Exploring socio-ecological factors that support the navigation and negotiation of education by unaccompanied and separated children in Greece

Greece is home to thousands of unaccompanied and separated children who continue to face education disruptions. Despite past adversities, recent research suggests that some children display educational resilience - conceptualised as a socio-ecological and socio-interactional dynamic between the child and their immediate environments leading to positive educational trajectories. This study explores the question further using a qualitatively driven mixed-methods approach. The study examined responses to a measure of socio-ecological resilience alongside in-depth interviews collected from a refugee youth sample (n = 25). Quantitative results revealed a possible connection between unaccompanied and separated children's personal sense of resilience and their personal sense of being looked after, being known, feeling safe, and feeling celebrated. Qualitative results identified socio-ecological factors that supported these children in navigating and negotiating education in Greece. The study sheds light on factors that enable (resilience factors) or hinder (risk factors) the educational trajectories of unaccompanied and separated children in Greece.