CHAPTER 7

Learners in other Marginalized Groups

CHAPTER 7
Learners in other Marginalized Groups

MARGINALIZATION IN EDUCATION
 The theory of marginalization can trace its roots to the theory of marginal man
 Person is situated in a marginal position among two social environments that are not completely matched.
 Analysis of the marginal man focuses on an individual who is born and raised in one culture and is immersed in a different prevailing culture.
 This transition situates the individual in an enduring interaction and connection with a different culture, religion, language, race, and political belief brought about by schooling,
inter-cultural marriage, emigration, or other reasons.
 Person who becomes a cultural hybrid living and sharing intimately in the life of two distinct peoples unwilling to break with his past and not accepted by the outside world.
 A crisis experience becomes a personal concern when the individual is rejected.
 Marginalization naturally starts even before children get into school and persists until they become adults.
 Marginalization basically arises from culturally deeply-embedded values, beliefs, standards, norms, and other factors which determine acceptability within a certain social
frame.
 Marginalization is the state of being considered unimportant, undesirable, unworthy, insignificant, and different, resulting in inequity, unfairness, deprivation, and enforced lack
of access to mainstream power.
 Education plays a vital and decisive role in neutralizing the inequality and persisting illiteracy that encompass generations. However, education can also support prejudice and
continue marginalization.
 Marginalization in education originates from culturally intense beliefs, values, and typical norms that regulate recognition or acknowledgment of other people within a specific
social standard.
 It is a form of acute and persistent disadvantage rooted in underlying social inequalities. Its existence is a result of policies and processes that sustain this prejudice to a group
or to some individuals.
 The report also states that those who are marginalized usually exhibit lower levels of educational attainment.
 The highest form of marginalization, therefore, is an insufficiency in the availability of education.
 The issue about labeling, wherein a learner is categorized as belonging to a certain group depending on the learner's needs or challenges .
 This refers to learners with special needs. He emphasized, however, that is not identical to marginalization.
 In some countries, labelling meant supplemental resources especially in education – certain teaching-learning strategies, techniques, physical and emotional requirements,
and services are provided for the learner.
 In other countries, labelling would only have detrimental effects to learners being shamed and ridiculed.
 From a different perspective, learners not having a label or not belonging to a group is also counterproductive because they will not be given attention or importance.
 Marginalization, therefore, has distinct interpretations to people in divergent situations. It is better thought of as a progressive concept that changes between situations and times.
 In earlier research, Messiou explored how marginalization is experienced by primary school students and proposed that marginalization can be conceptualized in four general
ways:
 The child experiences some kind of marginalization that is recognized by almost everybody, including himself/herself
 The child feels that he/she is experiencing marginalization whereas most of the others do not recognize this
 When a child is found in what appears to be marginalized situations but does not feel it, or does not view it as marginalization
 When a child is experiencing marginalization but does not admit it
Messiou suggests that these perspectives of the students can provide a way of examining processes, systems, and occurrences in schools and may assist in the awareness of and
response to marginalization. It is important for adults in education to be conscious of this issue and put a stop to it.

