Impairment and Traumatization as Crucial Factors for Didactics and Pedagogy of Adolescent Refugees

Abstract

Discussions about the extent of integration of adolescent refugees as well as integrating displaced people ‘correctly’ in the respective education system of the target country have long been held about. Since crisis caused by, for example, war or the Covid-19 pandemic increase the numbers of refugees all over the world, a high number of displaced people suffer from experienced traumas and might therefore be impaired in participating in curricular education. For this study, the observation of three adolescent refugees who attend different sports classes, thus being encompassed by variable social settings, has been at the center of attention for one semester. To ensure data variety, principals, PE teachers, refugee students, ‘regular’ students have been interviewed, respectively. The analysis revealed that huge differences in terms of adaptation as well as impairment could be observed among the participating adolescent refugees. While one of the refugee students easily adapted among the observed manifestations (non-)verbal communication, social form, behavioral strategies and potentials of physical education, the other adolescent refugee displayed severe impairment in all of the manifestations mentioned above; hence, experienced traumata experienced before, during or after flight require newly arriving students being psychologically examined and monitored.