Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Integration of Syrian Refugees in Turkey: Understanding the Educators’ Perception

  • Published:
Journal of International Migration and Integration Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to analyze the perception of pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards Syrian refugee children, who migrated to Turkey after the outbreak of the war in Syria. A factorial design is used to compare the independent and interactive effects of pre-service teachers’ attitudes on Syrian refugees. Participants consisted of 353 senior-level university students. This study finds that there are no significant differences between teachers’ ethnicities and gender on Syrian refugees. The research indicates that integration of refugee children into national education system is crucial; however, the training and education system lacks the philosophy associated with refugees, integration, and multiculturalism.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akgul, A., Kapti, A., & Demir, O. O. (2015). Goc ve kamu politikalari: Suriye krizi uzerine bir analiz [migration and public policies: an analysis of Syrian crisis]. The GLOBAL: A Journal of Policy and Strategy, 1(2), 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alpak, G., Unal, A., Bulbul, F., Sagaltici, E., Bez, Y., Altindag, A., & Savas, H. A. (2015). Post-traumatic stress disorder among Syrian refugees in Turkey: a cross-sectional study. International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice, 19(1), 45–50.

  • Aydin, H., & Kaya, Y. (2017). The educational needs of and barriers faced by Syrian refugee students in Turkey: a qualitative case study. Intercultural Education, 28(5), 456–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baban, F., Ilcan, S., & Rygiel, K. (2017). Syrian refugees in Turkey: pathways to precarity, differential inclusion, and negotiated citizenship rights. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(1), 41–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2016.1192996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, J. W. (1994). Acculturation and psychological adaptation: An overview. In A. M. Bouvy, F. J. R. Von de Vijver, P. Boski, & P. Schmitz (Eds.), Journeys into cross-cultural psychology. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonessi, D. (2016). Swapping schoolbooks for sewing. https://www.usnews.com/news/bestcountries/articles/2016-11-16/turkey-struggles-to-provide-education-for-syrian-children. Accessed 10 April 2018.

  • Butkus, M., Maciulyte-Sniukiene, A., Davidaviciene, V., & Matuzeviciute, K. (2016). Factors influencing society’s attitudes towards internal and external EU immigrants. Filosifija Sociologij, 27(4), 292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corona, R., Velazquez, E., McDonald, S., Avila, M., Neff, M., Iglesias, A., & Halfond, R. (2017). Ethnic labels, pride, and challenges: a qualitative study of Latinx youth living in a new Latinx destination community. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 4(1), 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • ECHO. (2016). Syria Crisis. Belgium: Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenbruch, M. (1988). The mental health of refugee children and their cultural development. International Migration Review, 22(2), 282–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emin, N. M. (2016). Türkiye’deki Suriyeli çocuklarin eğitimi: temel eğitim politikalari [Educating Syrian refugees in Turkey and basic education policies]. Ankara: SETA Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • French, D. C., & Conrad, J. (2001). School dropout as predicted by peer rejection and antisocial behavior. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11, 225–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hones, D. F., & Cha, C. S. (1999). Educating new Americans: immigrant lives and learning. Mahwah: Erlbaum.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Houdyshell, M. (2017). Academic integrity in an emerging democracy: how university students in a former Soviet Republic balance achievement and success in education. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 4(1), 14–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • House, J. D. (2001). The relationship between academic self-concept and school withdrawal. Journal of Social Psychology, 133, 125–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • HUGO. (2014). Syrians in Turkey: social acceptance and integration research. Ankara: Hacettepe University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Human Right Watch. (2017). Education for syrian refugee children. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/tag/education-syrian-refugee-children. Accessed 10 April 2018.

  • Huyck, E. E., & Fields, R. (1981). Impact of resettlement on refugee children. International Migration Review, 15(1–2), 246–254.

  • Icduygu, A. (2015). Syrian refugees in Turkey: the long road ahead. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Idil, N. (2017). Number of Syrian children at education age reaches almost 1 million in Turkey. Retrieved from http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/number-of-syrian-children-at-education-age-reaches-almost-1-million-in-turkey%2D%2D112603. Accessed 17 April 2018.

  • International Crisis Group. (2018). Turkey’s Syrian refugees: defusing metropolitan tensions [Europe Report# 248]. Belgium: International Crisis Group Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaya, Y. (2015). The opinions of primary school, Turkish language and social science teachers regarding education in the mother tongue (Kurdish). Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 2(2), 33–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kilic, B. (2017). Syrian refugees in Turkey: time to dispel some myths. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/syrian-refugees-in-turkey-time-to-dispel-some-myths-80996.

  • Kugler, E. G. (2009). Partnering with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation parents and families to support immigrant and refugee children at school. Washington, DC: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lafer, S. (2014). Democratic design for the humanization of education. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 1(1), 6–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McBrien, L. J. (2005). Educational needs and barriers for refugee students in the United States: a review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 75(3), 329–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, E. (2014). Syrian refugees: the right to education in Turkey. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/18207326/Syrian_Refugees_The_Right_to_Education_in_Turkey. Accessed 15 Dec 2017.

  • Ogbu, J. U. (1982). Cultural discontinuities and schooling. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 13, 290–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, L. (2000). Learning English and learning America: immigrants in the eye of a storm. Theory Into Practice, 39, 196–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2001). Legacies: the story of the immigrant second generation. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qaddour, K. (2017). Educating Syrian refugees in turkey. Retrieved from http://carnegieendowment.org/sada/74782.

  • Schweitzer, R., Perkoulidis, S., Krome, S., Ludlow, C., & Ryan, M. (2005). Attitudes towards refugees: the dark side of prejudice in Australia. Australian Journal of Psychology, 57(3), 170–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simsek, D. (2015). Anti-Syrian racism in Turkey. Retrieved from https://www.opendemocracy.net/north-africa-west-asia/dogus-simsek/antisyrian-racism-in-turkey. Accessed 15 Dec 2017.

  • Sinclair, M. (2001). Education in emergencies. In: J. Crisp, C. Talbot, D. Cipollone (Eds.), Learning for a future: refugee education in developing countries (pp. 1–83). Geneva: UNHCR.

  • Sozcu (2017) İl Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü’nden skandal talimat! Artık Suriyelilere bu da serbest, Sozcu Gazetesi. Retrieved on April 2018 from https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2017/gundem/il-milli-egitim-mudurlugunden-skandal-talimat-artik-suriyelilere-bu-da-serbest-1983563/.

  • Suárez-Orozco, C., & Suárez-Orozco, M. M. (2001). Children of immigration. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarman, B., & Gürel, D. (2017). Awareness of social studies teacher candidates on refugees in Turkey. The Journal of Social Studies Research, 41(3), 183–193.

  • Theirworld. (2017). Turkey reveals how 660,000 Syrian refugee children will move into state schools. Retrieved from http://theirworld.org/news/turkey-plan-will-get-all-syrian-refugee-children-in-school. Accessed 17 April 2018.

  • UNICEF. (2015). Curriculum, accreditation and certification for Syrian children in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. New York: UNICEF Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2000). The UNHCR global report 1999. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2016). Syria regional refugee responses. Retrieved on April 20, 2016, from http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=224

  • Yigit, I. H., & Tatch, A. (2017). Syrian refugees and Americans: perceptions, attitudes and insights. Am J Qual Res, 1(1), 13–31.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arif Akgul.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Aydin, H., Gundogdu, M. & Akgul, A. Integration of Syrian Refugees in Turkey: Understanding the Educators’ Perception. Int. Migration & Integration 20, 1029–1040 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-018-0638-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-018-0638-1

Keywords

Navigation