THE POTENTIAL OF A PUBLIC PRESCHOOL INTERVENTION TO PROMOTE GREATER SOCIAL COHESION BETWEEN THE REFUGEE AND HOST COMMUNITIES IN TÜRKİYE

Date

2023-7

Author

Paienjton, Qimti Zehra

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Türkiye is unique among countries affected by influx of Syrian refugees to accommodate the refugees within the national education system using a single shift shared space model. This study examined how preschool children and parents from host and refugee communities are navigating social relations in the context of a diverse public preschool. Implementing the study as a pragmatic action research, the researcher also supported the school, which was located in the Altındağ district of Ankara, to engage parents and children in the implementation of an adapted bibliotherapy intervention. This entailed co-reading and co-developing a picturebook in one preschool classroom, with the objective of enhancing social interactions. Children and parents from both communities, as well as the teacher and principal, were included as participants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted before and after the intervention to ensure they are given voice. The children’s drawings and the researcher’s in-class observations were used as complementary data. The study revealed the critical role of language in interactions and how the challenges of refugee children to converse in Turkish was preventing friendships among host community children and refugee children. At the same time, predominantly ingroup play and limited social interactions with host community children were not allowing for enabling conditions for the language acquisition that would typically be expected in immersive contexts. The adapted bibliotherapy intervention was appreciated by participants and empowered them to identify their aspirations and agency with regard to improved social cohesion. Implications for replication and improving the effectiveness of the intervention are discussed.

Subject Keywords

refugee education, preschool intervention, parent engagement, social cohesion, mülteci eğitimi, erken çocuklukta müdahele, aile katılımı, sosyal uyum

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/104483

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis