Large numbers of immigrants from all over the world have made cultural diversity a common characteristic of school environment in West European countries. The change that is taking place among individuals of different cultural heritage who are involved in a “first-hand contact” is commonly defined as acculturation (Redfield, Linton, & Herskovits, 1936). The contemporary theoretical discourse on acculturation points to the importance of focussing on changes taking place in a dominant group, as well as those in non-dominant groups (e.g. Berry, 2006). Consequently, current research on acculturation favours the Interactive Acculturation Model, with one dimension of culture maintenance and the other dimension of adoption of the mainstream culture (Bourhis, Moïse, Perreault, & Senécal, 1997). Furthermore, a differentiation is made between the acculturation development as a highly variable process, and different outcomes of this process. Hence, the acculturation process may lead to four different outcomes, namely integration, assimilation, separation/segregation, and marginalization that collectively are referred to as acculturation strategies (i.e. Berry, 2003).

Generally, research showed that the integration strategy is positively related and the marginalization strategy is negatively related to the immigrants’ adaptation to the host society (i.e. Berry, Phinney, Sam, & Vedder, 2006). At the same time, the assimilation and the separation strategies were found to have moderate relation to immigrant adaptation (Berry, 2006). Moreover, the adaptation of immigrants can also be influenced by the discrepancies between one’s own acculturation preferences and the perceived acculturation preferences of the dominant group members (Pfafferott & Brown, 2006). Those discrepancies in the perception of acculturation preferences between the majority and minority groups can even lead to detrimental consequences for inter-group relationships (Montreuil & Bourhis, 2004; Navas, García, Sánchez, Rojas, Pumares, & Fernández, 2005).

For the immigrant youth, school is the social setting where their acculturation process and the perception of acculturation preferences of the other group members are taking place. Pyhältö, Soini, and Pietarinen (2010) suggested that perceived social interactions within the school community could be the most rewarding, as well as the most problematic, part of a school career. At the same time, previous research shows that acculturation attitudes of teachers influence the way they handle ethnic heterogeneity of their students (Bender-Szymanski, Hesse & Göbel, 2000; Wagner, van Dick, Petzel, & Auernheimer, 2001). Therefore, we suggest that the adaptation of immigrant youth to the school environment could be influenced by their acculturation orientation as well as the acculturation preferences of their teacher.

Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the meaning of acculturation preferences for the social integration of immigrant students in school context of the host society. Consequently, the first question to be addressed is: Which acculturation strategies are preferred by immigrant youth compared to their teachers? Secondly, the study will analyse the meaning of the acculturation orientations of immigrant youth for the relationships with their classmates and their teacher. Finally, it will highlight the role of the acculturation preferences of the teacher for the immigrant youth perception of the relationships quality with the teacher. 

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