“We Aren’t Only Here to Teach”: Caring Practices of Teachers in the Context of Inclusive Refugee Education in Jordan

Abstract

This article examines the complex process of teachers’ care for students in contexts of inclusive refugee education in Jordan, where Syrian refugees and Jordanian students study together. I illustrate that while teachers’ caring practices represent efforts to support refugee students, they are limited by teachers’ inability to see the social, structural, and systemic power dynamics that restrict Syrian refugees, reifying unequal relations of power between refugees and nationals. National teachers are embedded in the social fabric of the societies in which they live and not impervious to the discriminatory attitudes towards refugees, thereby limiting the extent of their care. This article illuminates the complexity of inclusive refugee education and concludes with implications for teacher education and professional development.

Keywords

care in school critical care refugee education teachers Syrian refugees

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adelman

(2018). Challenges of integration, obligation and identity: Exploring the experiences of teachers working to educate Syrian refugee children in Lebanon [Dissertation]. Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/37679890

Ahmadzadeh

Çorabatır

Hashem

Husseini

J. A.

Wahby

(2014). Ensuring quality education for young refugees from Syria (12–25 years): A mapping exercise. Refugee Studies Centre.

Alrababa’h

Dillon

Williamson

Hainmueller

Hangartner

Weinstein

(2021). Attitudes toward migrants in a highly impacted economy: Evidence from the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan. Comparative Political Studies, 54(1), 33–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414020919910

Antrop-González

De Jesús

(2006). Toward a theory of critical care in urban small school reform: Examining structures and pedagogies of caring in two Latino community-based schools. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 19(4), 409–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390600773148

Bajaj

(2009). Why context matters: Understanding the material conditions of school-based caring in Zambia. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22(4), 379–398. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390902817411

Bajaj

Argenal

Canlas

(2017). Socio-politically relevant pedagogy for immigrant and refugee youth. Equity & Excellence in Education, 50(3), 258–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2017.1336499

Bajaj

Bartlett

(2017). Critical transnational curriculum for immigrant and refugee students. Curriculum Inquiry, 47(1), 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2016.1254499

Bartlett

(2005). Dialogue, knowledge, and teacher-student relations: Freirean pedagogy in theory and practice. Comparative Education Review, 49(3), 344–364. https://doi.org/10.1086/430261

Bartlett

García

(2011). Additive schooling in subtractive times: Bilingual education and Dominican immigrant youth in the Heights. Vanderbilt University Press.

10.

Battistich

Solomon

Watson

Schaps

(1997). Caring school communities. Educational Psychologist, 32(3), 137–151. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3203_1

11.

Betawi

I. A.

(2013). The effect of the educational system on teacher non-parental and educational perceptions in Jordan: A comparison study between pre-service and in-service teachers. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 18(1), 32–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2012.655441

12.

Bilotta

(2021). ‘Respect’ and ‘justice’ for whom? Culturally irresponsive ethical practices with refugee communities. International Social Work. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00208728211031967

13.

Castagno

A. E.

(2008). “I don’t want to hear that!”: Legitimating Whiteness through silence in schools. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 39(3), 314–333. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1492.2008.00024.x

14.

Cohen

(2019). Producing a culture of inclusion: Inclusive refugee education for Syrian refugee youth in Jordan [Dissertation]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.

15.

Cohen

(2020). How Syrian refugees expand inclusion and navigate exclusion in Jordan: A framework for understanding curricular engagement. Journal of Education in Muslim Societies, 2(1), 3–29.

16.

Cohen

(in press). Refugee education in Jordan. In Matthews

Maire

(Eds.), Handbook of refugee education: Comparative perspectives, innovations and new directions. Edward Elgar.

17.

Dallavis

(2014). Culturally responsive caring and expectations for academic achievement in a Catholic school. Journal of Catholic Education, 17(2), 154–171. https://doi.org/10.15365/joce.1702082014

18.

Dee

T. S.

(2005). A teacher like me: Does race, ethnicity, or gender matter? American Economic Review, 95(2), 158–165. https://doi.org/10.1257/000282805774670446

19.

Dryden-Peterson

(2015). The educational experiences of refugee children in countries of first asylum. Washington, D.C.: Migration Policy Institute.

20.

Dryden-Peterson

(2016). Refugee education: The crossroads of globalization. Educational Researcher, 45(9), 473–482. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x16683398

21.

Dryden-Peterson

(2017, March 16). How teachers can prepare refugee children for unknowable futures. The New Humanitarian.

22.

Dryden-Peterson

Dahya

Adelman

(2017). Pathways to educational success among refugees: Connecting locally and globally situated resources. American Educational Research Journal, 54(6), 1011–1047. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831217714321

23.

Duncan-Andrade

(2009). Note to educators: Hope required when growing roses in concrete. Harvard Educational Review, 79(2), 181–194. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.79.2.nu3436017730384w

24.

Education Sector Working Group Jordan. (2015). Joint education needs assessment report: Access to education for Syrian refugee children and youth in Jordan host communities. Author.

