Revisiting Inclusion: An Exploration of Refugee-Led Education for Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Lebanon
This article explores the concept of inclusive education in contexts of forced displacement, where refugeehood intersects with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as well as gender, poverty, and overlapping forms of discrimination. Drawing on extensive engagement with a refugee-led, n...
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MDPI AG
2024-12-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/12/691 |
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| author | Elnaz Safarha Zeena Zakharia |
| author_facet | Elnaz Safarha Zeena Zakharia |
| author_sort | Elnaz Safarha |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article explores the concept of inclusive education in contexts of forced displacement, where refugeehood intersects with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as well as gender, poverty, and overlapping forms of discrimination. Drawing on extensive engagement with a refugee-led, non-formal educational organization in Lebanon, we revisit inclusion for refugee children with SEND through a bottom-up lens. We consider inclusion within Lebanon’s sociopolitical landscape, focusing on a community of educators, most of whom are refugees themselves. Grounded in decolonial feminist epistemologies and critical refugee studies, we highlight the role of educators as cultural actors who employ engaged pedagogies to humanize the educational experiences of refugee children with SEND. By challenging traditional top-down, outcome-oriented policies that focus solely on structural access, this paper advocates for an alternative framework based on refugee educators’ orientations to working with children with SEND. This framework prioritizes holistic, context-sensitive approaches to inclusion and underscores the importance of humanizing education for refugees. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-05d4ff0cedf14b1596c6c67cf59c67e8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-05d4ff0cedf14b1596c6c67cf59c67e82024-12-27T14:54:10ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602024-12-01131269110.3390/socsci13120691Revisiting Inclusion: An Exploration of Refugee-Led Education for Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in LebanonElnaz Safarha0Zeena Zakharia1Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, University of Maryland, 3942 Campus Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USADepartment of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, University of Maryland, 3942 Campus Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USAThis article explores the concept of inclusive education in contexts of forced displacement, where refugeehood intersects with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as well as gender, poverty, and overlapping forms of discrimination. Drawing on extensive engagement with a refugee-led, non-formal educational organization in Lebanon, we revisit inclusion for refugee children with SEND through a bottom-up lens. We consider inclusion within Lebanon’s sociopolitical landscape, focusing on a community of educators, most of whom are refugees themselves. Grounded in decolonial feminist epistemologies and critical refugee studies, we highlight the role of educators as cultural actors who employ engaged pedagogies to humanize the educational experiences of refugee children with SEND. By challenging traditional top-down, outcome-oriented policies that focus solely on structural access, this paper advocates for an alternative framework based on refugee educators’ orientations to working with children with SEND. This framework prioritizes holistic, context-sensitive approaches to inclusion and underscores the importance of humanizing education for refugees.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/12/691critical refugee studiesdisabilityhumanizing educationinclusionrefugee educationspecial education |
| spellingShingle | Elnaz Safarha Zeena Zakharia Revisiting Inclusion: An Exploration of Refugee-Led Education for Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Lebanon Social Sciences critical refugee studies disability humanizing education inclusion refugee education special education |
| title | Revisiting Inclusion: An Exploration of Refugee-Led Education for Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Lebanon |
| title_full | Revisiting Inclusion: An Exploration of Refugee-Led Education for Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Lebanon |
| title_fullStr | Revisiting Inclusion: An Exploration of Refugee-Led Education for Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Lebanon |
| title_full_unstemmed | Revisiting Inclusion: An Exploration of Refugee-Led Education for Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Lebanon |
| title_short | Revisiting Inclusion: An Exploration of Refugee-Led Education for Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Lebanon |
| title_sort | revisiting inclusion an exploration of refugee led education for children with special educational needs and disabilities in lebanon |
| topic | critical refugee studies disability humanizing education inclusion refugee education special education |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/12/691 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT elnazsafarha revisitinginclusionanexplorationofrefugeelededucationforchildrenwithspecialeducationalneedsanddisabilitiesinlebanon AT zeenazakharia revisitinginclusionanexplorationofrefugeelededucationforchildrenwithspecialeducationalneedsanddisabilitiesinlebanon |