Aim:
This project aims at the study of the processes embedded in the arrival
and adaptation of immigrant children in the schools of the Community
of Madrid. It is particularly focused on students and teachers. At the
centre of attention are their needs and difficulties in implementing
the schools' strategies to facilitate the process of adaptation of immigrant
students. In the view of the research team, integration of immigration
students should be understood as a way to make all students "fit
for everyday life", so they are in a position to realise their
own (changing) obejctives.
Method:
The research will be conducted in different public and chartered schools
throughout the Community of Madrid, during class time and periods of
leisure. Based on the methods of "participatory observation"
and open-ended interviews, we will undertake a series of ethnographic
field work focused on “Aulas de Enlace” ("Linking Classrooms").
“Aulas de Enlace” are part of the “Escuelas
de Bienvenida" (Welcome Schools) program, implemented by the
Community of Madrid since 2002, in order to receive the immigrant children
and ease their process of adaptation to the school system.
Comparison:
Finally we will like to compare what is happening in the Madrid Community
and elsewhere. Two members of the team project, who work in Austria
and USA, will contribute with the analysis of the school processes and
strategies for the adaptation of immigrant children in these two countries
with a longer and deeper tradition in dealing with immigrant children
in the education system.
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