Syrian Refugee Education in Lebanese Secondary Schooling: A Vertical Case Study
Abstract
Syrian refugee education in Lebanon faces several challenges from limited school access, language barriers, and undefined policies, to uncertain future citizenship status of refugee students under the larger conditions of state ‘fragility.’ This study examines how Syrian refugee education is enacted in two Lebanese public secondary schools operating in relation to national and transnational policies and norms. The theoretical frame used has three inter-related components. The first addresses (post) development education and fragility. The second addresses globalization and the evolving role of the state dealing with Syrian refugee education. The third considers citizenship education and its relation to refugees as noncitizens. The methodology used is a single vertical case study informed by the analysis of literature and policy, and an inductive analysis of school participant interviews. The vertical case study allows for a more fulsome understanding of how Syrian refugee education is enacted by including a cross-level, multi-stakeholder analysis. The key findings show that state fragility was an overarching condition and concern in the challenge to school Syrian refugee students. Different positioned actors all emphasized Syrian refugees’ ‘right to education’, and improving upon their access to quality schooling; however, these actors’ priorities and concerns were different. The ministry official focused on contextualizing refugee education processes and challenges within intersections of transnational and state policies, while teachers and administrators’ were more focused on daily concerns of students’ participation and the curriculum. Finally, the students were more focused on how their current schooling might lead them to a better future.
Keywords: refugee education, secondary education, fragile state, globalization, development education, citizenship education, vertical case study, policy, Lebanon