Thesis Chapters by Ina Lekkai M.A., M.Sc.
Unaccompanied refugee minors and resilience: A phenomenological study, 2020
Unaccompanied child migration, propelled by war, political strife and instability is an increasin... more Unaccompanied child migration, propelled by war, political strife and instability is an increasingly serious global problem. Refugee youth contends with numerous challenges as they adjust to living in a new country. Although their capacity for resilience is being given the deserved recognition, studies where their views are taken into account greatly outweigh in number those where the voices of young refugees directly narrate how they bounce forward in the face of an uncertain future (Walsh 2002). Resilience scholars are challenged to move beyond a narrow understanding of youth refugee resilience by conducting research on their life situations exploring their own perspectives. This article describes some of the insights gained from a phenome-nological study-whose methods are particularly effective at capturing and illuminating the experiences and perceptions of individuals from their own perspectives-un-dertaken with unaccompanied minors living in Germany. The narrative approach used to explicate their narratives highlights seven major coping strategies: (1) Treasuring personal identity, (2) Maintaining cultural identity, (3) Networks of support and social negotiations, (4) Nurturing the need to belong, (5) Embracing a positive outlook, (6) Perceived self-efficacy and personal characteristics, (7) Adopting a growth mindset & self-enhancement expectations. The empirical data of this research show that URMs are active agents in choosing meaningful pathways to resilience and purposefully navigate through the numerous challenges in their lives.
In M. Michalak (Ed.), The Rights of the Child Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow - The Korczak Perspective (Vol. II, pp. 244-281). Warsaw, Poland: Office of the Ombudsman for Children, 2018
This paper is based on an empirical study of children ́s day-to-day interactions in an early chil... more This paper is based on an empirical study of children ́s day-to-day interactions in an early childhood education setting in Berlin and seeks to address the topic of children’s agency. In early childhood education, there is considerable acceptance of the children expressing their views as part of a community entitled to freedom of expression and their own opinion. Childhood Studies provide the theoretical framework for this project which views children not as passive recipients of adults’ actions rather as competent and active agents. The ethnographic approach is used to identify tactics children use to assert their agency by examining children’s agentic interactions with teachers and other children. The analysis focuses on two particular instances which illustrate how children’s meanders to manifest agency can be recognized in everyday practice. In line with findings of other relevant researches six similar tactics are highlighted: silent avoidance, (verbal/non-verbal) refusal, (verbal/non-verbal) negotiation, coping, partial acceptance and solidarity. These tactics indicate how children view themselves as competent to negotiate the institution’s social order and challenge adult-definition of power within the daily routines, to finally succeed in creating time and space on their own terms.
In U. Markowska-Manista (Ed.), The contemporary problems of children and youth in multicultural societies. Theory, research and praxis (pp. 19-45). Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Akademii Pedagogiki Specjalnej im. M. Grzegorzewskiej, 2018
In the light of recent world facts related to the economic, humanitarian and social crisis, part... more In the light of recent world facts related to the economic, humanitarian and social crisis, particularly visible within the EU, strengthening children’s social competences and fostering their individual psychosocial resources from an early age becomes of vital importance. The notion of the resilient child is an emerging concept for understanding children’s coping with the modern-day pace of social change and the associated stress. Resilience as the ability of an individual to positively adapt in response to adversity is a key competence to be fostered in children living in the present multicultural societies. There is no single path to resilience; the presence, however, of several protective factors might offset risk factors and increase the chances for resilience. A cluster of individual, family, and community factors has been identified that best explains resilience in children. This paper presents a literature review identifying those factors and discusses how resilience research has and/or should inform educational thinking in the current multicultural society, in order to best support resilience in children. The paper concludes that a paradigm shift is required in educational thinking from old and current trends of pessimistic thinking about students to acknowledging children of this new modern multicultural era as active agents and experts in their own lives, as possessing strengths and virtues, and innate bouncing-forward skills and mental health.
