PART 1: Theoretical Knowledge

Migration has been prevalent in Europe over the recent years. Security conflicts and economic crisis have forced people to relocate in search for a new life. Some end up as asylum seekers and/or in refugee camps. Others are driven by global mobility and find work opportunities and integrate into the community. Entire families that come from other cultures, races, backgrounds and religious beliefs now live in Europe and their children study in the local schools. However, they all face challenges not only getting used to the new environment, but also being fully included in the education process. In fact, migration and all of its related aspects is deemed to be one of the highest risk factors in terms of exclusion. This produces new challenges for teaching, but also for assessment on which cultural biases may have far-reaching consequences for the students’ further careers in education, occupation and life. (Altrichter, 2020).

According to reports by UNICEF and UNESCO, the statistics related to education and migration are quite worrisome:

• 28 million children were homeless due to conflict in 2016,
  
• In 2017, 61% of refugee children were enrolled in primary school,
  
• In the same year, only 23% of refugee students enrolled in secondary schools.
  

According to the Green Paper, if education systems do not act to integrate migrants, they have the potential to exacerbate ethnic divisions, segregation and to contribute to the socioeconomic disadvantage experienced by many migrant groups. (Rashid, Tikly 2010). This calls for an update of the current standardized model of schooling and examination, as the goal of equity is not always achieved and because according to researchers the grades of students are correlated to categories of social background (Alcott 2017). This problem is further enhanced by the fact that many teachers do not have enough intercultural competence to address ‘cultural’ differences (Altrichter, 2020).

When looking more in depth, there are several leading risk factors/challenges related to inclusion in education, underpinned by migration.