MARGINALIZATION AND INCLUSION

 Messiou manifests how young people's "voice" can intensify systems, processes, and experiences in congruence with inclusive education.
 Voice is clearly identified as one of the student's rights as having a say, as well as referring to language, and emotional components as well as non-verbal means that are
used to express opinions.
 Simply put, it is listening and paying attention to what the young people say and do not say which means attending to the words, emotions, and behavior of young people and
providing them with various opportunities to fully participate and collaborate with adults in education.
 In the book "Confronting Marginalization in Education" Messiou (2012) posits a framework that focuses on the collaborative activity between young people and adults in
education that promotes inclusion.
 It also takes into consideration other factors that contextualize marginalization like the curriculum, systems within the society, or the effects of administration and management on
the everyday lives of teachers and young people in schools. The framework demonstrates a four-step cyclical process that is quite flexible. (Messiou's revised framework for
promoting inclusion).
 Step 1: Opening Doors: Enabling voices to be heard. Situating the students in the center of the process, various methods are used to allow them to express how various
concerns and experiences lead to the marginalization of students in school. The students are respected as active participants. Different methods suggested to be used are
appropriate to the age of the learners. They are drawing, role-playing, doing interviews, engaging in group discussions, analyzing visual images, and other quantitative ways
to measure social relationships. The question that is asked is: What do you think are practices, behavior, policies, and systems in class or in school that cause
marginalization?
 Step 2: Looking Closely: Bringing Concerns to the Surface. In this stage of the process, data gathered from Step 1 is meticulously examined to identify students who may be
experiencing some kind of marginalization or any concerns that might lead to marginalization. It is the practitioners who study the data, unless there were students who acted
as researchers. Staff and members should gather and discuss the data gathered and the basic information that is surfacing from specific students and about distinct
concerns. Data to accomplish the next step is chosen, taking great care of ethical aspects that need to be considered. The question asked is: Are there persons/students in
class who experience being marginalized? How? (Cite specific examples).
 Step 3: Making Sense of the Evidence: Sharing Data with Learners. It is during this time that there is an explicit focus on the concerns about marginalization that were
gathered from the previous step. Only concerns or issues are discussed and no names are mentioned. Students are asked to think about their own experiences as well as
about what their classmates feel and experience. This involves a discussion between the adults and the students, and everybody learns from each other.
 Step 4: Dealing with Marginalization: Encouraging Inclusive Thinking and Practice. Collaboration between the adults and students in this phase is very significant. It spells out
the response of the group and the concrete actions that will be taken to confront the issues and concerns about marginalization that were shared in the previous step.
The process does not end in Step 4. It goes on and makes adults mindful of what the young people have to say. It also assures both the young people and the adults that
marginalization is given due attention and concerns are addressed. The actions that are taken are the results of a shared goal of inclusion (Messiou 2012)
DIFFERENT LEARNERS IN MARGINALIZED GROUPS

 Child Laborers/Domestic Workers

 Child labor is work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development . Child labor is caused by
poverty, the lack of education, and the lack of schools.
 A child is a human being who is below the age of 18 and noted a big decline in child labor over the years but still presents the following statistics:
 A total of 152 million children – 64 million girls and boys – are in child labor globally, accounting for almost one in ten of all children worldwide.
 Nearly half of all those in child – 73 million in absolute terms – are in hazardous work that directly endangers their health, safety, and moral development.
 Children in employment, broader measure comprising both child labor and permitted forms of employment involving children of legal working age, number 218 million.
 One of the key results noted in the report is "Child Labor is frequently associated with educational marginalization." This report was the first to acknowledge the connection
between education and child labor. It clearly stated that a large number of child laborers are unable to get an education because of poverty, situations of armed conflict, and
calamities. Those children who are able to study are emotionally and physically tired from work and are incapable of gaining much from studying in school more so doing self-
study. They also tend to perform below par compared to their classmates in terms of learning achievement.
 In June 2015, the theme of World Day against Child Labor was "No to Child Labor-Yes to Quality Education." The challenge was to grant free, mandatory, and quality
education for all children at least to the minimum age for admission to employment covering those currently in child labor. There are more dynamic attempts to make sure that
national policies on child labor are strong and persistent. This is to ensure that quality child education is available and teacher education is excellent.
 We are still quite far from the Sustainable Development Goals 8.7 that aims to eradicate child labor by 2025. This means there is still so much work to be done, policies to put
in place, and cooperation among nations to put an end to this.

