How Syrian Refugees Expand Inclusion and Navigate Exclusion in Jordan A Framework for Understanding Curricular Engagement

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between curriculum and inclusion in the context of a non-formal education program run in collaboration with the Ministry of Education for Syrian refugees and Jordanian students in Jordan. Drawing on a curricular analysis, I illustrate the complex ways that curriculum shapes discursive possibilities for inclusion and exclusion of Syrian refugee youth. I then turn to ethnographic data to illustrate how students and teachers engage with the curriculum in ways that challenge and expand a curriculum absent of refugees and their experiences. I argue that the student-centered and flexible nature of non-formal education cultivates an environment in which refugee youth can assert agency to construct spaces of inclusion, thereby giving new cultural meaning to the educational space.