Migrant Education Week Day 2: What are the obstacles for migrants to access and complete adult education programmes?
**This discussion is now closed. We'll be opening again tomorrow morning to discuss solutions the challenges highlighted today. Find tomorrow's discussion in the link below.**
The current migration crisis has emphasised the vital role of adult education in supporting the integration and skills development of migrants across the European Union.
In our three-day discussion, we’ll be talking about:
Challenges and obstacles (27 April)
- Solutions (28 April)
In this thread we’ll be talking about barriers. What have you found to be the biggest challenges for adult migrants accessing education, and are they different for newly arrived migrants and established migrant communities? We want to hear about what you think the most significant barriers are, from both a learner and an education provider perspective.
You can also follow live highlights of the discussion on Twitter and Facebook! Look out for updates via #epale2016.
Comments
Even more obstacles ...
Great inputs to the list, everyone, here is an update… (This is mainly about obstacles faced by migrants, rather than barriers related to service provision)
- Ability to speak the host country language (specific to migrant education, though if we add literacy, then also applicable to general adult education).
- Digital skills to access online learning (also applicable to general adult education)
- Community/sense of belonging/social networks (probably, though not always, more of a barrier to newly arrived migrants)
- Time to participate in learning (also applicable to general adult education)
- Legal status/right to residence, e.g. as refugees, asylum seekers (specific to migrant education)
- Health - physical and psychological (also applicable to general adult education, but often a greater barrier for migrants – particularly psychological barriers for those fleeing trauma)
- Safe and fun opportunities/spaces/environments to try out new skills (also applicable to general adult education)
- Lack of access to the planning of learning (also applicable to general adult education – though some countries are much better at this, with active adult learning associations and a more democratic approach to the allocation of funding/focus of learning)
- No recognition of existing qualifications (specific to migrant education for qualifications obtained outside the host country; but also an issue for general adult education if we have a wide definition of ‘recognition’ in the labour market meaning value attached to qualifications by employers) or skills (also applicable to general adult education)
- Lack of information/awareness of relevant adult learning programmes (also applicable to general adult education)
- Lack of confidence to undertake training in the country migrants have moved to (lack of confidence, particularly among those who have had poor prior educational experiences is certainly also applicable to general adult education)
- Administrative barriers - i.e. navigating complex bureaucratic systems, completion of detailed registration forms (also applicable to general adult education, but with the added barrier for migrants of navigating in an unfamiliar cultural and linguistic environment)
- Lack of financial resources (also applicable to general adult education)
- Negative/discriminatory experiences deterring migrants from undertaking training (specific to migrant education)
- A lack of knowledge of what State support is available - particularly in those Member States where there is a separation of responsibility for supporting migrants (also applicable to general adult education to a certain extent, with many countries, and the EC, having moved adult education out of education ministries, meaning a narrow view of adult education as human capital development, and other forms of learning, related to cultural and social capital, being supported, if at all, elsewhere).
- Institutionalised exclusion/discrimination (mainly applicable to migrant education, but social exclusion also relevant in general adult education)
- Caring responsibilities (also applicable to general adult education)
- Perceptions (negative) of schooling based on past (home country) experiences (also applicable to general adult education)
Conclusion
Dear participants, thank you for your precious insights and for sharing your knowledge and expetise with us today. I am going to refer back to the list of challenges gathered by Andrew and continued by Aaron as they refer to all our points:
- Ability to speak the host country language (of course!)
- Digital skills to access online learning
- Community/sense of belonging/social networks
- Time to participate in learning
- Legal status/right to residence, e.g. as refugees, asylum seekers
- Health - physical and psychological
- Safe and fun opportunities/spaces/environments to try out new skills
- Lack of access to the planning of learning
- No recognition of existing qualification
- Lack of information/awareness of relevant adult learning programmes
- Lack of confidence to undertake training in the country migrants have moved to
Administrative barriers - i.e. navigating complex bureaucratic systems, completion of detailed registration forms
A Lack of financial resources
A Negative/discriminatory experiences deterring migrants from undertaking training
A lack of knowledge of what State support is available - particularly in those Member States where there is a separation of responsibility for supporting migrants (i.e. justice and home affairs, education, employment).
