20. Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments
Paper
"Please, Let me Feel at Home". Second Generations Coming to the Age between Discrimination and Inclusion
Roberta Ricucci
University of Turin, Italy
Presenting Author: Ricucci, Roberta
The immigrant presence is neither a novelty nor a passing phenomenon. Children, even more than their parents, are an important element not only in Italian schools but in society in general, albeit the educational environment has difficulty in distinguishing between these young people (all Italian) and their parents (resulting from one or more migrations). As they come of age, the young people continue to go through a delicate phase subsequent upon compulsory schooling and to enter the labour market, discovering the extent to which being foreigners and ‘children of immigrants’ means being negatively labelled (Ambrosini 2019; Ricucci 2017).
Reaching adulthood – i.e. the steps which are considered as the passage between being ‘young’ and being ‘adult’ – happens more quickly for the second generation than for their Italian peers (Argentin and Pavolini 2020; Panichella, Avola and Piccitto 2021). From this perspective, the second generation represents a novelty within the so-called Mediterranean transition to adulthood in which Italy fits. However, this awareness is not widespread. Indeed, the issue of the second generation emerges mainly when studying the educational path from infancy to high school. Rarely does the focus span the university level and the relationship with the labour market. Looking at these two latter topics, emigration flows from Italy to other EU or OECD countries represent one of the more interesting patterns of social transformation in the debate on youth. However, despite the high numbers and the relevance in public debate, the phenomenon of young people with a migratory background who decide to leave Italy remains quite under-scrutinised, with the great majority of research focusing only on Italians with an Italian family background.
The paper will present finding from a broaden research project focussed on the topic of youth intra-EU mobility. Specifically, the project addressed the perspectives of a very particular group of young people – those who have a family (or personal) migratory background and who have developed migration projects from Southern European countries to Northern Europe.
The paper will start by framing the issue of youth mobility and its connection with international family migratory experiences before presenting the main actors, namely the children of immigrants in Italy who – with or without Italian citizenship – decide to leave the country. The reasons behind this decision are numerous. In this paper, the focus will be on the lack of supports and the discriminations which seems to characterize the relations with both university enrolment and entry in the labour market and finally force young people with a migratory background to leave the country. The research question will try to better understand to what extent peers and those who belong to the educational community will help (or not) these specific young people in try to overcome discrimination episodes and avoid the risk to leave the country not as a free choice but as a reaction towards an unwelcome society.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedDrawing on an empirical investigation which adopted a qualitative approach, the rationale for carrying out in-depth interviews stems from the assumption that they open to capture processes such as migrant experiences, values, the production of meaning and respondents’ self-positioning on crucial issues such as identity, a topic which often causes conflicts between generations in migratory contexts (Lareau 2003). This paper focuses on the reasons for leaving and choosing one specific country instead of another by a sub-sample characterised by the common variable of being part of the migratory flows moving from African and Latin-American countries to Italy. The empirical material presented in this article is part of the research project ‘Youth on the Move: Naturalized Italians’, financed by the Italian University Research Funds, which investigated the biographies of young Italians with a migratory background who have already left Italy – or are planning to leave – for other European destinations in the last five years. The project, carried out during 2016–2021, employs both qualitative interviews and a multi-situated ethnography in various European cities (London, Berlin, Paris, Lyon and Hamburg): 120 life-stories and hundreds of pages of ethnographic observations have been collected. For this paper, I’ll consider 30 stories, scrutinizing ideas, dreams, school-paths, social insertion activities and feelings of a sub-sample, gender-balanced, of youth from Africa and Latin America (age 20-26).
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe future of second generations is weighed down by the difficulties of the first generation, of those fathers and mothers who still struggle to have their paths of inclusion recognised. The general imagination and the attitude of the media, which is incapable of objectively grasping the wealth of stories and potential, but also the hardships and problems that accompany the adult development of the children of immigration, also weigh heavily. The profound feeling of ‘not feeling at home’ may lead to new migration projects towards destinations deemed more favourable to young people and where there is a more positively expressed cultural diversity. And this would be a damage and a snub for a country that in fact has in immigration and in immigrant families an ‘energy potential’ to face a major demographic crisis.
In this framework, some interesting findings will be discussed dealing with intercultural training activities devoted to the educational community s a whole in order to reduce the risk of discrimination and supporting a new way of considering the life-projects of second-generations beyond their family backgrounds.
ReferencesAmbrosini M. (2019). Migrazioni. Milan: Egea.
Argentin G., Pavolini E. (2020). How Schools Directly Contribute to the Reproduction of Social Inequalities. Evidence of Tertiary Effects, Taken from Italian Research. Politiche Sociali 7(1): 149–176.
