Session Information
99 ERC SES 08 B, Education in an Age of Uncertainty
Paper Session
Contribution
Children of immigrants navigate the complex terrain of multiple ethnic identities and spaces of belonging, a process shaped by diverse contextual influences that can foster assimilation into the host culture or nurture connections to their parents' homeland. Schools, as primary institutions of the host country, wield considerable influence in this negotiation, with interactions among peers and adults contributing significantly to the development of ideas about ethnic self and others. The current global climate, steeped in anti-immigrant rhetoric and exclusionary immigration policies, exacerbates the challenges faced by these children. The United Kingdom's (UK) Brexit referendum stands as a poignant example, reflecting a culmination of hostility towards migrant and ethnic minorities in Britain (Benson and Lewis, 2019; Burrell and Schweyher, 2019). This paper positions itself within the neo-assimilationist context illuminated by Zontini and Peró (2020), seeking to explore how migrant children, particularly the largest community of Polish pupils in the UK, perceive and experience their school climate.
The Brexit context adds a layer of significance to the experiences of Polish children, who rapidly established themselves in the UK following the 2004 enlargement of the European Union. Despite initial expectations of seamless integration due to their whiteness and shared cultural background, the shifting socio-political landscape has exposed vulnerabilities and challenges for this migrant group (Lumsden et al., 2019). In this dynamic context, the paper explores the web of social interactions with peers and adults, investigating how these interactions contribute to Polish pupils' sense of belonging within the school environment. Additionally, the exploration of the overall school atmosphere provides insights into how these children navigate the neo-assimilationist climate and the broader implications for their well-being.
The theoretical framework grounding this research draws from the concept of school climate (Thapa et al., 2013), offering a nuanced lens to understand social relationships, safety perceptions, and the institutional environment for learning. Beyond the conventional focus on teaching and learning and academic achievements, this study uncovers the multifaceted ways in which Polish children navigate their school environment, shedding light on the socio-cultural dynamics that shape their educational experiences. By examining the socio-political landscape and the experiences of Polish children in UK schools, this research contributes to the broader conversation surrounding migration, education, and social cohesion in a post-Brexit era.
The study's focus on Polish children aligns with the European/international dimension, as Brexit is not an isolated phenomenon but a microcosm of the challenges faced by migrant communities within the larger exclusionary European context. The experiences of Polish pupils in the UK reflect broader trends of increasing anti-immigration sentiments across Europe and globally, making this research relevant to educational practitioners, policymakers, and researchers working within an international framework.
Furthermore, this research serves as a platform to amplify the voices of marginalised children, providing them with an opportunity to be heard in a landscape where their perspectives are often overlooked. This study contributes to developing an understanding of the school experiences of Polish children in England post-Brexit, offering insights into the intricate dynamics of their social interactions, sense of belonging, and overall school climate. By focusing on the largest community of migrant pupils in the UK, the research illuminates broader trends of anti-immigration sentiments, making a compelling case for the importance of fostering inclusive and culturally sensitive educational environments.
Method
Inspired by symbolic interactionism, this study employs a qualitative and ethnographic approach to make sense of the school experiences of Polish children in this new context. I spent 3 months conducting participant observation in a multi-ethnic Catholic school in the Southeast of England. I observed classrooms and common spaces of the school, including assembly and dining halls, corridors, shared learning areas, the library, the kitchen suite, and outdoor areas, including the field, the multi-use game area, playgrounds, and the parking space. Through participant observation, I examined the everyday practices of Polish children, how they interact with teachers and peers, what kind of friendship groups they form, where they sit, whom they play with and so on. During participant observation, I also engaged in spontaneous conversations with pupils, who functioned as informants of my observations. I participated in classroom learning sessions, individual and group parallel support sessions (when Polish children were present), lunches, and spent break time with children. In addition, 15 Polish pupils (8 boys and 7 girls) aged 9-11 years old participated in a palette of child-centred creative methods, namely drawings, photo voice, and Persona Dolls. In those sessions, groups of 2-4 Polish were separated from their classroom and invited to a shared learning space to talk about their experiences through these creative means. This space provided an opportunity for children to talk freely about their educational and social experiences of growing up as children of migrants. I created vignettes about these conversations, which were part of the corpus of written data. Moreover, I asked children about their drawings and photographs and also noted these interactions in my fieldnotes. Data analysis consisted of a thick ethnographic description (Geertz, 1973) of the interactions and relationships developed in the field. In particular, grounded theorising (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2007) was employed, where concepts and categories that were part of children’s accounts (codes) were then transformed into general analytical ideas and framework. In addition to the ethnographic notes, children also produced visual data in the form of drawings and photographs. As drawings and other visual materials and the accompanying narrative are not separate entities (Einarsdottir et al., 2009), the vignettes were also associated with the ethnographic corpus of data.
