On the Visibility and Agency of Migrant Children in the Contemporary World. Educational Issues and Challenges

Krystyna Slany; Magdalena  Ślusarczyk; Justyna Struzik; Marta Warat

On the Visibility and Agency of Migrant Children in the Contemporary World. Educational Issues and Challenges

Publication date: 31.12.2021

Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, 2021 (XLVII), Vol. 4 (182), pp. 7 - 22

https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.21.049.14802

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Titles

On the Visibility and Agency of Migrant Children in the Contemporary World. Educational Issues and Challenges

Abstract

The presented article focuses on two main objectives. On the one hand, it presents the complex and multifaceted issues of migrant children’s education from a theoretical perspective, which have a significant impact on the course of their integration process, their quality of life and their chances of a better future in the country of migration. We draw attention to the importance of migrant children from the perspective of a child-centred approach, which emphasises children’s agency and subjectivity, the importance of their voice, their experiences, as well as the mission of the school and the roles of the professionals (teachers, cultural mediators, social workers) working with them and influencing their integration success. We show the school as a space that is not only institutional, formal and oriented towards intercultural education, but also a relational space in which informal processes take place to shape the future of children, dependent on significant others but also on the educational system. On the other hand we refer mainly to the contribution of the research project Children Hybrid Identity (CHILD-UP) to formulate theoretical explanations about the visibility of migrant children, their agency in school, and to uncover empirical findings about their achievements, barriers, challenges. Although these are in various locations, in different schools and educational programmes, they nevertheless bring about changes in the structure of a class and the occurrence of important processes due to their ethnic and national, cultural, religious, and language context.

Keywords

migrant children, education, school, agency, professionals

References

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Information

Information: Migration Studies – Review of Polish Diaspora, 2021 (XLVII), Vol. 4 (182), pp. 7 - 22

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/25444972SMPP.21.049.14802

Article type: Original article

Titles:

Polish:

On the Visibility and Agency of Migrant Children in the Contemporary World. Educational Issues and Challenges

English:

On the Visibility and Agency of Migrant Children in the Contemporary World. Educational Issues and Challenges

Authors

Krystyna Slany

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1339-3689

Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie
Poland

Magdalena Ślusarczyk

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4415-5947

Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie
Poland

Justyna Struzik

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3381-6180

Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków, Poland

Marta Warat

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9294-310X

Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków, Poland

Published at: 31.12.2021

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Percentage share of authors:

Krystyna Slany (Author) - 25%

Magdalena Ślusarczyk (Author) - 25%

Justyna Struzik (Author) - 25%

Marta Warat (Author) - 25%

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English

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