Freirean critical consciousness in a refugee context: a case study of Syrian refugees in Jordan

This paper argues that education underpinned by critical pedagogies offers an alternative for engaging with the complexities of conflict, peace and social transformation in refugee contexts. Drawing upon a semi-ethnographic qualitative study with a focus on a non-formal educational programme for supporting Jordanian and Syrian refugee youth, we find that participatory pedagogies provide a promising mechanism for reaching out-of-school refugees in host communities. However, a series of intersecting factors, namely the perception that empowerment education is antithetical to the goal of gaining certification, leads to manipulation of the pedagogies. Hence, empowerment education risks being co-opted by the ‘banking model’ of education. The paper critiques the dominant market-oriented education and suggests an alternative approach to engage with challenges in refugee contexts.