No abstract

Among asylum seekers in the EU, many are families with young children (0-4 years). In policy and practice, however, these children remain invisible. During the asylum proceedings, which can take quite some time, there is hardly any pedagogical offer available in reception centres nor are there clear policies to guarantee accessible, useful and meaningful ECEC. While there is ample evidence of the possible benefits of high quality ECEC, especially for vulnerable groups, these children often do not attend any ECEC provision. This article addresses this issue, by reporting on the results from the Erasmus+ Project 'MyRef', Multilingual Early Childhood Education and Care for Young Refugee Children (01/10/2016-31/05/2019) carried on in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom. One of the main findings of the project was the almost complete lack of specific policy or attention for this group of young children and their families. In research as well, the very youngest refugee children have not been a topic of attention as such. In this article, we want to raise awareness on this group of children and their right to access to high quality ECEC. KEYWORDS Asylum; ECEC; (lack of) access; support for refugee families with young children; inclusion Introduction: setting the scene Europe has been receiving refugees for decades, including families with very young children. This creates an urgent need to provide a first shelter for them, not only in terms of housing and food but also in terms of safety, family support, care and education. There is a strong need for a humanitarian, rights-based and sustainable approach to the refugee issue, not only because of the high numbers of refugees but also because we know this will not be a temporary challenge and we need to protect the human rights of these newcomers (Transatlantic Forum on Inclusive Early Years 2017; United Nations Global Compact 2020). Since 2015, many refugee families have come, and continue to come, to Europe. Refugee children between 0 and 4 years are particularly vulnerable, and high quality

No abstract

No abstract

Owing to processes of migration and minorization, the Netherlands is increasingly developing into a multicultural society. Litde information, however, is available about the actual composition of this multicultural society. Statistics on immigrant minority groups are commonly based on nationality and/or birth-country criteria, which both suffer from increasing erosion. Ethnic self-categorization and home language use have been suggested as complementary or alternative criteria. Particularly in the context of education, data on home language use of immigrant minority pupils can supply relevant information on the multicultural composition of schools. In fact, such data are essential for language planning and educational policy. We carried out a language survey at two schools for secondary education, with a total group of 1305 respondents. The study establishes empirical evidence on: thedistribution and vitalilyof immigrant minority languages of pupils in secondary education; thecomplementary or alternative valueof the home language criterion for the definition and identification of immigrant minority pupils; and theparticipation in and need forimmigrant minority language instruction. Procedural matters (quality of the form, distribution to and within schools) are also investigated.