This article was downloaded by [York University Libraries]On 06 November 2014 At 0708Publisher RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number 1072954 Registeredoffice Mortimer House 37-41 Mortimer Street London W1T 3JH UK

Education 3-13 International Journalof Primary Elementary and Early YearsEducationPublication details including instructions for authors andsubscription informationhttpwwwtandfonlinecomloirett20

Including migrant worker children inthe learning and social context of therural primary schoolPaula Hamilton aa Institute of Health Medical Science and Society GlyndŵrUniversity Wrexham UKPublished online 29 Jun 2011

To cite this article Paula Hamilton (2013) Including migrant worker children in the learningand social context of the rural primary school Education 3-13 International Journal of PrimaryElementary and Early Years Education 412 202-217 DOI 101080030042792011569737

To link to this article httpdxdoiorg101080030042792011569737

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Including migrant worker children in the learning and social context of

the rural primary school

Paula Hamilton

Institute of Health Medical Science and Society Glyndwr University Wrexham UK

(Received 24 January 2011 final version received 3 March 2011)

Many of the larger towns and cities within the UK have long experienced acosmopolitan mix of cultures resulting in ethnically and linguistically diverseschools However the wider expansion of the European Union in 2004 hasbrought about significant changes and challenges for many schools particularlyfor those in more rural areas This article arises out of a 3-year qualitative study(January 2008ndashDecember 2010) which focused on identifying the experiences ofstake-holders (children and parents of Eastern European heritage and theirteachers) where migrant children enter primary schools which have previously hadlimited exposure to cultural and linguistic diversity Although many migrantchildren settle successfully and progress within the UK education system muchcan be done in terms of educational policy and practice to ensure that theselearners are appropriately supported This article examines some of the factorsimpacting upon migrant childrenrsquos learning and well-being and offers guidance topractitioners as how to develop inclusive and individualised learning and socialcontexts for these learners

Keywords migrant children EAL learners inclusive learning and social contexts

Introduction

Since the expansion of the European Union in 2004 many migrant workerstypically from Eastern Europe have relocated their families to the UK often settlingin communities beyond traditional areas of international migration The initial influxin 2005ndash2006 left little time to prepare established communities and service providersfor such demographic change The problem has been most acute in rural areas andsmaller towns which have had little or no previous experience of such levels ofcultural diversity (BBC 2007) Local authorities and schools inexperienced atworking with minority ethnic and linguistic families have had to adapt quickly to thenew demands establishing procedures and systems (Reakes 2007) This has beenparticularly true in Roman Catholic schools many of which have received largenumbers of migrant children because of their religious affiliation (Estyn 2009)Practitioners have been confronted with various pressures such as the diversity offirst languages and inadequate translation services the lack of details relatingto childrenrsquos cultural and family backgrounds educational abilities needs and

Email phamiltonglyndwracuk

2013 ASPE

Education 3ndash13 2013Vol 41 No 2 202ndash217 httpdxdoiorg101080030042792011569737

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well-being the numbers of children arriving mid-year and the identification ofspecial educational needs (Institute of Community Cohesion [ICC] 2007 WelshLocal Government Association [WLGA] 2007)

The educational disparity experienced by minority ethnic children in the UKhas been widely documented (Department of Education and Science [DES] 1981DES 1985 Department for Education and Skills [DfES] 2003) However much ofthe research and policy text relates to Black and Asian learners or to asylumseeker and refugee children and there is a void in the literature relating to theeducational experiences of White minority ethnic groups who are usually thechildren of economic migrants Whilst the educational achievement of Black andAsian pupils undisputedly requires careful scrutiny increased European migrationdemands that the progress of ethnically and linguistically diverse White minoritygroups is also closely monitored Furthermore the term lsquominority ethnic learnerrsquowarrants a broad understanding and not just that associated with pupils of Blackand Asian heritage This article seeks to close this gap by outlining the experiencesof Eastern European children who settle into unfamiliar education systems withinthe UK

Methodology

The study conducted over a 3-year period (January 2008ndashDecember 2010) focused onone local authority within North East Wales which had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity The investigation draws upon a blend of groundedtheory ethnography and case study approach Qualitative research methods wereemployed to illuminate the experiences of migrant children and those of their parentsand teachers There were essentially three aims for the research study

(1) To identity whether migrant children have access to inclusive educational andsocial opportunities

(2) To ascertain whether migrant children are making successful transitionswithin their new school environments

(3) To gain insight into the lives of migrant children beyond the school setting

Participants

Out of 75 primary schools within the local authority 14 out of the 18 with EasternEuropean children contributed towards the study The research drew upon a pool of100 individuals which included 40 children (30 children from School M and 10children from eight other primary schools who were the only or one of a very fewmigrant pupils) 14 teacherspractitioners from School M 23 teachers from 13 otherprimary schools 8 English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers 9 EasternEuropean parents (7 were Polish and 2 were Lithuanian) and 6 communitypractitioners (2 health visitors a Roman Catholic Priest a police diversity liaisonofficer the local authority community liaison officer and inclusionEAL teacheradvisor) The age of the children ranged from 3ndash11 years The children representedthe following Eastern European nationalities Polish (28) Lithuanian (5) Slovakian(3) Latvian (1) Estonian (1) Rumanian (1) and Bulgarian (1) Of the 40 children 22were males and 18 were females

Education 3ndash13 203

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Interviews

Fieldwork commenced in one Roman Catholic primary school [referred to as SchoolM] which had significantly more migrant children attending than any other schoolin the area (33 Eastern European pupils compared to other schools which had sevenor less) The school was visited once or twice a week over a 5-month period during2008 The interview process the principal data collection technique employed beganwith the teachers and children at School M followed by interviews with communitypractitioners migrant children who were isolated in their schools and lastly parentswho were difficult to locate

In line with research ethics I tried to ensure that participants were sufficientlyinformed before interviews commenced However the cross-cultural nature of theresearch requires careful consideration As a White British mono-lingual English-speaking female educationalist certain assumptions are likely to have becomeembedded in my pedagogic values and practices influencing the research processOne way of counteracting cross-cultural nuances would have been to employ aprofessional shared languageheritage translator Unfortunately due to the lack offunding this was not feasible Therefore aware of the challenges of cross-culturalresearch I implemented a method of triangulation and utilised a range of strategieswhen interviewing migrant children and parents These included the use of shortquestions avoiding metaphors and vague words and open-ended free-sequencequestions which allowed participants to extend the conversation into areas they feltto be important I made constant checks by reading back what had been transcribedto ensure that what had been written captured the views of participants On fiveoccasions with children and on one occasion with a parent where the individualswere lsquonew arrivalsrsquo to the UK I enlisted the help of an unofficial shared languagetranslator (another child or parent) This strategy gave all individuals an opportunityto participate rather than silencing some because it might distort the data

Observation at School M

Various observations were undertaken at School M in classrooms on theplayground and of the physical environment Observations provided a wealth ofdata pertaining to the way individuals were organised forms of social interactionsresources available and pedagogical approaches Moving throughout all yeargroups various lessons were observed In many classrooms I adopted the positionof lsquomarginal participantrsquo (Gold cited in Burgess Sieminski and Arthur 2007) as Ioften gained the role of a support worker for the migrant children Detailed narrativeaccounts were difficult to record as I assisted children with their learning sorecordings largely consisted of brief notes However taking on the role of supportworker helped me to establish a good rapport with the children before commencinginterviews and provided a deeper insight into the classroom experiences encounteredby this group of learners Initially observations were unstructured but as thefieldwork proceeded and themes evolved observations became more structured

Documentary analysis

Key documents provided by the local authority and School M helped ascertaindetails pertaining to childrenrsquos nationality first language date of birth genderschool year and date enrolled Working closely with a senior EAL teacher I gained

P Hamilton204

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permission to draw upon a narrative scrapbook written by Polish children and theirparents in preparation for a visit to Poland by members of the EAL Service Oncetranslated the narratives offered greater insight into childrenrsquos experiences ofmigrating and settling into new schools and communities adding lsquoflesh to the bonesrsquo(Bell 2005) to the interviews undertaken with some of the Polish children

Questionnaire

As the fieldwork at School M progressed I distributed a postal questionnaire whichpredominantly consisted of open-ended questions to the remaining 74 primaryschools within the local authority The initial response rate was extremely lowSeventeen out of 74 schools responded of which only eight had Eastern Europeanchildren After a second attempt to distribute the questionnaire resulted in only oneadditional school the EAL Service offered to distribute the questionnaire to schoolsknown to have Eastern European children which according to the EAL Service was17 out of 74 primary schools With the assistance of the EAL Service 13 out of the17 schools responded (response rate ndash 764) with 23 teachers across the localauthority having completed the questionnaire Although the questionnaire did notyield information as quickly or as easily as I had initially thought many of theresponses were consistent with those obtained from teachers at School M providingmore general applicability thus adding further weight to the investigation

Analytical approach

Using a grounded theory approach (Glaser and Strauss 1967 Strauss and Corbin1998) analysis was on-going throughout data collection The first- and second-orderconcepts (OrsquoReilly 2009) which were documented on the raw data in the form ofreflective memos generated as a result of examining the initial descriptive and topiccoding categories (Richards 2006) were then cross-referenced and analysed againsteach other leading to more sophisticated analytic coding and theory emergenceData were constantly scrutinised to determine how it compared supported andcontradicted itself and existing theories and literature The findings of the study arelargely woven into a narrative account as the intention is that this investigationreflects the social reality of the individuals involved whilst being relevant andaccessible to others functioning within similar environments

Findings

In general migrant children settle effectively in their primary schools within Wales(Estyn 2009 Hamilton 2010) However the progress made by migrant pupils isinfluenced by an intricate web of factors that stem far beyond individual schools andclassrooms This study brings the plight of White Eastern European learners to thefore as findings suggest that some children become so integrated into UK schoolsthat their individual learning needs well-being and heritage are at risk of beingoverlooked Reasons for possible invisibility include the lack of details pertaining tochildrenrsquos prior learning ability and attainment children being camouflaged byshared language peers insufficient guidance for more orally advanced learnersinadequately trained practitioners teachersrsquo perceptions of cultural homogeneityand childrenrsquos intra-group dependency Although not addressed within this article

Education 3ndash13 205

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but worthy of consideration is the significance that increased commitment to theWelsh language and heritage within the Welsh education system has on migrantchildren who settle in Wales The study indicates that the progression and attainmentof migrant children warrants careful monitoring

Adjusting to an unfamiliar education system

Despite sharply contrasting cultural and educational experiences and the fact thatthe majority of the schools involved in the study had little previous experience ofcatering for ethnically and linguistically diverse learners 35 of the 40 EasternEuropean migrant children felt lsquohappyrsquo at their primary school Of the five childrenwanting to return to school in their country of origin four had been in the UK fora period of 6 months or less Although these children described themselves asfeeling lsquookayrsquo they were still coming to terms with the transition particularlydealing with the loss of previous social anchors Transition literature and theoristssuch as Van Gennep (1960) ndash lsquothe rites of passagersquo and Bronfenbrenner (1979) ndash thelsquoecological approachrsquo illustrate that policy makers teachers and parents cannotafford to underestimate the significant challenges often placed upon children whenthey enter new cultures and communities As migrant childrenrsquos psychological well-being is an area requiring much deliberation discussion will take place in asubsequent article

Teachers stated that migrant children entering nursery or reception generallysettled in a way typical to local children attending school for the first timePractitioners discussed how the pedagogical approach of the Foundation Phase withits emphasis on learning through play and tuning into childrenrsquos interests wasbeneficial to language learning and helping children with their transitions Lessemphasis on academic work and higher levels of one-to-one adult facilitationfrequently lead to relaxed and supportive environments in which young learners canadjust to the unfamiliar Such conditions have the potential to accelerate languagedevelopment and understanding of new cultures As the following comment showsolder children with social anchors firmly established in their home country and whooften take little or no part in the decision to migrate (Coelho 2001 Leach 2003) mayfind the transition more challenging Older learners are soon expected to learn thelanguage of the dominant population and become accustomed to diverse pedagogyin order to access the curriculum

Many older children struggle to adjust They have the stress of adapting to a new cultureand school environment and are soon expected to access the whole curriculum (EALteacher 1)