 Indigenous People
 There is no commonly acknowledged meaning of the term indigenous people . Jose R. Martinez Coho's Study on the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous
Populations presented a "working definition of indigenous communities, peoples, and nations" (as cited in State of the World's Indigenous People 2010):
 Indigenous communities, peoples, and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories,
consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them.
 They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop, and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories and their ethnic
identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system.
 This historical continuity may consist of the continuation, for an extended period reaching into the present of one or more of the following factors:
 Occupation of ancestral lands, or at least of part of them;
 Common ancestry with the original occupants of these lands;
 Culture in general, or in specific manifestations (such as religion, living under a tribal system, membership of an indigenous community, dress, means of livelihood,
etc.);
 Language (whether used as the only language, as mother-tongue, as the habitual means of communication at home or in the family, or as the main, preferred,
habitual, general or normal language.
 Residence in certain parts of the country, or in certain regions of the world: and other relevant factors.
 On an individual basis, an indigenous person is one who belongs to these indigenous populations through self-identification as indigenous (group consciousness) and is
recognized and accepted by these populations as one of its members (acceptance by the group). This preserves for these communities the sovereign right and power to
decide who belongs to them, without external interference.
 Based on several sources including the work of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, the provisions of convention No. 169 of the ILO, and the contents of the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, indigenous peoples possess one or all of the following characteristics:
 they are descendants of the peoples who inhabited the land or territory prior to colonization or the establishment of state borders;
 they possess distinct social, economic, and political systems, languages, cultures, and beliefs, and are determined to maintain and develop this distinct identity;
 they exhibit strong attachment to their ancestral lands and the natural resources contained therein; and/or
 they belong to the non-dominant groups of a society and identify themselves as indigenous peoples (Minority Rights: International Standards and Guidance for
Implementation, UN and Geneva 2010), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007).
 Indigenous people are acknowledged to have suffered from historic justices as a result of their colonization and dispossession of their lands, territories, and resources, thus
preventing them from exercising, in particular, their right to development in accordance with their own needs and interests.
 The very first State of the World's Indigenous Peoples (SOWIP) (2010) prepared by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) highlighted very
disturbing statistics on indigenous people's sufferings both in developing and developed countries:
 human rights abuses committed against them,
 marginalization,
 excessive poverty,
 absence or lack of quality education, poor health,
 unsanitary and poor living conditions,
 malnutrition,
 unemployment and unequal opportunities for employment,
 and expulsion from their lands.
 Mr. Sha Zukang, the Under–Secretary–General for Economic and Social Affairs, in his foreword for the SOWIP (2010) said that even their languages, their value systems,
culture, traditions, and their way of life is being continuously vulnerable to threats of destruction.
 Focusing on education, indigenous people generally lack access to education because they usually stay in places that are quite far from schools and also because of their
marginalized status in the community.
 The curriculum of the schools they get into, if there is a school available for 'their children to go to, is not adapted to their culture and language.
 They are not included or even consulted in decision-making processes that identify the kind of education they need, the curriculum that will be implemented, and the
teachers who will teach them.
 Teachers are not trained to teach indigenous people – they do not speak their language and, more often than not, are unable to provide materials and activities that are
relevant to the uniqueness of their culture.
 Even the materials that they use are problematic because these feature stereotypical and inaccurate views on indigenous people.
 A consequence of all these is an "education gap"- in the same countries, there are less indigenous students who enroll, more indigenous students who dropout, and lower
achievement outcomes than non-indigenous people:
 Another consequence is the destruction of their culture and the loss of their identity. This is brought about by an educational system that is foreign and that did not consider
their culture in the first place.
 It is also good to note that a number of indigenous people who have gone through formal schooling have become progressive and helpful in uplifting the plight of their
indigenous community.
 The status of indigenous women who have gone to formal schooling has also empowered them (SOWIP 2010).
 Education is a right and a means for self-improvement.
 Its terminal goal is a better life for the individual and his/her family. Quality education will eventually equate to better lives for indigenous people.
 The Declaration of Rights of Indigenous People (2007) notes that quality education is significant for indigenous people.
 It declares that indigenous people have the right to build and manage their own system of education using their language, considering their very own cultural diversity.
 It declares that indigenous people have the right to use, pass on, and invigorate their languages, traditions, beliefs, value systems, literature, culture, ceremonies,
practices and way of writing to the next generations of children through education. UNESCO has international frameworks, guides, guidelines, tools, and tool kits for
ensuring inclusion and equity for indigenous people in education.
 For inclusion to take root in education, awareness, respect, and tolerance for cultural diversity are significant components.
DIFFERENT LEARNERS IN MARGINALIZED GROUPS

 Abused Children
 The World Health Organization (WHO) defines child maltreatment as "the abuse and neglect that occurs to children under 18 years of age.
 It includes all types of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, negligence, and commercial or other exploitation, which results in actual or potential
harm to the child's health, survival, development, or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust, or power.
 Exposure to intimate partner violence is also sometimes included as a form of child maltreatment." (WHO 2016)
 Child maltreatment is identified globally as a valid "social, public health, and human rights issue.
 Child maltreatment or child abuse is a serious matter that has direct, extensive, and life-time effects on children.
 It may lead to physical harm or impairments, negatively affect cognitive functioning and socio-emotional adjustment, weaken the nervous and immune systems, and lead to
death.
 A global systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationships between violence in childhood and educational outcomes (Fry et al. 2018), showed that all kinds of abuse
and cruelty in childhood have an effect on 'educational outcomes' which included "school dropout/graduation, school absence, academic achievement, and other educational
outcomes such as grade retention, learning outcomes, and remedial classes."

