1. Transatlantic Educators Dialogue
Spring 2012
March 25-Week 7:
Immigration
Laura Maffei

2. Approaches to
Teaching
Impressions of
&
the "Other"
Assessment
Systems
Immigration
Rural and Urban
Situations
Youth Culture
&
Economics
FUTURE
?

3. Speak up!
1. Is there any kind of immigration to your Country?

4. 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

5. 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

6. “remoteness” and the quality of education
Prof. Sugata Mitra –minimally invasive education
http://www.hole-in-the-wall.com
Schools in remote areas
Remoteness do not have good enough:
• Teachers
• Retention of teachers
Within the large • Infrastructure
Far from the
urban centers metropolitan areas
• Maintenance of
(slums / poor areas) infrastructure

7. 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

8. 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?

9. 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: • Adaptation: newcomers
“foreigners” turned into integrated into society,
standardized national citizens keeping individual
differences
• Subtractive approach: the
immigrant students lack • Additive approach: the
something (knowledge, immigrant students have
language… identity) something special (language,

10. Basic steps
• Acquisition of the host country language
• Understanding and acceptance of its
laws and customs
Opportunity to give a positive
contribution to society

11. 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