An exploration of educational psychologists' experiences of working with children and young people from refugee backgrounds in Ireland

Abstract

Children and Young People (CYP) from refugee backgrounds are likely to have been exposed to traumatic events, have been required to adjust to a new environment, while also learning an additional language, and adjusting to a new culture. Since February 2022, there has been a rapid increase in CYP from refugee backgrounds enrolled in Irish schools. Educational Psychologists (EPs) play a crucial role in supporting CYP who are vulnerable within the school context. The objective of this research was to identify and explore EPs’ experiences of supporting the needs of CYP from refugee backgrounds in Ireland, highlighting what has worked well, the challenges faced by EPs, and whether this work has changed for EPs over the last two years. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was the methodology used for this study. Four participants engaged in individual, in-depth semi-structured interviews. Participants were recruited through criterion-based, purposeful methods, consisting of EPs working in the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) who had experience working with CYP from refugee backgrounds. Four key themes were identified: adapting current approaches to support CYP from refugee backgrounds, supports for EPs working with CYP from refugee backgrounds, supporting the school environment, and acknowledging the impact of culture, policies and accessing support. This research also highlights and explores areas that need to be addressed in professional training programmes for psychologists as well as implications for educational psychology practice and policy.