I would also personally add that global and bilateral dialogue is a challenge that needs to be considered, because dialogue between nations, continents and regions builds global cohesion and this can be a good incentive for social cohesion. However difficult these challenges, we do have many role models we can look up to, including colleagues all over the world who are doing very good work. Let us improve the world together. Thank you all!
Marcelle
One more thing...
I almost forgot one more obstacle Migrants are facing: Their own habits and perception of a school system :)
My wife told me last week, she had several refugees coming to her regarding future language trainings and when she asked them for their vouchers issued by the Employment Agency (worth 600 hours of training and thus several Thousands of Euros) they had it somewhere between 14 other sheet of paper, with breakfast markings and so on... They didn´t realize that this is a very important, "one time only"-issued permit for these Integration Trainings and deal with it in a very careless way. The same goes sometimes for other important documents handed out to them in the refugee shelters.
I am not generalizing this issue (there were equally much who had everything in perfect order and were very kean to start and get to University for instance) nor neglecting the probable majority of Migrants who realize the value of learning, but some of them certainly need some general help and a lot of explanation on how and why a school system in Europe works...
Same goes for the project ABuD which I mentioned yesterday: For 2 of my participants it was unimaginable that in Germany they DO need a proper VET training for at least 3 years in order to be a, as they called it, "simple plumber"... It hurts me always crushing dreams of a quick employment, but fact is, other than the US where you might just try yourself in certain jobs and then stick with them if it works out, in Germany everything is very regulated (as you would expect :D) and this makes it very hard to start working right away. And with all those papers gone missing in war zones (on top of any questions regarding equivalency), it is hard to assess their knowledge. In order to integrate them into a VET system though, we´re back at square one with the need for language training.
One more thing..
I was hearing from an Austrain organisation that their way of dealing with qualifications recognition in vocational work is to do an assessment and provide feedback on the courses one needs to do to obtain a recognised qualification. In Malta working is easier than taking up education and learning. First because anyone can work as long as they get a work permit (non EU migrants need employers who are ready to advertise and employ them if there are no national or EU workers for the job).
Many of course work precariously without work permits, but these are not simply refugees. Secondly, there are a lot of challenges tied with both the worldview of certain groups of migrants, and their own development backgrounds. Some people may be highly unaware of important, formal matters. Others are simply out of touch with certain issues.
A migrant friend of mine for example was recounting how in his community he was noticing how people who have fled the war were showing no concern for others. He noticed that they didn't help the community, they were very unemotional about the problems of others, and they showed lack of concern for what was physically happening in front of them. However this is just one particular community. In another community I myself have experienced the situation where I want to connect a migrant to their community and they refuse, owing to such a high level of distrust and fear. In other communities however solidarity is so strong, that people sometimes feel more supported than some local persons.
In any case, what we can look for is a way to address issues that increase vulnerability and decrease resilience - and how our programmes address these important factors.
Yes, Roberto! Our own habits,
Yes, Roberto! Our own habits, perceptions and experience of what 'school' can mean in practice can often represent a huge 'invisible barrier' - as well as a lifetime's work to overcome!
Can anyone identify with this?
Formal learning environments can sometimes result in this:
A tool developed BY students FOR teachers / teacher educators based on the principles of Assessment for Learning (AfL) http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/assessment-reform-group
Lack of qualified language teachers
Another problem Germany is currently facing is the lack of professional and highly qualified language teachers who are able to provide language skills not only on communicative level but profound language knowledge which is vital for getting into a vocational educational training, studying at a German university or pursuing a professionnal career in case of qualified specialists coming to Germany. In Germany, you need to provide a graded language certificate (at least at the B1 level of language proficiency) for getting into a vocational education, a B2/C1 certificate (depending on the subject) for going to the university, and you definitely need language proficiency at the level C1 and higher for working in a German company/institution/hospital, etc.
Unfortunately, the quality of language classes offered by educational insitutions has started falling recently, as shown by the students' evaluation of teachers as well as by the results of official graded tests after completing each language proficiency level (A1-B1). This problem has arised since insitutions are “forced” to open up more and more classes for providing the so-called integration courses for migrants (A1-B1) and start neglecting the quality control of the hired teachers.
