Refugee Education, Belonging, and Inclusion: Educational Experiences and Pathways to Social Integration

The education of refugees has become an increasing issue in terms of how education systems approach the displacement, migration and social/cultural integration of refugee students. This paper explores the educational experiences of refugees and identifies the key factors that foster their sense of belonging, inclusion, and promote social integration. This study used an integrative literature review, guided by the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) 2020 framework, to examine refugee education, belonging, and social integration. The first search was done on Google Scholar with the broad search term ‘refugee education’ and generated about 2,480,000 hits. However, a new search with Boolean keywords and filters resulted only in 100 citations, and after the process of duplicate elimination and screening, only 10 studies were selected for the review. Using Braun and Clarke’s (2021) reflexive thematic analysis, we coded and reviewed the selected studies to identify recurring patterns. This process resulted in five major themes: (1) education access is important but it’s just not enough; (2) belonging is an essential learning condition; (3) educators play crucial roles in inclusion; (4) language and identity are resources to be managed; and (5) systems change is necessary for inclusion. The findings suggest that refugee education should move beyond enrolment and access toward approaches that address belonging, linguistic and cultural recognition, teacher support, and structural conditions. The review argues the importance of educational policy and practice that identifies refugees as active agents who, through their identities and experiences, create inclusive educational communities, rather than as passive recipients of support.