Integration of Migrant Children and Language in Slovenian Schools
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33700/1580-7118.26.2.60-86(2024)Keywords:
migrant children, integration, language, schools, teachersAbstract
The article explores the integration of migrant children in Slovenian schools with a particular focus on language as a key tool for integration. Language is not only a means of communication, but also an important part of identity and a foundation for establishing feelings of belonging among migrant children in a new environment. The paper is based on the analysis of interviews with school staff and policy documents addressing inclusion within the Slovenian education system. It examines adults`perspectives on four key themes identified as relevant in relation to language and inclusion in the school environment: responsibility for inclusion, othering, simultaneous practices of inclusion and exclusion, and children as linguistic and cultural mediators. The findings reveal a gap between existing policies and practices regarding language and the inclusion of migrant children. While official documents emphasize integration and equal opportunities as a collective responsibility of the entire school community, in practice, the burden of (linguistic) integration often falls primarily on migrant children themselves.
Downloads
References
Antonini, Rachele. 2016. Caught in the middle: Child language brokering as a form of unrecognised language service. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 37(7): 710–725.
Barle – Lakota, Andreja, Mateja Gajgar, Mihaela Knez, Simona Kranjc, Dragica Motik, Boža Ojsteršek, Živana Safran, Melita Steiner, Jurij Zaletel, Fanika Fras Berro, Marko Stabej, Bronka Straus, Mojca Pušnik in Urška Stritar. 2007. Strategija vključevanja otrok, učencev in dijakov migrantov v sistem vzgoje in izobraževanja v Republiki Sloveniji. Ljubljana: Ministrstvo za šolstvo in šport. Dostopno na: https://www.gov.si/assets/ministrstva/MIZS/Dokumenti/Varno-in-spodbudno-ucno-okolje/Strategija_vkljucevanje_priseljencev_2007.doc (12. januar 2024).
Braun, Virginia in Victoria Clarke. 2022. Thematic Analysis: A practical guide. Newcastle: Sage.
Devine, D. 2013. ‘Value’ing Children Differently? Migrant Children in Education. Children and Society 27(4): 282–294.
Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. 2019. Integrating Students from Migrant Backgrounds Education and Training into Schools in Europe: National Policies and Measures. Eurydice Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Dostopno na: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/39c05fd6-2446-11e9-8d04-01aa75ed71a1/language-en (12. april 2024).
Evans, Michael in Yongcan Liu. 2018. The Unfamiliar and the Indeterminate: Language, Identity and Social Integration in the School Experience of Newly-Arrived Migrant Children in England. Journal of Language, Identity and Education 17(3): 152–167.
García-Sánchez, Inmaculada M. in Marjorie Faulstich Orellana, ur. 2019. Language and Cultural Practices in Communities and Schools Bridging Learning for Students from Non-Dominant Groups. New York: Routledge.
Gornik, Barbara. 2022. (Methodological) nationalism and academic debates on the integration of migrant children. Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism 22(2): 69–84.
Grzymala-Kazlowska, Aleksandra. 2017. From connecting to social anchoring: Adaptation and ‘settlement’ of Polish migrants in the UK. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 44(2): 252–269.
Horgan, Deirdre, Shirley Martin, Jacqui O’Riordan in Reana Maier. 2022. Supporting languages: The socio‐educational integration of migrant and refugee children and young people. Children and Society 36(3): 369–385.
Jalušič, Vlasta in Veronika Bajt. 2022. Whose children? The EU and Member States’ integration policies in education. Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism 22(2): 165–179.
Jalušič, Vlasta, Veronika Bajt in Rachel Lebowitz. 2019. EU Policy Framework for Integration of Migrant Children: Migrant Children and Communities in a Transforming Europe. Koper: Znanstveno-raziskovalno središče Koper. Dostopno na: https://www.micreate.eu/wp-content/pdf/WP2/EU Policy Framework for Integration of Migrant Children.pdf (11. oktober 2024).
Janta, Barbara in Emma Harte. 2016. Education of migrant children Education policy responses for the inclusion of migrant children in Europe. Research Report. Santa Monica, Cambridge: Rand Europe. Dostopno na: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1600/RR1655/RAND_RR1655.pdf (12. junij 2024).
Jelen Madruša, Mojca in Ivana Majcen, ur. 2018. Predlog programa dela z otroki priseljenci za področje predšolske vzgoje, osnovnošolskega in srednješolskega izobraževanja. Ljubljana: ISA institut. Dostopno na: https://www.gov.si/assets/ministrstva/MIZS/Dokumenti/Varno-in-spodbudno-ucno-okolje/Predlog_programa_dela_z_otroki_priseljenci.pdf (13. maj 2024).
Jensen, Sune Qvotrup. 2011. Othering, identity formation and agency. Qualitative Studies 2(2): 63–78.
Mandelc, Damjan in Vanja Gajić. 2022. Odnos večinskega prebivalstva do priseljenskih skupnosti: Celje in priseljenci albanske narodnosti. Teorija in praksa 59(1): 115–137.
Medarić, Zorana, Mateja Sedmak, Lucija Dežan in Barbara Gornik. 2021. Integration of migrant children in Slovenian schools (La integración de los niños migrantes en las escuelas eslovenas). Culture and Education 33(4): 758–785.
Medarić, Zorana. 2024. Otrokosrediščna perspektiva in vključevanje priseljenih otrok. Doktorska disertacija. Ljubljana: Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za družbene vede.
