Chapter What Are the Problems? Reception Communities in the EU Environment

Octoaedro Editorial has published the book Migrant Children’s Integration and Education in Europe: Approaches, Methodologies and Policies, edited by Barbara Gornik, Mateja Sedmak, Fernando Hernández-Hernández and Juana María Sancho-Gil. The chapters of the book pay attention to how we address issues related to the integration and inclusion of migrant children and young people, how we research the problems, what epistemological paths we follow, what methodological approaches we use and, consequently, how research findings are reflected in policies enacted at national and EU level and how they can contribute to improving the everyday life in schools.

In the chapter What Are the Problems? Reception Communities in the EU Environment  Vlasta Jalušič and Veronika Bajt focus on EU integration policies: “The studies, as well as the first results of the MiCREATE project, show that there is a gap between EU principles, the existing promotion of good practices and how Member States understand the integration of immigrant children. The fact is that they still ‘integrate’ their ‘immigrants’ in a way that too rigorously emphasises the concepts of national identity, history, culture, values and norms, which is especially effective in the field of education. In many countries, such as the Netherlands, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, a new ‘assimilationist turn’ can be detected.”