CHAPTER 7

LEARNERS IN OTHER
MARGINALIZED
GROUPS
Members Of Group
I. Marginalization
in Education
The United Nations Development
Programme of 1996 (as cited in
Messiou 2012) defines
marginalization as...
“the state of being considered
unimportant, undesirable, unworthy,
insignificant, and different, resulting
in inequity, unfairness, deprivation,
and enforced lack of access to
mainstream power.”
In its 2010 global monitoring report, UNESCO
stated that...
Education can (1) neutralize inequality and
persisting illiteracy; (2) and also support prejudice and
continue marginalization.
The highest form of marginalization is an insufficiency
in the availability of education.
 Theory of Marginalization
The peculiar personality traits that arise when a person is
situated in a marginal position among two social
environments that are not completely matched (Dickie-
Clark, 1966 as cited in Messiou 2012).

Robert Park and Everett B. Stonequist’s

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.
(Goldelberg 1941).
Park aptly identifies this individual as a
"person who becomes a 'cultural hybrid'
living and sharing intimately in the life of
two distinct people 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
(Green 1947).
 When does Marginalization
happen?
Marginalization naturally
starts even before
children get into school
and persists until they
become adults.
What determines the recognition
or acknowledgement within a
specific social standard?
Marginalization basically arises from
culturally deeply-embedded values,
beliefs, standards, norms, and other
factors which determine acceptability
within a social frame.
Messiou (2012) discussed the issue of labelling.

Wherein a learner is categorized as

belonging to a certain group depending on
the learner's need or challenges.
This refers to learners with special needs.
Labelling is not identical to marginalization.
 VARIOUS PERSPECTIVE ON LABELLING
Labelling meant supplemental resources.

Labelling would only have detrimental effects to

learners being shamed and ridiculed.

Learners not having a label or not belonging to a

group is also counter-productive because they
will not be given attention or importance.
Marginalization, has distinct interpretations to people in divergent
situations and times. Messiou (2003) explored how 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.
II. Marginalization
and Inclusion
‘Messiou (2012) manifests how young
people’s “voice” can intensify systems,
processes, and experiences in congruence
with inclusive education.

In the book “Confronting Marginalisation 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. Framework for promoting inclusion and addressing
marginalization.
Opening doors:
enabling voices to emerge

Looking closely:
bringing
Dealing with concerns to
the surface Making sense of
marginalization:
encouraging the evidence:
inclusive thinking sharing data
and practice with the learners
 Step 1: Opening Doors: Enabling voices to be Heard

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.

Step 2: Looking closely: Bringing concerns to the surface

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
marinalization.
Step 3: Making sense of the evidence: Sharing data
with learners

Only concerns or issues are discussed and no names

are mentioned Involves a discussion between the
adults and the students.

Step 4: Dealing with Marginalization: Encouraging

Inclusive Thingking

Collaboration between the adults and students in this

phase is very significant.
III. Different Learners in
Marginalized Groups
 A. Child Laborers/Domestic Workers
The International Labor Organization (ILO)
describes child labor as “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 lack of
schools.
“Child labor is frequently associated with
educational marginalization.”
 B. Indigenous People

“Indigenous communities, people, 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.”
 B. Indigenous People

This historical continuity may consist of the continuation,

for an extended period reaching into the present of one or
more of the following factors:

a. Occupation of the ancestral lands, or at least of part of them;

b. Common ancestry with the original occupations of these lands;
c. Culture in general, or in specific manifestation;
d. Language;
e. Residence in certain parts of the country, or in certain regions of
the world; and
f. Other relevant factors.
 B. Indigenous People
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social
Affairs (EDSA) highlighted 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 of education, poor health,
unsanitary and poor living conditions, malnutrition,
unemployment and unequal opportunities for
employment.
 C. 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 physical and emotional ill-treatment, sexual
abuse, negligence, and exploitation, which results in actual or
potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development, or
dignity. Exposure to intimate partner violence is also sometimes
included as a form of child maltreatment.”
 D. Refugees or Displaced Children
The United High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) defines refugee as
“someone who has been forced to flee
his/her country because of
persecution, war, or violence. 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.”
 D. Refugees or Displaced Children
An Internally Displaced Person or
IDP is “someone who has been
forced to flee their home but never
cross an international boarder.
They seek safety anywhere - in
schools, nearby town,
settlements, internal camps, even
forests and fields. IDPs, are
people displaced by internal strife
and natural disasters.
 D. Refugees or Displaced Children

The declaration of Human Rights and the Convention of

Child’s Rights emphasize that education is the right of
every person, every child. Despite all these, in the
resettlement areas these children are confined to, food
and shelter are given priority over education.
 D. Refugees or Displaced Children
The followings are the other hindrances to the quality of
education given to these children:
1. Countries that host them are unable to protect refugee
rights to education.
2. Because of the length of time refugees and displaced
children are in the settlement and refugee areas.
[Link] and lack of materials.
[Link] who have been exposed to war and violence
demonstrate signs of psycho-social problems that are not
addressed (Cardarelli 2018).
 E. Children in Conflict Zones

“All wars, whether just or unjust, disastrous or victorious, are

waged against the child.” - Eglantyne Jebb
In December 2018, Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Director for
Emergency Programs, said, “Children living in conflict
zones around the world have continued to suffer through
extreme level of violence over the past 12 months, and
the world continue to fail them.”
This chapter has presented information on
learners from marginalization groups,
specifically the child laborers, indigenous
people, abused children, refugees, and
children in conflict zones.