Mencin Čeplak, Metka. 2012. The Individualisation of Responsibility and School Achievement. Czech Sociological Review 48(6): 1093–1114.
Milharčič-Hladnik, Mirjam in Klara Kožar Rosulnik. 2021. The Challenges of Integrating Migrant Children into the Slovenian Education System. V Migrant Children’s Integration and Education in Europe Approaches, Methodologies and Policies, ur. Mateja Sedmak, Fernando Hernández-Hernández, Juana M. Sancho-Gil in Barbara Gornik, 187–203. Barcelona: Octaedro.
Ministrstvo za notranje zadeve. 2023. Strategija vključevanja tujcev, ki niso državljani Evropske unije v kulturno, gospodarsko in družbeno življenje Republike Slovenije. Dostopno na: https://www.gov.si/assets/ministrstva/MNZ/SOJ/Novice/2023/11-November/Strategija-vkljucevanja-tujcev-17.11.2023_pop.docx (15. januar 2024).
Novak, Marta, Karmen Medica, Stanka Lunder Verlič, Katica Pevec Semec, Mojca Jelen Madruša, Janez Mežan, Mirko Zorman, Andreja Duhovnik Antoni, Dragica Motik, Marija Sivec, Urška Stritar in Bronka Straus. 2012. Smernice za vključevanje otrok priseljencev v vrtce in šole. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za šolstvo. Dostopno na: http://eportal.mss.edus.si/msswww/programi2019/programi/media/pdf/smernice/cistopis_Smernice_vkljucevanje_otrok_priseljencev.pdf (17. marec 2024).
Nusche, Deborah. 2009. What Works in Migrant Education? A Review of Evidence and Policy Options. OECD Education Working Papers (22).
Orellana, Marjorie Faulstich in Inmaculada García-Sánchez. 2023. Language brokering and immigrant children’s everyday learning in home and community contexts. V Research Handbook on Migration and Education, ur. Halleli Pinson, Nihad Bunar in Dympna Devine, 173–188. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Penninx, Rinus in Blanca Garcés-Mascareñas. 2016. The Concept of Integration as an Analytical Tool and as a Policy Concept. V Integration Processes and Policies in Europe: Contexts, Levels and Actors, ur. Blanca Garcés-Mascareñas in Rinus Penninx, 11–29. Cham, Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, London: Springer.
Ruggiano, Nicole in Tam E. Perry. 2019. Conducting secondary analysis of qualitative data: Should we, can we, and how? Qualitative Social Work 18(1): 81–97.
Rutar, Sonja. 2018. Kakovost šole s perspektive učencev s priseljensko izkušnjo kot izhodišče za zagotavljanje inkluzivnega izobraževanja. Dve domovini 48: 109–127.
Sardoč, Mitja, ur. 2021. The Impacts of Neoliberal Discourse and Language in Education: Critical Perspectives on a Rhetoric of Equality, Well-Being, and Justice. New York, London: Routledge.
Sedmak, Mateja, Barbara Gornik, Zorana Medarić, Maja Zadel in Lucija Dežan. 2020. Educational community and school systems: Slovenia: Migrant children and communities in a transforming Europe. Koper: Znanstveno-raziskovalno središče Koper.
Sedmak, Mateja, Zorana Medarić in Lucija Dežan. 2023. ‘Othering’ and Integration of Migrant Children and Young People of Albanian Ethnic Origin Evidence from the Slovenian Schools. V Global Migration and Diversity of Educational Experiences in the Global South and North: A Child-Centred Approach, ur. Shoba Arun, Khawla Badwan, Hadjer Taibi in Farwa Batool, 73–89. London: Routledge.
Tate, Judith Ann in Mary Beth Happ. 2018. Qualitative Secondary Analysis: A Case Exemplar. Journal of Pediatric Health Care 32(3): 308–312.
Vezovnik, Andreja. (2013). Children Whose First Language is Not Slovenian in the Slovenian Educational System: A Critical Analysis of Normalisation. Annales, Series Historia et Sociologia Archives 23(2): 303–316.
Vižintin, Marijanca Ajša. 2018. Developing intercultural education. Dve domovini (47): 89–106.
Zore, Nives, Renata Zupanc Grom, Branko Slivar in Katica Pevec Semec, ur. 2024. Smernice za vključevanje otrok, učencev in dijakov iz drugih jezikovnih in kulturnih okolij v slovenski vzgojno-izobraževalni sistem. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za šolstvo. Dostopno na: https://www.gov.si/assets/ministrstva/MVI/Dokumenti/Osnovna-sola/Ucni-nacrti/Drugi-konceptualni-dokumenti/Smernice-za-vkljucevanje-otrok.pdf (18. oktober 2024).
Zveza društev pedagoških delavcev Slovenije. 2023. Odziv na predlog zakona o OŠ o uvedbi sprejemnih oddelkov za tujce. Dostopno na: https://zdpds.si/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Odziv-na-predlog-zakona-o-OS-o-uvedbi-sprejemnih-oddelkov-za-tujce_ZDPDS-in-sopodpisniki.pdf (15. julij 2024).
Žakelj, Tjaša, Alenka Švab in Metka Mencin Čeplak. 2013. The role of parents in young people’s educational trajectories in Slovenia. Annales, Series Historia et Sociologia Archives 23(2): 317–328.
