Reframing Refugee Education in Kenya as an Inclusionary Practice of Pedagogy

There can be no doubt that large-scale humanitarian assistance is a necessary element of today’s global geopolitical environment. Wars, civil strife, environmental catastrophes, and other events compel significant numbers of people into situations in which they face a dire need for food, shelter, security, and a path toward a return to lives interrupted by tragedy. This assistance is currently provided in a number of ways through governmental, quasi-governmental, and nongovernmental organizations.¹ Over the past decade, these actors have also come to view education as an equally important part of the humanitarian assistance they provide. While education was earlier seen by donors and planners as primarily a development activity and excluded as a form of humanitarian assistance, it is now considered to be an essential component for meeting the immediate needs of refugees (Sinclair, 2001; Sommers, 2001; UNESCO, 2000a). The debates over how education ought to occur in emergencies and after they are over are framed in particular and pragmatic ways, and they necessarily focus on how to go about providing education to refugees in the most effective manner.