Asylum seekers are a marginalized group that often encounter the concept of otherness. The researc has shown that people accept or see them as a burden and dangerous. Also they are pushed aside by the majority. Regarding the attitude towards children who are asylum seekers, is not researched, so I decided to explore this topic in my master's thesis. I also wanted to focus on the issue of acceptance of these children in primary school and the role of teachers in their inclusion in the classroom. The main goal is to investigate the social status of the child of an asylum seeker in the classroom and how they are accepted by classmates. At the same time my resarch goal will be to find out what role teachers play in the integration of asylum seeker’s child into the classroom.
The theoretical part presents three important topics related to asylum seekers. Firstly, the concept of migration is presented, followed by an explanation of various topics, related to school, as asylum seeker children are soon sent to school and thus their "new" peers are the one of the first relationships they have with a new society. Finally, the concept of social position of the child in class is presented as it only reveals how the child is accepted in the group (class), which was also my main goal of the master's thesis.
The triangulation is used in the empirical part. Firstly, I surveyed classes of three primary schools, in which at least one child is an asylum seeker and eight professionals who have experience working with a child asylum seeker and whose stories have provided additional insight into classroom relationships, description of good strategies for integrating asylum seekers’ children into the classroom and the way intercultural dialogue takes place. Unfortunately, due to epidemiological measures, planned observation could not be performed.
It is interesting that many children who stay in asylum home, are included in Slovenian educational system and research in the field of peer relations with asylum seeker children, can not be traced. As these children are one of the most vulnerable groups and often excluded, I found out that a research in this area is necessary. A school can make a significant contribution to child’s socialization, self-esteem, sense of acceptance and belonging, and also reduction of prejudice.
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