Expected Outcomes
In this multi-ethnic context, my participants developed a positive attachment to their educational institution, feeling valued and respected for their ethnic diversity. This is mainly due to the euro-superdiverse (Vertovec, 2007) feature of the school, which provides various opportunities for identity matching (Reynolds, 2008) and for the formation of intra and cross-ethnic friendships, and to the school’s ethos that promotes inclusivity, tolerance, and respect, which help them to create a sense of belonging. Their ethnic background is both unique and ordinary in the sense that it does not stand out due to the demographics of the school. My participants recognise that prejudice and racism are things that happen in other schools and settings, but they see their school as a safe haven and refuge against the external world (Suárez-Orozco and Suárez-Orozco, 2002), a place where everyone can ‘fit in’. Moreover, it shows how schools that actively cultivate an atmosphere of diversity, inclusion, tolerance, and respect can significantly enhance the overall educational experience of migrant children. For these children, their school was not only a place to acquire new knowledge, but a place where they can feel valued, appreciated, and part of a big family. This underscores the profound impact of the school's diverse and inclusive ethos on children's perceptions, highlighting the pivotal role educational environments play in shaping a sense of belonging and development of identity for young migrants in England. These findings illustrate that the experiences of European children in the post-Brexit context are complex and multi-faceted and cannot be reduced only to experiences of othering and discrimination. It advances knowledge about how children develop positive relationships in their superdiverse local context against the background of an (inter)national hostile environment.
References
Benson, M., Lewis, C., 2019. Brexit, British People of Colour in the EU-27 and everyday racism in Britain and Europe. Ethnic and Racial Studies 42, 2211–2228. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2019.1599134 Botterill, K., Burrell, K., 2019. (In)visibility, privilege and the performance of whiteness in Brexit Britain: Polish migrants in Britain’s shifting migration regime. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space 37, 23–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263774X18811923e Burrell, K., Schweyher, M., 2019. Conditional citizens and hostile environments: Polish migrants in pre-Brexit Britain. Geoforum 106, 193–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.08.014 Einarsdottir, J., Dockett, S. and Perry, B. (2009) ‘Making meaning: children’s perspectives expressed through drawings’, Early Child Development and Care, 179(2), pp. 217–232. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430802666999. Geertz, C. (1973) The interpretation of cultures: selected essays. New York: Basic Books. Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. (2007) Ethnography: principles in practice. 3rd edn. London: Routledge. Lumsden, K., Goode, J., Black, A., 2019. ‘I Will Not Be Thrown Out of the Country Because I’m an Immigrant’: Eastern European Migrants’ Responses to Hate Crime in a Semi-Rural Context in the Wake of Brexit. Sociological Research Online 24, 167–184. https://doi.org/10.1177/1360780418811967 Reynolds, G. (2008) The Impacts and Experiences of Migrant Children in UK Secondary Schools. Working paper 47. Brighton: Sussex Centre for Migration Research. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/library-document/impacts-and-experiences-migrant-children-uk-secondary-schools_en (Accessed: 25 July 2023). Suárez-Orozco, C. and Suárez-Orozco, M.M. (2002) Children of immigration. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England: Harvard University Press (The developing child series). Thapa, A. et al. (2013) ‘A Review of School Climate Research’, Review of Educational Research, 83(3), pp. 357–385. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654313483907. Vertovec, S. (2007) Super-diversity and its implications, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 30(6), pp. 1024-1054. Zontini, E. and Però, D. (2020) ‘EU Children in Brexit Britain: Re‐Negotiating Belonging in Nationalist Times’, International Migration, 58(1), pp. 90–104. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12581.
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