Migration remains a reality around the globe as people move and seek refuge for various reasons. However, every time a particular ’new migration wave’ surfaces in public awareness, policy-makers, researchers and practitioners return to grapple with the idea of educational inclusion. Over the years, we have seen changing structures (e.g. separated newcomer classes, additional language support for the language of schooling, offering 'mothertongue' education or not, etc.), grand educational and pedagogical conceptions (e.g. multi/intercultural education, culturally and linguistically responsive/relevant/sustaining teaching, multilingual education, inclusion, integration, etc.), and ways of categorising students (e.g. ’newcomers’, ’refugees’, ’children of migrant workers’, ’children with migration background’, ’foreign children’, ’X as L2/additional language learners’, etc.). While migration is global, these changes are locally embedded in cultural, political and historical contexts of discrimination and racism. This has led to certain migrant students being ’more included’ than others, some envisioned as potential/resourceful, and others as threatening/burdening.
This Research Topic aims to unravel changing conceptions of migration and related educational responses, and discuss implications for inclusion, as well as social, racial and linguistic justice in education. It offers a critical analysis of changes in educational practices, policies and research, in light of local and global histories, narratives and discourses of discrimination and racism.
We ask the following broad questions:
1) What role do socio-political conceptions, discourses and imaginaries of migration play in educational conceptions of teaching and learning, wellbeing and inclusion of migrant children? How are they enacted in pedagogies and in structures of education for migrant children?
2) How have conceptions of migration changed in educational policy, practice and research over the years? What drives these changes and who benefits from these changes? What role these changes play in social, racial and linguistic justice in educational policy, practice and research?
3) What is the role of social actors (educators, students, families, communities, researchers, etc.) and their complicated relationships in perpetuating and/or challenging dominating socio-political conceptions of migration and related educational responses? What is the role of grassroot level activism (migrant communities, organisations, families and various alliances with teachers and schools) in micro- and macro level changes?
We invite theoretical and empirical articles that critically explore the questions above in the following three themes, or their combinations:
1. Migration and educational policy
2. Migration and school practice
3. Migration and educational research
In each theme, articles ‘scrutinise’ often taken-for-granted core issues that underpin educational changes related to migration. Articles demonstrate possibilities and controversies that emerge with those changes, and discuss implications for social, racial and linguistic justice in education. All papers highlight how global concepts related to migration and education play out in specific contexts, situated in local histories of intersectional discrimination and racism. Articles also show broad relevance and advance both local and global critical thinking on migration in education. Studies from any country-context, as well as multi-sited or comparative articles are welcome. Authors may show cases of any K-12 schooling stage (early childhood education, primary, secondary schooling including vocational and academic tracks, as well as special education).
Migration remains a reality around the globe as people move and seek refuge for various reasons. However, every time a particular ’new migration wave’ surfaces in public awareness, policy-makers, researchers and practitioners return to grapple with the idea of educational inclusion. Over the years, we have seen changing structures (e.g. separated newcomer classes, additional language support for the language of schooling, offering 'mothertongue' education or not, etc.), grand educational and pedagogical conceptions (e.g. multi/intercultural education, culturally and linguistically responsive/relevant/sustaining teaching, multilingual education, inclusion, integration, etc.), and ways of categorising students (e.g. ’newcomers’, ’refugees’, ’children of migrant workers’, ’children with migration background’, ’foreign children’, ’X as L2/additional language learners’, etc.). While migration is global, these changes are locally embedded in cultural, political and historical contexts of discrimination and racism. This has led to certain migrant students being ’more included’ than others, some envisioned as potential/resourceful, and others as threatening/burdening.
This Research Topic aims to unravel changing conceptions of migration and related educational responses, and discuss implications for inclusion, as well as social, racial and linguistic justice in education. It offers a critical analysis of changes in educational practices, policies and research, in light of local and global histories, narratives and discourses of discrimination and racism.
We ask the following broad questions:
1) What role do socio-political conceptions, discourses and imaginaries of migration play in educational conceptions of teaching and learning, wellbeing and inclusion of migrant children? How are they enacted in pedagogies and in structures of education for migrant children?
2) How have conceptions of migration changed in educational policy, practice and research over the years? What drives these changes and who benefits from these changes? What role these changes play in social, racial and linguistic justice in educational policy, practice and research?
3) What is the role of social actors (educators, students, families, communities, researchers, etc.) and their complicated relationships in perpetuating and/or challenging dominating socio-political conceptions of migration and related educational responses? What is the role of grassroot level activism (migrant communities, organisations, families and various alliances with teachers and schools) in micro- and macro level changes?
We invite theoretical and empirical articles that critically explore the questions above in the following three themes, or their combinations:
1. Migration and educational policy
2. Migration and school practice
3. Migration and educational research
In each theme, articles ‘scrutinise’ often taken-for-granted core issues that underpin educational changes related to migration. Articles demonstrate possibilities and controversies that emerge with those changes, and discuss implications for social, racial and linguistic justice in education. All papers highlight how global concepts related to migration and education play out in specific contexts, situated in local histories of intersectional discrimination and racism. Articles also show broad relevance and advance both local and global critical thinking on migration in education. Studies from any country-context, as well as multi-sited or comparative articles are welcome. Authors may show cases of any K-12 schooling stage (early childhood education, primary, secondary schooling including vocational and academic tracks, as well as special education).