Well Marcelle, while being a
Well Marcelle, while being a huge fan (and active emissary for) E-Learning since 2002 ;) I often see how it fails because of wrong (and/or sole) implementation. Blended Learning on the other hand, in connection with attended face2face trainings tend to send the wrong (or at least mixed) messages towards people with next to no experience to self-confident and autonomous learning. For them it often seems, reading "some" text online "sometimes in the future" automatically provides you with knowledge... ;)
So I am cautious in direct implementation of Blended Learning in connection with refugees but indeed find it helpful with long-term resident Migrants who already have good experiences in efficient autonomous learning and face similar (often time and money-related) obstacles like the ones in the video above.
E-Learning in bits
I agree with you Roberto. I am very anxious about pure elearning. Apps and elearning can be a very helpful if you have to look things up ...like in a dictionary. Stepping into a bakery and finding a word first that you might need, but for a whole language class, I do not think that this works out very well all alone.
Addionally, if we talk about integration or arriving in a new society those new people might like the social aspect of adult education, which means meeting on a regular basis with other people in order to chat and go to town instead of being captured in a asylym seekers place.
But still: There are a lot of programms provided e.g. by Goethe institute that is very well elaborated and might work out very well to train some small, not too complex things, while waiting for a bus...
monitoring
Hi roberto, while different types of methods can suit different contexts, perhaps what is important is the presence of evidence-based decision making, and that the state or any appointed agency would establish guidelines based on best practices (continuously evaluated as well and updated), and then monitor all service providers and evaluate their programmes. Of course this is costly, but if evaluation processes are made mandatory then we can improve quality. What do you think?
Developing school capacity for diversity
I think that the question raised here yesterday and today is how to develop teachers and societies in general capacities for diversity. What about mono cultural countries like Croatia or Chech republik that are very homogeneous in terms of ethnic diversity? Or regarding the huge refugee flow that is now taking place in South Europe or in Balkan countries - how to combat huge radicalization happening in Europe at the moment? The important question here is actually how to promote diversity to the majority of population. In SIRIUS Network for educating children with migrant backround we developed lots of different evidence based policy briefs. For example, one that is very important for this topic is Developing School Capacity for Diversity. More about strategies on how to do this and some good practises examples please find here: http://www.sirius-migrationeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Pol…
teacher training and methodologies for diversity and inclusion
This is a very interesting document outlining some interesting best practices. When it comes to formal and non-formal programmes however these need good management on a national level. It seems to me that countries differ on the type and level of engagement on various programmes of education. For example there may be verygood methods used in private schools that are not used in public schools, or vice versa. The top level monitoring and management seem to be so important in preventing and addressing the barriers we have spoken about, however it is not always there. Perhaps pressure and advocacy groups here are very important in highlighting the responsibility of states in ensuring that service provision reflects the type of policies that we have formulated, since many times we do have wonderful policies which then fail in the implementation stage.
I agree with you completly!
I agree with you completly! Actually what we found out in Croatia is that there is a lack of cooperation between all levels 8from national, local, community, school level, educational institutions etc.). Everybody is doing something but there is no like holsitic or at least connected approach. Then everything is left to school based level to deal with the issue. It is important to point out that in a society which is not prepared for multiculturality, teachers are left on their own in cases when they have to work with migrant background students. They improvise in using teaching methods and materials, have no sistematic education on culture, religion or nationality issues from different parts of the world. They severly need instruction and support in how to do workshops.
I agree with you completly!
I agree with you completly! Actually what we found out in Croatia is that there is a lack of cooperation between all levels (from national, local, community, school level, educational institutions etc.). Everybody is doing something but there is no like holsitic or at least connected approach. Then everything is left to school based level to deal with the issue. It is important to point out that in a society which is not prepared for multiculturality, teachers are left on their own in cases when they have to work with migrant background students. They improvise in using teaching methods and materials, have no sistematic education on culture, religion or nationality issues from different parts of the world. They severly need instruction and support in how to do workshops.
