Schools and refugee children: the case of Syrians in Turkey

Abstract

Education is the most effective tool for migrant and refugee integration. When successfully provided, it is particularly useful for eradicating the traces of trauma among refugee children, offering means to social mobility and enhancing social and structural integration into society. This article introduces schooling options for Syrian children in Turkey and deals with how school types shape experiences of these students through the accounts of their parents with attention to the notion of institutional habitus. Drawing on a comparative qualitative case study of refugee children in Temporary Education Centres and Public Schools in Turkey, it specifically investigates how schools with their practices, organization, and regulations contribute to or hinder the integration and adaptation of Syrian refugee children to school and society in Turkey.