An Informal Education Intervention in Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic: Homework Mentorships in a Berlin Refugee Shelter
Springer Nature, Human Arenas, Arena of Crisis, Vol. 4, 2021
Courtney O’Connell & Luka Lucić
The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting damage is often portrayed in staggering numbers and statistics. This article offers, by contrast, a personal and qualitative account of employees, volunteers, and young residents at a refugee home in Berlin, Germany. Through the story of a boy who has spent the past 4 years in several of Berlin’s 84 remaining refugee accommodations, we examine the inequalities that already existed in Germany and how the pandemic has exacerbated them. To provide ample context, we critically assess the so-called Welcome Classes that children and teens have been attending since their arrival to the country in or around 2015 and argue that the segregation experienced at school mirrors the isolation from the host society that refugees and people seeking asylum are subjected to residentially. We then present an emergency response to school closures: A digital homework mentorship program designed to mitigate the heightened barriers to social interaction and access to education brought about by the pandemic. We explore the sociocultural theory underpinning the program, describe its methods, and offer a qualitative evaluation of the results. Finally, we discuss how the informal education intervention helps fill gaps in the system, offering an approach that can be used going forward to promote learning, social-emotional development, and inclusion of young people with migration and refugee backgrounds.
Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42087-020-00161-3
Becoming German: A Critical Look at Refugee Education in Germany
Language, Discourse & Society, Vol. 7, Number 1, 2019
Courtney O’Connell
This paper published in Language, Discourse & Society (The Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2019, vol. 7, iss. 1, p. 67-83) examines education for refugee children in Germany through the lens of contemporary childhood studies. When children resettle in Germany they are not only permitted, but also required to attend school. They are put on a fast, straight track to learning German so they can get matriculated into mainstream classes as quickly as possible: their only shot at succeeding in Germany’s highly stratified school system (SBJW, 2016). But does this intense focus on the future meet the needs of this population of children in the present? Eurocentric and nativist attitudes behind integration rhetoric are explored, including how they factor into teaching approaches in so-called welcome classes for Germany’s young newcomers. Why and how should schools look after the mental health of its students? The case is made for the incorporation of creative expressive interventions in the classroom as a means of enhancing students’ self-esteem, self-efficacy, and ultimately agency.
Link: http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-37fa6d39-b97d-4c3c-8ec5-16c2fc2c03b1