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Schools as acculturative and developmental contexts for youth of immigrant and refugee background
(2018)
Schools are important for the academic and socio-emotional development, as well as acculturation of immigrant-and refugee-background youth. We highlight individual differences which shape their unique experiences, while considering three levels of the school context in terms of how they may affect adaptation outcomes: (1) interindividual interactions in the classroom (such as peer relations, student-teacher relations, teacher beliefs, and teaching practices), (2) characteristics of the classroom or school (such as ethnic composition and diversity climate), and (3) relevant school-and nation-level policies (such as diversity policies and school tracking). Given the complexity of the topic, there is a need for more research taking an integrated and interdisciplinary perspective to address migration related issues in the school context. Teacher beliefs and the normative climate in schools seem particularly promising points for intervention, which may be easier to change than structural aspects of the school context. More inclusive schools are also an important step toward more peaceful interethnic relations in diverse societies.
Schools are a major context for academic and socio-emotional development, but
also an important acculturative context. This is notably the case in adolescence,
which is a critical period for the development of a social and ethnic identity, as
well as moral reasoning and intergroup attitudes. How schools approach cultural
diversity issues is therefore likely to affect these developmental and acculturative
processes and adaptation outcomes. In the present article, the manifestation
and effects of the most prominent approaches to cultural diversity, namely
those guided by a perspective of equality and inclusion, and those guided by
a perspective of cultural pluralism, are reviewed and compared in the context
of multi-ethnic schools. The aim is to explore when and how the potential of
cultural diversity can best flourish, enhancing the academic and socio-emotional
development of culturally diverse students.