The hidden history of refugee schooling in Britain: the case of the Belgians, 1914-18.

The historical silence on refugee schooling The twentieth century has been called the century of the refugee. The sheer size, scope and persistence of refugee movements have been a de® ning feature of the last hundred years because at no other time in history have people so regularly been forced to ̄ ee their homes in search of safety. The unprecedented scale of refugees across the world has attracted the attention of scholars in a range of disciplines: in international law, population and demographic studies and political science and history for example. However, in the history of education, the de® ning feature of the twentieth century can hardly be traced at all. For those who are interested in how refugees settle, teach and learn in a new country, the (British) history of education will reveal nothing of interest. Despite the fact that education has long been seen as a critical experience for refugees, historians of education have resolutely ignored the presence of refugees in Britain. In existing history of education texts it is almost impossible to ® nd even an index reference or a footnote that might indicate the presence of refugees in any educational setting. With the notable exception of some recently published articles, the educational spaces created for and by refugees, and their experiences in these spaces, remain hidden from history. To some extent the historical silence on refugee schooling can be explained by reference to a research tradition that has mainly concentrated on `big themes’ at the expense of a more socially inspired history of education. So whilst, for example, the development of state schooling, the curriculum and the policy process are prominent and easily recognizable themes in the history of education, the lived experiences of teachers and pupils in the classroom remain rather more obscure. Harold Silver argues that one result of the existing emphasis on a number of well-established