 Refugees or Displaced Children

 Refugee as "someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence.
 A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.
 Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal, and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries.
 An internally displaced person, or IDP, is "someone who has been forced to flee their home but never cross an international border.
 These individuals seek safety anywhere they can find it-in nearby towns, schools, settlements, internal camps, even forests and fields.
 IDPs, which include people displaced by internal strife and natural disasters, are the largest group that UNHCR assists.
 Unlike refugees, IDPs are not protected by international law or eligible to receive many types of aid because they are legally under the protection of their own government."
(UNHCR)
 According to the most recent statistics from the UN, there are 21.3 million refugees and 51% are below 18 years of age. This is the highest record so far since WWII.
 The refugees and the internally displaced children have something in common:
 They are not in their homes; they are not secure. There is also a big possibility that they could be or are separated from their family, friends, and community.
 They are lonely and feel they are treated unfairly.
 They are in a situation that does not allow them to enjoy freedom of movement and also freedom to go to school.
 They are often mixed with people from different cultures and beliefs.
 They live in tents or desolate housing facilities that are boxed in by barbed wires or fences.
 They are in distress, scared, and uncertain about what is going to happen to them, for how long and what their future is going to be like.
 The present situation of these children is complicated and there are no answers to this problem yet. However, other questions are arising:
 Who or what will they be in the future?
 Will they grow up to be good citizens of their country?
 Will they be the next group of terrorists who will be a burden and a threat to the world?
 Concerns over what will become of these children should be enough to make us take a serious look at how we can make education work for them (Cardarelli 2018).
 The Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention of Child's Rights emphasize that education is the right of every person, every child. This means that education policies
are in place.
 The 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development considers education as essential to the advancement of humankind.
 It is clearly stated that "UN Sustainable Development Goal #4, which calls for ensuring inclusive and quality education for all and promoting lifelong learning.
 Its specific objectives include:
 ensuring that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education,
eliminating gender disparities in education, and
 ensuring equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and children in
vulnerable situations by 2030." (UN SDG 2015)
 Despite all these, in the resettlement areas or places these children are confined to, food and shelter are given priority over education.
 Aside from the lack of resources, there are other complications that are hindrances to the quality of education given to these children:
 Countries that host them are unable to protect refugee right to education simply because they themselves have a distended system of education and vulnerable
government and economic institutions.
 Because of the length of time refugees and displaced children are in resettlement and refugee areas, educational resources given to them do not allow for quality
education – shifts to accommodate children, over tire the teachers, and shorten learning time.
 Language and the lack of materials is also a concern.
 The children who have been exposed to war and violence demonstrate signs of psycho-social problems that are not addressed.