Despite the challenges faced by many older learners 15 out of 18 children whohad attended schools in their home country claimed that they preferred schoolingwithin Wales Reasons for their preference included

less didactic teaching methods and practitioners

less homework

interesting or easier lessons

free school resources

not having to carry around personal belongings

being able to move about in classrooms

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good friends

and opportunities to play

Factors identified by practitioners as affecting migrant childrenrsquos ability to settleinto their new school environment included the childrsquos age personality level ofattendance stability of parentingfamily functioning joining shared language peersand the time at which children start school in relation to the academic year Personalcharacteristics such as gender age order of birth IQ temperament and social skillstogether with family factors such as socio-economic background ethnicity andreligious affiliations have previously been identified as influencing childrenrsquosadjustment to school (Griebel and Niesel 2003 Margetts 2003 Brooker 2005Rees and Morley 2007) Due to their religion statistics show that many EasternEuropean migrant parents have enrolled their children into Roman Catholic schoolsin Wales (Estyn 2009) The daily activities associated with Catholicism seem toprovide some children a sense of familiarity resulting in an immediate connectionand sense of belonging to their school community However the study indicates thatwhere significant numbers of migrant children exist within any one schoolenvironment they risk becoming segregated and polarised from the mainstreamcommunity regardless of being in a faith school Whilst the reflexive teacherthrough creative and inclusive strategies may attempt to minimise the effect ofsegregation and polarisation it is unlikely that such processes will be altogethereliminated as it is an inherent part of human nature to seek out similar others in thiscase ndash peers who have a shared language

Pedagogy

In an attempt to prevent the historical underperformance of minority ethnic pupilswithin the UK current educational policy advises cognitive challenges be keptappropriately high for EAL learners (Department for Children Schools andFamilies [DCSF] 2007) and that teachers remain vigilant of barriers to learningand assessment by providing pupils with materials that are appropriate to theirability and previous educational experience (Qualifications and CurriculumAuthority [QCA] 2000 Department for Children Education Lifelong Learningand Skills [DCELLS] 2008a) Although many Eastern European migrant pupilssettle successfully into primary schools within the UK the study suggests thatcertain factors are making it difficult for teachers to personalise the learningenvironment and eliminate obstacles which exist within the educational and socialcontext for migrant learners Consequently some children might be at risk ofunderperforming

Thirty-two out of 37 teachers commented how the initial language barriertogether with insufficient data accompanying migrant children was making itdifficult for them to implement a swift and individualised personalised starting pointfor learners ICC (2007) and Estyn (2009) have also reported how the lack ofinformation relating to migrant childrenrsquos prior education learning differencesmedical conditions and family structures are creating challenges for practitionersTeachers also discussed how the later compulsory school age in many Europeancountries meant that some migrant learners were starting school unable to write theirname comprehend basic math and lack skills to socialise with other children Thedifficulties that teachers face with migrant children who arrive with limited social

Education 3ndash13 207

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numeracy and literacy skills have previously been identified (National Assembly forWales [NAW] 2008)

An approach commonly adopted by teachers was the initial grouping of migrantlearners for academic purposes either with shared language peers or children whohave specific learning differences ndash teachers perhaps unknowingly contributing tosegregation and polarisation Whilst acknowledging the emotional support sharedlanguage grouping offers migrant pupils who predominately circulate within sharedheritage groups may choose lsquopreservationrsquo (Schumann 1986) maintaining their owncultural identity due to little urgency to learn the culture and language of the newcommunity Such individuals are at risk of developing a receptive understanding ofEnglish only As the lsquozone of proximal developmentrsquo (Vygotsky 1978) is consideredcentral to accelerating language acquisition (Schumann 1986 Cummins 2001)second language learning is more likely to succeed when learners are fully integratedinto the social and academic environment of the dominant community Commentsmade by practitioners imply that shared language pupils often gravitate towardseach other forming their own distinct social groupings which peers and teachersfrom the dominant culture may find difficult to penetrate Camouflaged by theirshared language peers the initial language barrier and the lack of data outliningprior learning may mean teachers fail to recognise the individual needs and abilitiesof some migrant children

In the past children from different countries have integrated Now because there are somany of them itrsquos a group of Polish children within an English school They use theirown language and are not crossing the border (Teacher 1)

When in larger numbers children chatter away in their own language and do not listenproperly Some refuse to sit still and behave It can be very frustrating for the teachersSome are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 2)

Seating migrant children with lower ability pupils may lead some teachers (andperhaps children themselves) into assuming migrant learners as having specialeducational needs The study shows how a lack of suitable curriculum materials maycause reliance upon resources produced for much younger learners and children withspecial needs Although teachers acknowledged that low ability work is not alwayssuitable for migrant pupils some defended the use of this strategy

EAL children usually get lower ability work Agness and Kamila could have been top ofthe class but because of their language I have to give them something basic because Ihave another 22 children (Teacher 2)

The Polish children just arrived We should have been provided with resources It takesa long time to build these resources and special needs material is not always appropriate(Teacher 1)

Irsquove kept the low ability EAL children together I shouldnrsquot really say low ability as youdonrsquot know where they are (Teacher 3)

Such practices may be demoralising and demeaning for children particularly forthose who have been high achievers in their home country As the followingcomments show although migrant children are fearful of getting work wrong manywant to be appropriately challenged and can recognise when they are givenmeaningless tasks to complete as has also been found by Nutbrown (1996)

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I feel scared when doing work I donrsquot understand But when the other children are givenwork and I am given things to colour I donrsquot feel I am learning anything (AgnessYear 4)

I want to do Year 5 work not Year 4 work Irsquom not doing the same work They all readbig books Tommy [Dutch pupil] is on level X but Irsquom only on Y Itrsquos not fair I feelangry every day I get told off sometimes (Eryk Year 5)

A careful balance is essential as children who are unable to access the curriculumor those not challenged enough may become distracted and disengagedUncooperative and disruptive behaviour on the part of children can be detrimentalto the pupilndashteacher relationship and consequently to childrenrsquos learning as apositive rapport has been found to enhance emotional regulation reducebehavioural difficulties and promote academic achievement (Cefai 2008) Challen-ging behaviour may be prevented through the design and delivery of relevant andpersonalised learning (and care) packages a key requirement of the NationalInclusion Statement and Foundation Phase framework Differentiated learning andassessment strategies can help migrant children to feel included and competent intheir learning environments

Galton (2007) whose work focuses on pupil transfer from primary to secondaryschool identifies an lsquoinitial diprsquo in academic progress among many learners duringthe early stages of school transition Galton (2007) attributes this decline to learnershaving to first acclimatise themselves to a new learning culture Migrant children arelikely to be lsquoout of the cultural balancersquo (Pollock and Van Reken 2002) to a greaterdegree as they will have to first master the language of the dominant community inorder to learn the basic rules by which the new world around them is operatingChildren who have schooled within their country of origin may also have to becomeaccustomed to diverse pedagogical approaches and differences in the pupilndashteacherrolerelationship

Supporting migrant children beyond social fluency

DfES (2003) acknowledged proficiency in the English language to be the mostsignificant guarantee that pupils will achieve in schools within the UK Yet for manyschools in the UK providing learning opportunities for minority linguistic childrenis a new experience (DCSF 2007) for which Perregaux (2007) argues that many arenot adequately prepared

This study has identified certain factors within the school environment whichmay impede second language learning The classroom environment created foryounger pupils typically leads to the natural emergence of language and literacythrough play and social interaction Key Stage 1 classrooms are traditionally morevisual with pictures key words and phrases used to support the language learning ofyoung children Alternatively the conventional classroom environment designed forolder pupils tends to expect children to have a pre-established command ofvocabulary Furthermore once migrant EAL children have gained good commandof social English (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) often achieved within12ndash18 months of being within the UK various assumptions may be made regardingchildrenrsquos language comprehension and ability to access the curriculum This wasparticularly true of some of the younger learners involved in the study who spokeEnglish with only a trace of an Eastern European accent Whilst a lack of physical orlanguage differences may help migrant children gain acceptance some blend in too

Education 3ndash13 209

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well with their peers from the dominant culture rendering their individual needs andabilities invisible Pollock and Van Reken (2002) have also identified the challengesfaced by lsquohidden immigrantsrsquo As can been seen from the following comments ifteachers fail to see beyond conversational fluency they may assume that migrantchildren have the same level of understanding and skills to perform tasks undertakenby pupils from the dominant culture

You forget Damian might not understand because hersquos so integrated When you thinkthey have grasped the language you let them get on with things and help others thatneed you more (Teacher 4)

Children may sound fluent but they often struggle with reading and writing Many learnto decode words but havenrsquot got a clue what they are reading (EAL teacher 3)

A good teacher will see beyond social fluency but this is often missed as teachers have somany other issues to contend with Many EAL children fail to reach their potentialbecause it takes several years to catch up enough to access the academic curriculum(EAL teacher 4)

The disparity between childrenrsquos linguistic capabilities in social settings comparedto that in academic settings risks teachers placing inappropriate linguistic loads onmigrant learners As it may take upwards of 5 years to reach a level of academicproficiency (Cognitive Academic Language) in English sufficient enough to copewith the language associated with some curriculum areas (Cummins 2001 Gardner2006 DCSF 2007) children may underachieve Teachers as also identified byMcKeon (2001) reported subjects involving unfamiliar abstract concepts andtechnical terms such as science history and geography as being those migrantchildren found more difficult to access

The language used in history and geography is often completely alien to them so theydo a lot of colouring and copying This might not be the best focus but it keeps themoccupied (Teacher 1)

We need more visual resources in science because of the complex technical terms andSEN resources are not appropriate (Teacher 5)

Concern about the lack of appropriate academic literacy support received bymore orally advanced learners particularly those who have exited specialised secondlanguage tuition has previously been reported (DfES 2003 Rutter 2006) Migrantchildren have been found to be more effectively supported both academically andpastorally when EAL and class teachers work in unison (Estyn 2009) Joint planningmay lead to more focused activities and progression targets that meet the needs ofindividual migrant pupils It is therefore unfortunate to have found some EALteachers within the study working without a base room Noisy and poorlyresourced locations are unlikely to be conducive to second language learningFurthermore it may send out messages that the work undertaken with these childrenis unimportant

Assessment

The assessment of migrant learners requires careful consideration End of key stageassessments for English maths and science were considered problematic Manypractitioners commented tests such as the NFER used to determine a childrsquos readingage against standardised scores are inappropriate for migrant pupils Formative

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assessment was considered to be more effective for identifying the progress made bymigrant children However as teachers are expected to give a detailed report ofchildrenrsquos ability at the end of Year 6 for entry into Key Stage 3 emphasis remainson summative assessment

EAL children usually underperform on standardised assessment tasks because of theirinability to access the language Children are not going to be at the same level as theywould be if assessed in Polish (EAL teacher 4)

Some children may be shy because of their language differences which makes assessmentdifficult because you do not know whether they are meeting their true potential(Teacher 1)

Monolingual assessments based on English-speaking British middle-class normsand educational expectations have long been criticised for their failure to accuratelyreflect the academic potential of migrant children (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke 2000Loewen 2004 Sikan 2007) Such assessment strategies risk devaluing the remarkableskills held by minority language pupils which as demonstrated below may result inchildren becoming demoralised and disengaged with their learning

One very able girl in Poland felt a complete failure because she couldnrsquot do the Dolchspellings [list of high frequency words] She burst into tears I told her to throw the testin the bin (EAL teacher 5)

It is argued that a more precise indication of migrant childrenrsquos attainment can beacquired through assessments which are contextualised carried out in mainstreamclassrooms undertaken in the first language as well as the second language andwhere pupils are supported by trained bilingual staff (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke2000 Loewen 2004 Crosse 2007) However with over 200 different languages nowspoken in schools within the UK (Parker-Jenkins et al 2007) and the increasingdispersal of minority language children it may not always be possible to locate staffwho can speak the different languages represented in the setting

Special educational needs

Many teachers were concerned that the special educational needs and medicalconditions of some migrant children were going unrecognised This is an arearequiring urgent attention as the Welsh Assembly (DCELLS 2008b) reports there tobe a significant number of migrant children who have specific learning differencesneeds which are not always identified upon arrival The following commentsdemonstrate how the lack of information accompanying children together withinitial language barriers makes the identification of learning differences problematic

Itrsquos really difficult to unpick what is SEN and what is EAL Some children are held backby language and a special need (Teacher 2)

When the EAL children first arrived we were told not to treat them as special needschildren so I have six EAL children in my top set for English Some are only juststarting to access the language They shouldnrsquot be with me (Teacher 1)

It was 12 months before Kuba was identified as dyslexic His parents had already got astatement from their home country Either they hadnrsquot got the vocabulary to tell us orthey wanted him to have a fresh start (EAL teacher 5)

Education 3ndash13 211

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One girl was here a year but understood very little We thought she may have specialneeds The school had to ask for an interpreter because the mother spoke little EnglishWe found out that the girl was in the process of being statemented before she migratedThe mother thought the child was going to be thrown out of school because she wasnrsquotbright enough She was so relieved when she was told the purpose of the meeting was tofind a way to support the child she wept (EAL teacher 3)

