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Where Hope Flourishes: Teaching Refugee Children in Troubling Times

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Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students

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Abstract

Human relocation is occurring at unprecedented levels worldwide. Educational organizations must address the needs of refugees and migrants and mitigate the concerns and prejudices of local communities, yet little is known about how teachers are addressing these challenges. Since its democracy in 1994, the influx of refugees into South Africa has increased rapidly. African refugees in South Africa have become the new other, and most likely occupy the lowest rungs of the new order, facing potential exclusion and marginalization. When people arrive in a new country, the pressure to adapt is foremost. For children, this means going to school. Given this context, teachers face significant challenges in managing the diversity introduced by the presence of refugee children in their classrooms. This chapter proposes a conceptual framework integrating humanizing pedagogy, love as a critical act of resistance, and hope and resilience to address core challenges encountered by teachers in the country. Implications for teaching refugee children are also recommended.

As individuals or as peoples, by fighting for the restoration of [our] humanity [we]

will be attempting the restoration of true generosity. And this fight, because of the

purpose given it, will actually constitute an act of love. (Paulo Freire, 1970 )

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the National Research Foundation for funding for the project “Social change, justice and peace education” (project number 118546).

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  1. University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Leila Kajee

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  1. Leila Kajee
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Correspondence to Leila Kajee .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Salou, Spain

    Thomas DeVere Wolsey

  2. The American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt

    Ibrahim M. Karkouti

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Kajee, L. (2023). Where Hope Flourishes: Teaching Refugee Children in Troubling Times. In: Wolsey, T.D., Karkouti, I.M. (eds) Teaching Refugees and Displaced Students. Springer Texts in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33834-2_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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