 Children in Conflict Zones

 All wars, whether just or unjust, disastrous or victorious, are waged against the child – Eglantyne Jebb
 Children living in conflict zones around the world have continued to suffer through extreme levels of violence over the past 12 months, and the world has continued to fail
them.
 For too long, parties to conflict have been committing atrocities with near – total impunity, and it is only getting worse. Much more can and must be done to protect and assist
children. It is said that children in countries that are at war are being used as human shields, killed, maimed, or recruited to fight.
 Rape, forced, marriage, and abduction have become standard tactics in conflicts from Syria to Yemen, and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Nigeria, South
Sudan, and Myanmar (UNICEF Press Release 2018).
 The children have rights accorded to them by law, by the Convention on Child's Rights, but it is the utter disrespect and disregard for these rights that is brought about by the
unresponsiveness of governments and even, at times, connivance with the perpetrators that is causing the children harm. It is also sad to note that other countries are not
helpful in solving this problem (Save the Children Report 2019).
 The UN has identified 6 categories of human rights violations against children, known as the 6 grave violations. These violations include the:
 killing and maiming of children,
 abduction of children,
 recruitment or use of children as soldiers,
 sexual violence against children,
 attacks against schools or hospitals, and
 denial of humanitarian access.
 The first 4 are direct acts of violence against children, and the last 2 are indirect actions that cause harm to children and directly relate to health care and health workers.
 The commission of any of these violations constitutes a breach of international humanitarian law." (UN Working Paper 1, 2013 as cited in Kadir et al. 2018)
 Despite the laws, the number of children caught in conflict zones is still increasing and many are being deliberately targeted. The way wars are being fought, in this present
day, demonstrates a total disregard for children and schools.
 Children are constantly getting killed and/or hurt lost their parents/ family, have very poor health, and mental states are under "toxic stress." This causes both physical and
"psychological trauma" that will have enduring effects.
 When they are raped, they are condemned and if they get pregnant, their unborn children are unwanted and stigmatized. Being a child soldier makes them lose their identity
and exposes them to conditions that will have a long-lasting effect on their mental health.
 There are countless effects of armed conflict on children who are very vulnerable and unable to protect themselves. The effect on the children's education: enrolment is going
down, a lot of children are dropping out of school, school conditions are bad, there are low levels of educational attainment, and abuse is committed. (Kadir et al. 2018)
 Is there something that can be done for the children caught in armed conflict? There have been governments and countries that have upheld children's rights. They are firm
with their laws and values and look out for the children's welfare and safety. Leaders and governments have an important role to play to put a stop to this injustice and
violence against children in armed conflicts. The responsibility does not stop with them, every person has the responsibility to look out for these children and make a stand for
them.
This chapter has presented information on learners from marginalized groups, specifically the child laborers, indigenous people, abused children, refugees, and children in conflict
 CHAPTER 7
Learners in other Marginalized Groups

MARGINALIZATION IN EDUCATION MARGINALIZATION AND INCLUSION

 Theory of marginal man
 An individual who is born and raised in one culture and is immersed in a
different prevailing culture
 Person who becomes a cultural hybrid living and sharing intimately in the life of
two distinct peoples unwilling to break with his past and not accepted by the
outside world –
 A crisis experience becomes a personal concern when the individual is rejected
 Marginalization is the state of being considered unimportant, undesirable,
unworthy, insignificant, and different, resulting in inequity, unfairness, deprivation,
and enforced lack of access to mainstream power.
 Marginalization can be conceptualized in four general ways:
 The child experiences some kind of marginalization that is recognized by
almost everybody, including himself/herself
 The child feels that he/she is experiencing marginalization whereas most of the
others do not recognize this
 When a child is found in what appears to be marginalized situations but does
not feel it, or does not view it as marginalization
 When a child is experiencing marginalization but does not admit it
 Messiou manifests how young people's " voice" can intensify systems, processes,
and experiences in congruence with inclusive education.
 Voice is clearly identified as one of the student's rights as having a say, as
well as referring to language, and emotional components as well as non-
verbal means that are used to express opinions.
 Simply put, it is listening and paying attention to what the young people say
and do not say which means attending to the words, emotions, and behavior
of young people and providing them with various opportunities to fully
participate and collaborate with adults in education.
 Messiou (2012) posits a framework that focuses on the collaborative activity
between young people and adults in education that promotes inclusion.
 The framework demonstrates a four-step cyclical process that is quite flexible:
 Step 1: Opening Doors: Enabling voices to be heard.
 Step 2: Looking Closely: Bringing Concerns to the Surface.
 Step 3: Making Sense of the Evidence: Sharing Data with Learners.
 Step 4: Dealing with Marginalization: Encouraging Inclusive Thinking and
Practice.

DIFFERENT LEARNERS IN MARGINALIZED GROUPS

 Child Laborers/Domestic Workers

 Child labor is work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development . Child labor is caused by
poverty, the lack of education, and the lack of schools.
 Indigenous People
 Indigenous communities, peoples, and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their
territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them.
 They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop, and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories and their
ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system.
 Abused Children
 Child maltreatment as "the abuse and neglect that occurs to children under 18 years of age.
 It includes all types of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, negligence, and commercial or other exploitation, which results in actual or potential
harm to the child's health, survival, development, or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust, or power.
 Refugees or Displaced Children
 Refugee as "someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence.
 A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.
 An internally displaced person, or IDP, is "someone who has been forced to flee their home but never cross an international border.
 Children in Conflict Zones
 For too long, parties to conflict have been committing atrocities with near – total impunity, and it is only getting worse. Much more can and must be done to protect and assist
children. It is said that children in countries that are at war are being used as human shields, killed, maimed, or recruited to fight.