Key words: resilience, education, multicultural era, resilient child, risk factors, protective mechanisms
In A. Smidtt, E. Sterd & L. Fischer (Ed.), Empirisches Arbeiten in der Frühpädagogik im Kontext eines evidenzbasierten Ansatzes (Aufl. 1, pp. 59-76). Köln, Deutschland: Carl Link, Wolters Kluwer GmbH., 2017
Diese Arbeit basiert auf einer empirischen Studie über die Tag-zu-Tag der Kinder in einem früh-ki... more Diese Arbeit basiert auf einer empirischen Studie über die Tag-zu-Tag der Kinder in einem früh-kindlichen Bildungsumfeld in Berlin und bemüht sich um das Thema Dieses Papier basiert auf einer empirischen Untersuchung von Kinder Tag-zu-Tag-Interaktionen in einer frühkindlichen Bildung Einstellung in Berlin und sucht das Thema Kinder Agentur zu adressieren. In der früh-kindlichen Bildung gibt es eine beträchtliche Akzeptanz der Kinder, die ihre Ansichten als Teil einer Gemeinschaft mit dem Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung und ihre eigene Meinung äu-ßern. Childhood Studies stellen den theoretischen Rahmen für dieses Projekt, das Kinder nicht als passive Empfänger von Erwachsenen Aktionen eher als kompetente und aktive Agenten. Der ethnographische Ansatz wird verwendet, um Taktiken zu identifizieren, die Kinder benutzen, um ihre Agentur zu behaupten, indem sie die Agenteninteraktionen von Kindern mit Lehrern und anderen Kindern untersuchen. Die Analyse konzentriert sich auf zwei besondere Fälle, die veranschaulichen, wie Kindermäander zu manifestieren Agentur in der alltäglichen Praxis er-kannt werden können. Im Einklang mit den Ergebnissen anderer einschlägiger Forschungen sechs ähnliche Taktiken hervorgehoben werden: silent Vermeidung, (verbal / non-verbal) Weige-rung, (verbal / non-verbal) Verhandlung, Bewältigung, teilweise Akzeptanz und Solidarität. Die-se Taktiken zeigen, wie Kinder sich als kompetent fühlen, um die soziale Ordnung der Instituti-on zu verhandeln und die Erwachsenendefinition der Macht innerhalb der täglichen Routine herauszufordern, um endlich Zeit und Raum zu ihren eigenen Bedingungen zu schaffen.
Papers by Ina Lekkai M.A., M.Sc.
Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology Tojet, Oct 1, 2014
Series of international studies have shown that subtitled television programs provide a rich cont... more Series of international studies have shown that subtitled television programs provide a rich context for foreign language acquisition. This study investigated whether incidental language acquisition occurs from watching a television program with / without subtitles. Children in the experimental conditions watch: (a) a 15 minute snapshot of a well known children's television program in Italian with Greek subtitles, (b) the same program without subtitles and (c) the TV program in Greek (control). The acquisition of vocabulary and the recognition of Italian words were higher in the condition with the subtitles, thus indicating that Greek students of fourth, fifth and sixth grade can incidentally acquire vocabulary in a foreign language through watching subtitled television programs.
Since the adoption by the UN in 1989 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), childr... more Since the adoption by the UN in 1989 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), children’s participation has been one of the most highly debated and examined aspects of it. While there is no consensus on a general definition of children’s participation, it is clear that as a concept it relates to many dimensions and processes. The aim of this paper is not to provide an exhaustive presentation of relevant research on children’s right to participation in early childhood education sector; its intention is to provide an overview of some up to date researches, to explore how the international guidelines as formulated in the UN documents mentioned, are relevant to early childhood education and attempt to raise some questions and stimulate further reflections. This paper’s conclusion is that implementing children’s participation in practice is far from imposing of a predefined, fully conceptualized framework on children, or about empowering them and facilitating their agency, bu...
Przegląd Krytyczny
Unaccompanied child migration, propelled by war, political strife and instability is an increasin... more Unaccompanied child migration, propelled by war, political strife and instability is an increasingly serious global problem. Refugee youth contends with numerous challenges as they adjust to living in a new country. Although their capacity for resilience is being given the deserved recognition, studies where their views are taken into account greatly outweigh in number those where the voices of young refugees directly narrate how they bounce forward in the face of an uncertain future (Walsh 2002). Resilience scholars are challenged to move beyond a narrow understanding of youth refugee resilience by conducting research on their life situations exploring their own perspectives. This article describes some of the insights gained from a phenomenological study— whose methods are particularly effective at capturing and illuminating the experiences and perceptions of individuals from their own perspectives— undertaken with unaccompanied minors living in Germany. The narrative approach use...
Childhood and Youth Studies in the Era of Migration, special issue of Culture and Education, 2(124), 39-54. doi:10.15804/kie.2019.02.03, Jul 2019
In the light of recent world facts, there has been growing attention paid to refugee minors who, ... more In the light of recent world facts, there has been growing attention paid to refugee minors who, fleeing from violence, war, poverty and climate change, or seeking better opportunities, hope to reach safety in Europe. Challenging life experiences such as war, violence, forced displacement, etc. can potentially threaten children’s development. However, many succeed in turning their lives around and develop well despite such negative circumstances. Refugee children, often overlooked by immigration laws and policymakers, prove to be a particularly resilient group very resourceful in mechanisms for overcoming life adversities.
