(New) Inclusion and Exclusion in the Context of Current Refugee Migration

Practices and Learning Processes in Schools Beyond the Metropolises

The research project examines the practices and interpretations in schools in the context of current forced migration movements, as well as the associated partial exclusions and differential opportunities for the participation of students with refugee biographies in education. Using the example of secondary schools in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt, the project first examines the approaches and political frameworks in which schools outside the metropolises accompany the educational trajectories of refugee children, as well as the (new) inclusions and exclusions and national-ethno-cultural demarcations associated with them.

Secondly, the project examines the processes of change and learning that school professionals have undergone with regard to supporting the educational trajectories of children and young people who have experienced forced migration and to shaping anti-discriminatory school practices, especially since the refugee movements of 2015/16.

These questions are analysed in an explorative, empirical-qualitative research design: In addition to the analysis of migration policy frameworks and respective school regulations, guided interviews with school principals, teachers and school social workers were conducted and evaluated using qualitative-reconstructive methods.

Duration: September 1, 2022 - ongoing

Project lead
Prof. Dr. Ellen Kollender (Leuphana University of Lüneburg)
Dorothee Schwendowius (Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg)