Research-based Argumentative Essay: Topic Proposal and Outline 2

Thesis (in one sentence):  

Education can provide an opportunity for refugee children to find safety, security, and to expand their knowledge, thus allowing them to lead successful lives. 

List at least two potential Main Points based on your mapping.  (Phrases are OK.):

  1. Education provides a sense of normalcy, safety, and security for refugee children facing conflicts.
  2. Teachers and other educators/faculty can provide vital education and psychological support to help the mental health and wellness of these refugee kids.
  3. Education will expand the knowledge of these kids allowing them to lead successful lives.

Counterargument

There aren’t enough resources for education and educating refugees will allow them to steal the jobs of hard working citizens.

  1. Schools can be a place for attracting violence because it’s a place, maybe the only place, where people gather in large groups.
  2. In some countries refugees don’t have to pay for education when local students do, which can lead to conflicts between the locals and refugees.

 

Rebuttal 

  1. Educating refugees will not only help them but will also help their new country thrive socially, politically, and economically.
  2. This doesn’t happen everywhere but a way to avoid violence can be to use informal education techniques.
  3. Change the policy of these countries to prevent further conflict.

 

 

Alison Aaron

Prof. James Phillips

Eng 170 – 22

04 November 2020

My Notes on the Importance of Education in the Lives of Refugees 2

 

This chapter explores the potential contributions of non-formal educational programmes in the context of refugee resettlement in the United States. Framed within an ecological perspective, the chapter highlights school-based and community approaches to serving refugee children, youth and adults in order to promote psychosocial well-being and increased access to economic resources. These approaches are explored through case studies of the WorkStyles programme at the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning and the International KidSuccess programme at Jewish Family Services, both located in Denver, Colorado. The conclusion stresses the importance of a flexible programme that recognizes the direct interests and concerns of diverse refugee populations. 

 

Demirdjian, Lala. Education, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers / Lala Demirdjian. Bloomsbury, 2012.

  • Non-formal education programs don’t exactly follow the rules of formal education, meaning it can take place in or out of a classroom, covers topics not typically discussed, and prioritizes different subjects.
  • These case studies explore how non-formal education programs in Denver Colorado have served refugee children.
  • These studies focus on education from both the school and community.
  • Non-formal education is intended to help refugees with psychological issues, becoming stable both socially, mentally, and economically, and providing proper education to start.
  • The findings from these studies stress the importance of education, specifically non-formal, for refugee children.

Schools are targeted during war, in part because they have such high profiles. In rural areas, the school building may be the only substantial permanent structure, making it highly susceptible to shelling, closure or looting. In Mozambique, for example, a study prepared for the present report estimated that 45 per cent of primary school networks were destroyed. Often, local teachers are also prime targets because they are important community members and tend to be more than usually politicized. According to the above mentioned study, during the crisis in Rwanda, more than two-thirds of teachers either fled or were killed. The destruction of educational infrastructures represents one of the greatest developmental setbacks for countries affected by conflict. Years of lost schooling and vocational skills will take equivalent years to replace and their absence imposes a greater vulnerability on the ability of societies to recover after war. 

“Impact of Armed Conflict on Children : Note / by the Secretary-General.” Refworld, UN General Assembly, 26 Aug. 1996, www.refworld.org/docid/3b00f2d30.html

  • This will be for the counter argument.
  • Schools are targeted during times of conflict due to:
    • May be the only place giant groups gather
    • May be the only permanent structure
  • Study showed 45% of primary schools in Mozambique were destroyed.
  • Teachers can be targets because they are very important to the future of their students. 
    • This can cause teachers to be killed or flee before they can be killed.
  • Counterargument: practice non-formal education using Demirdjian to back up.
    • Not in classrooms, and smaller groups
    • Educate in secret

The literature on PPE has focused largely on the evidence for psychosocial benefits of education, with schools acting to enrich social support, provide meaningful activity, and provide a sense of hope, as described in one of the earliest studies on the topic conducted among Chechen adolescents in the early 2000s. (26) The concept of “child-friendly” spaces/ schools has also demonstrated positive protective effects of education for children and adolescents affected by conflict. (27) More recently, however, a study from three regions, including several affected by conflict, has also shown mixed evidence of the effect of school enrolment on risk of emotional, physical, and sexual violence in adolescents; in several of the countries studied, enrolment increased the risk of violence among both females and males, although it was protective for females in another country. (28) A randomized-controlled trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) also showed mixed results in a project designed to improve social and classroom interactions, with students reporting higher level of perceived support but no effect on reported level of well-being. (29)

Garbern, Stephanie Chow, et al. “‘It Will Be a Weapon in My Hand’: The Protective Potential of Education for Adolescent Syrian Refugee Girls in Lebanon.” Refuge, vol. 36, no. 1, Spring 2020, p. 3+. Gale General OneFile

  • School’s goals for refugees is to try to support the students and give them hope and a place of normalcy.
  • Schools can provide positive outcomes for children and young adults in countries facing conflict. 
  • Counter: 
    • Enrollment in school can increase violence against students of any gender, depending on the country.
    • Mixed results from study done in Democratic Republic of Congo, where students felt they were more supported but didn’t really see any changes in their well being.

Cuba, which has survived decades of United States sanctions and the collapse of the Soviet bloc that used to heavily subsidize it, has experienced a downturn in its economic fortune. Despite this, the country has maintained its reputation for providing quality, free health care and education, to which some 700 refugees on the island also have access. 

Refugees are not allowed to work in Cuba and many are dependent on a minimal allowance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to help them survive. Those living in urban areas are lodged in private houses, where they have their own bedroom and access to a bathroom and kitchen. But the UNHCR budget to pay for the upkeep of refugees is continually being reduced because of funding constraints. Resourceful refugees try to find ways to benefit from subsidized products. “Cuba is a country with very warm, helpful and generous people, and although much time is spent looking for cheap food in the market, I am grateful”, says Marie Rose, gazing appreciatively around her flat full of lovingly cared-for plants. 

Hoffmann, Marion, and Mariana Echandi. “Cuba’s free education system benefits refugees.” UN Chronicle, vol. 43, no. 3, Sept.-Nov. 2006, p. 73. Gale General OneFile

  • Cuba has a history of being controlled and having limited resources from other countries such as the US and USSR.
  • Refugees aren’t allowed to work in Cuba, they usually rely on a small allowance from the UNHCR.
  • Cuba is appealing to refugees because of its free education system, which gives opportunity to refugees such as Marie Rose.

`Children are our future,’ says Johnson Mayen, deputy headteacher and an adviser to the Dinka people in Ikafe. `We need to stay here so that they can continue their education. Education is our last weapon. Perhaps the only one we have left.’ 

The biggest difference between the refugees and the nationals is not language or culture, but the price of learning. For the refugees education is free (except for examination fees); local people have to pay. And it is expensive: tuition fees, examination fees, parent-teacher association fees. `The parents are very hot about this,’ explains John Baptist, a teacher in a blue shirt who does most of the talking. 

Nikki van der Gaag. “Last weapon: refugees (in Ikafe) see education as the way … to a better future.” New Internationalist, no. 283, Sept. 1996, pp. 28-9. Gale General OneFile

  • Quotes from teachers and parents/guardians explaining why they feel education is so important for refugee children.
  • Counter:
    • Refugees don’t have to pay a fee for education when local people do. This is an unfair system that can cause tension or conflict between refugees and loacals.m This may lead refugees to feel unsafe in their new home.