25.

El-Abed

(2014). The discourse of guesthood: Forced migrants in Jordan. In Fabos

A. H.

Isotalo

(Eds.), Managing Muslim mobilities: Between spiritual geographies and the global security regime (pp. 81–100). Palgrave Macmillan.

26.

Emerson

R. M.

Fretz

R. I.

Shaw

L. L.

(2011). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes. University of Chicago Press.

27.

Fallah

Istaiteyeh

Mansur

(2021). Moving beyond humanitarian assistance: Supporting Jordan as a refugee-hosting country. World Refugee & Migration Council.

28.

Fine

(1991). Framing dropouts: Notes on the politics of an urban public high school. State University of New York Press.

29.

Ghosh

S. T.

(2016). Feminist ethnography. In Naples

N. A.

Hoogland

R. C.

Wickramasinghe

Wong

W.-C. A.

(Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of gender and sexuality studies (pp. 1–9). Wiley Blackwell.

30.

Hattam

Every

(2010). Teaching in fractured classrooms: Refugee education, public culture, community and ethics. Race Ethnicity and Education, 13(4), 409–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2010.488918

31.

Hett

(2013). Ethics in intercultural research: Reflections on the challenges of conducting field research in a Syrian context. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 43(4), 496–515. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2013.797753

32.

Human Rights Watch. 2016. “‘We’re Afraid for Their Future:’ Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children in Jordan.” Accessed August 15, 2022, from https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/08/16/were-afraid-their-future/barriers-education-syrian-refugee-children-jordan

33.

Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE). (2004). Minimum standards for education in emergencies, chronic crises and early reconstruction. Author.

34.

Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE). (2016). Background paper on psychosocial support and social and emotional learning for children and youth. Author.

35.

Jaffe-Walter

(2016). Coercive concern: Nationalism, liberalism, and the schooling of Muslim youth. Stanford University Press.

36.

Katyal

K. R.

King

(2011). “Outsiderness” and “insiderness” in a Confucian society: Complexity of contexts. Comparative Education, 47(3), 327–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2011.586765

37.

Khan

K. B.

McDonald

Baumbusch

J. L.

Kirkham

S. R.

Tan

Anderson

J. M.

(2007). Taking up postcolonial feminism in the field: Working through a method. Women’s Studies International Forum, 30(3), 228–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2007.03.004

38.

Leander

K. M.

(2002). Silencing in classroom interaction: Producing and relating social spaces. Discourse Processes, 34(2), 193–235. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326950dp3402_4

39.

Lenner

Turner

(2018). Making refugees work? The politics of integrating Syrian refugees into the labor market in Jordan. Middle East Critique, 28(1), 65–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/19436149.2018.1462601

40.

Luttrell

(2000). “Good enough” methods for ethnographic research. Harvard Educational Review, 70(4), 499–523.

41.

Madison

(2005). Critical ethnography: Method, ethics, and performance. SAGE Publications.

42.

Madison

D. S.

(2020). Critical ethnography: Method, ethics, and performance. SAGE Publications.

43.

Marks

H. M.

(2000). Student engagement in instructional activity: Patterns in the elementary, middle, and high school years. American Educational Research Journal, 37(1), 153–184. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312037001153

44.

Magee

Pherali

(2019). Freirean critical consciousness in a refugee context: a case study of Syrian refugees in Jordan. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 49(2), 266–282.

45.

Mendenhall

Bartlett

Ghaffar-Kucher

(2017). “If you need help, they are always there for us”: Education for refugees in an international high school in NYC. Urban Review, 49(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-016-0379-4

46.

Mendenhall

Dryden-Peterson

Bartlett

Ndirangu

Imonje

Gakunga

Gichuhi

Nyagah

Okoth

Tangelder

(2015). Quality education for refugees in Kenya: Pedagogy in urban Nairobi and Kakuma refugee camp settings. Journal on Education in Emergencies, 1(1), 92–103. https://doi.org/10.17609/N8D08K

47.

Milligan

(2014). Insider-outsider-inbetweener? Researcher positioning, participative methods and cross-cultural educational research. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 46(2), 235–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2014.928510

48.

Ministry of Planning & International Cooperation (MOPIC). (2017). Jordan response plan for the Syria crisis: 2017-2019. https://www.jrp.gov.jo/Files/JRP2017-2019.pdf.

49.

Naseh

Liviero

Rafieifar

Abtahi

Potocky

(2020). Syrian refugees’ perspectives and service providers’ viewpoints on major needs and future plans in Jordan. Journal of International Humanitarian Action, 5(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41018-020-00083-3

50.

Nicolai

Triplehorn

(2003, March 1). The role of education in protecting children in conflict. Humanitarian Practice Network. https://odihpn.org/publication/the-role-of-education-in-protecting-children-in-conflict/

51.

Nie

Lau

(2009). Complementary roles of care and behavioral control in classroom management: The self-determination theory perspective. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 34(3), 185–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2009.03.001

52.

