Session Information
04 SES 17 C, Migrant Children and Reception Contexts: Risks and potentials in inclusive education Part 2
Symposium continued from 04 SES 16 C
Contribution
Educational community and school systems play a momentous role in the integration of migrant children in host societies. Undeniably, research with refugee or migrant students and teachers has found that positive relationships between students and teachers significantly contribute to students’ well-being and pro-social behaviour (Dockett and Perry, 2003), sense of belonging and engagement (Isik-Ircan, 2015; Klem and Connell, 2004), learning success as well as facilitating friendly and welcoming peer relationships within the classroom (Pugh, Every and Hattam, 2012; de Heer, Due and Riggs, 2015). Research has, on the other hand, also shown that negative or discriminatory attitudes of teachers towards migrant students has resulted in them achieving lower grades and leaving school earlier than their peers (Isik- Ercan, 2015; Walton, Priest and Paradies, 2013). In the case of refugee or migrant students specifically, teacher relationships at school may be one of the first relationships migrants have in the community, which is why teachers as such and their relationship with migrant students are so important for pursuing general integration principles and achieving successful inclusion. The paper is a result of the research conducted on educational communities and school systems in Slovenia within the project Migrant Children and Communities in a Transforming Europe. It is based on interviews with school representatives, including principals, counsellors, school psychologists, teachers, instructors, etc. In our research we have explored how the educational community perceives migrant children’s integration and cultural and religious diversity; how the members of the educational community perceive migration and cultural and religious pluralism; how they live it in the school environment on a daily basis; how they manage it; where they see obstacles, limitations, problems, possible occurrences of discriminatory behaviour, etc. We have also examined the strengths and weaknesses of the policies and (best) practices adopted by the educational community to address the challenges related to migrant children’s integration and cultural and religious diversity, e.g. how the school’s existing visual displays, curriculum and teaching materials include intercultural topics and address the issues of intercultural coexistence; how everyday school life is organized in areas that touch immigrant children’s integration (e.g. language courses, organization of leisure activities, involvement of parents, tutor system, school nutrition, etc.), etc.
References
de Heer, N., Due, C. and Riggs, D.W. (2015). It will be hard because I will have to learn lots of English”: Experiences of education for children with migrant backgrounds in Australia. The International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. Vol. 29, pp. 297-319. Dockett, S. and Perry, B. (2004): What makes a successful transition to school? Views of Australian parents and teachers. International Journal of Early Years Education. Vol. 12, pp. 217- 230. Isik-Ercan, A. (2015). Being Muslim and American: Turkish-American children negotiating their religious identities in school settings. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 18(2). Klem, A. and Connel, J. (2004): Relationships matter: linking teacher support to student engagement and achievement. Journal of School Health. Vol. 74, pp. 262-273. Pugh, K., Every, D. and Hattam, R. (2012): Inclusive education for students with refugee experience: whole school reform in a South Australian primary school. The Australian Educational Researcher. Vol. 39: 2, pp. 125–141. Walton, J., Priest, N. and Paradies, Y. (2013): Identifying and developing effective approaches to foster intercultural understanding in schools. Intercultural Education. Vol. 24: 3, pp. 181-194.
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