At this seminar, Alebachew Kemisso will present and discuss his article Boundary construction and education: un/belonging among Somali refugee students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study explores how Somali refugee students experience un/belonging in public primary schools in Addis Ababa, and how these everyday encounters interact with Ethiopian education policies on refugee inclusion. The findings highlight tensions between policy ideals and lived realities, showing the need to move beyond access to questions of learning, belonging, and negotiation between schools and refugee communities.
Link to the article
Haybano, A. K., & Dryden-Peterson, S. (2025). Boundary construction and education: un/belonging among Somali refugee students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Race Ethnicity and Education, 28(3), 478-496.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2024.2327109
About Alebachew Kemisso
Alebachew Kemisso’s work explores how national education systems engage with identity development and refugee inclusion. Drawing on extensive collaborations with organizations such as the Danish Refugee Council, Jesuit Refugee Service, UNICEF, Education International, and UNHCR, his research analyzes histories, meanings, and the hopes and fears of refugees and host communities. He is currently part of the project Research Careers in Fragile Contexts, led by Aimee Haley at the Department of education and special education .
About the organiser
The Collegium for Politics in Education (PoP) is an arena for discussing research on the political dimensions of education.