Distinguishing language differences from special educational needs is extremelycomplex as external factors (eg interrupted schooling disrupted family context)may be disabling migrant children rather than any underlying condition (Coelho2001) As shown by Teacher 1 there might be reluctance to label migrant children ashaving particular needs as educational policy (DfES 2001) warns teachers againstforming assumptions that minority language learners have learning difficultiesPractitioners may well need to be mindful of making such assumptions ascurriculum and pedagogy including frameworks used to assess childrenrsquos languageproficiency largely constitute the values and attitudes of middle-class Anglomonolingual educationalists (Tomlinson 2000 Brooker 2005) potentially placingmigrant pupils at a disadvantage The above comments suggest that some migrantparents may not be forthcoming in disclosing information about childrenrsquos specificlearning differences This could be due to the language barrier but may also indicatethat special educational needs is not perceived with the same level of understandingand tolerance in some Eastern European countries as it is within the UK Thereforeparents unsure about whether their children will be accepted into mainstreamsettings may remain silent It is an area meriting further research

Teacher workload potential lsquotipping pointrsquo and perceptions of cultural homogeneity

This study suggests that there is a lsquotipping pointrsquo (Gladwell 2000) regarding the levelof support practitioners give to migrant learners Many of the migrant children whoentered lsquosolorsquo into schools where little cultural and linguistic diversity existedseemed to be better supported by their teachers than those in schools where there is agreater intake Whereas most teachers generally coped with the diverse needs of oneor two migrant children many struggled to accommodate more than a couple ofchildren

As the numbers have grown it has become really difficult catering for the different levelsof EAL children Before we only had one or two to consider It has made my job muchharder (Teacher 7)

Where there are only one or two EAL pupils children are more supported Manyteachers are proud to see the progression made by these children When in largernumbers some are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 3)

As illustrated below increased numbers of migrant children in any oneclassroom may lead to teachers questioning the time they are able to give insupporting this group of learners It has left some teachers struggling to determinewhere their loyalties should lie and which pupils should receive more support ndash localchildren with learning differences or migrant children with limited English languageproficiency

We have 320 pupils 50 are registered as SEN and 40 are EAL 13 of EAL is a largechunk of our children Wersquove got to think about how much time we can give tosupporting these children Wersquove also got to be fair to our own children (Head teacher)

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Sometimes yoursquove to ignore the EAL children and let them flounder I feel guilty but itrsquosdifficult catering for the wide range of needs in the class Someone ends up missing out(Teacher 5)

These children often need a lot of help before they can access a task and then you haveto constantly check that they remain on task This requires a lot of time and energy(Teacher 3)

Increased demands on teachersrsquo time in a performance-driven culture may makethe task of providing the in-depth support often initially required by migrantchildren too challenging for some practitioners It may leave even the most inclusive-minded of teachers adopting socially inequitable practices in the classroom such asrationing their interactions with migrant pupils When in greater numbers there is arisk that migrant learners will become perceived as a burden where as previouslyidentified having a first language other than English is regarded as a lsquodeficitrsquo(Loewen 2004 Issa 2006 Monaghan 2010) Migrant children might also beperceived to be culturally homogenous Vandenbroeck (2007) asserts that one of themain misconceptions practitioners hold is that ethnic groups are lsquohomogeneousrsquo AsPolish children account for 74 of all migrant learners within Wales (Estyn 2009)this study suggests that pupils from other Eastern European countries riskmarginalisation their needs being considered in relation to their Polish classmatesSuch children may face multiple prejudices and barriers to learning as manypractitioners focused their work on lsquoPolishrsquo pupils (as can be seen within thenarratives included in this article) with little reference to children of other EasternEuropean heritage Perceptions of cultural homogeneity are greatly misleading as itfails to account for the variable nature of identity formation and extreme variationsthat exist among childrenrsquos cultures pre- and post-migratory experiences familystability cognitive ability socio-economic status and the levels of individualresilience

Training and support required by teachers

The unexpected settlement of migrant children to the UK meant that the supportoffered to many schools was late in arriving The lack of training written guidanceand suitable teaching resources has been challenging for many practitioners involvedin this study particularly as the local authority had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity Out of the 37 teachers 31 claimed that they had notbeen adequately trained to work with migrant children instead developing skills andstrategies in practice Of the six who felt they could cope five said this was because ofthe support they were receiving from the EAL Service whilst the other felt it wasbecause there was only one migrant pupil in her class

I wasnrsquot trained in university Irsquove built up coping strategies as I have gone along Themore experience I have with EAL children the easier it is becoming but I would likemore training on teaching strategies (Teacher 8)

Itrsquos a matter of managing rather than understanding where Irsquom going with thesechildren (Teacher 9)

The inadequacy of initial teacher education and in-service training to address theissues of teaching minority ethnic and linguistic learners is widely acknowledged(Crosse 2007 Parker-Jenkins et al 2007 Estyn 2009) Research indicates thatteachers who have been trained in areas where there was little ethnic diversity and

Education 3ndash13 213

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later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

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Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

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well-being the numbers of children arriving mid-year and the identification ofspecial educational needs (Institute of Community Cohesion [ICC] 2007 WelshLocal Government Association [WLGA] 2007)

The educational disparity experienced by minority ethnic children in the UKhas been widely documented (Department of Education and Science [DES] 1981DES 1985 Department for Education and Skills [DfES] 2003) However much ofthe research and policy text relates to Black and Asian learners or to asylumseeker and refugee children and there is a void in the literature relating to theeducational experiences of White minority ethnic groups who are usually thechildren of economic migrants Whilst the educational achievement of Black andAsian pupils undisputedly requires careful scrutiny increased European migrationdemands that the progress of ethnically and linguistically diverse White minoritygroups is also closely monitored Furthermore the term lsquominority ethnic learnerrsquowarrants a broad understanding and not just that associated with pupils of Blackand Asian heritage This article seeks to close this gap by outlining the experiencesof Eastern European children who settle into unfamiliar education systems withinthe UK

Methodology

The study conducted over a 3-year period (January 2008ndashDecember 2010) focused onone local authority within North East Wales which had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity The investigation draws upon a blend of groundedtheory ethnography and case study approach Qualitative research methods wereemployed to illuminate the experiences of migrant children and those of their parentsand teachers There were essentially three aims for the research study

(1) To identity whether migrant children have access to inclusive educational andsocial opportunities

(2) To ascertain whether migrant children are making successful transitionswithin their new school environments

(3) To gain insight into the lives of migrant children beyond the school setting

Participants

Out of 75 primary schools within the local authority 14 out of the 18 with EasternEuropean children contributed towards the study The research drew upon a pool of100 individuals which included 40 children (30 children from School M and 10children from eight other primary schools who were the only or one of a very fewmigrant pupils) 14 teacherspractitioners from School M 23 teachers from 13 otherprimary schools 8 English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers 9 EasternEuropean parents (7 were Polish and 2 were Lithuanian) and 6 communitypractitioners (2 health visitors a Roman Catholic Priest a police diversity liaisonofficer the local authority community liaison officer and inclusionEAL teacheradvisor) The age of the children ranged from 3ndash11 years The children representedthe following Eastern European nationalities Polish (28) Lithuanian (5) Slovakian(3) Latvian (1) Estonian (1) Rumanian (1) and Bulgarian (1) Of the 40 children 22were males and 18 were females

Education 3ndash13 203

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Interviews

Fieldwork commenced in one Roman Catholic primary school [referred to as SchoolM] which had significantly more migrant children attending than any other schoolin the area (33 Eastern European pupils compared to other schools which had sevenor less) The school was visited once or twice a week over a 5-month period during2008 The interview process the principal data collection technique employed beganwith the teachers and children at School M followed by interviews with communitypractitioners migrant children who were isolated in their schools and lastly parentswho were difficult to locate

In line with research ethics I tried to ensure that participants were sufficientlyinformed before interviews commenced However the cross-cultural nature of theresearch requires careful consideration As a White British mono-lingual English-speaking female educationalist certain assumptions are likely to have becomeembedded in my pedagogic values and practices influencing the research processOne way of counteracting cross-cultural nuances would have been to employ aprofessional shared languageheritage translator Unfortunately due to the lack offunding this was not feasible Therefore aware of the challenges of cross-culturalresearch I implemented a method of triangulation and utilised a range of strategieswhen interviewing migrant children and parents These included the use of shortquestions avoiding metaphors and vague words and open-ended free-sequencequestions which allowed participants to extend the conversation into areas they feltto be important I made constant checks by reading back what had been transcribedto ensure that what had been written captured the views of participants On fiveoccasions with children and on one occasion with a parent where the individualswere lsquonew arrivalsrsquo to the UK I enlisted the help of an unofficial shared languagetranslator (another child or parent) This strategy gave all individuals an opportunityto participate rather than silencing some because it might distort the data

Observation at School M

Various observations were undertaken at School M in classrooms on theplayground and of the physical environment Observations provided a wealth ofdata pertaining to the way individuals were organised forms of social interactionsresources available and pedagogical approaches Moving throughout all yeargroups various lessons were observed In many classrooms I adopted the positionof lsquomarginal participantrsquo (Gold cited in Burgess Sieminski and Arthur 2007) as Ioften gained the role of a support worker for the migrant children Detailed narrativeaccounts were difficult to record as I assisted children with their learning sorecordings largely consisted of brief notes However taking on the role of supportworker helped me to establish a good rapport with the children before commencinginterviews and provided a deeper insight into the classroom experiences encounteredby this group of learners Initially observations were unstructured but as thefieldwork proceeded and themes evolved observations became more structured

Documentary analysis

Key documents provided by the local authority and School M helped ascertaindetails pertaining to childrenrsquos nationality first language date of birth genderschool year and date enrolled Working closely with a senior EAL teacher I gained

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permission to draw upon a narrative scrapbook written by Polish children and theirparents in preparation for a visit to Poland by members of the EAL Service Oncetranslated the narratives offered greater insight into childrenrsquos experiences ofmigrating and settling into new schools and communities adding lsquoflesh to the bonesrsquo(Bell 2005) to the interviews undertaken with some of the Polish children

Questionnaire

As the fieldwork at School M progressed I distributed a postal questionnaire whichpredominantly consisted of open-ended questions to the remaining 74 primaryschools within the local authority The initial response rate was extremely lowSeventeen out of 74 schools responded of which only eight had Eastern Europeanchildren After a second attempt to distribute the questionnaire resulted in only oneadditional school the EAL Service offered to distribute the questionnaire to schoolsknown to have Eastern European children which according to the EAL Service was17 out of 74 primary schools With the assistance of the EAL Service 13 out of the17 schools responded (response rate ndash 764) with 23 teachers across the localauthority having completed the questionnaire Although the questionnaire did notyield information as quickly or as easily as I had initially thought many of theresponses were consistent with those obtained from teachers at School M providingmore general applicability thus adding further weight to the investigation

Analytical approach

Using a grounded theory approach (Glaser and Strauss 1967 Strauss and Corbin1998) analysis was on-going throughout data collection The first- and second-orderconcepts (OrsquoReilly 2009) which were documented on the raw data in the form ofreflective memos generated as a result of examining the initial descriptive and topiccoding categories (Richards 2006) were then cross-referenced and analysed againsteach other leading to more sophisticated analytic coding and theory emergenceData were constantly scrutinised to determine how it compared supported andcontradicted itself and existing theories and literature The findings of the study arelargely woven into a narrative account as the intention is that this investigationreflects the social reality of the individuals involved whilst being relevant andaccessible to others functioning within similar environments

Findings

In general migrant children settle effectively in their primary schools within Wales(Estyn 2009 Hamilton 2010) However the progress made by migrant pupils isinfluenced by an intricate web of factors that stem far beyond individual schools andclassrooms This study brings the plight of White Eastern European learners to thefore as findings suggest that some children become so integrated into UK schoolsthat their individual learning needs well-being and heritage are at risk of beingoverlooked Reasons for possible invisibility include the lack of details pertaining tochildrenrsquos prior learning ability and attainment children being camouflaged byshared language peers insufficient guidance for more orally advanced learnersinadequately trained practitioners teachersrsquo perceptions of cultural homogeneityand childrenrsquos intra-group dependency Although not addressed within this article

Education 3ndash13 205

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but worthy of consideration is the significance that increased commitment to theWelsh language and heritage within the Welsh education system has on migrantchildren who settle in Wales The study indicates that the progression and attainmentof migrant children warrants careful monitoring

