The life of Syrian children in a temporary shelter center in Turkey: An ethnographic study on primary school education

This research aims to describe the life and education experiences in temporary shelter center of primary school children who took refuge in Turkey by escaping from the civil war in Syria with ethnographic perspective. The study was conducted with ethnographic research design. The participants of the research consist of fourth -grade students who accommodate in the temporary shelter center and receive education in the temporary education center in 2018-2019 academic year in Altınözü district of Hatay province, their teachers, parents and close social circle. Data describing children's life and education experiences in the temporary shelter center were collected between February 2019 and November 2019. Observation, interview, field note, researcher's diary and ethnographic photography were used to collect research data. Content analysis technique was used in the analysis of research data. As a result of the analysis of the data, the nature of daily life in the temporary shelter center, the life and educational experiences of children were depicted with an ethnographic perspective. The research recommends to carry out more ethnographic researches with children under temporary protection to describe their life stories and indigenous perspectives, to adopt multi-cultural education policies and to organize in-service trainings on teaching Turkish to foreigners.