The focus of this project is to advance our knowledge and understanding of the support needs, psychological wellbeing and extent of distress of young adult Syrian refugees and similar at-risk youth enrolled in adult education centers in Quebec.
Existing literature from Canada highlights that the challenge for refugee young adults to access and succeed in education is far greater than that for children as a result of their disrupted education and pressure to work. After years outside the formal schooling system, refugee young adults face the daunting prospect of being in school for long periods to get a high school diploma to continue to higher education or vocational training. While education is widely accepted as an important basis for successful integration, entering school at an advanced age can create a sense of anxiety and hopelessness. Adding to the displacement experience and its administrative challenges, financial pressure, language barriers, overt and covert forms of racism and differences in approaches to teaching and learning contribute to refugee students feeling overwhelmed, unsupported and dropping out.
While Quebec’s government has increased the coordination between partners to ensure a smooth initial arrival and integration stage, the challenges for new arrivals to secure employment are ongoing and will persist unless further support is implemented, especially in the adult education arena.
The objectives of this research are:
- To synthesize relevant literature on young adult refugee students’ integration experiences and practices to facilitate their successful retention in school and wellbeing, using scoping review methodology
- To systematically create a portrait of the positive and negative experiences, support needs, psychological wellbeing and distress of young adult refugees enrolled in adult education from the perspective of both students themselves and key stakeholders (e.g., educators) using quantitative and qualitative methods
- To identify a series of strategies to improve retention, well-being and retention of young adult refugee students, informed by the literature review, the detailed portrait and stakeholder inputs
- To implement and evaluate five key strategies in the format of real-world trials, seeking informal feedback and perceptions regarding the usefulness of these strategies from students and pertinent stakeholders
By addressing these objectives, our project will result in:
- an enhanced understanding of the positive and negative experiences of Syrian refugee young adults in adult education in Quebec
- the development of participant-led solutions to the identified problems;
- the development of a network of practitioners in adult education in Quebec dedicated to trialing solutions to support at-risk students' progress through the adult education system; and
- the development of tested guidelines and resources to work with at-risk students such as Syrian refugee young adults in the adult education system in Quebec.