Learning on the Move: HRP Grant Recipient Researches Refugee Education Experiences and Aspirations
For a long time, Erma Mujić has known she wanted to explore education as a pathway for underserved communities—specifically, the refugee community. A former refugee from Bosnia who resettled in Iowa, her passion for education eventually brought her to the University of Minnesota, where she is pursuing her PhD in comparative and international development education. Last summer, Erma received Human Rights Program grant funding for her dissertation research study on education for refugees and displaced populations in Greece. Her research on refugee education promises to add to the many groundbreaking contributions that HRP-supported students have made in the field of human rights in recent years.
A Love for Learning
As an undergraduate student, Mujić studied law, politics, and society, a degree that allowed her to explore the intersection of law, political science, and sociology at Drake University. She went on to work in public service in several education programs in Iowa after graduation before coming to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Throughout her time as a working adult, she has felt motivated to pursue non-profit and humanitarian work because it aligned with her values and commitment to social justice the best.
“My research sits in the sub-field of education in emergencies and protracted crises,” Mujić explains. “This often includes education in natural disaster zones, war zones, pandemics, among others. Refugee education specifically looks at providing formal and non-formal learning opportunities for people on the move.”
When starting the project, one of the first challenges Mujić faced was how to narrow down a topic and lens in the broader phenomenon of refugee education. Luckily, she was able to draw inspiration from her coursework and design a research project that focuses intimately on the human stories and education experiences of refugees. “I figured out I wasn’t the right person to study formal classroom settings [due to her research interests and lack of experience in formal education],” she recounts. “There’s already a substantial body of research that explores the role of schools in serving refugee students.” As Mujić conducted her preparation for field work, she considered several factors and approaches, including how gender impacts the ability to access education in a crisis setting and how non-formal education in places like community centers can fill education needs when formal schooling is inaccessible.
“I was really interested in the different forms of learning that occur on the journey from youths’ home countries to resettlement,” says Mujić. She eventually settled on exploring how education, both formal and non-formal, assists young people in envisioning their future. Her research examines education as a form of empowerment for young people to access better, healthier futures as they imagine it—a critically important point in her research. Mujić strives to approach education as a fluid pathway to a brighter future instead of a rigid, linear progression.
When considering research methods, the project became more intricate. “In regards to fieldwork, I knew I couldn’t just show up and say, ‘Hey, I’m a student in the United States. Please, talk to me,’” she jokes. “I really needed a good partner on the ground that is working in the same field that I am, a partner whose programs and ethics align with my own.” After researching different partners and locations such as Serbia, Hungary, and Greece, she eventually found partners for the journey: A Drop in the Ocean, an organization based in Greece and Norway, that provides support to displaced persons through diverse programs and services. The organization has made it their mission to provide lifesaving humanitarian care on the Greek mainland and islands, the main points of entry into Europe for many displaced people. In addition to A Drop in the Ocean, Mujić also partnered with Better Days - Gekko in Athens, a center for non-formal education providing personalized education and counseling support for young people experiencing displacement. Gekko’s beautiful and inviting space, highly dedicated teachers and staff, along with their innovative approach that employs Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and trauma-informed methodologies creates an environment where refugee youth can thrive and pursue their dreams.
A Project with Many “Hats”
A volunteer. A student. A researcher. A former refugee. These are all the roles and “hats” Mujić has adopted in her months of thorough research and fieldwork. Throughout her research trip, when not conducting fieldwork activities, she volunteers for A Drop in the Ocean through their laundry service, education classes, and community empowerment programs. She is able to relate their experiences to her own of fleeing Bosnia, where conflict and genocide displaced hundreds of thousands of people in the 1990s. “It’s a really important component [for someone with direct life experience to conduct this study],” Mujić says in reference to her own journey. “Not that other people can’t do this kind of research, nor that there aren’t others who are equally talented. But what I’ve been able to bring to the work is nuance and the ability to connect with others through my life experience.” Mujić not only brings academic expertise to the field—she also brings the heart and soul of the refugee experience to the entire project, which allows her to connect with the community on a deeper level.
