Education, migration and citizenship in Europe: untangling policy initiatives for human rights and racial justice

Abstract

The 21 st century has seen changes in migration patterns in Europe with implications for schooling and civic education: movement from eastern and central European Union member states to western Europe; increased movement between member states for study or work; and growth in the numbers of migrants and refugees seeking asylum in Europe as a result of regional conflicts and global inequalities. This article reviews European standards and policy frameworks on education and migration and considers whether they translate into policy and practice at national and sub-national levels. It identifies tensions between European standard-setting in the field of human rights and democracy, and the responsibilities of national governments in the field of migration and education, specifically education for citizenship. While European rhetoric emphasises democracy and human rights, national education policies stress language acquisition and national values in the integration of newcomers. Less attention is given to educating mainstream populations in human rights and social justice, or in enabling students to recognise and critically examine populist and anti-democratic discourses. National and European education policies that purportedly promote justice may fail to realise inclusive and cohesive citizenship if they acknowledge changing demographics but neglect everyday injustices and European histories of racialisation and racism.

A Qualitative Study on the Intercultural Educational Sensitivity of the Professors at the University of Malaga (Spain)

“…It has been possible to appreciate the need to attend to the visible diversity that emerges in school scenarios, as a reference in the planning, design, and execution of activities, and, therefore, in aspects related to evaluation. These data coincide with other research [5,7,10,27,31,32], which shows that working on intercultural education from a practical perspective and close to reality in the university context requires the design of curricular, didactic, and pedagogical bases. The design of these bases is intended to generate critical and shared learning among students that allows them to value other cultures and cultural identities.…”

“…Intercultural education has become one of the main challenges for universities in the 21st century, with special attention given to the intercultural training of future professionals, as the central axis with which to build the foundations of a democratic and inclusive society [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. The purpose of this pedagogical proposal is to generate equitable, inclusive, solidarity, and quality educational actions, seeking to actively promote an education for all, where cultural difference is valued from the parameters of acceptance, tolerance, commitment, and mutual enrichment in educational contexts [9,10].…”

Language, citizenship and schooling: A minority teacher’s perspective

“…In the Nordic context, where the ideology of equality (Chinga-Ramirez, 2017) may prevent both individuals and organizations from fully naming and recognizing racial injustice and structural inequalities (Bangstad, 2015;Gullestad, 2004;Osler and Lindquist, 2018), these life histories may be particularly enlightening. In addition, as illustrated by the representative episode in the opening paragraph of this article, there has been an increased focus on national values in the political discourse in Norway, across Europe and beyond (Guibernau, 2013;Osler, 2020;Reid et al, 2009). Thus, discussing the impact of exclusive identities and belonging on education in the Norwegian and wider Nordic context is particularly difficult, since to many it appears counterintuitive.…”

“…As Castles (2004) has observed, migration is now linked to concerns about national identity, rather than being seen as an economic issue. Globalization and migrants are both frequently presented as threats, and intolerance and racism have found spaces to flourish within sectors of the population (Osler, 2020;Osler and Starkey, 2018). Processes of exclusion, intolerance and racism combine to minoritize certain groups within Europe today.…”

Fjortonde nationella konferensen i svenska med didaktisk inriktning : Didaktiska perspektiv på språk och litteratur i en globaliserad värld

“…Over the last decades, European nation-states have responded to complex patterns of migration by developing policies and plans for the 'integration' of newly arrived migrants (see Osler, 2020). These include a plethora of educational provisions, which, at least on paper, intend to ensure that adult migrants have the opportunity to fully participate in the society to which they have migrated.…”