Providing Quality Early Care and Education to Young Children Who Experience Maltreatment: A Review of the Literature

The current paper highlights the few studies that examine the role of early care and education on the developmental and early academic outcomes of children who experience maltreatment. First, we argue that children who experience maltreatment are at significant risk for poor developmental outcomes as a result of the chronic exposure to stress that is typical of this population. Recent evidence emphasizing the effects of stress on brain development is discussed. Next, the role of quality early care and education (ECE) experiences for children receiving services from child protective agencies are explored, underscoring three particular studies that examine the early educational experiences of children who receive child protective services as a result of maltreatment or exposure to violence. Finally, we focus on current approaches to improve the outcomes of children who experience maltreatment, within the context of ECE, and the implications for future research. Overall, this review serves as a call for international research efforts to explore the role of ECE on the developmental and early educational outcomes of this vulnerable population of children.     

Iraqi Refugee High School Students’ Academic Adjustment

Many Iraqi refugee students in the United States suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as acculturation stresses. These stresses often create challenges for their integration into U.S. schools. The project explored risk factors such as the length of educational gaps in transit, PTSD, and separation and marginalization acculturation, as well as protective factors such as resilience, self-esteem, and integration and assimilation. We conducted bivariate correlations and multiple regression to examine the relationship between factors and predicting school adjustment using variables among 100 Iraqi refugee high school students in the Detroit area. The results showed that the educational gaps (negatively), and assimilation and resilience (positively), are the strongest predictors for school adjustment. PTSD incurred by Iraqis as a result of events experienced before and during their migration from Iraq are related to their self-esteem and separation acculturation, while educational gaps are related to their marginalization as well as to their integration.     

Assessment in Nepal

The operation and quality of assessment activities and procedures is closely bound up with the wider educational, economic and social infrastructure of a country. This paper reviews educational assessment in one of the world's poorest countries, and discusses the factors that determine how assessment and examinations are structured, and how their outcomes are used. The authors describe developments that have sought to bring about change and improvement, and review the factors that continue to limit these developments, whilst recognising the enormous progress that has already been made.     

Implications of risk and resilience in the life of the individual who is gifted/learning disabled

The constructs of risk and resilience and their implication in the life of individuals who are gifted, learning disabled, and gifted/learning disabled will be explored in this paper. The intent is to understand further how the constructs of risk and resilience affect individuals who are gifted/learning disabled. The paper includes a discussion of risk and resilience, followed by a discussion of learning disabilities, giftedness, and learning disabilities combined with giftedness. Each of these sections addresses the risk factors that hinder normal development and make the individual more vulnerable and the protective factors that serve to buffer the individual's response to adversity. Interventions that may foster resilience in the individual who is gifted/learning disabled are proposed.     

Aboriginal identity in education settings: privileging our stories as a way of deconstructing the past and re-imagining the future

From Aboriginal Australian perspectives and experiences, Aunty Judi Wickes and Marnee Shay bring a cross-generational, critical race analysis of Aboriginal identities and how they are implicated in the schooling experiences of Aboriginal young people. Using autoethnography, Aunty Judi and Marnee discuss their educational experiences in the Australian education systems from primary schooling experiences to university settings. These narratives bring forth the dominant discourses that continue to subjugate and subordinate Aboriginal Australians and Aboriginal Australian identities in Education settings. The paper distinguishes the narratives of two Aboriginal women and how on-going colonial and racialised constructions of Aboriginal identity continue to impact upon the educational experiences of Aboriginal peoples and consequently the engagement of Aboriginal young people in school settings. Moreover, we will use the process of critical self-reflection to re-imagine educational approaches to reconstruct our own experiences and consider what changes might improve the outcomes of Indigenous young people for future generations.     

