EECERA Conference 2025 – Guest Blog # 34: Caregiver Practices and Socioemotional Development in Refugee Children

One of a series of short blog posts by presenters who will be sharing their work at the upcoming annual conference in Bratislava, Slovakia. Any views expressed in this post are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official stance of their affiliated institution or EECERA.

Caregiver Practices and Socioemotional Development in Refugee Children

By Dr Kimberley Kong, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Source: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) -A trained assessor from the community conducting direct child assessments  using IDELA

How it started

I have always carried a deep commitment to working with children on the margins. My journey began in Malaysia, where I volunteered in literacy classes for Indigenous and urban poor children. Those early experiences shaped my belief that education is not only a right but also a pathway to resilience and dignity. This passion led me to pursue a PhD at Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), where I studied resilience in children growing up in disadvantaged contexts.

In 2020, my focus turned toward refugee children. With support from a Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) award under The British Academy for early childhood education, and in collaboration with Professor Iram Siraj and Katharina Ereky-Stevens at the University of Oxford,  a study of refugee children’s development and education was launched in Malaysia. Originally planned as a 21-month project, the COVID-19 pandemic stretched the timeline to four years. This allowed us to deepen partnerships with refugee communities and NGOs, who became co-creators of the work.

This became one of the first large-scale studies in the Global South using direct child assessments to measure developmental outcomes among refugee children, with and without access to early childhood education (ECE). Over 1,000 children and caregivers, 32 learning centres, and 80 teachers participated, with members of refugee communities directly involved as assessors, translators, and cultural reviewers.

What We Learned

Our findings underscore that access to ECE and engaged parenting such as storytelling, singing, and counting, play a vital role in supporting refugee children’s literacy, numeracy, and socioemotional competence. Conversely, harsh parenting, often heightened by the stresses of displacement, undermines children’s self-regulation and learning. We also observed gendered patterns, with boys’ learning more dependent on socioemotional skills and girls more directly shaped by caregiver engagement.

Looking Ahead

I am now leading a new initiative funded by the Malaysia–UN SDG Trust Fund, beginning in October 2025.

This project will focus on the first 1,000 days of refugee children’s lives, integrating health, nutrition, caregiving, and early learning through a cross-sector and systems thinking approach. Working with partners such as Autrui Global, Humankind, and Breathelife, Penang Refugee Network and UNHCR, we aim to co-create solutions with and for refugee communities, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

At its heart, this work is about dignity, resilience, and opportunity for children who are too often left invisible. I look forward to sharing more at EECERA 2025, under the theme Supporting Children in Diverse Settings. Date: E11. Parental Perspectives and Experiences in Refugee Communities, Room G215, Second Floor, Faculty of Arts, Aug 27, 2025

List of publications and dissemination related to the study

1. Media Coverage under the program ‘Consider This: Refugee Children – Early Education in Exile.https://youtu.be/5b6PmIIi69o?si=8-iMi4jfNxzr6AAs

2. Kong, K., Siraj, I. & Ereky-Stevens, K. (2024). Digital learning in pandemic times: Assessing academic readiness among refugee children in Malaysia, Early Child Development and Care (SSCI). https://10.1080/03004430.2024.2337226
3. Siraj, I., Kong, K., & Ereky-Stevens, K. (2023, July 31). Building an Inclusive and Equitable Early Childhood Education for Refugee Children: Framework for Action (Final report). University of Oxford. https://www.education.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2023July31__BEECERC-FINAL-report.pdf
4. Ereky-Stevens, K.E., Siraj, I. & Kong, K. (2023). A critical review of the research evidence on early childhood education and care in refugee contexts in low- and middle-income countries. International Journal of Child Care and Educational Policy (Scopus). 7(7), https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-023-00109-4.

Dr. Kimberley Kong¹, Katharina Ereky-Stevens², Iram Siraj3

^{1 – Universiti Sains Malaysia  2- University of Oxford 3- University of Maynooth/University of Oxford}

Dr. Kimberley Kong will present work referred to in this blog in Symposium Symposium Set E11 | Wednesday 27th August 2025 (Schedule liable to change; please refer to final programme for details).