Educating to belong: Policy and practice of mother-tongue instruction for migrant students in the Danish welfare state

2021 ◽  
pp. 147490412110549
Author(s):  
Jin Hui Li ◽  
Nanna Ramsing Enemark
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Primary Case ◽  
Migrant Students ◽  
State Education ◽  
Macro Scale ◽  
Mother Tongue Instruction

This article explores how the development of mother-tongue instruction (MTI) policies in the Danish welfare state have created varying notions of difference and sameness in the schooling of migrant students and how they experience these notions locally in practice. Based on an analysis of MTI’s policy history and oral history interviews with former migrant students, we analyse MTI policy development within the Danish welfare state as a primary case and discusses whether these developments seem to be unique to the Danish welfare state by considering (West) Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden as a comparative perspective. Noting the paradoxes and dynamics of the welfare-state policy of ‘school for all under one roof’ at the intersections between the policy and practice level, we posit that migrant students are regulated as a homogeneous group that is expected to be ‘the same’ but is simultaneously considered to be ‘different’ from other, majority students. The findings thus reveal the paradox of welfare-state education policies and practice: while macro scale policy for migrant education aims to emphasise difference through MTI, the social consequences at the micro level show the opposite; namely, that MTI produces feelings of sameness and belonging among migrant students.

scholarly journals What Do Migrants Know About Their Childcare Rights? A First Exploration in West Germany

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verena Seibel
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Ethnic Relations ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Migrant Families ◽  
Human And Social Capital ◽  
Migrant Groups ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractAlthough an increasing number of studies emphasise migrants’ lack of knowledge about their childcare rights as a crucial barrier to their childcare usage, almost none examines the conditions under which migrant families acquire this knowledge. This study contributes to the literature by exploring potential individual factors determining migrant families’ knowledge about their childcare rights in Germany. I use unique data collected through the project Migrants’ Welfare State Attitudes (MIFARE), in which nine different migrant groups in Germany were surveyed about their relation to the welfare state, including childcare. Analysing a total sample of 623 migrants living with children in their household and by using logistic regression analyses, I find that human and social capital play significant roles in explaining migrants’ knowledge about their childcare rights. Migrants who speak the host language sufficiently are more likely to know about their childcare rights; however, it does not matter whether migrants are lower or higher educated. Moreover, I observe that migrants benefit from their co-ethnic relations only if childcare usage is high among their ethnic group. Based on these results, policy recommendations are discussed in order to increase migrants’ knowledge about their childcare rights in Germany.

scholarly journals Education in Africa: What Are We Learning?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David K Evans ◽  
Amina Mendez Acosta
Keyword(s):  
Pay For Performance ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Grant Programs ◽  
Multiple Treatment ◽  
Secondary School Education ◽  
School Feeding ◽  
Mother Tongue Instruction ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Positive Impacts

Abstract Countries across Africa continue to face major challenges in education. In this review, we examine 145 recent empirical studies (from 2014 onward) on how to increase access to and improve the quality of education across the continent, specifically examining how these studies update previous research findings. We find that 64% of the studies evaluate government-implemented programs, 36% include detailed cost analysis and 35% evaluate multiple treatment arms. We identify several areas where new studies provide rigorous evidence on topics that do not figure prominently in earlier evidence syntheses. New evidence shows promising impacts of structured pedagogy interventions (which typically provide a variety of inputs, such as lesson plans and training for teachers together with new materials for students) and of mother tongue instruction interventions, as well as from a range of teacher programs, including both remunerative (pay-for-performance of various designs) and non-remunerative (coaching and certain types of training) programs. School feeding delivers gains in both access and learning. New studies also show long-term positive impacts of eliminating school fees for primary school and positive impacts of eliminating fees in secondary school. Education technology interventions have decidedly mixed impacts, as do school grant programs and programs providing individual learning inputs (e.g., uniforms or textbooks).

scholarly journals Mother tongue instruction in Sweden and Denmark

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 591-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linus Salö ◽  
Natalia Ganuza ◽  
Christina Hedman ◽  
Martha Sif Karrebæk
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Mother Tongue Instruction

scholarly journals Challenges of the Sudden Switch from Mother Tongue Instruction to English as a Medium of Instruction

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Shahinaz Abdullah Bukhari
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Classroom Communication ◽  
Mother Tongue Instruction

The present study explored the challenges encountered through the transition from using the mother tongue as a medium of instruction at schools to using English as a medium of instruction at universities. Two focus groups were conducted with Saudi undergraduates and faculty members from different Saudi universities. The focus groups investigated how participants perceive this experience, what difficulties they face and how they cope. Participants expressed their preference for using English as a medium of instruction in higher education to maximise students’ future and international opportunities. Participant students reported difficulties in lecture comprehension, taking notes while listening and classroom communication. Participant content lecturers reported difficulties related to students’ reluctance to speak in English, lack of English terminology and insufficient lecture comprehension. Some suggestions that have been offered to overcome these challenges include the following: designing adequate trainings for content lecturers on teaching their content in English; using Arabic-English bilingualism as medium of instruction; giving emphasis to academic literacy and communication skills over the use of standard English models and enhancing the collaborative work between English language teaching practitioners and content lecturers.

scholarly journals Principal Perceptions of the Distance Learning Transition During the Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 089590482110494
Author(s):  
David DeMatthews ◽  
Pedro Reyes ◽  
Janet Solis Rodriguez ◽  
David Knight
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Principal Perceptions ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Mild Disabilities ◽  
State Education ◽  
School Preparedness ◽  
Opportunity Gaps ◽  
Perceptions Of School

Drawing on data from the RAND American School Leader Panel 2020 COVID-19 Distance Learning Surveys, we analyze principal perceptions of school preparedness for distance learning with a specific focus on how different school types (e.g., rural, urban, and suburban) and student groups (e.g., students with mild disabilities, English learner students) were impacted by rapid school closure. These findings have important implications for how state education agencies, policymakers, and districts plan to address the growth of opportunity gaps among student groups. In addition, findings have important implications for education leadership and policy researchers seeking to design and implement studies to inform next generation policy and practice.

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