1. Linda Morrice Hidden Histories: Refugees and the Challenges for Policy, Pedagogy and Participation

2. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 26.) Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 28) Benefits of HE: Incentive to remain in education Human capital required for re- construction Empowerment of communities Promotes of equality (UNESCO, 2015) Higher Education as a human right

3. Hope and purpose

4. Widening participation discourses: Removing structural barriers to address under-representation of certain groups Recognising and addressing issues of poverty, social exclusion and lack of opportunity International student discourses: Competition for high fee paying non-EU students Policies and initiatives to support their engagement and integration. 2 key policy discourses for managing difference and diversity in UK HE

5. Refugees are not generally recognised in either WP or international discourses. 2007 just 6 institutions of 124 explicitly referenced refugees or asylum seekers in their OFFA agreement (Stevenson and Willott 2007) 2016 / 2017 just 10 institutions out of 170+ agreements referenced this group (Office For Fair Access, 2016) But … 36 universities are currently offering bursaries or scholarship to refugees and asylum seekers (Article 26, HKF 2016) From invisible to visible?

6. For example, Asylum seekers (AS) are not entitled to pay home fees and are not eligible for student support. Humanitarian Protection (HP) are entitled to pay home fees, but are only entitled to student support if they have been resident in the UK for 3 years. Discretionary Leave to Remain (DLR) is often (although not exclusively) awarded to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC); these individuals and family members are not eligible for home fees or student support. Universities can use their discretion to allow AS, HP and DLR individuals to study as home students. Complexity of bureaucratic labels

7. Patricia from Zimbabwe. ‘Essayist literacy’ practices, no language barrier Alan, a civil engineer from Iran able to draw upon calculations and maths during MSc. Savalan, a business man from Iran. Apply professional knowledge to BSc. Establishing learner identities – legitimisation of capital Extent to which existing capital (educational or professional knowledge and experience) can be deployed.

8. Farideh – hospital dietician from Iran. Very different education system Struggled with unfamiliar academic expectations and learning styles. ‘Institutional practice of mystery’ (Lillis 2001). Establishing learner identities – exclusion and ‘deficit’ ‘Some lecturers give you a lot and you have to find a little. And some give you a little and you have to find a lot, but I still don’t know which one is what. I have to learn how to pick up what I need. They don’t really help…Lecturers in Iran work much harder.’

9. ‘For them it is a different story. They phone daddy or mummy and they give them money. In my turn my mummy or daddy phones me, and they ask me for money, so it's slightly different!’ Savalan Hidden distinctions and exclusion – financial and emotional I mean initially they said it was going to be a year. I thought well a year is reasonable … you miss one Christmas, you miss one birthday, its reasonable; and then you miss a second birthday, you miss a second Christmas… Patricia Managing complex transnational relationships – financial and emotional responsibilities.

10. Mental health issues Vulnerability of temporary refugee status and fear of deportation (5 year rule) Loneliness and little sense of shared everyday practices – cultural and financial differences. Rendered doubly invisible: Not recognised in discourses, policies and practices of HE Differences lived as private and hidden. Struggles and inequalities not recognised. Hidden distinctions – boundaries of belonging

11. Challenge the binaries of ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’; ‘home’ and ‘overseas’ students; ‘inclusion’ and ‘exclusion’ Importance of recognising individual biography – complex personal, social and cultural positionings The value of ‘local’ or ‘’partial’ knowledge which students bring with them - the foundation from which other knowledge can be built (Freire 1992) Pedagogical spaces which encourage private and silenced differences to be made public Meeting the challenges

12. How do universities support students with academic norms and expectations? How do we enable students to be expert? What culturally relevant activities, sports, interactive theatre and other creative opportunities are supported (or is our information focused on drinking and having fun…) What activities promote positive contacts between and across cultural groups? What psycho-social support do we provide? Practical questions …

13. Issues of status, protection and well-being Can students remain legally after their degree? If not, where are they returned to? (Forced return, destitution, expired residency) Will family be able to join them? How are expectations of scholarships managed? Are applicants expected to show certification? What are the risks attached to obtaining these? Capacity building in the first country of asylum ‘often provides the best prerequisite for sustainable programming’ (UNHCR 2015) Scholarships or smugglers …