Becoming a teacher: the identity construction experiences of beginning English language teachers in Hong Kong

Debate over educational reform in many countries has addressed the question of how to attract and retain teachers. As part of a multiple case study that includes eight beginning English language teachers in Hong Kong, this paper offers an in-depth analysis of the experiences of two participants, Christine and Samuel, during their initial year of full time teaching in Hong Kong schools. The data, collected during an entire academic year, suggests that Christine used her experiences of becoming a teacher to justify and reaffirm her determination to pursue a career within English language teaching. In contrast, Samuel??s preliminary year of full-time teaching culminated in his decision to leave the teaching profession. A contribution of this study is to explore these very different experiences and outcomes using a framework of teacher identity construction. From this perspective, findings suggest that the participants?? engagement in the practices and activities of teaching, their relations with colleagues, and their positioning within different discourses of teaching and learning by their schools as well as by the wider educational environment, shaped their decisions about whether to continue to pursue a teaching career. Implications for attracting and retaining teachers, as well as for future research, are discussed.     

RESILIENCY PROFILES OF CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY AND THEIR TYPICALLY DEVELOPING PEERS

Intellectual disability (ID) is associated with a range of risk factors that make children more vulnerable to adverse developmental outcomes, including mental health problems. Nevertheless, some children with ID do much better than others, presumably because of the presence of protective factors that increase their resilience. The current study compared resiliency profiles of children with ID (n = 115; mean age, 11.9 years) and their typically developing peers (n = 106; mean age, 11.8 years) using the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents and the Healthy Kids Resilience Assessment. In many respects, children with ID and their typically developing peers reported similar levels of the protective factors that are associated with resilience. However, the children with ID reported higher levels of emotional sensitivity and lower tolerance, as well as fewer future goals. Compared with typically developing children, those with ID reported more support at school and less support within their communities. These findings have important implications for interventions that aim to promote positive developmental outcomes and to prevent the adverse sequelae that have been associated with low intelligence.     

Resilience in young children involved with child protective services

Child maltreatment increases the risk of poor developmental outcomes. However, some children display resilience, meaning they are high-functioning despite their adverse experiences. To date, few research studies have examined protective factors among very young maltreated children. Yet, domains of resilience, and the protective factors that promote resilience among maltreated children, are likely to differ by developmental stage. Drawing on ecological systems theory and life course theory, we examined how protective factors at multiple ecological levels across early childhood were related to social and cognitive resilience among very young children involved with child protective services. The results demonstrated that the buffering effects of protective factors varied by social or cognitive resilience and the cumulative effects of protective factors were more consistently related to later resilience than protective factors at specific time points. In addition, the influence of specific protective factors on resilience slightly varied by initial in-home or out-of-home placement. These findings have important policy and research implications for promoting optimal development among children involved in child protective services.     

The mental health and wellbeing of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URMs)

BackgroundToday, almost half of all refugees worldwide are children and adolescents, nearly a quarter of whom arrive in Europe as Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM). Many URMs have experienced the cumulative stress of being exposed both to the adverse environmental conditions which drive forced migration, and to the traumatic experience of displacement and resettlement. These experiences, coupled with other developmental stressors, may impede their overall development and increase their likelihood of mental health problems. Despite the evident vulnerability of URMs, much controversy currently surrounds the legitimacy of their arrival in host countries and their mental health is given little consideration.ObjectiveThis review synthesises and examines the limited published literature on the impact of traumatic refugee experiences on the mental health and development of URMs.MethodsAcademic databases and other sources were searched using key terms relating to URMs and mental health.ResultsThe findings confirm in large part that being a URM negatively influences mental health development, and that adolescence and being female are particular indicators of increased risk of psychiatric disorders. However, cultural differences in measurement and assessment of mental health are important confounding factors.ConclusionsThe current literature on youth in transit consistently paints a picture of how experiences URMs face can place a great burden on their mental health - clearly depicting an urgent need to consider their mental health within the current climate. The pressing need for improved care based on best practice is discussed.     

Child refugees,trauma and education: interactionist considerations on social and emotional needs and development

This paper focuses on the social and emotional needs of children and young people who are refugees. It was inspired by casework undertaken by the author involving a 13‐year‐old boy who was a refugee from Montenegro. A vignette of the case is presented in addition to a review of relevant literature to illustrate and discuss the various sources of trauma experienced by children and young people who are refugees, and the potential impact of these on psychological functioning and emotional wellbeing. Child refugees’ experiences of trauma are seldom restricted to experiences of loss, violence or persecution in their country of origin. Rather, there are multiple experiences in the country of origin, during migration and on arrival in a country of “refuge” that are potentially traumatic, and can have adverse effects on a child or young person’s development. Drawing on research with children and adults who are refugees, as well as research into post‐traumatic stress disorder and into the educational effects of trauma, the paper advocates interactionist and ecosystemic perspectives for understanding the difficulties encountered by refugee children, and considers possibilities for therapeutic intervention.     

