Migrant Children Education

There are more than 225 million rural-to-urban migrant workers, and some 20 million migrant children in Chinese cities. Because of policies related to the household registration (hukou) system, migrant students are not allowed a public high school education in the cities, so their urban education stops abruptly at the end of middle school. This book investigates the post-middle school education and labor market decisions of migrant students in Beijing and Shanghai, and provides a glimpse into the future of a crucial link in China’s development. The stories of how these migrant students seek upward mobility and urban citizenship also reveal one of the most intricate structural inequalities in China today. Based on quantitative data collected from middle schools in Beijing and Shanghai, and ethnographic data drawing on in-depth interviews with migrant children, their parents, and teachers, this book offers a portrait of the migration and educational experiences and prospects of second generation migrant youth in China today. It explores the urban experience of migrant students, contrasting it with that of local city youngsters, examining the migrant students’ family backgrounds, family dynamics, neighborhood and school experience, and interaction with locals. It goes on to look at the migrant students’ education and career aspirations, the structural obstacles preventing their fulfilment, and how migrant families respond to institutional constraints on educational opportunity. Finally, the book concludes with a discussion of policy implications and offers proposals for resolving the dilemmas of migrant youth. This book will of great interest to students and scholars of Chinese studies, Asian education, migration and social development.

General approaches to multiculturalism run the risk of overlooking an increasingly diverse student population that deserves special consideration and attention: students from immigrant backgrounds whose families toil the fields in order to provide better educational opportunities for their children. This book’s purpose is to guide educators to think deeply about their roles and responsibilities in the education of children of farmworker families in our nation’s schools. Readers will view their classrooms, schools, districts, and the migrant programs they lead in a broad and inclusive manner through the lens of cultural proficiency. The initial steps when embracing cultural proficiency entails thinking reflectively about one’s own values and behaviors and the school’s policies and practices toward children of farmworker families. Cultivating a willingness, openness and commitment to meeting the challenges and opportunities of this often-invisible aspect of diversity is an important first step for the development of effective educational practices for migrant students and their families. The cultural proficiency framework can inform staff development models for working effectively with migrant students and their families.

Highlighting the changing landscape of Chinese urban state schools under the pressure of recruiting a tremendous number of migrant children, this book examines the quality of state educational provisions from demographic, institutional, familial and cultural angles. Rooted in rich qualitative data from five Chinese metropolitan cities, it identifies the demographic changes in many state schools of becoming ‘migrant majority’ and the institutional reformation of ‘interim quasi-state’ schools under a low cost and inferior schooling approach. This book also digs into the ‘black box’ of cultural reproduction in school and family processes, revealing both a gloomy side of many migrant children’s academic underachievement as a result of troubled home-school relations and a bright side that social inclusion of migrant children in state school promotes their adaptation to urban life. The author concludes that migrant children’s experiences in state (and quasi-state) schools turn them into a generation of ‘new urban working-class’. The monograph will be of interest to scholars, students, practitioners and policymakers who want to better understand educational equality for migrants and other marginalised groups.

Global Migration and Education makes a notable contribution to understanding the issues faced by immigrant children, their parents, and educators as they interact in school settings, and to identifying the common challenges to, and successes in, educational institutions worldwide as they cope with these issues. Global in scope, there are chapters from 14 countries. It will help educators and others involved in these complex processes to see beyond the notion of problems created and experienced by recently arrived young children. Rather, this volume provides many concrete suggestions deriving from the success stories and voices of teachers, parents, and students. It also offers evidence that diversity can be a condition for learning that, when understood, embraced, and supported, leads to rich learning opportunities for all involved that would not exist without diversity. All of the authors offer recommendations about educational policy and practices to address and ultimately improve the education of all children, including immigrant children. The book is organized around five themes: *Multiple Global Issues for Immigrant Children and the Schools They Attend; *They Are Here: Newcomers in the Schools; *Views and Voices of Immigrant Children; *Far from Home With Fluctuating Hopes; and *Searching for New Ways to Belong. Intended for researchers, students, school professionals, and educational policymakers and analysts around the world in the fields of multicultural education, child psychology, comparative and international education, educational foundations, educational policy, and cross-cultural studies, this book is highly relevant as a text for courses in these areas.

""This book examines under explored aspects of child education and the ways it differs in contemporary society. It also explores the scientific aspects of the interrelationship between child education and society"--Provided by publisher"--

This book elucidates the amazing life journeys of academically successful migrant students. Offering vivid case studies of successful students, this book helps teachers, education students, and researchers understand the factors that lead to success by minority language children. The authors develop the lessons of student success stories into recommendations for schools and for educational policy. Readers gain from this book the stories of real students, the challenges they faced, and the means by which students and schools may overcome language and cultural barriers to educational success.

Drawing from global insights and the education supply and demand theory, this book investigates migrant children’s education in China, as well as the educational financial policies, which serves as both a background and possible solutions. From a comparative perspective, the education fiscal policies regarding issues with migrant/immigrant students and inequality in the United States and Europe were first examined, before comprehensive theoretical framework is constructed to evaluate the government and public schools’ input and migrant children’s educational demand in China. Their school choices, academic performances, educational choices and impact factors from the perspectives of class, gender, society and family are then discussed in depth. By tracing back to previous fiscal policies regarding migrant children in China and local policies in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the author further interrogates the existing challenges, possible strategies and solutions. This book will appeal to scholars of education economics, education policy, educational equality and those who're generally interested in Chinese education and society.

A comprehensive reference describing the educational issues faced by migrant workers and the economic, political, sociological, and language issues schools and educators face in trying to address migrant needs. In this comprehensive primer, author Judith A. Gouwens describes the many factors that complicate the education of migrant children, youth, and adults. For many migrant families, their children's work is necessary if the family is to earn enough money to subsist. Added to this are problems with constantly transferring school records of mobile students, the inability of parents to communicate with teachers and school administrators in their native tongue, and the differences between Mexico and the United States in the culture of education. Migrant Education discusses who migrant workers are, the conditions that interfere with the educational success of migrant children, how the issue has been addressed historically, and how to break the cycle of educational disadvantage. It also includes a chronology, directories, and bibliographies. - Includes examples of exemplary and innovative migrant education programs such as the Migrant Leadership Academy and the Florida Migrant Education Summer Institute - Provides a directory of organizations, associations, and government agencies involved in administering migrant education, assistance, and advocacy for educational, health, and other opportunities