Children of Migrants in Tomsk and Irkutsk Schools: Adaptation and Inclusion in the School Space

Abstract

The article explores issues articulated in Russian schools enrolling migrant children, as well as the strategies chosen by local authorities, school administrators and teachers as they work with this category of pupils. The article outlines the reasons why 'migrant schools' and, in some cases, 'migrant classes' appear in two cities. The study on which the analysis is based was conducted in several schools in Tomsk and Irkutsk in 2018–2019. The main problem that teachers face is the limited proficiency in Russian of some students. Even though there are usually only a few such students in any given class, the lack of adaptation programs and Russian language lessons for foreigners forces teachers to rely on their own devices to help these children to adapt. In Tomsk, local authorities adapted a program for children with special needs to include migrant children. Russian schools expect the full assimilation of migrant children. The main work is undertaken by teachers who try in different ways to solve this problem on their own. Today, teachers have neither the time nor the opportunity to work with this category of children. They believe that their parents should arrange additional classes for their children and help them adapt to school life. Once in school, a child from a migrant background is expected to meet rigid standards: the school is not ready to accept the diversity that children of migrants bring to its space. Assistance from the government
in terms of work with migrant children would facilitate a more comfortable working conditions for both teachers and students.