ongoing
Structure and AgencyTransnational and School Transitions of Ukrainian Forced Migrant Adolescents in Poland
principal investigator / project leader
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
project value: PLN 1,335,234
funding source: National Science Center
discipline: social sciences
research center: Youth Research Center
location: Warsaw
duration: 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028
Researchers from SWPS University’s Youth Research Center will investigate transnational transitions of Ukrainian Forced Migrant Adolescents, who have been living in Poland after the 2022 Russian invasion on Ukraine.
The project is financed by the National Science Center, project number 2023/49/B/HS6/03795.
Project objectives
The goal of the project is to study the transnational transitions, which include shifts from one social, cultural and educational context to another, experienced by Ukrainian forced migrant adolescents (FMA) in Poland (in two cities Warsaw and Lublin). We also aim to study the school transitions (the so-called middle-to-high-school transitions) of Ukrainian adolescents in times of forced migration. In particular, the project aims to investigate how young migrants (aged 13-17), who left Ukraine due to the Russian invasion of 2022, build new models of adaptation to social change during the critical period of academic and social transition from middle (which is upper primary school in Poland, grade 8) to high school during forced migration. We also seek to provide a holistic analysis of the role the structures (understood as institutions and practices, such as school, family, peer groups, etc.), agency and culture (SAC) play in transnational and school transitions of Ukrainian FMA in Poland. We are interested in how the transnational transitions shape and constrain adolescents’ agency within the changing social, cultural, economic and education structures in the times of adolescents’ development, i.e. on the one hand an increasing autonomy, and on the other hand, amplified uncertainty and temporality of life.
Our project is centered around the experience of Ukrainian Forced Migrant Adolescents concerning education and socialization in Poland. We aim to evaluate the existing structure, culture and practices that determine education of foreign children in Polish schools, and to critically analyze the role of young migrants' agency in those processes.
The research results will not only contribute to the body of knowledge on this topic, but also it will provide the foundation for developing recommendations for institutions and practitioners that deal with young migrants and refugees in Poland.
Popyk, Anzhela
Principal Investigator
First and last name
Anzhela Popyk
Email
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Specialization
sociologist, philologist
Academic degree or title
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
Role in the Faculty
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Role in the Department
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Role in the Institute
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Role in the Research Center
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Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Anzhela Popyksociologist
Methodology
School (middle-to-high-school) transition is undeniably among the critical turning points in the lives of adolescents. Therefore, we adopt the Qualitative Longitudinal Research (QLR) methods and employ the agency and structure theory under the critical realism (CR) paradigm to research middle-to-high-school transitions of forced migrant adolescents from Ukraine, living in Poland in times of political, economic, social, cultural and educational changes and challenges spread over the borders and across the time. We want to answer the following questions:
- How do Ukrainian forced migrant children, living in Poland, experience middle-to-high-school transitions?
- How do transnational transitions (social, cultural, educational, etc.) affect middle-to-high-school transitions of Ukrainian forced migrant adolescents?
- What is the role of governmental and non-governmental organizations in middle-to-highschool transitions of Ukrainian FMA living in Poland?
- How do structures and agency determine middle-to-high-school transitions of Ukrainian forced migrant adolescents in Poland?
- How does adolescents’ agency shape the structures and culture across time and space?
Practical applications of results
We intend to presented the results of this project in the form of a Working Paper and at least five scientific articles (published in high-impact international journals). They will also be included in a student’s doctoral thesis.
The outcomes will also provide a foundation for the development of recommendations addressed to institutions responsible for education and socialization of forced migrant adolescents in Poland as well as recommendations for parents and practitioners, which will strengthen adolescents’ post-migration agentic actions and school transitions.
Finally, the outcomes will be presented at national and international conferences.