Pushing the boundaries of research, policy and practice for education and displacement

As part of Refugee Week 2023, we invite you to join us for this hybrid seminar at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, McIntyre Building, 184 Hills Road, Harrison Drive, CB2 8PQ.

Monday, 19 June 2023

Faculty of Education, Room  1S7

10:00 – 12:00 (BST)

Chair Maha Shuayb

Discussant: Prof  Yusuf Sayed

Speakers: Prof. Leon Tikly (School of Education, University of Bristol),

Jee Rubin and Dr. Jess Oddy (Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and Centre for Migration, Refugees and Beloning, University of East London )

Jáfia Câmara, PhD (Centre for Lebanese Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge), and Mai Abou Moghli, (Centre for Lebanese Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge)

Over the past two decades, issues surrounding education and displacement have gained significant attention, such that ‘refugee education’ is now a core pillar of the western humanitarian response model. This is evidenced by the proliferation of policies, practices, funding schemes, and research studies surrounding the field of ‘Education in Emergencies’ (Brun & Shuayb, 2020; Burde et al., 2019; Dryden-Peterson, 2022; Shuayb & Crul, 2020). However, despite this increased attention, the field remains fraught with many tensions, particularly regarding funding. Education is one of the most underfunded areas of humanitarian aid, with only about 3% of global humanitarian funding allocated to education (EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid, 2023a).

As one of the prominent education donors, the European Union (EU) has shaped education policies globally and has invested in preventing more refugee arrivals at its borders by providing aid to countries such as Lebanon, which hosts one of the world's largest refugee populations (EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid, 2023b). UN agencies, supported by international experts and academics, have also played a significant role in shaping the discourse on education and displacement (UNHCR, 2015). However, emerging evidence from the field has highlighted gaps in the current discourse, such as high dropout rates in secondary education and under-examined links between the right to education and access to other rights.

The industry that has developed around education and displacement has come under further scrutiny in recent years. Aid-driven education programs and provisions have long been criticized for their agendas and colonial legacies. The alliances, partnerships, and compacts within the field are being interrogated (Zakharia, 2023). The near-policy-funded research (Novelli & Cardozo, 2018) that has dominated the existing body of knowledge has limited critical thinking and imagination. Furthermore, a growing rupture has evolved within the field due to the domination of research and policy by humanitarian agencies in the global north over the global south (Kassis, 2022), with limited cross-debating and dialogue. Considering these issues, this seminar aims to bring together speakers to unpack knowledge production, critique aid practices, and examine policy and practice of education for refugees in both the global north and south, with the aim of enriching the field and promoting more inclusive and equitable education opportunities for those facing forced displacement and exile.

References

Brun, C. and Shuayb, M. (2020). Exceptional and futureless humanitarian education in Lebanon: Prospects for shifting the lens. Refuge 36(2): 20–30.

Burde, D., Lahmann, H., and Thompson, N. (2019). Education in emergencies: 'What works' revisited. Education and Conflict Review, 2, 81–88.

EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid. (2023a). Education in emergencies – Fact Sheet. European Commission. Available at: https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/humanitarian-aid/education-emergencies_en

EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid. (2023b). Lebanon – Fact Sheet.  European Commission. Available at: https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/where/middle-east-and-northern-africa/lebanon_en

Dryden-Peterson, S. (2022). Right where we belong: How refugee teachers and students are changing the future of education. Harvard University Press.

Hammoud, M., M. Shuayb and M. Crul. (2022). Determinants of Refugee Children’s
Social Integration: Evidence from Lebanon, Turkey, and Australia. Social Sciences 11: 563.

Kassis, M. (2022). Research Ethics in the Middle Eastern context. Video conversation with Mai Abu Moghli for Workshops on Research Ethics. Centre for Lebanese Studies.

Novelli, Mario and Lopes Cardozo, Mieke T.A. (2008) Conflict, education and the global south: New critical directions. International Journal of Educational Development, 28 (4). pp. 473-488. ISSN 0738-0593

Shuayb, M. and Brun, C. (2022). 6 years after the London Syria conference: Was it a gamble to invest in the crumbling Lebanese public school system? The Centre for Lebanese Studies. Available at: https://lebanesestudies.com/publications/6-years-after-the-london-syria-conference-was-it-a-gamble-to-invest-in-the-crumbling-lebanese-public-school-system/

Shuayb, M. and Crul, M. (2020). Refugee status and educational attainment of Syrian refugee children: A comparative view from three continents and six countries. Refuge 36 (2).

UNHCR Geneva. (2015). Education Brief 8: Sustainable Development Goal 4 and Refugee Education. Available at: https://www.unhcr.org/media/33167

Zakharia, Z. (2023). Ordinary Solidarities: Re-Reading Refugee Education Response Through an Anticolonial Discursive Framework. International Journal of Human Rights Education, 7(1). Retrieved from https://repository.usfca.edu/ijhre/vol7/iss1/3