Integration in Italian Primary Schools: Immigrant Children’s Voices

Abstract

1. IntroductionIn Italy, in the last 20 years, the presence of students who have migrated directly (immigrant children) or indirectly (children with immigrant backgrounds) is constantly increasing. During the school year 2011/2012, there were 755.939 pupils with non-Italian citizenship attending school, accounting for almost 8.4% of the overall school population (in 1997 they only accounted for 0.7%). Their presence is greatest in primary school, where they are 9.5% of those who attend. Among the many nationalities represented, Romanian, Albanian, and Moroccan are the largest groups (Ismu-Miur, 2013).For migrant children and their families, school is a whole new world, and represents the ability of the host society to accept or reject them. School is the gateway to the host society, and the key to a new future. Actually, institutional education can be a two-edged sword. Special programs (e.g. language instruction and intercultural programs) can facilitate learning and foster the integration process by building bridges between communities and individuals from diverse backgrounds (European Commission, 2008). On the other hand, education reproduces inequalities if discriminatory practices, such as exclusion and segregation (Chomentowski, 2009) lead to lower educational attainments of disadvantaged minority groups (EUMC, 2004, p. 3). The relationship with school is complex, weaving personal goals, family expectations, and social pressures. Upon school entrance, one's self perception and the place one can occupy in this new world becomes clearer.Although there are some studies (Canino, 2010; Colombo, 2010; Dusi, 2011; Luciano, Demartini & Ricucci, 2009; Ongini, 2011) examining the relationship between immigrant families, their children and schools, the data regarding the process of integration of immigrant children in Italian schools require further investigation (EUMC, 2004). Since the widespread tendency is to attribute the responsibility of school and socio-educational integration difficulties to the families of immigrant students (Perregaux et al., 2006; Lenoir et al., 2008), and to their different culture, we thought it would be useful to hear the voices of children from elsewhere (MacNaughton, Smith & Davis, 2007). Considering their points of view could be helpful in order to develop some useful reflections (Rorty, 1991) on their experiences and needs, and to design educational interventions to support their integration, based on their point of view as "sophisticated thinkers and communicators" (Harcourt & Conroy, 2005, p. 567) and fully recognized social actors.2. Problem StatementThe need of belongingness is an human basic psychological need. In contemporary, multicultural Western societies this need is difficult to satisfy, especially for those who undergo a sense of loss from the very beginning of their lives, such as children who experience migration (Moro, 2010).In literature, it has been defined in a number of ways (Vallerand, 1997; Baumeinster & Leary, 1995; Goodenow, 1993; Maslow, 1954). In Educational environments, the need of belonging is one of the most important needs of all students to function well (Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Deci & Ryan, 1991; Finn, 1898; Osterman, 2010). According to Goodenow and Grady (1993), the sense of belonging defines the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included and supported in the class and in the school social environment. "Students' sense of being accepted, valued, included, and encouraged by others (teachers and peers) in the academic classroom setting and of feeling oneself to be an important part of the life and activity of the class. More than simple perceived liking or warmth, it also involves support and respect for personal autonomy and for the student as an individual" (Goodenow, 1993, p. 25). The quality of education, stated Dewey, "is realized in the degree in which individuals form a group" (1958, p. …