Adjusting to an unfamiliar education system

Despite sharply contrasting cultural and educational experiences and the fact thatthe majority of the schools involved in the study had little previous experience ofcatering for ethnically and linguistically diverse learners 35 of the 40 EasternEuropean migrant children felt lsquohappyrsquo at their primary school Of the five childrenwanting to return to school in their country of origin four had been in the UK fora period of 6 months or less Although these children described themselves asfeeling lsquookayrsquo they were still coming to terms with the transition particularlydealing with the loss of previous social anchors Transition literature and theoristssuch as Van Gennep (1960) ndash lsquothe rites of passagersquo and Bronfenbrenner (1979) ndash thelsquoecological approachrsquo illustrate that policy makers teachers and parents cannotafford to underestimate the significant challenges often placed upon children whenthey enter new cultures and communities As migrant childrenrsquos psychological well-being is an area requiring much deliberation discussion will take place in asubsequent article

Teachers stated that migrant children entering nursery or reception generallysettled in a way typical to local children attending school for the first timePractitioners discussed how the pedagogical approach of the Foundation Phase withits emphasis on learning through play and tuning into childrenrsquos interests wasbeneficial to language learning and helping children with their transitions Lessemphasis on academic work and higher levels of one-to-one adult facilitationfrequently lead to relaxed and supportive environments in which young learners canadjust to the unfamiliar Such conditions have the potential to accelerate languagedevelopment and understanding of new cultures As the following comment showsolder children with social anchors firmly established in their home country and whooften take little or no part in the decision to migrate (Coelho 2001 Leach 2003) mayfind the transition more challenging Older learners are soon expected to learn thelanguage of the dominant population and become accustomed to diverse pedagogyin order to access the curriculum

Many older children struggle to adjust They have the stress of adapting to a new cultureand school environment and are soon expected to access the whole curriculum (EALteacher 1)

Despite the challenges faced by many older learners 15 out of 18 children whohad attended schools in their home country claimed that they preferred schoolingwithin Wales Reasons for their preference included

less didactic teaching methods and practitioners

less homework

interesting or easier lessons

free school resources

not having to carry around personal belongings

being able to move about in classrooms

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good friends

and opportunities to play

Factors identified by practitioners as affecting migrant childrenrsquos ability to settleinto their new school environment included the childrsquos age personality level ofattendance stability of parentingfamily functioning joining shared language peersand the time at which children start school in relation to the academic year Personalcharacteristics such as gender age order of birth IQ temperament and social skillstogether with family factors such as socio-economic background ethnicity andreligious affiliations have previously been identified as influencing childrenrsquosadjustment to school (Griebel and Niesel 2003 Margetts 2003 Brooker 2005Rees and Morley 2007) Due to their religion statistics show that many EasternEuropean migrant parents have enrolled their children into Roman Catholic schoolsin Wales (Estyn 2009) The daily activities associated with Catholicism seem toprovide some children a sense of familiarity resulting in an immediate connectionand sense of belonging to their school community However the study indicates thatwhere significant numbers of migrant children exist within any one schoolenvironment they risk becoming segregated and polarised from the mainstreamcommunity regardless of being in a faith school Whilst the reflexive teacherthrough creative and inclusive strategies may attempt to minimise the effect ofsegregation and polarisation it is unlikely that such processes will be altogethereliminated as it is an inherent part of human nature to seek out similar others in thiscase ndash peers who have a shared language

Pedagogy

In an attempt to prevent the historical underperformance of minority ethnic pupilswithin the UK current educational policy advises cognitive challenges be keptappropriately high for EAL learners (Department for Children Schools andFamilies [DCSF] 2007) and that teachers remain vigilant of barriers to learningand assessment by providing pupils with materials that are appropriate to theirability and previous educational experience (Qualifications and CurriculumAuthority [QCA] 2000 Department for Children Education Lifelong Learningand Skills [DCELLS] 2008a) Although many Eastern European migrant pupilssettle successfully into primary schools within the UK the study suggests thatcertain factors are making it difficult for teachers to personalise the learningenvironment and eliminate obstacles which exist within the educational and socialcontext for migrant learners Consequently some children might be at risk ofunderperforming

Thirty-two out of 37 teachers commented how the initial language barriertogether with insufficient data accompanying migrant children was making itdifficult for them to implement a swift and individualised personalised starting pointfor learners ICC (2007) and Estyn (2009) have also reported how the lack ofinformation relating to migrant childrenrsquos prior education learning differencesmedical conditions and family structures are creating challenges for practitionersTeachers also discussed how the later compulsory school age in many Europeancountries meant that some migrant learners were starting school unable to write theirname comprehend basic math and lack skills to socialise with other children Thedifficulties that teachers face with migrant children who arrive with limited social

Education 3ndash13 207

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numeracy and literacy skills have previously been identified (National Assembly forWales [NAW] 2008)

An approach commonly adopted by teachers was the initial grouping of migrantlearners for academic purposes either with shared language peers or children whohave specific learning differences ndash teachers perhaps unknowingly contributing tosegregation and polarisation Whilst acknowledging the emotional support sharedlanguage grouping offers migrant pupils who predominately circulate within sharedheritage groups may choose lsquopreservationrsquo (Schumann 1986) maintaining their owncultural identity due to little urgency to learn the culture and language of the newcommunity Such individuals are at risk of developing a receptive understanding ofEnglish only As the lsquozone of proximal developmentrsquo (Vygotsky 1978) is consideredcentral to accelerating language acquisition (Schumann 1986 Cummins 2001)second language learning is more likely to succeed when learners are fully integratedinto the social and academic environment of the dominant community Commentsmade by practitioners imply that shared language pupils often gravitate towardseach other forming their own distinct social groupings which peers and teachersfrom the dominant culture may find difficult to penetrate Camouflaged by theirshared language peers the initial language barrier and the lack of data outliningprior learning may mean teachers fail to recognise the individual needs and abilitiesof some migrant children

In the past children from different countries have integrated Now because there are somany of them itrsquos a group of Polish children within an English school They use theirown language and are not crossing the border (Teacher 1)

When in larger numbers children chatter away in their own language and do not listenproperly Some refuse to sit still and behave It can be very frustrating for the teachersSome are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 2)

Seating migrant children with lower ability pupils may lead some teachers (andperhaps children themselves) into assuming migrant learners as having specialeducational needs The study shows how a lack of suitable curriculum materials maycause reliance upon resources produced for much younger learners and children withspecial needs Although teachers acknowledged that low ability work is not alwayssuitable for migrant pupils some defended the use of this strategy

EAL children usually get lower ability work Agness and Kamila could have been top ofthe class but because of their language I have to give them something basic because Ihave another 22 children (Teacher 2)

The Polish children just arrived We should have been provided with resources It takesa long time to build these resources and special needs material is not always appropriate(Teacher 1)

Irsquove kept the low ability EAL children together I shouldnrsquot really say low ability as youdonrsquot know where they are (Teacher 3)

Such practices may be demoralising and demeaning for children particularly forthose who have been high achievers in their home country As the followingcomments show although migrant children are fearful of getting work wrong manywant to be appropriately challenged and can recognise when they are givenmeaningless tasks to complete as has also been found by Nutbrown (1996)

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I feel scared when doing work I donrsquot understand But when the other children are givenwork and I am given things to colour I donrsquot feel I am learning anything (AgnessYear 4)

I want to do Year 5 work not Year 4 work Irsquom not doing the same work They all readbig books Tommy [Dutch pupil] is on level X but Irsquom only on Y Itrsquos not fair I feelangry every day I get told off sometimes (Eryk Year 5)

A careful balance is essential as children who are unable to access the curriculumor those not challenged enough may become distracted and disengagedUncooperative and disruptive behaviour on the part of children can be detrimentalto the pupilndashteacher relationship and consequently to childrenrsquos learning as apositive rapport has been found to enhance emotional regulation reducebehavioural difficulties and promote academic achievement (Cefai 2008) Challen-ging behaviour may be prevented through the design and delivery of relevant andpersonalised learning (and care) packages a key requirement of the NationalInclusion Statement and Foundation Phase framework Differentiated learning andassessment strategies can help migrant children to feel included and competent intheir learning environments

Galton (2007) whose work focuses on pupil transfer from primary to secondaryschool identifies an lsquoinitial diprsquo in academic progress among many learners duringthe early stages of school transition Galton (2007) attributes this decline to learnershaving to first acclimatise themselves to a new learning culture Migrant children arelikely to be lsquoout of the cultural balancersquo (Pollock and Van Reken 2002) to a greaterdegree as they will have to first master the language of the dominant community inorder to learn the basic rules by which the new world around them is operatingChildren who have schooled within their country of origin may also have to becomeaccustomed to diverse pedagogical approaches and differences in the pupilndashteacherrolerelationship

Supporting migrant children beyond social fluency

DfES (2003) acknowledged proficiency in the English language to be the mostsignificant guarantee that pupils will achieve in schools within the UK Yet for manyschools in the UK providing learning opportunities for minority linguistic childrenis a new experience (DCSF 2007) for which Perregaux (2007) argues that many arenot adequately prepared

This study has identified certain factors within the school environment whichmay impede second language learning The classroom environment created foryounger pupils typically leads to the natural emergence of language and literacythrough play and social interaction Key Stage 1 classrooms are traditionally morevisual with pictures key words and phrases used to support the language learning ofyoung children Alternatively the conventional classroom environment designed forolder pupils tends to expect children to have a pre-established command ofvocabulary Furthermore once migrant EAL children have gained good commandof social English (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) often achieved within12ndash18 months of being within the UK various assumptions may be made regardingchildrenrsquos language comprehension and ability to access the curriculum This wasparticularly true of some of the younger learners involved in the study who spokeEnglish with only a trace of an Eastern European accent Whilst a lack of physical orlanguage differences may help migrant children gain acceptance some blend in too

Education 3ndash13 209

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well with their peers from the dominant culture rendering their individual needs andabilities invisible Pollock and Van Reken (2002) have also identified the challengesfaced by lsquohidden immigrantsrsquo As can been seen from the following comments ifteachers fail to see beyond conversational fluency they may assume that migrantchildren have the same level of understanding and skills to perform tasks undertakenby pupils from the dominant culture

You forget Damian might not understand because hersquos so integrated When you thinkthey have grasped the language you let them get on with things and help others thatneed you more (Teacher 4)

Children may sound fluent but they often struggle with reading and writing Many learnto decode words but havenrsquot got a clue what they are reading (EAL teacher 3)

A good teacher will see beyond social fluency but this is often missed as teachers have somany other issues to contend with Many EAL children fail to reach their potentialbecause it takes several years to catch up enough to access the academic curriculum(EAL teacher 4)

The disparity between childrenrsquos linguistic capabilities in social settings comparedto that in academic settings risks teachers placing inappropriate linguistic loads onmigrant learners As it may take upwards of 5 years to reach a level of academicproficiency (Cognitive Academic Language) in English sufficient enough to copewith the language associated with some curriculum areas (Cummins 2001 Gardner2006 DCSF 2007) children may underachieve Teachers as also identified byMcKeon (2001) reported subjects involving unfamiliar abstract concepts andtechnical terms such as science history and geography as being those migrantchildren found more difficult to access

The language used in history and geography is often completely alien to them so theydo a lot of colouring and copying This might not be the best focus but it keeps themoccupied (Teacher 1)

We need more visual resources in science because of the complex technical terms andSEN resources are not appropriate (Teacher 5)

Concern about the lack of appropriate academic literacy support received bymore orally advanced learners particularly those who have exited specialised secondlanguage tuition has previously been reported (DfES 2003 Rutter 2006) Migrantchildren have been found to be more effectively supported both academically andpastorally when EAL and class teachers work in unison (Estyn 2009) Joint planningmay lead to more focused activities and progression targets that meet the needs ofindividual migrant pupils It is therefore unfortunate to have found some EALteachers within the study working without a base room Noisy and poorlyresourced locations are unlikely to be conducive to second language learningFurthermore it may send out messages that the work undertaken with these childrenis unimportant

Assessment

The assessment of migrant learners requires careful consideration End of key stageassessments for English maths and science were considered problematic Manypractitioners commented tests such as the NFER used to determine a childrsquos readingage against standardised scores are inappropriate for migrant pupils Formative

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assessment was considered to be more effective for identifying the progress made bymigrant children However as teachers are expected to give a detailed report ofchildrenrsquos ability at the end of Year 6 for entry into Key Stage 3 emphasis remainson summative assessment

EAL children usually underperform on standardised assessment tasks because of theirinability to access the language Children are not going to be at the same level as theywould be if assessed in Polish (EAL teacher 4)

Some children may be shy because of their language differences which makes assessmentdifficult because you do not know whether they are meeting their true potential(Teacher 1)

