The Organization of School Integration for Refugee Children and Youth in Germany : Identifying Gaps in the Current State of Knowledge

Kurzfassung/Abstract

According to international and European law, such as the Declaration of Human Rights (Article 26), the International Convention for the Rights of Children, and the European Reception Directive, Germany is obliged to grant refugee children similar access to education as to its nationals. While some German states incorporate refugee children in regular classes, other states set up so-called ‘welcome classes’ or international preparation classes, which are designed solely for migrant students. For the organization of school integration, Massumi et al (2015, p. 44) identified five models. This structure has been widely used in the current literature on educational integration of newly arrived refugee students in Germany (Vogel & Stock, 2017, Korntheuer & Damm, 2020). Nevertheless, it remains unclear what kind of empirical knowledge is available in Germany regarding the organization of school integration. Since 2016, there has been a significant increase in research results and publications on the intersection of forced migration and education in Germany. We review current original research according to and beyond Massumis models. In conclusion, we identify gaps in the current empirical knowledge production and define methodological consequences.