EDUCATION

Educational Needs Of Unaccompanied Somali Children in the UK: Addressing Past Failings and Meeting Future Challenges

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This dissertation is an opportunity for me to extend my regards to my research supervisor, my beloved friends and my family for their untiring support that they furnished throughout my research. I am grateful to them for their belief in me and the guidance that they provided me without which I would have never been able to work on and complete this research.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to adjudge that this entire dissertation is my individual work and I have not taken any sort of help from any external body. I am submitting this work for the very first time, and this work has never been submitted for any examination at academic or professional level before. Furthermore, I declare that this dissertation is demonstrating my personal views and opinions and they are not necessarily linked with my university.

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ABSTRACT

In this research, we delved into the topic relating to the educational needs of unaccompanied Somali children in the U.K. This study was designed to develop a culturally and psychologically sensitive education program for unaccompanied Somali children residing in London. The study revealed that there is a dire need to formulate a special curriculum and way of teaching for these children, because most of them have faced extreme trauma because of losing their parents in the war back home, and because of the massive bloodshed that the civil war had caused in their home countries. Moreover, these children face problems adjusting to an alien culture, so when they attend public schools, they cannot perform well. For this study, a secondary, qualitative research is carried out, using a systemic review to find the results of the study. The study revealed that most of these children face trauma, emotional imbalance, insecurity and a sense of otherness which hinders their performance at school. Hence, a comprehensive curriculum and education programme must be designed for such children, so that they grow up to be strong and well-educated people and be able to forget their traumatic past to adapt to the present, as well as, the future.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH REVIEW3

RESEARCH ARTICLE 16

Researchers Identity6

Research Objectives6

Methodology and Research Instruments9

Research findings12

RESEARCH ARTICLE 213

Researcher's Identity13

Research Objectives13

Methodology and Research Instruments14

Research findings15

RESEARCH ARTICLE 317

Researcher's Identity17

Research Objectives17

Methodology and Research Instruments18

Research findings19

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY20

Introduction20

Rationale for the Chosen Topic22

Rationale for a Qualitative Study23

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION24

The Somali Children's Struggles24

Growing up as a Child in Somalia27

Ways of Curing Traumatic Experience29

Cultural Blend and Ways of Learning32

Confused Mind35

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION38

REFERENCES45

APPENDICES56

Secondary Data in the research56

Justification of using secondary research method56

Secondary information Retrieval57

Uses of Secondary Data57

Circumstances in which Secondary Statistics are applied58

Advantages of Secondary data59

Disadvantages of Secondary Data60

Ethical Considerations61

Process of Conducting Literature Review61

Literature Search63

Merits of Literature Review63

Demerits of Literature Review64

Ensuring Rigour64

Reliability and Validity65

Validity66

Chapter 1: Introduction

Education plays a great deal in keeping children committed towards their goals and in helping them to produce the best results. In order to keep a child motivated, the education system must provide children with educational ...