Monolingual assessments based on English-speaking British middle-class normsand educational expectations have long been criticised for their failure to accuratelyreflect the academic potential of migrant children (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke 2000Loewen 2004 Sikan 2007) Such assessment strategies risk devaluing the remarkableskills held by minority language pupils which as demonstrated below may result inchildren becoming demoralised and disengaged with their learning

One very able girl in Poland felt a complete failure because she couldnrsquot do the Dolchspellings [list of high frequency words] She burst into tears I told her to throw the testin the bin (EAL teacher 5)

It is argued that a more precise indication of migrant childrenrsquos attainment can beacquired through assessments which are contextualised carried out in mainstreamclassrooms undertaken in the first language as well as the second language andwhere pupils are supported by trained bilingual staff (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke2000 Loewen 2004 Crosse 2007) However with over 200 different languages nowspoken in schools within the UK (Parker-Jenkins et al 2007) and the increasingdispersal of minority language children it may not always be possible to locate staffwho can speak the different languages represented in the setting

Special educational needs

Many teachers were concerned that the special educational needs and medicalconditions of some migrant children were going unrecognised This is an arearequiring urgent attention as the Welsh Assembly (DCELLS 2008b) reports there tobe a significant number of migrant children who have specific learning differencesneeds which are not always identified upon arrival The following commentsdemonstrate how the lack of information accompanying children together withinitial language barriers makes the identification of learning differences problematic

Itrsquos really difficult to unpick what is SEN and what is EAL Some children are held backby language and a special need (Teacher 2)

When the EAL children first arrived we were told not to treat them as special needschildren so I have six EAL children in my top set for English Some are only juststarting to access the language They shouldnrsquot be with me (Teacher 1)

It was 12 months before Kuba was identified as dyslexic His parents had already got astatement from their home country Either they hadnrsquot got the vocabulary to tell us orthey wanted him to have a fresh start (EAL teacher 5)

Education 3ndash13 211

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One girl was here a year but understood very little We thought she may have specialneeds The school had to ask for an interpreter because the mother spoke little EnglishWe found out that the girl was in the process of being statemented before she migratedThe mother thought the child was going to be thrown out of school because she wasnrsquotbright enough She was so relieved when she was told the purpose of the meeting was tofind a way to support the child she wept (EAL teacher 3)

Distinguishing language differences from special educational needs is extremelycomplex as external factors (eg interrupted schooling disrupted family context)may be disabling migrant children rather than any underlying condition (Coelho2001) As shown by Teacher 1 there might be reluctance to label migrant children ashaving particular needs as educational policy (DfES 2001) warns teachers againstforming assumptions that minority language learners have learning difficultiesPractitioners may well need to be mindful of making such assumptions ascurriculum and pedagogy including frameworks used to assess childrenrsquos languageproficiency largely constitute the values and attitudes of middle-class Anglomonolingual educationalists (Tomlinson 2000 Brooker 2005) potentially placingmigrant pupils at a disadvantage The above comments suggest that some migrantparents may not be forthcoming in disclosing information about childrenrsquos specificlearning differences This could be due to the language barrier but may also indicatethat special educational needs is not perceived with the same level of understandingand tolerance in some Eastern European countries as it is within the UK Thereforeparents unsure about whether their children will be accepted into mainstreamsettings may remain silent It is an area meriting further research

Teacher workload potential lsquotipping pointrsquo and perceptions of cultural homogeneity

This study suggests that there is a lsquotipping pointrsquo (Gladwell 2000) regarding the levelof support practitioners give to migrant learners Many of the migrant children whoentered lsquosolorsquo into schools where little cultural and linguistic diversity existedseemed to be better supported by their teachers than those in schools where there is agreater intake Whereas most teachers generally coped with the diverse needs of oneor two migrant children many struggled to accommodate more than a couple ofchildren

As the numbers have grown it has become really difficult catering for the different levelsof EAL children Before we only had one or two to consider It has made my job muchharder (Teacher 7)

Where there are only one or two EAL pupils children are more supported Manyteachers are proud to see the progression made by these children When in largernumbers some are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 3)

As illustrated below increased numbers of migrant children in any oneclassroom may lead to teachers questioning the time they are able to give insupporting this group of learners It has left some teachers struggling to determinewhere their loyalties should lie and which pupils should receive more support ndash localchildren with learning differences or migrant children with limited English languageproficiency

We have 320 pupils 50 are registered as SEN and 40 are EAL 13 of EAL is a largechunk of our children Wersquove got to think about how much time we can give tosupporting these children Wersquove also got to be fair to our own children (Head teacher)

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Sometimes yoursquove to ignore the EAL children and let them flounder I feel guilty but itrsquosdifficult catering for the wide range of needs in the class Someone ends up missing out(Teacher 5)

These children often need a lot of help before they can access a task and then you haveto constantly check that they remain on task This requires a lot of time and energy(Teacher 3)

Increased demands on teachersrsquo time in a performance-driven culture may makethe task of providing the in-depth support often initially required by migrantchildren too challenging for some practitioners It may leave even the most inclusive-minded of teachers adopting socially inequitable practices in the classroom such asrationing their interactions with migrant pupils When in greater numbers there is arisk that migrant learners will become perceived as a burden where as previouslyidentified having a first language other than English is regarded as a lsquodeficitrsquo(Loewen 2004 Issa 2006 Monaghan 2010) Migrant children might also beperceived to be culturally homogenous Vandenbroeck (2007) asserts that one of themain misconceptions practitioners hold is that ethnic groups are lsquohomogeneousrsquo AsPolish children account for 74 of all migrant learners within Wales (Estyn 2009)this study suggests that pupils from other Eastern European countries riskmarginalisation their needs being considered in relation to their Polish classmatesSuch children may face multiple prejudices and barriers to learning as manypractitioners focused their work on lsquoPolishrsquo pupils (as can be seen within thenarratives included in this article) with little reference to children of other EasternEuropean heritage Perceptions of cultural homogeneity are greatly misleading as itfails to account for the variable nature of identity formation and extreme variationsthat exist among childrenrsquos cultures pre- and post-migratory experiences familystability cognitive ability socio-economic status and the levels of individualresilience

Training and support required by teachers

The unexpected settlement of migrant children to the UK meant that the supportoffered to many schools was late in arriving The lack of training written guidanceand suitable teaching resources has been challenging for many practitioners involvedin this study particularly as the local authority had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity Out of the 37 teachers 31 claimed that they had notbeen adequately trained to work with migrant children instead developing skills andstrategies in practice Of the six who felt they could cope five said this was because ofthe support they were receiving from the EAL Service whilst the other felt it wasbecause there was only one migrant pupil in her class

I wasnrsquot trained in university Irsquove built up coping strategies as I have gone along Themore experience I have with EAL children the easier it is becoming but I would likemore training on teaching strategies (Teacher 8)

Itrsquos a matter of managing rather than understanding where Irsquom going with thesechildren (Teacher 9)

The inadequacy of initial teacher education and in-service training to address theissues of teaching minority ethnic and linguistic learners is widely acknowledged(Crosse 2007 Parker-Jenkins et al 2007 Estyn 2009) Research indicates thatteachers who have been trained in areas where there was little ethnic diversity and

Education 3ndash13 213

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later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

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Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

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Interviews

Fieldwork commenced in one Roman Catholic primary school [referred to as SchoolM] which had significantly more migrant children attending than any other schoolin the area (33 Eastern European pupils compared to other schools which had sevenor less) The school was visited once or twice a week over a 5-month period during2008 The interview process the principal data collection technique employed beganwith the teachers and children at School M followed by interviews with communitypractitioners migrant children who were isolated in their schools and lastly parentswho were difficult to locate

In line with research ethics I tried to ensure that participants were sufficientlyinformed before interviews commenced However the cross-cultural nature of theresearch requires careful consideration As a White British mono-lingual English-speaking female educationalist certain assumptions are likely to have becomeembedded in my pedagogic values and practices influencing the research processOne way of counteracting cross-cultural nuances would have been to employ aprofessional shared languageheritage translator Unfortunately due to the lack offunding this was not feasible Therefore aware of the challenges of cross-culturalresearch I implemented a method of triangulation and utilised a range of strategieswhen interviewing migrant children and parents These included the use of shortquestions avoiding metaphors and vague words and open-ended free-sequencequestions which allowed participants to extend the conversation into areas they feltto be important I made constant checks by reading back what had been transcribedto ensure that what had been written captured the views of participants On fiveoccasions with children and on one occasion with a parent where the individualswere lsquonew arrivalsrsquo to the UK I enlisted the help of an unofficial shared languagetranslator (another child or parent) This strategy gave all individuals an opportunityto participate rather than silencing some because it might distort the data

Observation at School M

Various observations were undertaken at School M in classrooms on theplayground and of the physical environment Observations provided a wealth ofdata pertaining to the way individuals were organised forms of social interactionsresources available and pedagogical approaches Moving throughout all yeargroups various lessons were observed In many classrooms I adopted the positionof lsquomarginal participantrsquo (Gold cited in Burgess Sieminski and Arthur 2007) as Ioften gained the role of a support worker for the migrant children Detailed narrativeaccounts were difficult to record as I assisted children with their learning sorecordings largely consisted of brief notes However taking on the role of supportworker helped me to establish a good rapport with the children before commencinginterviews and provided a deeper insight into the classroom experiences encounteredby this group of learners Initially observations were unstructured but as thefieldwork proceeded and themes evolved observations became more structured

Documentary analysis

Key documents provided by the local authority and School M helped ascertaindetails pertaining to childrenrsquos nationality first language date of birth genderschool year and date enrolled Working closely with a senior EAL teacher I gained

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permission to draw upon a narrative scrapbook written by Polish children and theirparents in preparation for a visit to Poland by members of the EAL Service Oncetranslated the narratives offered greater insight into childrenrsquos experiences ofmigrating and settling into new schools and communities adding lsquoflesh to the bonesrsquo(Bell 2005) to the interviews undertaken with some of the Polish children

Questionnaire

As the fieldwork at School M progressed I distributed a postal questionnaire whichpredominantly consisted of open-ended questions to the remaining 74 primaryschools within the local authority The initial response rate was extremely lowSeventeen out of 74 schools responded of which only eight had Eastern Europeanchildren After a second attempt to distribute the questionnaire resulted in only oneadditional school the EAL Service offered to distribute the questionnaire to schoolsknown to have Eastern European children which according to the EAL Service was17 out of 74 primary schools With the assistance of the EAL Service 13 out of the17 schools responded (response rate ndash 764) with 23 teachers across the localauthority having completed the questionnaire Although the questionnaire did notyield information as quickly or as easily as I had initially thought many of theresponses were consistent with those obtained from teachers at School M providingmore general applicability thus adding further weight to the investigation

Analytical approach

Using a grounded theory approach (Glaser and Strauss 1967 Strauss and Corbin1998) analysis was on-going throughout data collection The first- and second-orderconcepts (OrsquoReilly 2009) which were documented on the raw data in the form ofreflective memos generated as a result of examining the initial descriptive and topiccoding categories (Richards 2006) were then cross-referenced and analysed againsteach other leading to more sophisticated analytic coding and theory emergenceData were constantly scrutinised to determine how it compared supported andcontradicted itself and existing theories and literature The findings of the study arelargely woven into a narrative account as the intention is that this investigationreflects the social reality of the individuals involved whilst being relevant andaccessible to others functioning within similar environments

Findings

In general migrant children settle effectively in their primary schools within Wales(Estyn 2009 Hamilton 2010) However the progress made by migrant pupils isinfluenced by an intricate web of factors that stem far beyond individual schools andclassrooms This study brings the plight of White Eastern European learners to thefore as findings suggest that some children become so integrated into UK schoolsthat their individual learning needs well-being and heritage are at risk of beingoverlooked Reasons for possible invisibility include the lack of details pertaining tochildrenrsquos prior learning ability and attainment children being camouflaged byshared language peers insufficient guidance for more orally advanced learnersinadequately trained practitioners teachersrsquo perceptions of cultural homogeneityand childrenrsquos intra-group dependency Although not addressed within this article

Education 3ndash13 205

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but worthy of consideration is the significance that increased commitment to theWelsh language and heritage within the Welsh education system has on migrantchildren who settle in Wales The study indicates that the progression and attainmentof migrant children warrants careful monitoring

Adjusting to an unfamiliar education system

Despite sharply contrasting cultural and educational experiences and the fact thatthe majority of the schools involved in the study had little previous experience ofcatering for ethnically and linguistically diverse learners 35 of the 40 EasternEuropean migrant children felt lsquohappyrsquo at their primary school Of the five childrenwanting to return to school in their country of origin four had been in the UK fora period of 6 months or less Although these children described themselves asfeeling lsquookayrsquo they were still coming to terms with the transition particularlydealing with the loss of previous social anchors Transition literature and theoristssuch as Van Gennep (1960) ndash lsquothe rites of passagersquo and Bronfenbrenner (1979) ndash thelsquoecological approachrsquo illustrate that policy makers teachers and parents cannotafford to underestimate the significant challenges often placed upon children whenthey enter new cultures and communities As migrant childrenrsquos psychological well-being is an area requiring much deliberation discussion will take place in asubsequent article