By taking this understanding of refugee minors as a starting point, this article provides an overview of research in the field of resilience, aiming to discuss the implications that tie refugee minors’ well-being to the human and children’s rights obligations that society bears towards them. The article concludes that there is an urgent need for interventions and programs which target factors that promote refugee children’s resilience in their design and implementation, informed by current knowledge of refugee children’s life and cultural background, and their self-ratings of negative and positive life events. The standards defined by human and children’s rights instruments and equity regarding children’s rights to achieve a good life should be a matter to be taken seriously for all children worldwide.
Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 21(12), Ver. 5, pp. 14-22., Dec 16, 2016
Since the adoption by the UN in 1989 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), childr... more Since the adoption by the UN in 1989 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), children's participation has been one of the most highly debated and examined aspects of it. While there is no consensus on a general definition of children's participation, it is clear that as a concept it relates to many dimensions and processes. The aim of this paper is not to provide an exhaustive presentation of relevant research on children's right to participation in early childhood education sector; its intention is to provide an overview of some up to date researches, to explore how the international guidelines as formulated in the UN documents mentioned, are relevant to early childhood education and attempt to raise some questions and stimulate further reflections. This paper's conclusion is that implementing children's participation in practice is far from imposing of a predefined, fully conceptualized framework on children, or about empowering them and facilitating their agency, but firstly about acknowledging that children are indeed actively participating every day through their own cultural practices and their remaking of themselves and their environments.
International Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 5(11), pp. 34-71., Dec 14, 2016
This paper is based on an empirical study of children´s day-to-day interactions in a bilingual ea... more This paper is based on an empirical study of children´s day-to-day interactions in a bilingual early childhood education setting in Germany and seeks to address the topic of children’s agency. The ethnographic approach is used to identify tactics children use to assert their agency by examining children’s agentic interactions with teachers and other children. The analysis focuses on two particular instances which illustrate how children’s meanders to manifest agency can be recognized in everyday practice. In line with findings of other relevant researches six similar tactics are highlighted: silent avoidance, (verbal/non-verbal) refusal, (verbal/non-verbal) negotiation, coping, partial acceptance and solidarity. These strategies show how children view themselves as competent to negotiate the social order and challenge adult-definition of power within the daily routines , and finally succeed in creating time and space on their own terms.
TOJET - The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 13(4), pp. 81-87, 2014
Series of international studies have shown that subtitled television programs provide a rich cont... more Series of international studies have shown that subtitled television programs provide a rich context for foreign language acquisition. This study investigated whether incidental language acquisition occurs from watching a television program with / without subtitles. Children in the experimental conditions watch: (a) a 15 minute snapshot of a well known children's television program in Italian with Greek subtitles, (b) the same program without subtitles and (c) the TV program in Greek (control). The acquisition of vocabulary and the recognition of Italian words were higher in the condition with the subtitles, thus indicating that Greek students of fourth, fifth and sixth grade can incidentally acquire vocabulary in a foreign language through watching subtitled television programs.
Νέος Παιδαγωγός-Το δικτυακό περιοδικό για τον παιδαγωγό του σήμερα.
Paper presented at 9th EEEP-DTPE Congress "Education in ICT Era", Athens., Oct 21, 2012
Μια σειρά από διεθνείς μελέτες έχουν δείξει ότι τα υποτιτλισμένα τηλεοπτικά προγράμματα παρέχουν ... more Μια σειρά από διεθνείς μελέτες έχουν δείξει ότι τα υποτιτλισμένα τηλεοπτικά προγράμματα παρέχουν ένα πλούσιο πλαίσιο για την εκμάθηση ξένων γλωσσών. Επιπλέον, οι θεατές είναι συνήθως ιδιαίτερα παρακινημένοι να καταλάβουν αυτό που βλέπουν στην τηλεόραση. Η παρούσα μελέτη διερεύνησε εάν παιδιά Δ', Ε' και Στ' Δημοτικού (Ν = 93) μαθαίνουν ιταλικές λέξεις από την παρακολούθηση ενός τηλεοπτικού προγράμματος στα ιταλικά με ελληνικούς υπότιτλους. Τα παιδιά εντάχθηκαν τυχαία σε μία από τις τρεις πειραματικές συνθήκες όπου: (α) παρακολουθούν ένα ιταλικό τηλεοπτικό πρόγραμμα με ελληνικούς υπότιτλους, (β) παρακολουθούν το ίδιο πρόγραμμα χωρίς υπότιτλους και (γ) παρακολουθούν το τηλεοπτικό πρόγραμμα στα ελληνικά (ελέγχου). Η παρέμβαση διεξήχθη με τη χρήση 15λεπτου στιγμιότυπου από το παιδικό τηλεοπτικό πρόγραμμα «Ντόρα η Εξερευνήτρια». Η κατάκτηση λεξιλογίου και η αναγνώριση ιταλικών λέξεων ήταν υψηλότερα στην συνθήκη με τους υπότιτλους, υποδεικνύοντας έτσι ότι Έλληνες μαθητές του δημοτικού σχολείου μπορούν συμπτωματικά να κατακτήσουν λεξιλόγιο σε μια ξένη γλώσσα μέσα από την παρακολούθηση υποτιτλισμένων τηλεοπτικών προγραμμάτων.
