Long before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the School with Class Foundation observed with concern the difficulties related to the inclusion of children with the experience of being a refugee or of migration into the Polish education system and offered schools support. We have seen the increasing loneliness of teachers and the lack of systemic solutions or extensive training.
At the outbreak of the war in February 2022, school principals and teachers, already overburdened by two years of pandemic, remote education and previous crises, faced the next challenge of enrolling into the classroom several hundred thousand children who had fled the war. Despite the war tragedy and despite many difficulties, they tried to provide them with support and create conditions for development. We decided to investigate how the education and inclusion of Ukrainian students in the first few months after the outbreak of the war had proceeded, how this process was assessed by principals and teachers, and what support they need most.
The results of the study will be used to better prepare a comprehensive series of activities aimed at schools that want to effectively integrate multicultural classes with children with experience of being a refugee and of migration.