Refugee Background Students Transitioning Into Higher Education

Loshini Naidoo is an Associate Professor of Sociology of Education at Western Sydney University, Australia. She has an established reputation in the area of refugee education through her engagement with the refugee communities in Greater Western Sydney. Her publications and keynote addresses on the significant questions in refugee learning and her completion of a course on forced migration at Oxford University, UK allow her to continue her work researching communities affected by forced migration. Jane Wilkinson is Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, Monash University, Australia and publishes widely in practice theory and praxis, Bourdieu and leadership; gender and leadership; and refugee education. Her latest book is Educational leadership as a culturally constructed practice: New directions and possibilities (Routledge, 2018). She is currently conducting a comparative study of refugee students’ educational achievements in Finland and Australiawith Dr Mervi Kaukko. Jane is joint Editor of Journal of Educational Administration and History. Misty Adoniou is an Associate Professor of Language Literacy and TESL. She is past-president of the Australian Council of TESOL Associations and TESOL Greece and a director of TESOL International. She has conducted reviews of Australia’s off-shore and on-shore Cultural Orientation programs for refugees. In 2017 she was selected as one of 12 global leaders in TESOL to speak to international policy and research leaders at the Summit of the TESOL Profession in Athens, Greece. Dr Kiprono Langat works in the Faculty of Arts and Education, Charles Sturt University. His teaching and research focus on education contexts (pedagogy and practice) and diversities in education. He is an advocate for school-community-university partnerships. By applying cross-cultural contexts to the pedagogical challenges facing rural and regional Australian schools with a range of diverse learners, Kip research explores provision of education to refugees. He supports educators to work with the wider community.

1 Contextualising the complex spaces of refugee youth transition into higher education.- 2 Forced migration and displacement: Understanding the refugee journey.- 3 Prior life experiences.- 4 The role of schools in supporting university transition.- 5 Navigating the terrain of higher education.- 6 Barriers to access and participation in higher education for refugee youth: Language challenges.- 7 The role of communities in supporting refugee youth transition.- 8 Fostering an enabling learning culture in higher education for refugee youth: Enablers to access and participation.- 9 Conclusion: Drawing the threads together.