Citizen Identity Formation of Domestic Students and Syrian Refugee Youth in Jordan

Book excerpt: Moving beyond Western philosophical and political frameworks, this text engages with and centers Arab-Islamic ontologies, pupil voice, and gender to explore citizen identity formation and belonging among domestic students and Syrian refugees in Jordan. Focusing on the role of double-shift schools, educational policy, and provision, the volume interrogates how citizenship and youth identity is rooted, upheld, and altered over time. With an eye to complex historical, local, and national contexts of migration and (in)security in the Middle East, the book strives for a reconceptualization of citizen identity and education to better reflect the development of socio-civic identities amidst poverty, forced migration, and unrest. Based on direct access to 10 public schools in Jordan and using qualitative data, it applies an innovative combination of different methods to ascertain student voice to theorize education for citizenship based on real and challenging experiences of Syrian refugees as well as domestic Jordanian students. Moving beyond the traditional Western philosophies that largely frame citizenship discourses, it applies process philosophy to a field dominated by political considerations while also paying attention to social contexts. As such, it goes beyond the context of Jordan to inform regional and international discourses, policies, and initiatives surrounding refugees and education in emergencies. The book will appeal to scholars, professionals, and students in the fields of comparative and international education, citizenship youth studies, social studies, and social foundations of education, as well as those working in the formal and non-formal educational development sectors.