This paper presents a case study about refugee children attending a primary school in Malta. It addresses the subject of desire for learning, drawing on the interview data with mothers and teachers of refugee children. Desire is recognised as a crucial aspect for learning, firstly due to its powerful drive for the acquisition of knowledge and education qualifications as well as the close relations that develop between teachers and their students.

The yearning for knowledge and that for developing meaningful ties with children are equally but differently articulated by the mothers and the teachers. The issue with desire in pedagogical discourse is that it is frequently identified in terms of satisfying some deficiency or lack that children have. One has to acknowledge that pedagogical relations are inevitably understood as being between those who have the power of imparting knowledge to those who do not have it. This paper however criticises assimilative tendencies in the refugee children’s educational provision to suggest less violent approaches in fulfilling their need for learning. It argues that the recognition of children beyond their lack of language of the host country or cultural capital expected by the school, can lead to more just, pleasurable pedagogical encounters that fulfil their desire for learning that nourishes their holistic growth.

Keywords: Refugee children, desire for learning, mothers' persepectives, teachers' perspectives.