Paper presented at 8th Panhellenic Conference "ICT in Education", University of Thessaly, Volos. 29-30 September, 2012
Μια σειρά από διεθνείς μελέτες έχουν δείξει ότι τα υποτιτλισμένα τηλεοπτικά προγράμματα παρέχουν ... more Μια σειρά από διεθνείς μελέτες έχουν δείξει ότι τα υποτιτλισμένα τηλεοπτικά προγράμματα παρέχουν ένα πλούσιο πλαίσιο για την εκμάθηση ξένων γλωσσών. Επιπλέον, οι θεατές είναι συνήθως ιδιαίτερα παρακινημένοι να καταλάβουν αυτό που βλέπουν στην τηλεόραση. Η παρούσα μελέτη διερεύνησε εάν παιδιά Δ', Ε' και Στ' Δημοτικού (Ν = 93) μαθαίνουν ιταλικές λέξεις από την παρακολούθηση ενός τηλεοπτικού προγράμματος στα ιταλικά με ελληνικούς υπότιτλους. Τα παιδιά εντάχθηκαν τυχαία σε μία από τις τρεις πειραματικές συνθήκες όπου: (α) παρακολουθούν ένα ιταλικό τηλεοπτικό πρόγραμμα με ελληνικούς υπότιτλους, (β) παρακολουθούν το ίδιο πρόγραμμα χωρίς υπότιτλους και (γ) παρακολουθούν το τηλεοπτικό πρόγραμμα στα ελληνικά (ελέγχου). Η παρέμβαση διεξήχθη με τη χρήση 15λεπτου στιγμιότυπου από το παιδικό τηλεοπτικό πρόγραμμα «Ντόρα η Εξερευνήτρια». Η κατάκτηση λεξιλογίου και η αναγνώριση ιταλικών λέξεων ήταν υψηλότερα στην συνθήκη με τους υπότιτλους, υποδεικνύοντας έτσι ότι Έλληνες μαθητές του δημοτικού σχολείου μπορούν συμπτωματικά να κατακτήσουν λεξιλόγιο σε μια ξένη γλώσσα μέσα από την παρακολούθηση υποτιτλισμένων τηλεοπτικών προγραμμάτων.
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Thesis Chapters by Ina Lekkai M.A., M.Sc.
Key words: resilience, education, multicultural era, resilient child, risk factors, protective mechanisms
Papers by Ina Lekkai M.A., M.Sc.
By taking this understanding of refugee minors as a starting point, this article provides an overview of research in the field of resilience, aiming to discuss the implications that tie refugee minors’ well-being to the human and children’s rights obligations that society bears towards them. The article concludes that there is an urgent need for interventions and programs which target factors that promote refugee children’s resilience in their design and implementation, informed by current knowledge of refugee children’s life and cultural background, and their self-ratings of negative and positive life events. The standards defined by human and children’s rights instruments and equity regarding children’s rights to achieve a good life should be a matter to be taken seriously for all children worldwide.
Key words: resilience, education, multicultural era, resilient child, risk factors, protective mechanisms
By taking this understanding of refugee minors as a starting point, this article provides an overview of research in the field of resilience, aiming to discuss the implications that tie refugee minors’ well-being to the human and children’s rights obligations that society bears towards them. The article concludes that there is an urgent need for interventions and programs which target factors that promote refugee children’s resilience in their design and implementation, informed by current knowledge of refugee children’s life and cultural background, and their self-ratings of negative and positive life events. The standards defined by human and children’s rights instruments and equity regarding children’s rights to achieve a good life should be a matter to be taken seriously for all children worldwide.