Language for Resilience: World Refugee Day webinar

This webinar looks at the topic of languages education and resilience.

Hosted by Mike Solly, Senior Adviser and global Language for Resilience lead at the British Council, the webinar provides short and varied sessions, including:

1. Refugee Voices: Experiences of access to learning opportunities

A conversation with participants, aged 25 – 30, from the refugee community who studied English and academic skills courses on the LASER programme, and are currently studying degrees or diplomas online with Amity University in India, or the Open University in the UK. We ask them to share experiences of access to learning: what works and what doesn’t work?

The LASER project is an EU-funded project to provide access to higher education for disadvantaged Syrian and Jordanian youth in Jordan and Lebanon.

2. Who teaches refugees? Policy dilemmas, barriers and opportunities - Ruth Naylor, Education Development Trust

Integrating refugees into national education systems provides a sustainable solution, but usually means that refugees are taught by national teachers, rather than by refugee teachers who share their culture, language and experience. The laws, policies and practices determining who teaches refugees rarely consider who make the best teachers of refugees.

Ruth Naylor, is the author of new research, by the Education Development Trust in partnership with IIEP UNESCO.

3. An update on key findings from the Language for Resilience research hub, in an interview with Tony Capstick, Lecturer in TESOL and Applied Linguistics from the University of Reading and research hub lead.

Watch a recording of the webinar

Webinar recording part 1

Webinar recording part 2

We’re also pleased to announce the launch of the Language for Resilience partner network (on LinkedIn).

The Language for Resilience partner network brings together professionals involved in language education and the humanitarian and international development responses to crises, to collaborate and improve knowledge of innovative language education in support of building the resilience of refugees and their host communities. We invite you to join the group and invite you to share details about your projects, reports, research papers, to conferences and events.

Take a virtual tour of the Language for Resilience exhibition

Across the world many millions of people have been displaced from their homes by conflict and civil unrest. Education and career opportunities for both children and adults have been severely disrupted, or halted. Both refugees and the communities that host them recognise that issues around the acquisition of language are absolutely essential for refugees and their hosts to lead meaningful, engaged and productive lives. Language learning helps refugees and their host communities to withstand challenges, to recover from crisis, to overcome barriers – to build resilience.

Based on the work the British Council delivers in partnership with international humanitarian, development and education partners, across four regions (the Middle East, Africa, the European Union and the Americas) Language for Resilience focuses on how language enhances the resilience of refugees and displaced persons, whether that’s giving a voice to young people and adults, building social cohesion in host communities or providing individuals with the skills they need to access work, services, education and information.

Research and insight

Browse fascinating case studies, research papers, publications and books by researchers and ELT experts from around the world.

See our publications, research and insight