“Some stories or experiences can be triggering,” she admits. “I wasn’t trained as a psychologist or trauma therapist. I don’t want to ask too many triggering questions and then just leave. Instead, I welcome participants to share their story in their own way, with as little detail as they want.” The exploitation of marginalized communities by researchers has long plagued the academic field and remains a point of contention and criticism. In light of this, Mujić considers engaging the participants to be absolutely paramount. She explains the disparities that often exist between researchers and their communities of study, especially those who may be in camps or temporary living accommodations: “At the end of English class, they have to go back to the camp, where they might not have paper or books. But I go home to my comfortable AirBnB. Unlike many of them, I can travel freely. It is essential that I examine and be mindful of my privilege as I engage with refugee youth. Participatory and collaborative approaches have been central to my work”, she says. Engaging professional and community interpreters and liaisons and providing a voucher for participants were some of the ways that she promoted participant safety and equity in the research process.
A project like this, Mujić maintains, relies on establishing trust with the community and colleagues who work tirelessly to serve refugees in the field.
Essential Support
A research study of this magnitude would not be possible without support and funding. “It takes a lot of money,” Mujić says frankly. “Especially because my study is in Europe. The financial burden of doing research here, including airfare and lodging, has been significant. But direct connection and collaboration with the participants is key in producing community-engaged research”. In this regard, funding from the Human Rights Program was absolutely “essential.” As Mujić says, she not only has personal and travel expenses but research expenses, including paying for interpreters, offering vouchers to displaced people for their contributions, and more. Funding for these costs is what allows Mujić to conduct such thorough fieldwork, all while devoting a portion of her spare time to the volunteer work that supports her ongoing partnership with local partners. “I can’t emphasize enough how important HRP support is to my project,” Mujić states.
Looking to the future, Mujić is excited to analyze and write about the results pouring in from the field—but her project is not only about finishing her dissertation. Rather, it is about how her research findings can inform others about refugee education and participants’ experiences. How do displaced individuals want to be known and understood? Who supports them in their life and education? What matters most to them? Through Mujić’s analysis of these questions, others can hopefully gain a more holistic perspective into the lives and journeys of refugees—people whose experiences have long been misunderstood and whose voices are often absent from political narratives.
“They Own Their Stories”
In this way, Mujić works to dissolve biases toward refugees and the misrepresentations that fuel them. Her research data reveals that experiences of displaced individuals and young people are much the same in communities around the world. Refugee youth in her study speak little of the hardship and difficulty of their lives in everyday interactions—rather, they talk about friends and crushes, their favorite movies, school dynamics, and their dreams for the future. “People around the world are the same in many ways,” Mujić says with a smile. “Teenagers are teenagers. Being a refugee is not what defines them. They own their stories.”
When asked what everyday people—especially teachers who might find displaced young people in their classrooms—should take away from refugee experiences, Mujić highlighted the importance of appreciating the rich cultural capital that refugees bring to the table. Oftentimes, refugees are portrayed to be burdens on their host communities due to a perceived lack of education or skills. Mujić reflects on her own story: “When I came to the U.S. from Bosnia, I was brought into the classroom as-is. I arrived after winter break and couldn’t speak English and was just expected to move with the curriculum. Maybe this has changed, but my data shows similar experiences of many refugee students in Greek and Turkish schools.”
So lies a critical point. While Mujić might not have been able to speak English at first, she could speak two other languages. The same is true for many displaced individuals who, while unable to speak Greek, Turkish, or other host country languages, nevertheless speak three, four, five languages. They already possess significant troves of knowledge from the journey and from education in their home countries. “Being a refugee is no one’s choice,” Mujić emphasizes. “External circumstances and structural inequalities force you to leave home. But these experiences don’t negate the fact that perhaps we completed a Master’s degree or owned a business in our home country, and that we bring rich cultural history with us.” The world must strive to better acknowledge the assets, capital, and other incredible qualities that empower refugees to survive, thrive, and persevere.
Researching education on the move is one step to achieving this kind of understanding. Through her research, Mujić hopes that others will realize that refugee youth hold the same desires, needs, and goals for a secure and bright future as every other young person on earth. And most importantly, that these students want to learn. “Education matters greatly to them,” Mujić says simply.