Developing school capacity for diversity
Eli, I believe the question how to develop teachers and societies in general capacities for diversity is urgent not only in mono cultural countries. Latvia is far from mono cultural society and since Soviet occupation there always have been two dominant ethnic groups - Latvians and Russians. Disregarding the fact, that during last two decades there has been progress regarding bilingual education, e.g. project "Open School" which is also mentioned in SIRIUS report as the good practice, there still is tension and misunderstanding among teachers in terms of diversity mainstreaming and managment at schools. We still implement numerous diversity training programs for teachers working in bilingual school environment and we are glad, that there is some progress regarding not only Latvian - Russian language of instruction, but also diverse culture and values. But as I mentioned earlier it took about 20 years.
Divided Education Divided Citizens
Of coarse, you are right. I participated in a study (it was in 2009) about the divided educational practises and the case of Latvia was explored (among other). Check it here: http://www.praxis.ee/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2009-Divided-education-…
I understand it takes time, like everything in education...
A wide range of factors
At the start of the morning, Marcelle posed the question: what are the barriers to learning faced by migrants in accessing and continuing education? And what an interesting discussion it's been. Looking across the points made, I've pulled out my own list of obstacles, not in any particular order:
- Ability to speak the host country language (of course!)
- Digital skills to access online learning
- Community/sense of belonging/social networks
- Time to participate in learning
- Legal status/right to residence, e.g. as refugees, asylum seekers
- Health - physical and psychological
- Safe and fun opportunities/spaces/environments to try out new skills
- Lack of access to the planning of learning
- No recognition of existing qualifications.
What have I missed? Lots I imagine…!
priorities and prior learning
Hi Andrew, good observation and data collection! What about prior learning? And how would these obstacles change for every person in terms of priority? For example, family life might be important, but not always, at times people do feel releived not to have their parents with them and they say they have 'grown up' since they left home. sometimes recognistion of preexisting skills may not be important for someone who will never work in the same job he used to do back home. Other times this is very important.
A wide range of factors
Thanks for this list Andrew. A couple of others that I think we could add here include:
10. Lack of information/awareness of relevant adult learning programmes
11. Lack of confidence to undertake training in the country migrants have moved to
12. Administrative barriers - i.e. navigating complex bureaucratic systems, completion of detailed registration forms
13. Lack of financial resources
14. Negative/discriminatory experiences deterring migrants from undertaking training
15. A lack of knowledge of what State support is available - particularly in those Member States where there is a separation of responsibility for supporting migrants (i.e. justice and home affairs, education, employment).
So in conclusion - quite a lot of barriers there. And it is likely that we have still missed some other ones out!
Interesting to reflect on
Interesting to reflect on which of these barriers are specific to migrant education and which also apply to general adult education.
- Ability to speak the host country language (specific to migrant education, though if we add literacy, then also applicable to general adult education).
- Digital skills to access online learning (also applicable to general adult education)
- Community/sense of belonging/social networks (probably, though not always, more of a barrier to newly arrived migrants)
- Time to participate in learning (also applicable to general adult education)
- Legal status/right to residence, e.g. as refugees, asylum seekers (specific to migrant education)
- Health - physical and psychological (also applicable to general adult education, but often a greater barrier for migrants – particularly psychological barriers for those fleeing trauma)
- Safe and fun opportunities/spaces/environments to try out new skills (also applicable to general adult education)
- Lack of access to the planning of learning (also applicable to general adult education – though some countries are much better at this, with active adult learning associations and a more democratic approach to the allocation of funding/focus of learning)
- No recognition of existing qualifications (specific to migrant education)
- Lack of information/awareness of relevant adult learning programmes (also applicable to general adult education)
- Lack of confidence to undertake training in the country migrants have moved to (lack of confidence, particularly among those who have had poor prior educational experiences is certainly also applicable to general adult education)
- Administrative barriers - i.e. navigating complex bureaucratic systems, completion of detailed registration forms (also applicable to general adult education, but with the added barrier for migrants of navigating in an unfamiliar cultural and linguistic environment)
- Lack of financial resources (also applicable to general adult education)
- Negative/discriminatory experiences deterring migrants from undertaking training (specific to migrant education)
- A lack of knowledge of what State support is available - particularly in those Member States where there is a separation of responsibility for supporting migrants (also applicable to general adult education to a certain extent, with many countries, and the EC, having moved adult education out of education ministries, meaning a narrow view of adult education as human capital development, and other forms of learning, related to cultural and social capital, being supported, if at all, elsewhere).
