Philosophy with Refugees and Sanctuary Seekers

This paper outlines a teaching initiative designed to introduce philosophy to sanctuary seekers and refugees. Despite facing challenges such as scheduling conflicts and inconsistent attendance, the program demonstrated success. Participants displayed a notable comfort with the student-centred pedagogy, exhibited trust in their fellow students, and expressed a willingness to share their perspectives. Additionally, the program shed light on a distinct conception of education and assessment within the sanctuary seeker and refugee community. One notable, and perhaps surprising, insight from our study is that there is no compelling rationale to believe that the study of philosophy provides a greater benefit to sanctuary seekers and refugees compared to any other group. However, it is abundantly clear that it does indeed yield positive results.