Lareau A. (2003). Unequal Childhoods: Social Class, Race, and Family Life. Berkley CA: University of California Press.
Panichella N., Avola M., Piccitto G. (2021). Migration, Class Attainment and Social Mobility: An Analysis of Migrants’ Socio-Economic Integration in Italy. European Sociological Review 37(6): 883–898.
Ricucci R. (2017). The New Southern European Diaspora: Youth, Unemployment, and Migration. Lanham MD: Lexington Books.
20. Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments
Paper
What Makes a Good Friend? Children’s Voices on Friendship in ECEC in a Culturally Diverse Classroom
Andrea Khalfaoui1,2, Rocío García Carrión1,3
1University of Edinbrugh, United Kingdom; 2University of Deusto; 3Ikerbasq Research Associate
Presenting Author: Khalfaoui, Andrea
Decades of research have demonstrated that friendship is a crucial human ability that has important implications for learning and development processes (Hartup, 1996). Through friendship, children acquire important social skills that will be essential in other relationships later in life, such as sharing, conflict resolution, or even loyalty (Epstein, 1986). Such important abilities are rooted in the early years (Dunn, 2008).
In this regard, positive attitudes about school, academic achievement, and the development of positive self-esteem are among the most common impacts when talking about healthy peer relationships and friendships (Denham, 2006). When Osher and colleagues (2020) explore the features at the macro and micro contexts that shape children’s developing brains and their overall development, they found that having friends decrease loneliness, increases self-esteem (Osher et al., 2020). Moreover, research has shown it promotes school satisfaction and engagement, averts some victimization, and it buffers the mental health consequences of bullying (Adams, Santo, & Bukowski, 2011). This is coherent with the main findings of the Harvard Study on Adult Development (Vaillant, 2008), which conclude that one of the most important factors for a happy and healthy life is high-quality relationships.
When it comes to children, scientific literature agrees on considering children’s friendships those peer relationships that are characterized by mutual positive regard and extend beyond a specific location or context or point in time (Rose et al., 2022). Although scientific literature highlights that friendship’s foundations are rooted in the early years (Dunn, 2008), research about friendship at this stage of life continues to be scarce. Although studies about friendship focused on later stages of life shed light on this unique human capacity, understanding how children’s friendship is built and how it is conceptualized among young children might contribute to nurturing features that facilitate it from the very beginning.
Schools are an ideal context for friendships’ formation and development. In this regard, a particular school model called Schools as Learning Communities (SLC) (Soler et al., 2019) has demonstrated to enhance social cohesion and academic achievement in more than 9,000 schools worldwide and has been identified by the European Commission as being effective in reducing the school dropout rate in Europe. It is grounded on the implementation of a series of Successful Educational Actions (Flecha, 2015) that highlight the importance of interactions and community participation as key elements of educational success and social cohesion. In addition, SLC has been found to support help and solidarity interactions in the early years and nurture important human values for friendship such as love, justice, tolerance, and solidarity (García-Carrión et al., 2020). However, less research has been conducted in these schools to explore children’s friendships in early years. Consequently, this study addresses two research questions: a) what do children of 5 years old understand as being friends? And b) what school elements might support children’s friendship formation in a culturally diverse school setting?
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThis study carried out a qualitative case study, focused on a 5 years-old classroom within a school situated in a deprived area, in Northern Spain. As for the school, it serves students from 2 to 16 years of age (308 students by June 2022), mostly Roma and migrants, mainly from Northern Africa, South America, and Western Asia. By June 2022, the 98% of the students received free school meals from the Basque Government. The school is organized as a Learning Community, which means that it delivers actions based on scientific research, mainly based on interaction and dialogue, and including families and other community members into school activities.
Seventeen 5 years old children participated in the study (see table 1). They took part in a focus group, where they were invited to share their thoughts, experiences, and beliefs about friendship. Data collection started when the researcher explained the aim of the study, and invited children to draw about their friends during 15 minutes. After that, the group was invited to gather together and discuss their drawings on the issue. This open dialogue was prompted by questions such as “what/ who did you draw? What makes a good friend? How did you managed to be friends with….”? Participation was voluntary, and the teacher facilitated the discussion along with the researcher.
The discussion group lasted 39’01’’, and some of the children (12 out of 17) decided to give their drawings to the researcher, although this was not required. The audio recording of the discussion group was transcribed verbatim and inductively analyzed.
