Stimulate the inclusion of diverse groups of migrant children by adopting a child-centred approach to their integration at the educational and policy level.
MiCREATE’s educational tools were published by The European Commission as European Toolkit for Schools.
Context
Stemming from the need to revisit the integration policies on the one hand and consistent with the specific focus of the call on the other hand, the research project aims at comprehensive examination of contemporary integration processes of migrant children in order to empower them. The project starts from the fact that European countries and their education systems encounter manifold challenges due to growing ethnic, cultural, linguistic diversity and thereby aims at: 1) Identifying existing measures for the integration of migrant children at the regional and local level through secondary data analysis; 2) Analysis of the social impacts of these integration programmes through case studies in ten countries applying qualitative and quantitative child-centred research; 3) Development of integration measures and identification of social investment particularly in educational policies and school systems that aim to empower children.
Objectives
- To examine “destination effects” of reception communities on integration and improve knowledge of children’s experiences of life in new social environments;
- To understand school peer dynamics in view of integration processes and build the capacity of teachers and educational staff for more effective diversity management;
- To stimulate the inclusion of foreign children via child-centred tools and to contribute to a more child-centred integration policy.
Activities
- Researching existing literature, child-centred innovative approaches, good practices and EU policies on integration of foreign children in Slovenia, Austria, Denmark, Spain, the UK and Poland.
- Analysing the political context, public opinion and media discourses in the reception communities.
- Researching the educational settings and the school systems, the imaginaries included in the curricular material, holding interviews and focus groups with stakeholders in the educational communities of the abovementioned countries.
- Analysing the integration processes for newly arrived migrant children through ethnographic research in Slovenia, Austria, Denmark, Spain, the UK and Poland.
- Evaluating the integration processes of long-term resident children through ethnographic research.
- Researching the actual or potential role of local children in supporting the inclusion of migrant children.
- Gaining insight into the experiences of migrant children in transition, i.e. in “middle stage” in their migration process, e.g. in hotspots, camps, asylum homes, detention centres in Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, Slovenia, Austria and Poland.
- Creating child-centred tools and developing integration measures to support the inclusion of migrant children, especially in school, via Integration Labs.
- Providing policy recommendations to support inclusion of migrant children in Europe.
Resources
- Contemporary Debates on Migrant Children Integration
- EU Policy Framework for Integration of Migrant Children
- Snapshot of Good Practices for Integration of Migrant Children and Snapshot of Innovative Approaches for Integration of Migrant Children
- Reception communities state of art report
- Reception communities’ fieldwork with experts
- Political and media discourse analysis and review of public opinion
- Comparative Research Report on educational community members and school systems
- Comparative Qualitative Research Report on the inclusion of newly arrived migrant children, on long-term resident children, on local children’s role in supporting the inclusion of migrant children
- Comparative Survey Analysis on newly arrived migrant children, on long-term resident children, on local children’s role in supporting the inclusion of migrant children
- Reports on Reflexive Methodology Research with newly arrived migrant children, long-term resident children, local children.
- Comparative Report on the experiences of migrant children in hotspots, camps, asylum homes, reception and detention centers in Italy, Slovenia, France, Poland, Austria, Turkey.
- Guides for Teachers on multicultural education and diversity management, on solving interethnic conflict at school, on art-based practices to support inclusion, best practices.
- European Policy Brief
Impact
- More than 6,000 migrant children took part in the research activities, including newly arrived migrants, long-term residents as well as migrants living in camps, detention centres and asylum homes.
- The project created a “space” where migrant children of different ages could communicate and share their experiences, present their needs, desires and expectations, talk about what is important to them, what makes them feel happy and secure.
- Child-centered policy recommendations were developed in Integration and Policy Labs as disseminated in 23 EU and non-EU countries.
Partners
- Coordinator: Znanstveno-Raziskovalno Sredisce Koper (ZRS), Slovenia
- The Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), France
- Mirovni Institut, Slovenia
- Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenia
- Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
- Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
- Hellenic Open University, Greece
- Stowarzyszenie Interkulturalni PL, Poland
- Universitat Wien, Austria
- HFC Hope for Children CRC Policy Center, Cyprus
- CESIE, Italy
- Udruge Centar za Mirovne Studije, Croatia
- Dypall Network, Portugal
- Fakulteta za Dizajn, Samostojni Visokosolski Zavod, Pridruzena Clanica Univerze na Primorskem, Slovenia
