Education in Emergencies: A Review of Theory and Research
Top Cited Papers
- 7 November 2016
- journal article
- review article
- Published by American Educational Research Association (AERA) in Review of Educational Research
- Vol. 87 (3), 619-658
- https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316671594
Abstract
In this article, we conduct an integrative and rigorous review of theory and research on education in emergencies programs and interventions as international agencies implement them in areas of armed conflict. We ask several questions. How did this subfield emerge and what are the key conceptual frameworks that shape it today? How do education in emergencies programs affect access, learning, and protection in conflict-affected contexts? To answer these questions, we identify the conceptual frameworks and theoretical advances that have occurred since the inception of the field in the mid-1990s. We review the theories that frame the relationship between education and conflict as well as empirical research that tests assumptions that underpin this relationship. Finally, we assess what we know to date about “what works” in education in emergencies based on intervention research. We find that with regard to access, diminished or inequitable access to education drives conflict; conflict reduces boys’ and girls’ access to education differently; and decreased distance to primary school increases enrollment and attendance significantly for boys and even more so for girls. With regard to learning, education content likely contributes to or mitigates conflict, although the mechanisms through which it does so remain underspecified; and peace education programs show promise in changing attitudes and behaviors toward members of those perceived as the “other,” at least in the short term. Finally, providing children living in emergency and postemergency situations with structured, meaningful, and creative activities in a school setting or in informal learning spaces improves their emotional and behavioral well-being.Keywords
Funding Information
- Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
This publication has 77 references indexed in Scilit:
- The impact of the school-based Psychosocial Structured Activities (PSSA) program on conflict-affected children in northern UgandaJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2011
- Teacher‐delivered resilience‐focused intervention in schools with traumatized children following the second Lebanon warJournal of Traumatic Stress, 2011
- Teaching History after Identity‐Based Conflicts: The Rwanda ExperienceComparative Education Review, 2008
- Education, Diversity, and Inclusion in Burmese Refugee Camps in ThailandComparative Education Review, 2008
- Learning for a Bright Future: Schooling, Armed Conflict, and Children’s Well‐BeingComparative Education Review, 2008
- High Hopes, Grim Reality: Reintegration and the Education of Former Child Soldiers in Sierra LeoneComparative Education Review, 2008
- Effectiveness of a School-Based Group Psychotherapy Program for War-Exposed Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled TrialJournal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2008
- Who Fights? The Determinants of Participation in Civil WarAmerican Journal of Political Science, 2008
- Evidence about the Link Between Education, Poverty and Terrorism among PalestiniansPeace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, 2007
- I: Psychological trauma and social healing in CroatiaMedicine, Conflict and Survival, 1999