Session Information
07 SES 04 B, Social Justice and Refugees
Paper Session
Contribution
Linguistic and cultural diversity among pre- and compulsory school children and their families in Iceland has been steadily growing over the past few years and currently around 11% of all preschool children and 7.6 % of all compulsory school students have heritage languages other than Icelandic (Statistics Iceland, 2015a, 2015b). Refugees are among these children. Around 500 refugees have settled in Iceland in the past decades (Rauði kross Íslands, 2015). A group of refugees is arriving in 2016 in Iceland and will settle in three municipalities (the number of schools the children will attend is still not clear, but these will be approximately five).
Educational policies and curriculum guides in Iceland emphasize equity and inclusion (Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, 2011; 2014). Some schools in Iceland have responded to the diversification of their children and students by exploring and implementing various innovative and empowering educational practices as well as building partnerships with parents and communities (Ragnarsdóttir et al, 2015; Ragnarsdóttir & Schmidt, 2014).
The paper explores the inclusion of newly arrived refugee children in Icelandic pre- and compulsory schools and the structures created for their reception, participation and learning in the school settings. The focus of the paper is on good educational practices in creating pathways of social inclusion for the children and educational partnerships with their parents. The paper also explores the special provisions provided for the refugee children in light of their experiences and traumas.
The theoretical framework of the study includes critical approaches to education (May & Sleeter, 2010; Nieto, 2010) and multilingual education for social justice (Chumak-Horbatsch, 2012; Skutnabb-Kangas, Phillipson, Mohanty & Panda, 2009).
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Chumak-Horbatsch, R. (2012). Linguistically appropriate practice: A guide for working with young immigrant children. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. May, S. & Sleeter, C. E. (2010). Introduction. Critical multiculturalism: Theory and praxis. In S. May & C.E. Sleeter (Eds.) Critical multiculturalism: Theory and praxis (pp. 1–16). New York: Routledge. Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. (2011). The IcelandIc natIonal currIculum guIde for compulsory schools. General section. Reykjavík: Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. Retrieved from http://eng.menntamalaraduneyti.is/publications/curriculum/ Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. (2014). White paper on education reform. Reykjavík: Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. Retrieved from http://www.menntamalaraduneyti.is/menntamal/hvitbok/ Nieto, S. (2010). The light in their eyes. Creating multicultural learning communities (10th anniversary edition). New York: Teachers College Press. Ragnarsdóttir, H. et al. (2015). Learning spaces for inclusion and social justice: Success stories from immigrant students and school communities in four Nordic countries. Report on main findings from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Unpublished report. Retrieved from http://lsp2015.hi.is/sites/lsp2015.hi.is/files/eddakjar/lsp_final_report_formatted.pdf Ragnarsdóttir, H. & Schmidt, C. (Eds.). (2014). Learning spaces for social justice: International perspectives on exemplary practices from preschool to secondary school. London: A Trentham Book. IOE Press. Rauði kross Íslands/Red cross Iceland. (2015). Hælisleitendur og flóttamenn. Tölulegar upplýsingar/Asylum seekers and refugees. Numbers. Retrieved from http://www.raudikrossinn.is/page/rki_hvad_haelisleitendur_tolur Skutnabb-Kangas, T., Phillipson, R., Mohanty, A. K., & Panda, M. (Eds.)(2009). Social justice through multilingual education. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Statistics Iceland. (2015a). Children in pre-primary institutions having another mother tongue than Icelandic 1998-2014. Retrieved from http://px.hagstofa.is/pxen/pxweb/en/Samfelag/Samfelag__skolamal__1_leikskolastig__0_lsNemendur/SKO01103.px/table/tableViewLayout1/?rxid=ff370e55-3955-4013-b760-49b3ec5d0fb8 Statistics Iceland. (2015b). Pupils in compulsory schools having another mother tongue than Icelandic 1998-2014. Retrieved from http://px.hagstofa.is/pxen/pxweb/en/Samfelag/Samfelag__skolamal__2_grunnskolastig__0_gsNemendur/SKO02103.px/table/tableViewLayout1/?rxid=ff370e55-3955-4013-b760-49b3ec5d0fb8
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