Noddings

(1986). Caring: A femenine approach to ethics and moral education. University of California Press.

53.

Noddings

(1988). An ethic of caring and its implications for instructional arrangements. American Journal of Education, 96(2), 215–230. https://doi.org/10.1086/443894

54.

Noddings

(1994). Conversation as moral education. Journal of Moral Education, 23(2), 107–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305724940230201

55.

Noddings

(2006, July 1). What does it mean to educate the whole child? Educational Leadership. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/what-does-it-mean-to-educate-the-whole-child

56.

Noddings

(2012). The caring relation in teaching. Oxford Review of Education, 38(6), 771–781. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2012.745047

57.

Oates

G. L.

(2003). Teacher-student racial congruence, teacher perceptions, and test performance. Social Science Quarterly, 84(3), 508–525. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6237.8403002

58.

Parkinson

(2014). Practical ethics: How U.S. law and the ‘war on terror’ affect research in the Middle East. POMEPS Studies, 8, 24–26.

59.

Patterson

J. A.

Gordon

Price

P. G.

(2008). The color of caring: Race and the implementation of educational reform. Educational Foundations, 22 (Summer–Fall), 97–116.

60.

Pianta

R. C.

(2006). Classroom management and relationships between children and teachers: Implications for research and practice. In Evertson

C. M.

Weinstein

C. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of classroom management: Research, practice, and contemporary issues (pp. 685–709). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

61.

Radsch

(2009). From cell phones to coffee: Issues of access in Egypt and Lebanon. In Sriram

C.L

King

J.C.

Mertus

J.A.

Martin-Ortega

Herman

(Eds.), Surviving field research: Working in violent and difficult situations (pp. 91–107). Routledge.

62.

Richardson

MacEwen

Naylor

(2018). Teachers of refugees: A review of the literature. Education Development Trust.

63.

Richardson

St Pierre

(2005). Writing: A method of inquiry. In Denzin

N. K.

Lincoln

Y. S.

(Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (pp. 959–978). SAGE Publications.

64.

Rodriguez

Mccorkle

(2020). On the educational rights of undocumented students: A call to expand teachers’ awareness of policies impacting undocumented students and strategic empathy. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 122(12), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146812012201203

65.

Rolón-Dow

(2005). Critical care: A color (full) analysis of care narratives in the schooling experiences of Puerto Rican girls. American Educational Research Journal, 42(1), 77–111.

66.

Rosaldo

(1994). Cultural citizenship and educational democracy. Cultural Anthropology, 9(3), 402–411. https://doi.org/10.1525/can.1994.9.3.02a00110

67.

Saldaña

(2015). Qualitative data analysis + the coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.

68.

Schrock Richelle

(2018). The methodological imperatives of feminist ethnography. Journal of Feminist Scholarship, 5, 54–60. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/jfs/vol5/iss5/5

69.

Shirazi

(2011). When projects of “empowerment” don’t liberate: Locating agency in a “postcolonial” peace education. Journal of Peace Education, 8(3), 277–294. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2011.621370

70.

Smith

L. C.

Geroski

A. M.

Tyler

K. B.

(2014). Abandoning colorblind practice in school counseling. Journal of School Counseling, 12(16), 1–31.

71.

Thompson

(1998). Not The color purple: Black feminist lessons for educational caring. Harvard Educational Review, 68(4), 522–555. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.nm436v83214n5016

72.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2006). Guidebook for planning education in emergencies and reconstruction. International Institute for Educational Planning.

73.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2012). 2012-2016 education strategy. United Nations Refugee Agency. https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/protection/operations/5149ba349/unhcr-education-strategy-2012-2016.html?query=education%20strategy

74.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2019a). Refugee education 2030: A strategy for refugee inclusion. United Nations Refugee Agency.

75.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2019b). Stepping up: Refugee education in crisis. United Nations Refugee Agency. https://www.unhcr.org/steppingup/wp-content/uploads/sites/76/2019/09/Education-Report-2019-Final-web-9.pdf

76.

Valenzuela

(1999). Subtractive schooling: Issues of caring in education of U.S.-Mexican youth. State University of New York Press.

77.

Vanner

(2015). Positionality at the center: Constructing an epistemological and methodological approach for a western feminist doctoral candidate conducting research in the postcolonial. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406915618094

78.

Visweswaran

(1994). Fictions of feminist ethnography. University of Minnesota Press.

79.

Walton

Priest

Kowal

White

Brickwood

Fox

Paradies

(2014). Talking culture? Egalitarianism, color-blindness and racism in Australian elementary schools. Teaching and Teacher Education, 39, 112–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.01.003

80.

Winthrop

Kirk

(2005). Teacher development and student well-being. Forced Migration Review, 22, 18–21. https://www.fmreview.org/sites/fmr/files/FMRdownloads/en/education-emergencies/winthrop-kirk.pdf

81.

Wolcott

H. F.

(2008). Ethnography a way of seeing. Altamira Press.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.09 MB

0.07 MB