We implement preventive psychosocial
interventions in a school setting to
promote adolescents’ mental and social
well-being.
RefugeesWellSchool is a European funded Horizon2020 project carried out by seven different partners in six European countries (Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the United Kingdom).
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In-service teacher training
The aim of the INSETT intervention is to enhance teachers’ insight into how refugee /migration experiences may impact young people’s psychosocial well-being and school functioning upon resettlement in a new country (Brenner & Kia-Keating, 2016; Pastoor, 2015, 2017).
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Welcome To School
This intervention builds on the Welcome to School initiative developed by the Pharos Refugees and Health Knowledge Centre (the Netherlands), with support from the European Refugee Fund. Rooted in the theoretical principles of social capital, the Welcome to School Initiative seeks to strengthen the competencies of refugee and migrant youth with regards to self-esteem, coping, social skills and behavioral adjustment.
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Classroom Drama intervention
In a nine-week drama workshop intervention program, refugee and migrant adolescents in multi-ethnic schools work around the construction of group stories that support the construction of identity and meaning, aiming to establish bridges between past and present and to engage with themes of migration, exclusion, pluriform identities and cultural adaptation in host societies.
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Teaching Recovery Techniques + In-service Teacher Training
Teaching Recovery Techniques is a manualized intervention developed by the Children and War foundation (Yule, Dyregrov, Raundalen, & Smith, 2013). TRT is based on trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) and includes seven sessions for young people and two for the caregivers. For children, session one is about getting to know each other and session seven a follow-up.
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PIER intervention
The intervention ‘Peer Integration and Enhacement Resource’ (PIER) develops a participatory approach to supporting safe, positive peer interactions and social relationships in multi-ethnic schools. Through clustering pupils with migrant and non-migrant background in small collaborative groups working together on establishing social connection and participatory activities in the school context, the intervention aims at strengthening school belonging and promoting dialogue between minority and majority groups.
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Team
Meet the team-
Sofie de Smet
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Natalie Durbeej
Read the News
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Publications
Resources: RWS webinar and online workshop presentations
On 21 March 2022, RefugeesWellSchool hosted an all-day conference and workshop to discuss the RWS study findings and provide practical information on the various psycho-social interventions carried out. Here you find some of the presentations that RWS researchers gave during the webinar and online workshops. These presentations offer some resources to understand the nature and […]
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News
RWS webinar and online workshops: Report and materials
On 21 March 2022, RefugeesWellSchool hosted an all-day conference and workshop to discuss the RWS study findings and provide practical information on the various psycho-social interventions carried out. Hosted online and open to the public, the event drew dozens of researchers, teachers, practitioners, and policy makers, all joining from a number of different countries. Keynote […]
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Publications
Research article: The effectiveness of INSETT and PIER among Finnish-born and migrant adolescents in Finland
The RWS consortium is proud to present some of the first results published about the effectiveness of some our interventions. RWS researchers worked dedicatedly to understand the impact of the INSETT and PIER psychosocial preventive interventions on the mental health of native, refugee and migrant students. In this article, we focus on effectiveness specifically in […]
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News
Programme announcement: RWS webinar & online workshops
RefugeesWellSchool Webinar & Online Workshops ‘Interventions to promote the well-being of migrant and refugee adolescents in schools’ 21 March 2022 PROGRAMME Plenary Webinar 10:00 – 13:00 CET 10:00 – 10:15 Welcome & Overview of the project Ilse Derluyn, Ghent University, Belgium 10:15 – 10:45 “Reflections on belonging: The role of […]
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Publications
Research article: Migrant students’ sense of school belonging and the COVID-19 pandemic
The pandemic has interrupted many of the RWS interventions as implementation was ongoing when schools closed in order to contain the spread of COVID-19. While school closures posed many challenges for continuing with the interventions in schools, it also alerted us that there were now equally important other questions to seek responses to considering migrant […]
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Publications
Scientific publications – Full list
Throughout the project, RWS researchers have published their scientific work in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and books. The publications address the topics of migrant and refugee adolescents’ mental health, the role of teachers and schools in supporting wellbeing, the impact of COVID-19, and research methodological questions of the RWS study. See the full list of […]