Teachers stated that migrant children entering nursery or reception generallysettled in a way typical to local children attending school for the first timePractitioners discussed how the pedagogical approach of the Foundation Phase withits emphasis on learning through play and tuning into childrenrsquos interests wasbeneficial to language learning and helping children with their transitions Lessemphasis on academic work and higher levels of one-to-one adult facilitationfrequently lead to relaxed and supportive environments in which young learners canadjust to the unfamiliar Such conditions have the potential to accelerate languagedevelopment and understanding of new cultures As the following comment showsolder children with social anchors firmly established in their home country and whooften take little or no part in the decision to migrate (Coelho 2001 Leach 2003) mayfind the transition more challenging Older learners are soon expected to learn thelanguage of the dominant population and become accustomed to diverse pedagogyin order to access the curriculum

Many older children struggle to adjust They have the stress of adapting to a new cultureand school environment and are soon expected to access the whole curriculum (EALteacher 1)

Despite the challenges faced by many older learners 15 out of 18 children whohad attended schools in their home country claimed that they preferred schoolingwithin Wales Reasons for their preference included

less didactic teaching methods and practitioners

less homework

interesting or easier lessons

free school resources

not having to carry around personal belongings

being able to move about in classrooms

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good friends

and opportunities to play

Factors identified by practitioners as affecting migrant childrenrsquos ability to settleinto their new school environment included the childrsquos age personality level ofattendance stability of parentingfamily functioning joining shared language peersand the time at which children start school in relation to the academic year Personalcharacteristics such as gender age order of birth IQ temperament and social skillstogether with family factors such as socio-economic background ethnicity andreligious affiliations have previously been identified as influencing childrenrsquosadjustment to school (Griebel and Niesel 2003 Margetts 2003 Brooker 2005Rees and Morley 2007) Due to their religion statistics show that many EasternEuropean migrant parents have enrolled their children into Roman Catholic schoolsin Wales (Estyn 2009) The daily activities associated with Catholicism seem toprovide some children a sense of familiarity resulting in an immediate connectionand sense of belonging to their school community However the study indicates thatwhere significant numbers of migrant children exist within any one schoolenvironment they risk becoming segregated and polarised from the mainstreamcommunity regardless of being in a faith school Whilst the reflexive teacherthrough creative and inclusive strategies may attempt to minimise the effect ofsegregation and polarisation it is unlikely that such processes will be altogethereliminated as it is an inherent part of human nature to seek out similar others in thiscase ndash peers who have a shared language

Pedagogy

In an attempt to prevent the historical underperformance of minority ethnic pupilswithin the UK current educational policy advises cognitive challenges be keptappropriately high for EAL learners (Department for Children Schools andFamilies [DCSF] 2007) and that teachers remain vigilant of barriers to learningand assessment by providing pupils with materials that are appropriate to theirability and previous educational experience (Qualifications and CurriculumAuthority [QCA] 2000 Department for Children Education Lifelong Learningand Skills [DCELLS] 2008a) Although many Eastern European migrant pupilssettle successfully into primary schools within the UK the study suggests thatcertain factors are making it difficult for teachers to personalise the learningenvironment and eliminate obstacles which exist within the educational and socialcontext for migrant learners Consequently some children might be at risk ofunderperforming

Thirty-two out of 37 teachers commented how the initial language barriertogether with insufficient data accompanying migrant children was making itdifficult for them to implement a swift and individualised personalised starting pointfor learners ICC (2007) and Estyn (2009) have also reported how the lack ofinformation relating to migrant childrenrsquos prior education learning differencesmedical conditions and family structures are creating challenges for practitionersTeachers also discussed how the later compulsory school age in many Europeancountries meant that some migrant learners were starting school unable to write theirname comprehend basic math and lack skills to socialise with other children Thedifficulties that teachers face with migrant children who arrive with limited social

Education 3ndash13 207

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numeracy and literacy skills have previously been identified (National Assembly forWales [NAW] 2008)

An approach commonly adopted by teachers was the initial grouping of migrantlearners for academic purposes either with shared language peers or children whohave specific learning differences ndash teachers perhaps unknowingly contributing tosegregation and polarisation Whilst acknowledging the emotional support sharedlanguage grouping offers migrant pupils who predominately circulate within sharedheritage groups may choose lsquopreservationrsquo (Schumann 1986) maintaining their owncultural identity due to little urgency to learn the culture and language of the newcommunity Such individuals are at risk of developing a receptive understanding ofEnglish only As the lsquozone of proximal developmentrsquo (Vygotsky 1978) is consideredcentral to accelerating language acquisition (Schumann 1986 Cummins 2001)second language learning is more likely to succeed when learners are fully integratedinto the social and academic environment of the dominant community Commentsmade by practitioners imply that shared language pupils often gravitate towardseach other forming their own distinct social groupings which peers and teachersfrom the dominant culture may find difficult to penetrate Camouflaged by theirshared language peers the initial language barrier and the lack of data outliningprior learning may mean teachers fail to recognise the individual needs and abilitiesof some migrant children

In the past children from different countries have integrated Now because there are somany of them itrsquos a group of Polish children within an English school They use theirown language and are not crossing the border (Teacher 1)

When in larger numbers children chatter away in their own language and do not listenproperly Some refuse to sit still and behave It can be very frustrating for the teachersSome are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 2)

Seating migrant children with lower ability pupils may lead some teachers (andperhaps children themselves) into assuming migrant learners as having specialeducational needs The study shows how a lack of suitable curriculum materials maycause reliance upon resources produced for much younger learners and children withspecial needs Although teachers acknowledged that low ability work is not alwayssuitable for migrant pupils some defended the use of this strategy

EAL children usually get lower ability work Agness and Kamila could have been top ofthe class but because of their language I have to give them something basic because Ihave another 22 children (Teacher 2)

The Polish children just arrived We should have been provided with resources It takesa long time to build these resources and special needs material is not always appropriate(Teacher 1)

Irsquove kept the low ability EAL children together I shouldnrsquot really say low ability as youdonrsquot know where they are (Teacher 3)

Such practices may be demoralising and demeaning for children particularly forthose who have been high achievers in their home country As the followingcomments show although migrant children are fearful of getting work wrong manywant to be appropriately challenged and can recognise when they are givenmeaningless tasks to complete as has also been found by Nutbrown (1996)

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I feel scared when doing work I donrsquot understand But when the other children are givenwork and I am given things to colour I donrsquot feel I am learning anything (AgnessYear 4)

I want to do Year 5 work not Year 4 work Irsquom not doing the same work They all readbig books Tommy [Dutch pupil] is on level X but Irsquom only on Y Itrsquos not fair I feelangry every day I get told off sometimes (Eryk Year 5)

A careful balance is essential as children who are unable to access the curriculumor those not challenged enough may become distracted and disengagedUncooperative and disruptive behaviour on the part of children can be detrimentalto the pupilndashteacher relationship and consequently to childrenrsquos learning as apositive rapport has been found to enhance emotional regulation reducebehavioural difficulties and promote academic achievement (Cefai 2008) Challen-ging behaviour may be prevented through the design and delivery of relevant andpersonalised learning (and care) packages a key requirement of the NationalInclusion Statement and Foundation Phase framework Differentiated learning andassessment strategies can help migrant children to feel included and competent intheir learning environments

Galton (2007) whose work focuses on pupil transfer from primary to secondaryschool identifies an lsquoinitial diprsquo in academic progress among many learners duringthe early stages of school transition Galton (2007) attributes this decline to learnershaving to first acclimatise themselves to a new learning culture Migrant children arelikely to be lsquoout of the cultural balancersquo (Pollock and Van Reken 2002) to a greaterdegree as they will have to first master the language of the dominant community inorder to learn the basic rules by which the new world around them is operatingChildren who have schooled within their country of origin may also have to becomeaccustomed to diverse pedagogical approaches and differences in the pupilndashteacherrolerelationship

Supporting migrant children beyond social fluency

DfES (2003) acknowledged proficiency in the English language to be the mostsignificant guarantee that pupils will achieve in schools within the UK Yet for manyschools in the UK providing learning opportunities for minority linguistic childrenis a new experience (DCSF 2007) for which Perregaux (2007) argues that many arenot adequately prepared

This study has identified certain factors within the school environment whichmay impede second language learning The classroom environment created foryounger pupils typically leads to the natural emergence of language and literacythrough play and social interaction Key Stage 1 classrooms are traditionally morevisual with pictures key words and phrases used to support the language learning ofyoung children Alternatively the conventional classroom environment designed forolder pupils tends to expect children to have a pre-established command ofvocabulary Furthermore once migrant EAL children have gained good commandof social English (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) often achieved within12ndash18 months of being within the UK various assumptions may be made regardingchildrenrsquos language comprehension and ability to access the curriculum This wasparticularly true of some of the younger learners involved in the study who spokeEnglish with only a trace of an Eastern European accent Whilst a lack of physical orlanguage differences may help migrant children gain acceptance some blend in too

Education 3ndash13 209

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well with their peers from the dominant culture rendering their individual needs andabilities invisible Pollock and Van Reken (2002) have also identified the challengesfaced by lsquohidden immigrantsrsquo As can been seen from the following comments ifteachers fail to see beyond conversational fluency they may assume that migrantchildren have the same level of understanding and skills to perform tasks undertakenby pupils from the dominant culture

You forget Damian might not understand because hersquos so integrated When you thinkthey have grasped the language you let them get on with things and help others thatneed you more (Teacher 4)

Children may sound fluent but they often struggle with reading and writing Many learnto decode words but havenrsquot got a clue what they are reading (EAL teacher 3)

A good teacher will see beyond social fluency but this is often missed as teachers have somany other issues to contend with Many EAL children fail to reach their potentialbecause it takes several years to catch up enough to access the academic curriculum(EAL teacher 4)

The disparity between childrenrsquos linguistic capabilities in social settings comparedto that in academic settings risks teachers placing inappropriate linguistic loads onmigrant learners As it may take upwards of 5 years to reach a level of academicproficiency (Cognitive Academic Language) in English sufficient enough to copewith the language associated with some curriculum areas (Cummins 2001 Gardner2006 DCSF 2007) children may underachieve Teachers as also identified byMcKeon (2001) reported subjects involving unfamiliar abstract concepts andtechnical terms such as science history and geography as being those migrantchildren found more difficult to access

The language used in history and geography is often completely alien to them so theydo a lot of colouring and copying This might not be the best focus but it keeps themoccupied (Teacher 1)

We need more visual resources in science because of the complex technical terms andSEN resources are not appropriate (Teacher 5)

Concern about the lack of appropriate academic literacy support received bymore orally advanced learners particularly those who have exited specialised secondlanguage tuition has previously been reported (DfES 2003 Rutter 2006) Migrantchildren have been found to be more effectively supported both academically andpastorally when EAL and class teachers work in unison (Estyn 2009) Joint planningmay lead to more focused activities and progression targets that meet the needs ofindividual migrant pupils It is therefore unfortunate to have found some EALteachers within the study working without a base room Noisy and poorlyresourced locations are unlikely to be conducive to second language learningFurthermore it may send out messages that the work undertaken with these childrenis unimportant

Assessment

The assessment of migrant learners requires careful consideration End of key stageassessments for English maths and science were considered problematic Manypractitioners commented tests such as the NFER used to determine a childrsquos readingage against standardised scores are inappropriate for migrant pupils Formative

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assessment was considered to be more effective for identifying the progress made bymigrant children However as teachers are expected to give a detailed report ofchildrenrsquos ability at the end of Year 6 for entry into Key Stage 3 emphasis remainson summative assessment

EAL children usually underperform on standardised assessment tasks because of theirinability to access the language Children are not going to be at the same level as theywould be if assessed in Polish (EAL teacher 4)

Some children may be shy because of their language differences which makes assessmentdifficult because you do not know whether they are meeting their true potential(Teacher 1)

Monolingual assessments based on English-speaking British middle-class normsand educational expectations have long been criticised for their failure to accuratelyreflect the academic potential of migrant children (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke 2000Loewen 2004 Sikan 2007) Such assessment strategies risk devaluing the remarkableskills held by minority language pupils which as demonstrated below may result inchildren becoming demoralised and disengaged with their learning

