Today about 20% of the German population has a migration background, either because of their personal migration experience (first generation) or through the migration of their parents (second or third generation). Among children under 10 years of age the percentage is significantly higher, and every third child has a migration-background (ibid.), especially in cities and urban areas (for example in the Stuttgart industrial area) the percentage is even higher, frequently over 50%. The so-called “new waves of migration” during the last 5 years, following the war in Syria and the political crisis in the northern African countries (refugees), and inner European migration (mobility and business throughout the European Union) has led to a new rise in the number of school students with a migration background (especially in areas with shelters for refugees) and a significantly growing variety of ethnical, cultural, religious and native language diversity in the German education system (and the society). Statistical data shows a huge disadvantage of migrant children in the Education System over the last centuries. The main reasons for so-called “failure at school” (Schulversagen) are very often still only seen in the “lack of German language skills”, the “inadequate infrastructure in migrant-subcultures for educational success”, ethnic-cultural background, low academic standard of migrant parents and their low level of competence for supporting their children’s learning and education. A course with the title: “(Special) Education and Diversity related to Migration” was offered the first time in summer semester 2015 to students in the teacher education programs for special education at Ludwigsburg University of Education. The course work should strengthen the identities of student teachers in their future role as ‘teachers in a (migration-related) diverse classroom’ by: 1. Clarifying existing knowledge, discussing questions, generating new knowledge (professional identity); 2. Personal development as part of the process of critical scholarly analysis (ac- ademic identity); 3. Critical self-reflection of beliefs, implicit theories related to migration and learners with a migration background or the understanding of one’s role as a ‘German’ teacher (for example, as part of the majority in German society; with a successful academic career in the system) (reflexive identity); 4. Critical reflection of educational (practice) concepts, based on research (re- flective practitioner).  After introducing into the statistical data on children with a migration background, as a group assignment the teacher education students had to work out and formulate hypotheses on the possible fundamental reasons. The research over 2 semesters (2015; 2016) shows, that there is a great awareness among the teacher education students with respect to the challenges of the ‘differences caused by multilingualism, culture and migration’ for the educational opportunities of children with a migration background. Very few concepts of them, for the reasons of the disadvantage, were not based on a deficit-oriented individualized concept (lack of language skills in German, lack of integration and cultural approach to educa- tion, lack of information, and so on) or addressed the lack of competence of teachers and resources or further educational concepts for an education in a migrant society in the schools or other educational institutions (marked green). “The potential of people who have had migration experience or have a migration background are often not sufficiently utilised or utilised at all; the additional resources that they have access to (multi-lingualism, intercultural competence, international networks), are taken up only in qualitative studies and can only be insufficiently represented. It is, therefore, hardly possible to assess how far these potentials can be made proper use of for social interaction or economic innovations” (Educational Report of the German Government 2016., 162). 

Qualitative Survey; Hermeneutical Analysis; Dialogue-Consensus-Concept of reflection with the participants involved into the survey.

Preliminary findings: There is a great awareness among the teacher education students with respect to the challenges of the ‘differences caused by multilingualism, culture and migration’ for the educational opportunities of children with a migration background. 1. Major concept: Language competences in German of the school students themselves, of their families and in the migrant subcultures of different origins. 2. Major concept: Cultural differences in valuing education, competition in per- formance and career, and in discipline, based on the countries of origin. 3. Major concept: Educational and social situation in the countries of origin. The majority of the explanation approaches (of teacher education students) for the considered disadvantage of the migrant population in the German Education System are • based on ‘linguicism’: the deficit in German language is considered the basic factor for educational disadvantage; • based on ‘culturalism’: cultural differences are considered to be the reason for an expected lower educational aspiration in the families with a migration background.

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