We shouldn't forget that migrant education is adult education and that there are many other common areas, such as the need for trained teachers, the development of effective progression pathways, assurance and promotion of quality, and above all, increased and sustained finance.
Agree... plus, where barriers
Agree... plus, where barriers 1 - 9 have been addressed, integration should be understood as a lifelong experience, process and does not end with one becoming a formal citizen... As a matter of fact, migrants still face further challenges one of which may be understimated "institutionalised exclusion/discrimination" or whatever one may call it. Integration does not end with one becoming a formal citizen...
Barriers for women
Hi! Don't forget the barriers to those with caring responsibilities, especially women, who are most likely to be excluded through low language skill. Also, refugees can face a number of health issues - both mental and physical - which can prevent relatives from attending classes if they are the carer.
An indepth Research from Ireland on Barriers
Hi, see a blog posted today from Pablo at the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland on 5 Barriers for Migrants in accessing the labour market /en/blog/5-key-barriers-migrants-ireland
Proficiency tests for integration and reunification
It is interesting to see reunification as one of the barriers mentioned in the document, because it is a sad reality that family reunification is extermely difficult for some migrants, and yet family life is so important to integration, well being and mental health. While migrants' status and bilateral labour agreements may predetermine the rights of migrants to reunification (rejected asylum seekers are often not entitled, sometimes dometic and careworkers are excluded from this right) in some cases reunification may be granted but tied to restrictive language proficiency tests, at times starting at the countries of origin.
UPDATE: NALA ESOL Conference - Migration Trends
A really energetic day here with over 70 practitioners who work with adult migrants on teaching english. Just ahead of the key note address some of the attendee's completed a short survey for us on challenges or obstacles facing adult migrant learners in accessing education. Here is a quick snapshot of the pertinent issues:
The main difficulty that was repeated across surveys was people's understanding of what’s available to them...'knowledge pathways' as it is sometimes termed. Information being widely available in an understandable format for potential learners to see the learning possibilities. This isnt helped by the fact that many migrants are unfamiliar with the concept of adult education and lifelong learning. It can seem strange to them to return to structured learning if adult education is not the 'norm' in their country or origin. If the learning environment is attached to a school it can be particularly difficult for some migrants to understand this is a place for adults and to not see it as regressing.
The massively varying educational levels at which migrants may begin their ESOL journey is also a challenge. Some may have completed post graduate qualifications while others would have low literacy in their first language. In this sense the learning environment can be a very unfamiliar place for some of your group of learners. This can cause unforeseen delays in groups in which participants appear to have the same level of English. Along with being unfamiliar with a classroom setting or uncomfortable with a 'teacher' many of these inexperienced learners do not understand the learning process, that they must be autonomous and work outside of the classroom to progress. There is also often fear of the system with this group.
Childcare was another repeat comment - especially for female learners. Covering a person to attend one class per week is almost counter productive as it is such a long process for them they may lose hope. Also in relation to gender some comments around the cultural aspects that need to be considered. Some cultures find it difficult to access information that caters for single-sex classes when mixed classes are not acceptable to them culturally.
They attendee's also commented on factors for success and we will post them very soon...
Important points!
Hey Aimee, thanks for that update from the NALA ESOL conference! Such important points as well; I am glad you pointed out that migrants may not recognise the system of adult education, and may feel they are 'regressing' since classroom education is something they equate with children's education. Sometimes even young migrants have passed through so many 'adult' experiences, that often teachers may be seeing a 20 year old in their classroom and thinking of the person as a young man or woman, when in fact that person's psychological and social experiences have required them to experience something that the teacher herself or himself may never understand. For older persons they may also feel they are 'disrespected' when they are attending class with younger migrants, especially if they are elders in their communities.
