An Analysis of Interaction of Syrian Students Who Study in Turkey with their Teachers and Friends

Abstract

Of all the Syrian refugees who had to immigrate to Turkey due to the war in their country, it has been children who have suffered most. Child refugees were confronted with serious education problems, in particular through the early years of the immigration. In the following years, when it was realized that these children would stay for a long time in the country, an educational policy paving the way for these children to have an education in their own language and in state schools was developed. Following this, the Syrian children who started to have education in state schools had serious problems stemming from the differences in the system of education and culture. According to the body of literature, the problems determined were teacher attitudes, approaches of school administrations and communication problems with peers, and these problems caused a delay in the integration of these children into education. Adaptation of refugee groups to the society they live in is vital, in particular, to the country hosting them. Many studies have shown that education is a major factor for someone to improve their skills and knowledge as well as learn about the cultural values of the society they live in. Interactions of the Syrian child refugees residing in Turkey with their teachers and peers in the context of education was examined from the Syrian Children’s points of view in determining the problems they are confronted with. The study is an applied field study and a qualitative one conducted at Başakşehir, Şahintepe and Güvercintepe Refugee Houses (Sites), in April and May 2019. Members of the sampling frame were 79 people from 25 families and snowball sampling method was employed. In determining the levels of Syrian child refugees’ interactions with their teachers and peers in the context of education, only the data collected from the members of the sampling frame attending state schools were used. The findings from the study reveal, regarding the current state of the Syrian children attending state schools, that in terms of their interactions with teachers and peers, there are sometimes problems but in general terms they are in good state.