IMMERSE: integration of refugee and migrant children in education

The Challenge including reference to SDGs

Child migration is a significant contemporary phenomenon (Bhabha & Abel, 2019) with 35.5 million migrant children globally, the largest number ever recorded (IDAT, 2024).  This has placed increased pressure on host countries to develop strategies for effectively integrating these new arrivals into society and schools are critically important drivers of integration for migrant children and their families. Schools not only offer educational opportunity but also provides the context for social inclusion, peer group encounters and new cultural and language acquisition (Bhabha & Abel, 2019; Mcginnity et al., 2015). While school participation can act as a protective factor for refugee and migrant children, there are barriers to integration in schools including insufficient support for host society language, academic achievement gaps, social isolation and bullying, and a lack of information about the education system. A key challenge for host countries is to understand the indicators of socio-educational integration for migrant children and to have data to inform policy and practice in this area. So, insights into the socio-educational integration experiences of key stakeholders and the best practices and other resources produced by the IMMERSE research project contribute to the achievement of SDG Goals 4 - Quality Education, 16 – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

The Research

IMMERSE (Integration Mapping of Refugee and Migrant Children in Schools and Other Experiential Environments in Europe) is a 5-year multi-country project which received €2.9m in funding under Horizon 2020 (2018-2023).  Dr. Shirley Martin and Professor Deirdre Horgan, leading the UCC IMMERSE Team, brought their extensive knowledge in child-centered research to spearhead crucial aspects of the project, particularly in data collection. Children and young people were involved in every step of the research. With the guidance of the UCC team, the Children and Young People’s Advisory Group (CYPAG) was formed. This group of 18 migrant and refugee children, served as experts and representatives of their peers throughout the research process.

Researchers collected data on indicators of socio-educational integration from children in six countries, employing both survey data collection and qualitative research. 24,419 children participated in the data collection which enabled the team to build a first of its kind database on the socio-educational integration experiences of migrant children in education.  In their final report, the EC Evaluators praised the scope of IMMERSE, noting that it "collected the largest dataset focused on children with migrant background in Europe." They also highlighted the added value of qualitative research, particularly with underrepresented children like Unaccompanied Minors.

The Impact

IMMERSE addresses a critical global challenge by examining the socio-educational integration of refugee and migrant children in schools, formal and non-formal education settings across Europe. Using co-creative methods and stakeholder engagement the IMMERSE team developed an extensive database of evidence demonstrating how different European countries facilitate the socio-educational integration of migrant children and explores the barriers and facilitators that influence their experiences.

IMMERSE has developed highly innovative outputs including an online data visualisation tool, a database with resources for school leaders, teachers and social professionals involved in the socio-educational integration of refugee children as well as co-created outputs with teachers, parents and migrant and refugee children and young people. There is extensive stakeholder engagement in IMMERSE, for example over 100 NGOs and 30 policymakers across Europe have engaged with the IMMERSE project. To support teachers and other professionals the IMMERSE research consortium developed an Online Digital Database  with more than 100 resources and 60 good practices.

The reach and significance of output activities include a crucial interactive tool, the IMMERSE Dashboard of Indicators,  for policymakers to identify areas for intervention at national and European levels and to facilitate cross-country comparison and learning. This tool allows for basic visual analysis using the 30 IMMERSE socio-educational indicators and is publicly accessible supporting Open Science and UCC's Strategic Research and Innovation goals. The full dataset, which includes primary data collection with 24,419 children across 406 sites including Refugee Camps, is available as part of the European Commission Pilot on Open Research Data. 

UCC's IMMERSE team has taken the lead in disseminating the research results to various stakeholders. The team produced several reports on the final IMMERSE data set and National Recommendation Papers on Refugee and Migrant Children integration informed by innovative participatory policy design workshops with young migrants. The national Irish IMMERSE conference included stakeholders from education, migrant-led organizations, parent groups, NGOs, and policymakers, with extensive engagement by migrant children and young people.

Supporting UCC’s engaged research goal an innovative aspect of research communication is dissemination of research outputs by and for children and young people. The team worked with the Children and Young People’s Advisory Group to co-create innovative, child-friendly outputs. These included A Children’s Animation Video voiced by young refugee and asylum seekers, A Child-Friendly Research Report and a short film shown at the final IMMERSE conference in the European Parliament in Brussels, November 2023.  A digital exhibition of images created by children in Ireland and Greece on the theme of belonging exhibited in three Irish schools, UCC Refugee Week and two national conferences in Ireland.  

The UCC team continue to disseminate the IMMERSE results and have presented at sixteen national and international conferences including IMISOCE and the ESAI.  The team have recently published three peer-reviewed journal articles, three book chapters including one co-authored with the IMMERSE Children and Young People’s Advisory Group with ambitious plans for publications in high-rankled journals.  Already the IMMERSE research is changing and informing the research landscape with our article in Children and Society ‘Supporting languages: The socio-educational integration of migrant and refugee children and young people’ awarded the top cited article for the journal in 2023.

The UCC team supervise a significant number of PhD students (10) with a focus on migration and childhood issues supporting the advancement of impactful research in this critical societal area. The IMMERSE Project continues to enhance UCCs external engagement and internationalisation activities and built capacity for future international collaboration. Most importantly the data and resources developed by IMMERSE provides an evidence-informed approach to support the inclusion of migrant children in schools across Europe.

For More Information

For more information on IMMERSE and the available resources please see the IMMERSE website https://www.immerse-h2020.eu/ or

Contact Shirley Martin at s.martin@ucc.ie

“IMMERSE is a groundbreaking and timely project which has developed the largest data base of migrant and refugees’ children educational experiences across Europe using collaborative research processes with children and other key stakeholders.”

- Dr Shirley Martin, Senior Lecturer, School of Applied Social Studies, UCC

Image: A painting by a student from 10th High School of Heraklion, Greece submitted to the IMMERSE
YOURSELF! POETRY & DRAWING Exhibition.