Developing Resilience in Children Who are in Public Care: The educational psychology perspective

Significant adults who support and teach children are only too aware of the effects of adverse experiences on intellectual, social and personal development. Less easily predicted, however, is a small number of young people who, despite many negative experiences, seem to make a considerable success of their lives. In this paper, the intriguing notion of 'resilience' will be explored and some suggestions will be offered on how educational psychologists could use both the concept and the underpinning research to challenge current practice in childcare and education, and to generate strategies for carers and teachers that can enable them to enhance the resilience of vulnerable children and young people.     

Invest for the Long Term or Attend to Immediate Needs? Schools and the Employment of Less Educated Youths and Adults

For the past 20 years, researchers worldwide have shared a consensus that tracking leads to failure in school. But educational systems continue to use this practice for many reasons. One argument used to support the practice is that students who enter the vocational track early in their careers tend to enter the labour market more quickly. Data show, however, that when these people are in their 40s, they become the most vulnerable to poverty, especially during periods of economic recession. In addition to moving towards more comprehensive educational systems as the best long-term way to improve the chances of all future adults, our research demonstrates that schools can play a key role in preventing and reversing the risk of unemployment and poverty of low educated youth. The INCLUD-ED project has analysed effective actions in eight European countries (Slovenia, United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, Romania, Belgium, Finland, and Spain) that respond to the educational needs of those who have experienced tracking. These effective alternatives are vocational programmes that include an academic-type of curriculum and allow students to move to higher education, as well as adult education programmes in schools which meet families' training needs, improving their opportunities in the labour market.     

A Qualitative Exploration of the Tertiary Education Experiences of Refugee and Asylum Seekers in Australia

Abstract

The world currently has the highest documented level of displaced people in recorded history. This includes a large number of individuals who are spending their youth as asylum seekers or refugees, which often impedes their access to and engagement with educational pursuits. Given that education has been shown to be a fundamental factor to facilitative resettlement and acculturation for newly-arrived refugee families and individuals, continued research attempting to understand the barriers to accessing education is warranted. This study qualitatively examines the educational experiences (with a focus on access to education) of 10 refugee and asylum-seeking students in Australian tertiary education using thematic analysis on semi-structured interview data. Six themes were identified from the interviews as barriers to or facilitators in accessing education. These are: relationships, emotional well-being, logistics, knowledge, instability, and financial hardship. The findings from this study add to a limited empirical knowledge base on this topic, and improve our understanding of the experiences of accessing education for students with refugee backgrounds. This is discussed in relation to its implications for institutes and policy makers.     

Opportunities for inclusion? The education of learners with special educational needs and disabilities in special schools in Uganda

The Government of Uganda aims to provide good quality education for all learners in inclusive schools. However, some learners who have severe disabilities, including those who are deaf, will, for some time, continue to receive their education in special schools. In this article, Kirsten Kristensen, consultant in inclusive and special needs education for many countries in East Africa, Martin Omagor-Loican, Commissioner for Special Needs Education, Negris Onen, Principal Education Officer for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, both at the Ministry of Education in Sports in Uganda, and Daniel Okot, co-ordinator for the Diploma in Special Needs Education at Kyambogo University, provide an account of their study of 15 such schools. The findings from the study indicate a striking need for reform and transformation. While Uganda has an advanced structure for training teachers in special needs education, the quality of education and educational materials in special schools, is poor. Often children are admitted to special schools without proper assessment of their educational needs and the resources are not available to provide them with an appropriate range of experiences. The authors of this article call for a thoroughgoing review of provision and make a series of coherent and persuasive recommendations for developments in policy and practice focused on enabling special schools in Uganda to play an essential role in future as resource centres supporting an inclusive education system.     

