Immigration

March 25-Week 7:

Transatlantic Educators Dialogue

Spring 2012

Laura Maffei

Immigration

Impressions of the "Other"

Approaches to Teaching

&

Assessment Systems

Youth CultureRural and Urban

Situations

&

EconomicsFUTURE ?

Speak up!

1. Is there any kind of immigration to your Country?

Immigration has a deep impact on economy and society

• Lots of countries, both in the EU and in the US, are facing a new wave of immigration

• The successful integration of the newcomers and their children depends on the society’s response to immigration

• Schools are the most important social

institution for receiving newcomers

What kind of school?

The task of integrating immigrants into school has become more and more challenging:

• most of these students speak at home a language other than that of the host country

• sometimes they don’t know the language of the host country at all

• a large proportion of immigrant families live in urban areas, so urban public schools are expected to receive most of them

Schools in remote areas

do not have good enough:

• Teachers

• Retention of teachers

• Infrastructure

• Maintenance of infrastructure

“remoteness” and the quality of educationProf. Sugata Mitra –minimally invasive education

http://www.hole-in-the-wall.com

Remoteness

Far from the urban centers

Within the large metropolitan areas

(slums / poor areas)

Can public school cope with the challenges of immigration?

• Different needs of natives and immigrants

• Limited Language Proficiency

• Overcrowded classrooms

• Growing social tensions

• Budget restrictions

Speak up!

2. Do you have any National Guidelines for the reception and education of immigrant students?

3. If you have National Guidelines, can you briefly explain them?

4. If you don’t have any National Guidelines, does each school take care independently of immigrant students? How?

Models of immigrant incorporation“Educating Immigrant Students in the 21st Century: What Educators Need to Know”

Xue Lan Rong & Judith Preissle

Classic Assimilation Pluralism

• Transformation: “foreigners” turned into

standardized national citizens

• Subtractive approach: the immigrant students lack something (knowledge,

language… identity)

• Adaptation: newcomers integrated into society,

keeping individual differences

• Additive approach: the immigrant students have

something special (language, culture… identity)

Basic steps

• Acquisition of the host country language

• Understanding and acceptance of its laws and customs

Opportunity to give a positive contribution to society

But schools can’t do everything on their own

• The “swim or sink” approach is not always successful

• The education system needs a global approach that takes into consideration the needs of all involved elements (native & immigrant students, families, teachers)

• Teachers and School Principals need a proper training in order to meet the new needs of their students

• Governments should allow enough money to support schools in this effort: and this is the best investment in the future of their countries.

Laura Maffei