Innovation?
This comment is brief and wants to launch the question of innovation in providing education for migrants. Certainly when we talked about who are the service providers we tackled this, and many civil society initiatives are great examples of innovation in education.
Today, attending the Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilisations we were also talking about the need to provide systems of education not only when the migrants are settled in the host country but also along the way. So in this sense, I identify for our discussion the challenge of having a gap in education during the journey the migrants take along the way, and this gap for some means days, for some weeks, for some months and even years. Now the international policies do not provide for such an accompanying process and this is a challenge. The training staff is not prepared for such a process and few methodologies are thought of ...and clearly the infrastructure would need to be created. A challenge also comes with opportunities and things like technologies can be isntrumental in creating a meaningful educational continuum among migrants.
Funding and innovation
I was at a recent Erasmus + conference on refugees and education, and I heard that this programme has launched specific opportunities in migrant education because of the need to develop innovative products and tools that can be used in migrant education in diverse contexts. However there is always competition for these funds.
Another point is that in some countries governments do realise that they are missing an opportunity if they don't invest in migrants education, however their funding commitment usually does not reflect what they realise. In England and Wales 85,000 people are considered 'not proficient' in English, however funding for ESOL has reduced from EUR 210 million in 2008 to EUR130 in 2013, according to NIACE - National Voice for Lifelong Learning.
investing in migrants education
Well said Marcelle,
some countries governments are not only missing an opportunity if they don't invest in migrants education
but they also may be sewing the seeds of future societal frictions and unrest.
I would not like to be misunderstood, but "If you cannot send them back elsewhere or where they came from, integrate them cost-effectively"!
How is education addressing discrimination, prejudice and racism
Hi Andra, is there any programme, any organisations that are addressing this? What are they doing? However small it is, is it having an impact?
Adult education and promoting intercultural understanding
Hi, my name is Linda Morrice and I work in the UK. I think this is a very important and often overlooked issue. Much of adult education policy and practice is focussed on migrants - usually their (real and perceived) needs for language and cultural knowledge. But what of the longer term settled population among whom migrants come to live - what is put in place to support them learn to live with difference and the challenges of migration. We know that learning can promote greater understanding and tolerance, and yet this is rarely mentioned in debates on integration and social cohesion. There seems to be no expectaion that the host community could also adapt and be involved in a two-way process of learning. I would love to know if there initaitives out there which target the host community directly or indirectly?
consumer based society
Hi linda, your question is a challenge. Our societies have become consumer populations who rarely think about the fact that they are society and can therefore partciipate and bring social change. In this sense people, groups and consumers are always waiting for someone to take the lead. And because processes are also heavily regulated it is usually powerful entities such as states and large businesses that direct the processes of change.The opportunity lies in citizenship education, in facilitating social change and in empowering a type of education that allows the learner to mobilise society. But this needs a change of mentality, especially in how we practice leadership, governance and programme implementation.
Barriers to Migrant Education: Cultural Dimension
My name is Andra Tanase, working in Romania, Peace Institute of Romania (PATRIR) on both education (formal, informal and non-formal) but also reducing violence in our communities.
As many of the structural aspects of the challenges were addressed (poor infrastructure, difficult access to existing infrastructure, registration etc) I would like to ponder in this post on the Cultural Dimenisions of the challenges. This is based on our praxis that in any problem (or conflict) we deal with direct , structural and cultural dimensions of the challenge. Direct are the ones we clearly see, structures are the policies/institutions/physical spaces that support the challenge and cultural are those values/principles that justify the challenge.
