ERIC Number: EJ1464447
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-None
EISSN: EISSN-1365-893X
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Connected Learning as Collaboration and Psychosocial Support: A Critical Reflection on a Bridging Programme for Refugees in Uganda
Andie Reynolds; Sharon Boateng; Martha Akello; Sandra Nanyunja; Brooke Atherton El-Amine; Apollo Mulondo; Michael Gallagher; Jean-Benoit Falisse; Georgia Cole
Journal of Interactive Media in Education, v2025 n1 Article 5 2025
Uganda currently hosts approximately 1.7 million refugees (93% fully registered refugees, 3% asylum seekers and 4% stateless persons), the most in sub-Saharan Africa. Most refugees come from South Sudan (57%), Democratic Republic of Congo (32%), Burundi (3%), and Somalia (3%). Refugees largely live in rural based settlements within 12 districts alongside host communities and only 8% reside in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. This has posed challenges related to refugee access to economic, medical, and social services including education. These challenges are often addressed in education through connected bridging programmes, which are designed to provide refugees with instruction to help them access and succeed in higher education. This paper explores one such bridging programme and the research that accompanied it, Foundations for All, which was a blended programme designed to provide access to higher education for refugees. Through critical reflections of the overall programme gleaned from interviews with teachers and students, we focus on two discrete elements of this project -- the collaborative practices of the disparate project partners and the embedded psychosocial support -- and discuss how these two elements might inform the further conceptualisation of connected learning in refugee education contexts.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Cooperative Learning, Refugees, Transitional Programs, Barriers, Access to Education, Higher Education, Reflection, Teacher Attitudes, Student Attitudes, Partnerships in Education, Multi Tiered Systems of Support, Access to Health Care, Student Needs, Psychological Services, Social Support Groups
Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University. Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK. e-mail: jime@open.ac.uk; Web site: http://jime.open.ac.uk
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Uganda
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A