Educational achievements of migrant children (on the materials of survey at Saint-Petersburg)

Abstract

Existing research has demonstrated the impact that being a children of migrants has on experiences of education in different countries. However, the experiences of children of migrants in Russian schools is a subject that has only recently begun to receive the attention of scholars. This article investigates the specific adaptation of child migrants in the Russian context with a particular focus on the subject of educational attainment, which is understood not just as a result of the quality of teaching, but as a complex social phenomenon which demands further investigation. The article considers issues faced by migrant children in their school lives based on a quantitative study of migrant children in St Petersburg schools.

Existing research has demonstrated the impact that being a children of migrants has on experiences of education in different countries. However, the experiences of children of migrants in Russian schools is a subject that has only recently begun to receive scholarly attention. This article investigates the specific adaptation of child migrants in the Russian context with a particular focus on the subject of educational attainment, which is understood not just as a result of the quality of teaching, but as a complex social phenomenon which demands further investigation. The article considers issues faced by migrant children in their school lives based on a quantitative study of migrant children in St Petersburg schools.

The results show that the educational achievements of migrant children is to be based on several different factors. Although consistencies were found with research from other contexts such as the USA, Israel and Great Britain, the research also describes some contextual specificities; for example, a language barrier is less often a problem given the typical origins of migrants in St Petersburg. Differences in the educational achievements of migrant children compared to their non-migrant peers can be found firstly in their tendency to have moved schools several times. This has a noticeable effect on their attitude towards educational values, as well as on their ability to adapt to a new school (both to the classroom environment and to a new social context on the level of fitting in with their peers). Attitude to education was also shown to have a significant effect on the success of migrant children in achieving educational goals in the future, and is shown to be linked with the generation of the migrant children. Second generation migrants are more able to negotiate the educational system given their greater familiarity with the city and the educational system. The challenge of adapting to a different cultural or even school environment (with regards to children of internal migrants) is also shown to be an important factor.