Refugee students' perspectives on inclusive and exclusive school experiences in Austria

Abstract

This paper examines refugee students' experiences in the Austrian mainstream school system. It highlights four areas: school connectedness, social exclusion, support systems and friendships. In the study, 55 refugee students between 8 and 21 years old enrolled in primary and secondary education participated in a semi‐structured interview. Data were analysed with directed qualitative content analysis, whereby codes were created deductively and inductively. Students stressed the importance of schooling in order to prosper in the future, particularly through language acquisition. Peers and bilingual teachers played an important role in their efforts to learn German and develop feelings of belonging in the school system. While language acquisition was important for the students, they indicated that other support measures (i.e., remedial education) were largely absent. Further, half of the students reported bullying experiences (verbal, social and physical) associated with their refugee status, language proficiency and religious affiliation. This study has implications for school professionals. The scope of support refugee students receive at school must be broadened, forced migration should be addressed in school in order to counteract negative effects of bullying students receive due to their refugee status and school connectedness can be promoted by hiring staff from diverse cultural backgrounds.

The relationship between peer bullying and PTSS in refugee schoolchildren.

“…Understanding the relationship between PB exposure and PTSS is important for widening our comprehension of the significant sequelae experienced by the refugee schoolchildren. The screened participants reported bullying as a problem and verified the findings of other studies (Bešić et al, 2020; Bjereld et al, 2015; Mynard et al, 2000), which reported that approximately 50–60% refugee students suffered from PB at least once a month. The results of this study supported the fact that victims of bullying may experience PTSS in different settings and situations, including workplaces, schools, and public places (Balducci et al, 2011; Crosby et al, 2010).…”

“…Culturally, certain aggressive behavior toward refugees may not be considered abuse or bullying, which is an excuse for the school administration to disregard this behavior (Bešić et al, 2020). This could increase the possibility of PB in refugee students at school and its consequences.…”

“…Most of the previous studies have examined the relationship between experiencing physical bullying and developing PTSS among schoolchildren in representative national samples (Baldry et al, 2019;Crosby et al, 2010;Gumpel, 2016;Guzzo et al, 2014;Hodes & Vostanis, 2019;Idsoe et al, 2012;Litman et al, 2015;Mynard et al, 2000). However, few studies have explored this relationship among refugee schoolchildren samples (Beši c et al, 2020). Till March 2018,; there were 659,063 registered Syrian refugees in Jordan, half of them were under 16 years of age.…”

Hope for the future: A qualitative analysis of the resettlement experience of Syrian refugee adolescents and parents

“…School belonging is defined by the extent to which a student feels supported, accepted, connected, engaged and included, where a higher sense of belonging correlates to better academic outcomes (Allen et al., 2018; Pittman & Richmond, 2007). Although this study focused on Syrian adolescents in U.S. schools, increasing sense of school belonging in other resettlement countries has been found to be as equally important (Bešić et al., 2020). Parents in this study communicated a sense of belonging and satisfaction when teachers expressed kindness and care to their children as well as encouraged families to stay in the district.…”

Educational Transitions in War and Refugee Contexts: Youth Biographies in Afghanistan and Austria

“…However, educational systems in the Global North, where political and social circumstances are far more stable and secure, such as in Austria, are shaped by exclusion processes as well, albeit in a more subtle way (Husny & Fasching, 2022;Jørgensen et al, 2021). This particularly applies to young refugees who are often confronted with uncertain residence status, discriminatory perceptions, and a lack of viable labor market perspectives (Bešić et al, 2020;Eggenhofer-Rehart et al, 2018). Therefore, in contrast to approaches that focus on "job-skill mismatches" (Bandara, 2019) and thus suggest a deficit-oriented individualistic perspective on the transition into the workforce, critical social science perspectives pay attention to political, societal, institutional, and structural levels, which (re)produce inequality (e.g., Dahmen, 2021;Waechter et al, 2009).…”