So, in terms of the challenges, at the cultural/emotional level, we notice:
1. a fear of migrants, accentuated by distorded media reports and word of mouth
2. a limited curiosity towards the 'other', and this image of "the other" that is cultivated instead of a fundamental principle of solidarity and empathy
3. a sense of superiority that poses the host community as the ones needing to "help" , to "give jobs" to "integrate" the migrants instead of fellow humans who will work together a way of living together
Furthermore, these elements are also challenging:
1. the strenghtening of national identity based on a shared religious/ racial background
2. the increased acceptance of hate speech towards migrants and coalisation around (far) right groups
These need to be dealt with, and when talking about migrant education, to talk about both education for migrant populations but also education for host populations.
education addressing discrimination, prejudice and racism
Andra Tanase
You raise an obvious and very important question:
In order to bear any results, whether it is geared towards adults or younger people, any solution must start and end with "education addressing discrimination, prejudice and racism". Any other approach is doomed to fail.
changing hearts and minds
Hi Andra
Your comments certainly resonate with us here at Belfast Friendship Club! /en/blog/belfast-friendship-club-its-hard-not-belong
In a city still wrestling with a history of intolerance, we developed a model of informal education to precisely address the three reasons you have given (fear, limited curiosity, sense of 'host' superiority). The model is called 'Small Worlds' and it has been changing hearts and minds since 2009. It also dignifies our members by reversing the usual power dynamic - which our 'table hosts' report as therapeutic.
The method is very simple, very effective and involves taking a little of our diversity into other settings across northern Ireland so that our 'hosts' get to experience difference close-up and in a carefully facilitated and safe space. We have taken 'Small Worlds' into schools, community centres, faith based groups, youth groups, and business settings. See: http://www.belfastfriendshipclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Small-Worlds-workshops.pdf
One of our table hosts works to support health in Belfast's Roma population and, with Roma/Romanian parentage herself, is able to counter much of the misinformation that abounds about her own people! This is just one example.
Small Worlds
This is a great idea Stephanie, and can be easily organised by different groups, neghbours or municipalities. Do the people attending sometimes face their won challenges? I remember times when even professionals and volunteers, as well as migrants, working in these settings were discouraged because of social pressure, at times even family pressure, based on fear of attack and discrimination. Would such a programme involve prioir or accompanying training, preparation or awareness raising?
Working with hearts and minds through 'Small Worlds'
Hi Marcelle
Developing our programme of 'Small Worlds' workshops has involved capacity building with both 'host' communities as well as table hosts themselves. It's certainly not a role that anyone can do! Briefly:
Table hosts: I approach likely individuals (asylum seekers / refugees / destitute asylum seekers / victims of race hate crime / migrant workers / interns or long-term volunteers) to ask if they are interested. If so, I then brief them on the role and introduce them to others with experience. They then have an opportunity to try this out for themselves during which I'm on hand to monitor how they are getting on and offer encouragement or help as necessary. It doesn't always work out since not everyone is suited to this role.
Host communities: This has developed with the involvement of teachers and youth workers across greater Belfast, all of whom took part in a 'Small Worlds' workshop at some stage as part of the Community Relations and Education for Diversity (CRED) initiative from the Belfast Education and Library Board. Their own experience prompted them to arrange this for their own groups across NI and then, being the small country that this is, word has spread! Since then, we've worked in all kinds of settings and with all ages.
When setting it up with the organiser, I simply ask that participants attend because they want to. What's remarkable is that, even in monocultural settings of multiple deprivation with little movement beyond immediate neighbourhoods, participants quickly become attentive and receptive to these encounters - and are sometimes moved to tears. You can't 'unlearn' what you hear and it's the work of hearts and minds.
One example was a session carried out with the Probation Board staff specifically with victims of race hate crime. Another was a recent event for Derry City Council, preparing staff for incoming Syrian refugee resettlement - with the opportunity to meet and talk to refugees and asylum seekers already living in elsewhere in NI.
Humanity
It's wonderful to hear about this heart and mind work Stephanie - connecting to our own and others' humanity, and enabling others to do so, is very rewarding work. I am sure many of us are really intersted in empathy education, since the experience is a source of personal and social transformation. Thanks for sharing.
Cultural demension
Hello Andra,
I have to agree that you have pointed out the significant challenges common for every country facing the migrants. The corresponding attitude towards people of different nationality, religion and culture who are comming to live in Europe creates positive or negative background for them. If the public opinion is based on tolerance, colloboration and willingness to meet and know different culture the barries comming from both sides can be eliminated successfully.
Turning to the challenges of service providers- who are they?