Table 1. Ethnic composition of the participants
Roma Northern Africa South America Western Asia Other European Countries
Girls 3 1 2 2 1
Boys 4 2 2 0 0
Ethical issues were addressed throughout in accordance with the ethical codes outlined by the European Early Childhood Education Research Association’s (EECERA, 2015). The researcher ensured that the children’s participation was voluntary and not coerced by collecting informed consent from the school (since families granted consent at the beginning of the school year for their children to participate in research activities). In the case of the children, the researcher ensured their informed assent by explaining the details of the study and highlighting the key role that they could play in it, and their freedom to withdraw at any point without any consequences.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe voices of children during the focus group highlight the following themes, which are aligned with the research questions.
What makes a true friend?
Participants highlighted that certain elements are essential when identifying someone as a friend. Sofie, one girl from Brazil, stated that with your friend, one can “hug each other, have fun, help her and if she doesn’t know anyone you introduce her to new people…”. In addition, a consensus emerged when Juan, a Roma boy, shared that “you look after your friend, you ensure that no one hurts her, you have your eyes open”. In the same vein, Maria, a Roma girl, added: “when a friend falls, o when someone hurts him, we must stand up and say STOP, because no one is allowed to hurt us, nor in school nor outside the school”.
Friends are also found while learning
Children expressed that one of the most enjoyable activities for them was learning at school. As Julia, says “we also work with our friends”, and Maria adds “and learn”. Fatima, a west Asian girl, shares that “it is good to think together, with the friends you make in class”. Jon, a Roma boy, stated further that “for instance, I met Gabi in my small group, I asked do you want to be my friend? And he said yes and we have been friends since then!”
Since most of the research about friendship in ECE has mainly focused on playgrounds (Carter & Nutbrown, 2016), these findings point out at the potential of certain classroom organization to nurture children’s friendship, even within culturally diverse settings, which challenges previous conceptions on the difficulties encountered in culturally diverse settings (Deegan, 1993).
ReferencesAdams, R. E., Santo, J. B., Bukowski, W. M. (2011). The presence of a best friend buffers the effects of negative experiences. Developmental Psychology, 47(6), 1786–1791. doi:10.1037/a0025401
Carter, C., Nutbrown, C., (2016). A Pedagogy of Friendship: young children’s friendships and how schools can support them. International Journal of Early Years Education, 24 (4) 395-413 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2016.1189813
Deegan, J (1993). Children’s friendships in culturally diverse classrooms. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 7(2) 91-101.
Denham, S. A. (2006). The emotional basis of learning and development in early childhood education. In B. Spodek & O. N. Saracho (Eds.), Handbook of Research on the Education of Young Children (2nd ed., pp. 85–99). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Dunn, J. (2008). Children’s Friendship: The Beginning of the Intimacy. Wiley-Blackwell
EECERA. (2015). European Early Childhood Education Research Association. In Ethical Code for Early Childhood Researchers. Available online: https://www.eecera.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/EECERA-Ethical-Code. pdf (accessed on 7 July 2022).
Epstein, J. L. (1986). Friendship selection: Developmental and environmental influences. In E. C. Mueller & C. R. Cooper (Eds.), Process and outcome in peer relationships (pp. 129–160). Orlando, FL: Academic Press, Inc
Flecha, R. (2015). Successful Educational Action for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe. Springer Publishing Company.
Fletcher, A.D., Rollins, A., Nickerson, P. (2005). The Extension of School Based Inter and Intraracial Children’s Friendships: Influences on Psychosocial Well-Being. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 74 (3), 272-285.
García-Carrión, R., Villardón-Gallego, L., Martínez-de-la-Hidalga, Z., & Marauri, J. (2020). Exploring the Impact of Dialogic Literary Gatherings on Students’ Relationships With a Communicative Approach. Qualitative Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800420938879
Hartup, W. W. (1996). The company they keep: Friendships and their developmental significance. Child Development, 67, 1–13
Osher, D., Cantor, P., Berg, J., Steyer, L., Rose, T. (2020) Drivers of human development: How relationships and context shape learning and development. Applied Developmental Science, 24:1, 6-36, DOI: 10.1080/10888691.2017.1398650
Rose, A.J., Borowski, S.H., Spiekerman, A., Smith, R.L. (2022). Children’s Friendships. In Smith, P.K., Hart, C.H. (eds). The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development, Third Edition. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119679028.ch26
Soler, M., T. Morlà-Folch, R. García-Carrión, and R. Valls. (2019). “Transforming Rural Education in Colombia Through Family Participation: the Case of School as a Learning Community.” JSSE- Journal of Social Science Education,67–80
Vaillant, G. E. (2008). Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development. Little, Brown Spark.
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