One very able girl in Poland felt a complete failure because she couldnrsquot do the Dolchspellings [list of high frequency words] She burst into tears I told her to throw the testin the bin (EAL teacher 5)

It is argued that a more precise indication of migrant childrenrsquos attainment can beacquired through assessments which are contextualised carried out in mainstreamclassrooms undertaken in the first language as well as the second language andwhere pupils are supported by trained bilingual staff (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke2000 Loewen 2004 Crosse 2007) However with over 200 different languages nowspoken in schools within the UK (Parker-Jenkins et al 2007) and the increasingdispersal of minority language children it may not always be possible to locate staffwho can speak the different languages represented in the setting

Special educational needs

Many teachers were concerned that the special educational needs and medicalconditions of some migrant children were going unrecognised This is an arearequiring urgent attention as the Welsh Assembly (DCELLS 2008b) reports there tobe a significant number of migrant children who have specific learning differencesneeds which are not always identified upon arrival The following commentsdemonstrate how the lack of information accompanying children together withinitial language barriers makes the identification of learning differences problematic

Itrsquos really difficult to unpick what is SEN and what is EAL Some children are held backby language and a special need (Teacher 2)

When the EAL children first arrived we were told not to treat them as special needschildren so I have six EAL children in my top set for English Some are only juststarting to access the language They shouldnrsquot be with me (Teacher 1)

It was 12 months before Kuba was identified as dyslexic His parents had already got astatement from their home country Either they hadnrsquot got the vocabulary to tell us orthey wanted him to have a fresh start (EAL teacher 5)

Education 3ndash13 211

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One girl was here a year but understood very little We thought she may have specialneeds The school had to ask for an interpreter because the mother spoke little EnglishWe found out that the girl was in the process of being statemented before she migratedThe mother thought the child was going to be thrown out of school because she wasnrsquotbright enough She was so relieved when she was told the purpose of the meeting was tofind a way to support the child she wept (EAL teacher 3)

Distinguishing language differences from special educational needs is extremelycomplex as external factors (eg interrupted schooling disrupted family context)may be disabling migrant children rather than any underlying condition (Coelho2001) As shown by Teacher 1 there might be reluctance to label migrant children ashaving particular needs as educational policy (DfES 2001) warns teachers againstforming assumptions that minority language learners have learning difficultiesPractitioners may well need to be mindful of making such assumptions ascurriculum and pedagogy including frameworks used to assess childrenrsquos languageproficiency largely constitute the values and attitudes of middle-class Anglomonolingual educationalists (Tomlinson 2000 Brooker 2005) potentially placingmigrant pupils at a disadvantage The above comments suggest that some migrantparents may not be forthcoming in disclosing information about childrenrsquos specificlearning differences This could be due to the language barrier but may also indicatethat special educational needs is not perceived with the same level of understandingand tolerance in some Eastern European countries as it is within the UK Thereforeparents unsure about whether their children will be accepted into mainstreamsettings may remain silent It is an area meriting further research

Teacher workload potential lsquotipping pointrsquo and perceptions of cultural homogeneity

This study suggests that there is a lsquotipping pointrsquo (Gladwell 2000) regarding the levelof support practitioners give to migrant learners Many of the migrant children whoentered lsquosolorsquo into schools where little cultural and linguistic diversity existedseemed to be better supported by their teachers than those in schools where there is agreater intake Whereas most teachers generally coped with the diverse needs of oneor two migrant children many struggled to accommodate more than a couple ofchildren

As the numbers have grown it has become really difficult catering for the different levelsof EAL children Before we only had one or two to consider It has made my job muchharder (Teacher 7)

Where there are only one or two EAL pupils children are more supported Manyteachers are proud to see the progression made by these children When in largernumbers some are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 3)

As illustrated below increased numbers of migrant children in any oneclassroom may lead to teachers questioning the time they are able to give insupporting this group of learners It has left some teachers struggling to determinewhere their loyalties should lie and which pupils should receive more support ndash localchildren with learning differences or migrant children with limited English languageproficiency

We have 320 pupils 50 are registered as SEN and 40 are EAL 13 of EAL is a largechunk of our children Wersquove got to think about how much time we can give tosupporting these children Wersquove also got to be fair to our own children (Head teacher)

P Hamilton212

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Sometimes yoursquove to ignore the EAL children and let them flounder I feel guilty but itrsquosdifficult catering for the wide range of needs in the class Someone ends up missing out(Teacher 5)

These children often need a lot of help before they can access a task and then you haveto constantly check that they remain on task This requires a lot of time and energy(Teacher 3)

Increased demands on teachersrsquo time in a performance-driven culture may makethe task of providing the in-depth support often initially required by migrantchildren too challenging for some practitioners It may leave even the most inclusive-minded of teachers adopting socially inequitable practices in the classroom such asrationing their interactions with migrant pupils When in greater numbers there is arisk that migrant learners will become perceived as a burden where as previouslyidentified having a first language other than English is regarded as a lsquodeficitrsquo(Loewen 2004 Issa 2006 Monaghan 2010) Migrant children might also beperceived to be culturally homogenous Vandenbroeck (2007) asserts that one of themain misconceptions practitioners hold is that ethnic groups are lsquohomogeneousrsquo AsPolish children account for 74 of all migrant learners within Wales (Estyn 2009)this study suggests that pupils from other Eastern European countries riskmarginalisation their needs being considered in relation to their Polish classmatesSuch children may face multiple prejudices and barriers to learning as manypractitioners focused their work on lsquoPolishrsquo pupils (as can be seen within thenarratives included in this article) with little reference to children of other EasternEuropean heritage Perceptions of cultural homogeneity are greatly misleading as itfails to account for the variable nature of identity formation and extreme variationsthat exist among childrenrsquos cultures pre- and post-migratory experiences familystability cognitive ability socio-economic status and the levels of individualresilience

Training and support required by teachers

The unexpected settlement of migrant children to the UK meant that the supportoffered to many schools was late in arriving The lack of training written guidanceand suitable teaching resources has been challenging for many practitioners involvedin this study particularly as the local authority had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity Out of the 37 teachers 31 claimed that they had notbeen adequately trained to work with migrant children instead developing skills andstrategies in practice Of the six who felt they could cope five said this was because ofthe support they were receiving from the EAL Service whilst the other felt it wasbecause there was only one migrant pupil in her class

I wasnrsquot trained in university Irsquove built up coping strategies as I have gone along Themore experience I have with EAL children the easier it is becoming but I would likemore training on teaching strategies (Teacher 8)

Itrsquos a matter of managing rather than understanding where Irsquom going with thesechildren (Teacher 9)

The inadequacy of initial teacher education and in-service training to address theissues of teaching minority ethnic and linguistic learners is widely acknowledged(Crosse 2007 Parker-Jenkins et al 2007 Estyn 2009) Research indicates thatteachers who have been trained in areas where there was little ethnic diversity and

Education 3ndash13 213

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later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

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Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

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permission to draw upon a narrative scrapbook written by Polish children and theirparents in preparation for a visit to Poland by members of the EAL Service Oncetranslated the narratives offered greater insight into childrenrsquos experiences ofmigrating and settling into new schools and communities adding lsquoflesh to the bonesrsquo(Bell 2005) to the interviews undertaken with some of the Polish children

Questionnaire

As the fieldwork at School M progressed I distributed a postal questionnaire whichpredominantly consisted of open-ended questions to the remaining 74 primaryschools within the local authority The initial response rate was extremely lowSeventeen out of 74 schools responded of which only eight had Eastern Europeanchildren After a second attempt to distribute the questionnaire resulted in only oneadditional school the EAL Service offered to distribute the questionnaire to schoolsknown to have Eastern European children which according to the EAL Service was17 out of 74 primary schools With the assistance of the EAL Service 13 out of the17 schools responded (response rate ndash 764) with 23 teachers across the localauthority having completed the questionnaire Although the questionnaire did notyield information as quickly or as easily as I had initially thought many of theresponses were consistent with those obtained from teachers at School M providingmore general applicability thus adding further weight to the investigation

Analytical approach

Using a grounded theory approach (Glaser and Strauss 1967 Strauss and Corbin1998) analysis was on-going throughout data collection The first- and second-orderconcepts (OrsquoReilly 2009) which were documented on the raw data in the form ofreflective memos generated as a result of examining the initial descriptive and topiccoding categories (Richards 2006) were then cross-referenced and analysed againsteach other leading to more sophisticated analytic coding and theory emergenceData were constantly scrutinised to determine how it compared supported andcontradicted itself and existing theories and literature The findings of the study arelargely woven into a narrative account as the intention is that this investigationreflects the social reality of the individuals involved whilst being relevant andaccessible to others functioning within similar environments

Findings

In general migrant children settle effectively in their primary schools within Wales(Estyn 2009 Hamilton 2010) However the progress made by migrant pupils isinfluenced by an intricate web of factors that stem far beyond individual schools andclassrooms This study brings the plight of White Eastern European learners to thefore as findings suggest that some children become so integrated into UK schoolsthat their individual learning needs well-being and heritage are at risk of beingoverlooked Reasons for possible invisibility include the lack of details pertaining tochildrenrsquos prior learning ability and attainment children being camouflaged byshared language peers insufficient guidance for more orally advanced learnersinadequately trained practitioners teachersrsquo perceptions of cultural homogeneityand childrenrsquos intra-group dependency Although not addressed within this article

Education 3ndash13 205

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but worthy of consideration is the significance that increased commitment to theWelsh language and heritage within the Welsh education system has on migrantchildren who settle in Wales The study indicates that the progression and attainmentof migrant children warrants careful monitoring

Adjusting to an unfamiliar education system

Despite sharply contrasting cultural and educational experiences and the fact thatthe majority of the schools involved in the study had little previous experience ofcatering for ethnically and linguistically diverse learners 35 of the 40 EasternEuropean migrant children felt lsquohappyrsquo at their primary school Of the five childrenwanting to return to school in their country of origin four had been in the UK fora period of 6 months or less Although these children described themselves asfeeling lsquookayrsquo they were still coming to terms with the transition particularlydealing with the loss of previous social anchors Transition literature and theoristssuch as Van Gennep (1960) ndash lsquothe rites of passagersquo and Bronfenbrenner (1979) ndash thelsquoecological approachrsquo illustrate that policy makers teachers and parents cannotafford to underestimate the significant challenges often placed upon children whenthey enter new cultures and communities As migrant childrenrsquos psychological well-being is an area requiring much deliberation discussion will take place in asubsequent article

Teachers stated that migrant children entering nursery or reception generallysettled in a way typical to local children attending school for the first timePractitioners discussed how the pedagogical approach of the Foundation Phase withits emphasis on learning through play and tuning into childrenrsquos interests wasbeneficial to language learning and helping children with their transitions Lessemphasis on academic work and higher levels of one-to-one adult facilitationfrequently lead to relaxed and supportive environments in which young learners canadjust to the unfamiliar Such conditions have the potential to accelerate languagedevelopment and understanding of new cultures As the following comment showsolder children with social anchors firmly established in their home country and whooften take little or no part in the decision to migrate (Coelho 2001 Leach 2003) mayfind the transition more challenging Older learners are soon expected to learn thelanguage of the dominant population and become accustomed to diverse pedagogyin order to access the curriculum

Many older children struggle to adjust They have the stress of adapting to a new cultureand school environment and are soon expected to access the whole curriculum (EALteacher 1)

Despite the challenges faced by many older learners 15 out of 18 children whohad attended schools in their home country claimed that they preferred schoolingwithin Wales Reasons for their preference included

less didactic teaching methods and practitioners

less homework

interesting or easier lessons

free school resources

not having to carry around personal belongings

being able to move about in classrooms

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good friends

and opportunities to play

Factors identified by practitioners as affecting migrant childrenrsquos ability to settleinto their new school environment included the childrsquos age personality level ofattendance stability of parentingfamily functioning joining shared language peersand the time at which children start school in relation to the academic year Personalcharacteristics such as gender age order of birth IQ temperament and social skillstogether with family factors such as socio-economic background ethnicity andreligious affiliations have previously been identified as influencing childrenrsquosadjustment to school (Griebel and Niesel 2003 Margetts 2003 Brooker 2005Rees and Morley 2007) Due to their religion statistics show that many EasternEuropean migrant parents have enrolled their children into Roman Catholic schoolsin Wales (Estyn 2009) The daily activities associated with Catholicism seem toprovide some children a sense of familiarity resulting in an immediate connectionand sense of belonging to their school community However the study indicates thatwhere significant numbers of migrant children exist within any one schoolenvironment they risk becoming segregated and polarised from the mainstreamcommunity regardless of being in a faith school Whilst the reflexive teacherthrough creative and inclusive strategies may attempt to minimise the effect ofsegregation and polarisation it is unlikely that such processes will be altogethereliminated as it is an inherent part of human nature to seek out similar others in thiscase ndash peers who have a shared language

