Syrian Refugees’ Children Instructional Challenges and Solutions in Jordan: Teachers’ and Parents’ Perspectives

As a neighboring country to Syria, Jordan received a large influx of Syrian refugees whose children’s education has been a huge challenge to the Jordaninan educational system. The present qualitative study investigates the educational challenges Syrian refugee children faced with possible solutions to overcome them. Therefore, a conveniently selected sample of twenty four participants (twelve Syrian refugee teachers and twelve Syrian refugee parents) filled out an open questionnaire on Syrian refugee students’ instructional challenges, the reasons for such challenges and the solutions to surmount them. The major challenges, according to Syrian refugees’ teachers, revolved around lack of achievement among refugee children, lack of devotion to school learning responsibilities, insufficient refugee teacher training, refugee children’s behavioral difficulties and overcrowded classrooms. According to Syrian refugee parents, most of these challenges encompassed deterioration in instructional achievement, lack of school assignments, carelessness to achieve well in Match and English, lack of high qualifications among refugee parents, difference in interest in French in Syria and English in Jordan, violent behaviors among refugee children because of the war situation and absence of one of their parents. Other challenges included vague attitudes towards learning, lack of concentration in exams, quick irritation, stubbornness, negative attitude toward schooling, mis-behaviors by classmates and difference between school and home instruction. Most of the reasons for such challenges belonged to the war condition and the psychological traumas and social circumstances of refugee children. Recommended proposals embodied strengthening school/parents communication, training refugee teachers and tackling refugee children’s psychological problems.