Children and youth experience deep and transforming cultural, emotional, and life transitions in the migration journey. Moving into another country to a new society and different educational system is not always easy for them and their families. They and their relatives go through severe episodes of migratory grief and a sense of loss (Grycuk, 2020; de Otálora et al., 2011). Finding a new personal and social place and developing a feeling of belonging is not easy. In this transition, in the case of children, educational systems play a fundamental role. However, they are not isolated entities. Educational systems are complex dispositifs
composed of discourses, institutions, architectural arrangements, regulatory decisions, laws, administrative measures, scientific, philosophical propositions, moral, philanthropic statements. In short, between the said and the unsaid, here are the elements of the dispositif. […] The dispositif is always inscribed in a power play, but is also linked to a limit or to the limits of knowledge, which give birth, but, above all, condition it" (Foucault, 1994, p. 229)
From this perspective, in the fundamental process of facilitating migrant children inclusion in the hosting country, schools need the support of the families, the community, the civil society and the policy. Several studies show how important it is to include migrant children and youth in school that families feel welcomed by this institution (González, 2007; Leiva, 2011; Leiva & Escarbajal, 2011). Other authors highlight how fundamental is the role of families and the communities in migrant children's school performance (Ball, 1998; Desforges & Abouchaar, 2003; Sancho-Gil & Hernández-Hernández, 2019; Sancho-Gil et al., 2021).
While more and more studies show how important it is for migrant children and youth to feel they belong and are recognised by the community and the educational policy for a better inclusion process (Hajisoteriou & Neophytou, 2020; Kalantzis & Cope, 2020; Onsès-Segarra et al., 2019; Tsang, 2020).
School segregation is a common problem in multicultural societies. Even though existing policies foster equity, many prejudices and social stigma still makes it extremely difficult for many migrants to feel part of the hosting country. Nevertheless, several projects and programs have demonstrated how significant the involvement of families and social and cultural institutions in educational communities is to engage migrant children integration (Sedmak, 2019a; Sedmak, 2019b).
Therefore, this symposium explores how families, social and cultural institutions, and policy-makers foster migrant children and youth inclusion in schools and society. The symposium builds on research developed in different European countries and analyses practices and studies in which schools collaborate with neighbourhood associations, NGOs, and social and cultural institutions to foster migrant children and their families to participate in school and society. It pays special attention to existing and desired policies. It is crucial to understand the educational community beyond the school and families. In other words, in the processes of hosting, social inclusion and belonging of migrant children and youth, not only schools and families play an essential role, but also the whole community: governmental agencies, cultural and social groups, NGO's, civic organisations, libraries, etc. Therefore, an important question emerges: how do they contribute to migrant children and youth social inclusion? And what could be the implications of their involvement in the effective inclusion of migrant populations?
