Role of the Diaspora
Pathways to success for the second generation in Europe
Integrating the children of Turkish immigrants in Europe
Authors:
M. Crul
Publisher:
Migration Information Source, 2007
How can the children of immigrants be better integrated into European life and culture? This article looks at pathways to success for the children of immigrants (often called the second generation) in Europe. It focuses on the role of the different academic tracking systems in Europe on the children of Turkish immigrants, revealing that European countries have much to learn from each others' educational practices. The article looks specifically at the following countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Comparing these countries shows the importance of institutional standards, such as the age at which formal schooling begins and the number of instructional hours, and of early or late selection in secondary education. Also significant is the method of transition to the labour market. The role of ethnic discrimination also must be considered.
The author points out that it is tempting to compile an ideal educational experience for children of immigrants from the country examples explored here but that doing so would not do justice to the different social, economic, and historical contexts that have shaped the educational systems of each of these countries.
However, there are a few options for improving the situation of second-generation children in Europe that are unlikely to stigmatise them or cause resentment among the native population including to:
- lower the compulsory schooling age as a way of promoting language acquisition
- create "second chances" to help students overcome disadvantages - this could include delaying tracking for one to two years and placing students in intermediary classes
- introduce apprentice-type programmes, or ones that give students the chance to work with companies for a long period of time - this help smooth the transition into the labour market
The author concludes by highlighting that the comparison illustrates the need to focus more on why educational systems produce unfavourable results. The costs of adjusting school systems that block upward mobility should be placed against the societal costs of children of immigrants not finishing school, becoming long-term unemployed, or facing even worse outcomes.
