Gamified interventions for refugee children in primary education: A scoping study

By the end of 2022, UNICEF reported a staggering figure of 45 million displaced children worldwide. A significant proportion of these children encounter obstacles in accessing and attaining quality education, particularly in the context of enriching learning opportunities in a second language. Gamification of learning is a design process that can augment an existing educational context by incorporating game elements. To grasp the nature and the full potential of gamification in language learning, a scoping study was applied to detect gamified interventions that were designed for refugee students aged 6-12 years old and implemented in various formal and informal environments. Research papers were selected and supplemented by web searches to trace online reports and relevant projects for refugees. In total, twenty-six (26) interventions were selected for the coding process. The findings were organized in a narrative synthesis of emerging learning practices that respond to several gamified perspectives relating to the needs and characteristics of the target population. The final section of the paper outlines lessons learned to inform practitioners on how to leverage gamification for future learning initiatives in various refugee settings.