Martin is reminding me to turn to a related question I had planned for the afternoon. In this topic we can see the service provider as the 'formal school', 'state provided piblic courses' or the usual traditional providers. However we have noticed in the discussion that these depend on funds, they are sometimes subject to bureaucracies and at times are not well equipped and not flexible to the needs of migrants.
I would like to introduce you to what my Foundation has done, without distracting you from discussing the challenges of service providers. The subject of motivation and well being is extremely important as part of learning and education. In Malta work with migrant organisations which are very small, but they did come together to form their own national network. Please have a look at www.tsnmalta.org. One way of dealing with the frustration is to activate migrant energy - to mobilise migrants to help each other. There are however still many challenges to this. In providing support to migrants through this migrant network I have seen how difficult it is to bring diverse cultures together for example. It is also difficult sometimes to organise socio cultural events when people are frustrated and want to advocate and even protest for their rights. In other words, there are diverse interest groups even within migrant communities who are dealing with these barriers differently. Some are doing mentoring programmes, others are not doing anything but they simply react to policy changes. The strongest barriers I have seen to using this method for providing services. has been the effect of trauma, conflict and war on the readiness of migrants to learn and on thier capacity to focus and to have the confidence to achieve, at times, as some of my migrant friends have explained, even difficulties in showing empathy and supporting one another as a migrant community.
Challenges for service providers
We discussed briefly the mono-cultural, "one-size fits all" approach to adult learning for migrants which sometimes takes place. For those countries without significant experienc of inward migration, it does take time to develop effective approaches that are tailored to the needs of the learners. This obstacle is then heightened by issues in relation to lack of funding for such education programmes (linked to the ongoing economic crisis) as well as a lack of developed guidance from local education authorities.
Hi, my name is Eli Pijaca
Hi, my name is Eli Pijaca Plavsic and I work as Executive Director of Forum for Freedom in nEducation, Croatia. We started to work on migrant education topic in 2010 and did lots of advocay and policy work but also provided teacher education programme on diversity. When we were researching the topic in Croatia our policy recommandations on how to improve the education of students with migrant background were following:
- To organise assistance in learning and integration into school.
- To develop database of schools that have migrant children. This should be organized and developed by the Ministry of Education.
- On the local level it is very important to ensure very good collaboration between local community, local authorities, schools, asylum seekers and migrants.
- To organize mobile teams on the local level who are trained for offering support to schools (teachers and school administration) but also to migrant children in the process of their adaptation.
- To develop Centres for support to migrants on the local level according to the already proven Portugal model that is solving the issue of integrating migrants into society.
- To continue with funding and the implementation of the teacher training programmes such as project „Strategies for teaching and learning Croatian as a second language” developed by the Teacher and Training Agency which is, according to the teachers that participated in it, of high quality and very concrete tool that helped them not only in learning Croatian as a second language but also in organizing workshops on importance of interculturalism and diversity.
Lots of these recommandations were put in the Action plan for integration of foreigners into Croatian society developed in 2013 but unfortunatly due to lack of funds or even lack of real political will to deal with the issue were not implemeneted.
Teacher training and collaboration
It is very beneficial what is happening in Croatia in terms of addressing this issue on various levels and cooperating with different stakeholders. Where there any challenges in implementation among teachers, communities, students or parents/relatives? Usually one tends to find some resistance among nationals as they feel they are 'accommodating' others, or they may feel that they are losing their ussual way of doign things - of doing education- and education traditions are hard to break sometimes.
implementation
Thank you Marcelle for pointing out that there is a huge discrepany between documents in place and real practise. There are lots of challenges in implemnetation and mostly work is done by Civil society organisations and day to day inititatives based on current needs. Unfortunatly the trend of radicalization going on in Eu countries is also overbriming to our society as well so no one is really optimistic that documents will be put in practise.
Thank you for your comments
Thank you for your comments today. We're closing this discussion now but we'll be continuing tomorrow when we'll be talking about the solutions to these issues.
We'll also be launching our Community of Practice on migrant education soon. If you're an expert in migrant education and are interested in moderating this area of EPALE, get in touch with us by emailing Helpdesk@epale-support.eu.
See you all tomorrow for the final day of the EPALE Migrant Education Week discussion!