Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ECER 2025, Belgrade, Sırbistan, 8 - 12 Eylül 2025, ss.1-2, (Özet Bildiri)
Refugee children’s needs are frequently explained and analyzed through ableist or psychosocial frameworks that prioritize heteronormative, productive bodies (Pisani & Grech, 2015; Pisani et al., 2016). These normative portrayals often render refugee children with special needs invisible in educational research and practice (Oliver & Singal, 2017). In schools, teachers tend to focus on refugee children’s language, academic, and psychosocial needs (Anis et al., 2021; Oner et al., 2020). However, when teachers encounter refugee students who behave differently from their expectations, they often overlook these children’s needs or feel unprepared to integrate them into educational activities (Author1, 2017). This neglect results in such students being unfairly labeled as problematic, lazy, or ungrateful, particularly when they do not respond to traditional interventions (Author1, 2017; Author1, 2020). Consequently, refugee children with special needs (RCSN) represent one of the most vulnerable immigrant groups (Kett et al., 2010; Pearce, 2017).
Despite Turkey’s legal commitment to guaranteeing the right to education, non-discrimination, and equal access for RCSN (Yazicioglu, 2018), these children often lack access to special education services. Limited support is typically only available when NGOs intervene (Hatipoglu, 2022). Research on Syrian refugee children with disabilities in Turkey remains scarce (Bayrakli, 2024). As highlighted by Karasu et al. (2017), Türkiye’s standardized assessment tools fail to adequately identify refugee children’s special needs due to the lack of validated translations. Consequently, these children are frequently mislabeled and treated unjustly within school communities, as their needs remain unmet under standard instructional approaches.
Addressing these issues, this study examines the experiences of five refugee children who exhibit clear indicators of requiring special education and related services. The aim is to understand how refugee children with special needs are excluded from social and educational circles when meaningful support is absent. The following research questions guide this study:
The literature has extensive information about refugee children living in Turkey (Author1, 2020; Eren & Cavusoglu, 2021). Based on the literature, it is known that the major challenges for refugee children are linguistic and cultural barriers (Celik et al, 2023). Scholars also discuss that refugee children are exposed to bullying and discrimination due to the anti-refugee sentiments of their school community (Kardes & Akman, 2022). Bayrakli (2024) mentioned that there is a significant number of refugee children with various forms of disabilities; however, information about the experiences of Syrian refugees with disabilities and special needs is limited in many countries including those hosting high numbers of refugees (Bayrakli, 2024; Rohwerder, 2018). Curtis and Geagan (2016) state that disabilities are widespread among displaced people, but their visibility in society is less than those living with some form of disability.
This research is a multiple-case study that focuses on the experiences of five refugee children with special needs. Every child has unique challenges that result from the intersectionality of their migratory status and dis(ability), but they encounter similar circumstances of social isolation and the attitudes of others towards them during educational activities. Disability and intervention studies frequently employ multiple case studies to gather data from multiple sources, examine persons with special needs in their larger context, and improve understanding of the cases being studied (Author 2; 2023). Researchers have the advantage of collecting evidence and drawing conclusions from multiple case studies. They also provide a bounded system that includes all the cases involved in the research (Yin, 2014). This study, therefore, uses multiple case studies to understand the experiences of RCSN in the school context.
This study examined the experiences of five refugee students with various disabilities in a Turkish school. Each child has unique signs of special needs. One professional from Rehberlik ve Araştırma Merkezi (RAM, this acronym will be used here and after, meaning The Guidance and Research Center, which operates under the direction of the Ministry of National Education in Türkiye and is responsible for educational diagnosis and placement of the children with disabilities) and overseen by an academic in the field of special education, supported the identification of their potential special needs. Unfortunately, the lack of Arabic-translated measures prevented any official diagnosis for them.
The data of the study were mainly collected via interviews with RCSN, teachers, and school counselors by using semi-structured interview protocols. The data sets also included classroom observations, participant observations outside the school and during extracurricular activities, which mainly focused on teaching Turkish, and observation of these children’s teachers in the teachers’ lounge. The duration of the whole data collection took 6 months. Each child and teacher were observed weekly for three hours in their classroom.
The data for this study underwent reconstructive analysis. We use reconstructive analysis to look at the meanings and symbolically structured forms of experiences at different levels. This method enabled us to analyze the data based on pragmatics and critical thinking (Carspecken, 2007). This data analysis not only collected data from RCSN but also from other social actors, including teachers and school counselors.
We generated three themes: 1) Noticing the irregularity, 2) Double-marginalization, and 3) Developing resilience.
Noticing the irregularity: RCSN received education alongside their peers, but they did not participate in classroom activities. At first, these children seemed to receive little attention because of their lack of language skills, but ongoing observations showed that their teachers neglected their needs because it required too much of their time, and the other children ignored them because they did not fit in the social game circles. This negligent attitude of others towards them became much clearer when there were other refugee students with normal development in the classroom.
Double-marginalization: In this study, RCSN experienced double marginalization as a result of negative reactions from their teachers and peers. “The behavior of these children irritates people," said the school counselor. The local children tried to keep their distance from them because of their immigration status and so-called “abnormal and weird” behaviors. The other refugee children were also attempting to distance themselves from their close community.
Developing resilience: RCSN employed these strategies for protection or to gain acceptance from their peers. One of these children's interest in math led her to develop a numerical system. Others' strategies were attempting to establish friendships with the other marginalized local children, building a strong relationship with his classroom teacher, becoming a role model for his manners in class, and protecting themselves from their classmates' negative attitudes by staying close to the teachers on duty in the schoolyard corridor.
This study presents that children's special needs is an added barrier for refugee children with special needs.This study emphasizes the difficulty of understanding these children's conditions. This study shows that refugee children with special needs are aware of their situation and needs, and they employ various strategies to draw attention to their circumstances.
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