welfare interests, exacerbating the increased uncertainty, vulnerability and risk associated with this period of change, and posing challenges and conflicts for social workers engaged with UYP at this time (Kanics, Senovilla Hernandez, & Touzenis, ; Spiteri, ). In addition to these issues, Stein ()) asserts that UYP in the UK are more likely than their citizen peers to receive poor quality leaving care services.…”