Learning on the Margins: The evolving nature of educational vulnerability in Palestine in the time of COVID-19

Abstract

The study is the culmination of 18 months of collaboration between the University of Auckland (UoA) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Palestine, based on support from the European Civilian Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations office (ECHO). This research-practice partnership set out to better understand whether and how current sector definitions of educational vulnerability—defined largely by access-related constraints to education—impact on student learning and well-being outcomes. When Covid-19 hit in early 2020, the research focus changed. It shifted to exploring how the pandemic has differentially impacted on students’ engagement and participation in virtual or e-learning platforms, as well as their overall psychosocial well-being based on primary and secondary data collected, reviewed and analysed by UoA and NRC. This paper is a precis of the full technical paper produced. It begins by providing a bit of context for the study and summarises the data collected. It then moves to present some of the key findings which arose from analysis of these data, for both Gaza and West Bank. At the end, some key implications from this study are provided. Readers interested to understand more on how key findings presented were reached, or analysis conducted are encouraged to read the full technical report.