“If You Need Help,They are Always There for us”: Education for Refugees in an International High School in NYC

This qualitative study examines how an “international” high school in New York City responds to the needs of refugee students. It asks: What are the specific academic needs of secondary-level refugee students? How does one school meet their needs, and what challenges are encountered? To complement one-on-one semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, this qualitative study also entailed a participatory visual methodology through which students were provided digital or disposable cameras and asked to take photographs of the people, places and/or things that contributed to their schooling experiences. The exercise and resulting images provided students and researchers with a creative way to shape the project and address emerging issues. The findings document key school-based factors that contribute to academic inclusion of refugee and asylee students, including: educator support, care and encouragement; linguistic support from teachers; learner-centered pedagogical approaches; and flexible and responsive curricular approaches and assessment strategies. Refugees are generally grouped with other immigrants, with insufficient attention to their unique experiences and needs and thus inadequate services for refugee children. The findings from this study will help to remedy this gap and yield important insights regarding how to improve schooling for vulnerable populations in urban settings.

     

‘It’s the best thing I’ve done in a long while’: teenage mothers’ experiences of educational alternatives

Pregnant and mothering schoolgirls have been identified as an educationally vulnerable group. Many are not welcomed in their mainstream schools and as a consequence, access a range of educational alternatives. This article presents the views and experiences of 14 young women in the English Midlands, who became pregnant while still of statutory school age, 12 of whom spent time in alternative educational settings. It is based on data gathered from repeat interviews over an 18-month period and shows that all who attended the educational alternatives rated them highly and benefitted from what they had to offer. Using the concept of ‘difference’ as a central analytic theme, the article examines how and why this was the case. The analysis shows that it was through recognising some differences but not others that the educational alternatives were successful in supporting young women’s learning and well-being. Importantly, those that were recognised were done so in non-stigmatising ways. The research also highlights some limitations of the alternatives, alongside the ways in which gender and class continue to impact the educational outcomes and career trajectories of this particular group of students.     

Gendered barriers to educational opportunities: resettlement of Sudanese refugees in Australia

This paper argues that whilst equitable educational pathways are integrated into educational policy discourses in Australia, there are significant gendered barriers to educational participation among members of the Sudanese refugee groups. The specific conditions of forced migration reinforce disadvantage and further limit opportunities. Cultural factors play a key role in this, as the data from this study demonstrate. Participants in this study are Sudanese refugees who arrived in Australia as part of the humanitarian programme. The paper draws upon interviews and focus group data that were collected for a larger study on the broader issue of resettlement of Sudanese refugees in Australia. This paper argues that women from refugee backgrounds are particularly at risk and face cultural and linguistic barriers in accessing educational opportunities.     

The mental health and psychological well-being of refugee children and young people: an exploration of risk,resilience and protective factors

This research investigates the perceptions of refugee children, refugee parents and school staff regarding the positive adaptation of refugee children in a new social context and the effects on mental health and psychological well-being. This included an exploration of resilience and the role of risk and protective factors. Few studies have focused on views from a resilience perspective, and these have tended to use quantitative rather than qualitative measures. This mixed methods piece of “real world” research adopted a “what’s working well” perspective and explored the important voices of these children, parents and school staff. Staff, parent and child responses were triangulated to provide a rich picture of the potential protective factors operating within the school and family environment. Implications for practice are discussed.     

School inspections in low- and middle-income countries: Explaining impact and mechanisms of impact

Many efforts to implement and improve school inspections have been modelled on examples from high-income countries, and many studies on the effectiveness of such systems have also only been carried out in these countries. However, local contexts in low- and middle-income countries are very different from those in developed countries, and findings about the effectiveness of school inspections from Western studies are therefore not easily transferable to low- and middle-income countries. Existing literature portrays complex and varied links amongst governance context, policy, design of accountability systems, mechanisms of impact and school outcomes that make translation of conditions across studies challenging. This paper presents the results of a systematic review about the conditions under which school inspections lead to improvement in schools and to positive learning outcomes for schoolchildren in low- and middle-income countries, especially the poorest and most marginalised.