Welcoming mobile children at school: institutional responses and new questions
Laure Kloetzer, Sara Clarke-Habibi, Teuta Mehmeti & Tania Zittoun
Résumé |
Switzerland, like other countries in Europe, has long depended on
migration and mobility for its economy. Facilitating the
integration of migrant children in school, primarily through the
acquisition of the local language, has therefore been a priority
for policymakers. In recent years, mobility has been on the
increase and mobility trajectories have become more diverse. A
growing percentage of families arriving in the country have
experienced repeated mobility and may not plan to settle in
Switzerland for good. This paper examines institutional responses
to the increasing number of mobile children in Swiss public
schools, in particular, the manner in which such children are
welcomed. It presents the main findings of an exploratory research
project focused on children in repeated mobility, defined as having
lived in multiple countries before their arrival in Switzerland,
regardless of family background or legal status. Adopting a
sociocultural psychological approach, the paper examines the
macro-social level of cantonal educational policies regarding
welcome processes, the meso-social level of local school policies,
and the microsocial level of teachers’ practices and interactions
in classrooms that welcome mobile children. Data include
documentary analysis, interviews, and observations. Our analysis
shows that a deficit view of mobile children and the preoccupation
with language proficiency dominate policies and practices,
resulting in the diversion of mobile children into special
integration classes (so called “classes d’accueil” in the French
speaking region, and “Integrationsklasse” in the Swiss
German-speaking region). Mobility is conceptualized by Swiss
policymakers, school directors, and teachers in terms of its
challenges. In particular, school directors and teachers
conceptualize mobility as increasing heterogeneity of the
classroom. However, the situation varies greatly according to the
personal orientations of school directors and teachers’ personal
engagement. The paper emphasizes the ambiguous role of the
integration classes: while they may impair the long-term chances of
educational success by reducing academic expectations for
non-native-speaking mobile children, they may also be used as
“third spaces” which afford pedagogical freedom for dedicated
teachers, potentially of benefit for children. The paper examines
these propositions in the light of sociocultural educational
literature and draws upon the case of welcoming mobile children to
question a series of assumptions about the ultimate purposes of
public schooling in Europe today. |
Mots-clés |
Repeatedmobility; Schools; Educational policy; Interactions in the classroom; Transitional spaces; Third spaces; Deficit view |
Citation | Kloetzer, L., Clarke-Habibi, S., Mehmeti, T., & Zittoun, T. (2021). Welcoming mobile children at school: institutional responses and new questions. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 19 March 2021, 1-1. |
Type | Article de périodique (Anglais) |
Date de publication | 19-3-2021 |
Nom du périodique | European Journal of Psychology of Education |
Volume | 19 March 2021 |
Pages | 1-1 |
URL | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-021-00534-4 |
Liée au projet | MoChiS: Mobile children in schools |