Pedagogy

In an attempt to prevent the historical underperformance of minority ethnic pupilswithin the UK current educational policy advises cognitive challenges be keptappropriately high for EAL learners (Department for Children Schools andFamilies [DCSF] 2007) and that teachers remain vigilant of barriers to learningand assessment by providing pupils with materials that are appropriate to theirability and previous educational experience (Qualifications and CurriculumAuthority [QCA] 2000 Department for Children Education Lifelong Learningand Skills [DCELLS] 2008a) Although many Eastern European migrant pupilssettle successfully into primary schools within the UK the study suggests thatcertain factors are making it difficult for teachers to personalise the learningenvironment and eliminate obstacles which exist within the educational and socialcontext for migrant learners Consequently some children might be at risk ofunderperforming

Thirty-two out of 37 teachers commented how the initial language barriertogether with insufficient data accompanying migrant children was making itdifficult for them to implement a swift and individualised personalised starting pointfor learners ICC (2007) and Estyn (2009) have also reported how the lack ofinformation relating to migrant childrenrsquos prior education learning differencesmedical conditions and family structures are creating challenges for practitionersTeachers also discussed how the later compulsory school age in many Europeancountries meant that some migrant learners were starting school unable to write theirname comprehend basic math and lack skills to socialise with other children Thedifficulties that teachers face with migrant children who arrive with limited social

Education 3ndash13 207

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numeracy and literacy skills have previously been identified (National Assembly forWales [NAW] 2008)

An approach commonly adopted by teachers was the initial grouping of migrantlearners for academic purposes either with shared language peers or children whohave specific learning differences ndash teachers perhaps unknowingly contributing tosegregation and polarisation Whilst acknowledging the emotional support sharedlanguage grouping offers migrant pupils who predominately circulate within sharedheritage groups may choose lsquopreservationrsquo (Schumann 1986) maintaining their owncultural identity due to little urgency to learn the culture and language of the newcommunity Such individuals are at risk of developing a receptive understanding ofEnglish only As the lsquozone of proximal developmentrsquo (Vygotsky 1978) is consideredcentral to accelerating language acquisition (Schumann 1986 Cummins 2001)second language learning is more likely to succeed when learners are fully integratedinto the social and academic environment of the dominant community Commentsmade by practitioners imply that shared language pupils often gravitate towardseach other forming their own distinct social groupings which peers and teachersfrom the dominant culture may find difficult to penetrate Camouflaged by theirshared language peers the initial language barrier and the lack of data outliningprior learning may mean teachers fail to recognise the individual needs and abilitiesof some migrant children

In the past children from different countries have integrated Now because there are somany of them itrsquos a group of Polish children within an English school They use theirown language and are not crossing the border (Teacher 1)

When in larger numbers children chatter away in their own language and do not listenproperly Some refuse to sit still and behave It can be very frustrating for the teachersSome are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 2)

Seating migrant children with lower ability pupils may lead some teachers (andperhaps children themselves) into assuming migrant learners as having specialeducational needs The study shows how a lack of suitable curriculum materials maycause reliance upon resources produced for much younger learners and children withspecial needs Although teachers acknowledged that low ability work is not alwayssuitable for migrant pupils some defended the use of this strategy

EAL children usually get lower ability work Agness and Kamila could have been top ofthe class but because of their language I have to give them something basic because Ihave another 22 children (Teacher 2)

The Polish children just arrived We should have been provided with resources It takesa long time to build these resources and special needs material is not always appropriate(Teacher 1)

Irsquove kept the low ability EAL children together I shouldnrsquot really say low ability as youdonrsquot know where they are (Teacher 3)

Such practices may be demoralising and demeaning for children particularly forthose who have been high achievers in their home country As the followingcomments show although migrant children are fearful of getting work wrong manywant to be appropriately challenged and can recognise when they are givenmeaningless tasks to complete as has also been found by Nutbrown (1996)

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I feel scared when doing work I donrsquot understand But when the other children are givenwork and I am given things to colour I donrsquot feel I am learning anything (AgnessYear 4)

I want to do Year 5 work not Year 4 work Irsquom not doing the same work They all readbig books Tommy [Dutch pupil] is on level X but Irsquom only on Y Itrsquos not fair I feelangry every day I get told off sometimes (Eryk Year 5)

A careful balance is essential as children who are unable to access the curriculumor those not challenged enough may become distracted and disengagedUncooperative and disruptive behaviour on the part of children can be detrimentalto the pupilndashteacher relationship and consequently to childrenrsquos learning as apositive rapport has been found to enhance emotional regulation reducebehavioural difficulties and promote academic achievement (Cefai 2008) Challen-ging behaviour may be prevented through the design and delivery of relevant andpersonalised learning (and care) packages a key requirement of the NationalInclusion Statement and Foundation Phase framework Differentiated learning andassessment strategies can help migrant children to feel included and competent intheir learning environments

Galton (2007) whose work focuses on pupil transfer from primary to secondaryschool identifies an lsquoinitial diprsquo in academic progress among many learners duringthe early stages of school transition Galton (2007) attributes this decline to learnershaving to first acclimatise themselves to a new learning culture Migrant children arelikely to be lsquoout of the cultural balancersquo (Pollock and Van Reken 2002) to a greaterdegree as they will have to first master the language of the dominant community inorder to learn the basic rules by which the new world around them is operatingChildren who have schooled within their country of origin may also have to becomeaccustomed to diverse pedagogical approaches and differences in the pupilndashteacherrolerelationship

Supporting migrant children beyond social fluency

DfES (2003) acknowledged proficiency in the English language to be the mostsignificant guarantee that pupils will achieve in schools within the UK Yet for manyschools in the UK providing learning opportunities for minority linguistic childrenis a new experience (DCSF 2007) for which Perregaux (2007) argues that many arenot adequately prepared

This study has identified certain factors within the school environment whichmay impede second language learning The classroom environment created foryounger pupils typically leads to the natural emergence of language and literacythrough play and social interaction Key Stage 1 classrooms are traditionally morevisual with pictures key words and phrases used to support the language learning ofyoung children Alternatively the conventional classroom environment designed forolder pupils tends to expect children to have a pre-established command ofvocabulary Furthermore once migrant EAL children have gained good commandof social English (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) often achieved within12ndash18 months of being within the UK various assumptions may be made regardingchildrenrsquos language comprehension and ability to access the curriculum This wasparticularly true of some of the younger learners involved in the study who spokeEnglish with only a trace of an Eastern European accent Whilst a lack of physical orlanguage differences may help migrant children gain acceptance some blend in too

Education 3ndash13 209

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well with their peers from the dominant culture rendering their individual needs andabilities invisible Pollock and Van Reken (2002) have also identified the challengesfaced by lsquohidden immigrantsrsquo As can been seen from the following comments ifteachers fail to see beyond conversational fluency they may assume that migrantchildren have the same level of understanding and skills to perform tasks undertakenby pupils from the dominant culture

You forget Damian might not understand because hersquos so integrated When you thinkthey have grasped the language you let them get on with things and help others thatneed you more (Teacher 4)

Children may sound fluent but they often struggle with reading and writing Many learnto decode words but havenrsquot got a clue what they are reading (EAL teacher 3)

A good teacher will see beyond social fluency but this is often missed as teachers have somany other issues to contend with Many EAL children fail to reach their potentialbecause it takes several years to catch up enough to access the academic curriculum(EAL teacher 4)

The disparity between childrenrsquos linguistic capabilities in social settings comparedto that in academic settings risks teachers placing inappropriate linguistic loads onmigrant learners As it may take upwards of 5 years to reach a level of academicproficiency (Cognitive Academic Language) in English sufficient enough to copewith the language associated with some curriculum areas (Cummins 2001 Gardner2006 DCSF 2007) children may underachieve Teachers as also identified byMcKeon (2001) reported subjects involving unfamiliar abstract concepts andtechnical terms such as science history and geography as being those migrantchildren found more difficult to access

The language used in history and geography is often completely alien to them so theydo a lot of colouring and copying This might not be the best focus but it keeps themoccupied (Teacher 1)

We need more visual resources in science because of the complex technical terms andSEN resources are not appropriate (Teacher 5)

Concern about the lack of appropriate academic literacy support received bymore orally advanced learners particularly those who have exited specialised secondlanguage tuition has previously been reported (DfES 2003 Rutter 2006) Migrantchildren have been found to be more effectively supported both academically andpastorally when EAL and class teachers work in unison (Estyn 2009) Joint planningmay lead to more focused activities and progression targets that meet the needs ofindividual migrant pupils It is therefore unfortunate to have found some EALteachers within the study working without a base room Noisy and poorlyresourced locations are unlikely to be conducive to second language learningFurthermore it may send out messages that the work undertaken with these childrenis unimportant

Assessment

The assessment of migrant learners requires careful consideration End of key stageassessments for English maths and science were considered problematic Manypractitioners commented tests such as the NFER used to determine a childrsquos readingage against standardised scores are inappropriate for migrant pupils Formative

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assessment was considered to be more effective for identifying the progress made bymigrant children However as teachers are expected to give a detailed report ofchildrenrsquos ability at the end of Year 6 for entry into Key Stage 3 emphasis remainson summative assessment

EAL children usually underperform on standardised assessment tasks because of theirinability to access the language Children are not going to be at the same level as theywould be if assessed in Polish (EAL teacher 4)

Some children may be shy because of their language differences which makes assessmentdifficult because you do not know whether they are meeting their true potential(Teacher 1)

Monolingual assessments based on English-speaking British middle-class normsand educational expectations have long been criticised for their failure to accuratelyreflect the academic potential of migrant children (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke 2000Loewen 2004 Sikan 2007) Such assessment strategies risk devaluing the remarkableskills held by minority language pupils which as demonstrated below may result inchildren becoming demoralised and disengaged with their learning

One very able girl in Poland felt a complete failure because she couldnrsquot do the Dolchspellings [list of high frequency words] She burst into tears I told her to throw the testin the bin (EAL teacher 5)

It is argued that a more precise indication of migrant childrenrsquos attainment can beacquired through assessments which are contextualised carried out in mainstreamclassrooms undertaken in the first language as well as the second language andwhere pupils are supported by trained bilingual staff (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke2000 Loewen 2004 Crosse 2007) However with over 200 different languages nowspoken in schools within the UK (Parker-Jenkins et al 2007) and the increasingdispersal of minority language children it may not always be possible to locate staffwho can speak the different languages represented in the setting

Special educational needs

Many teachers were concerned that the special educational needs and medicalconditions of some migrant children were going unrecognised This is an arearequiring urgent attention as the Welsh Assembly (DCELLS 2008b) reports there tobe a significant number of migrant children who have specific learning differencesneeds which are not always identified upon arrival The following commentsdemonstrate how the lack of information accompanying children together withinitial language barriers makes the identification of learning differences problematic

Itrsquos really difficult to unpick what is SEN and what is EAL Some children are held backby language and a special need (Teacher 2)

When the EAL children first arrived we were told not to treat them as special needschildren so I have six EAL children in my top set for English Some are only juststarting to access the language They shouldnrsquot be with me (Teacher 1)

It was 12 months before Kuba was identified as dyslexic His parents had already got astatement from their home country Either they hadnrsquot got the vocabulary to tell us orthey wanted him to have a fresh start (EAL teacher 5)

Education 3ndash13 211

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One girl was here a year but understood very little We thought she may have specialneeds The school had to ask for an interpreter because the mother spoke little EnglishWe found out that the girl was in the process of being statemented before she migratedThe mother thought the child was going to be thrown out of school because she wasnrsquotbright enough She was so relieved when she was told the purpose of the meeting was tofind a way to support the child she wept (EAL teacher 3)

Distinguishing language differences from special educational needs is extremelycomplex as external factors (eg interrupted schooling disrupted family context)may be disabling migrant children rather than any underlying condition (Coelho2001) As shown by Teacher 1 there might be reluctance to label migrant children ashaving particular needs as educational policy (DfES 2001) warns teachers againstforming assumptions that minority language learners have learning difficultiesPractitioners may well need to be mindful of making such assumptions ascurriculum and pedagogy including frameworks used to assess childrenrsquos languageproficiency largely constitute the values and attitudes of middle-class Anglomonolingual educationalists (Tomlinson 2000 Brooker 2005) potentially placingmigrant pupils at a disadvantage The above comments suggest that some migrantparents may not be forthcoming in disclosing information about childrenrsquos specificlearning differences This could be due to the language barrier but may also indicatethat special educational needs is not perceived with the same level of understandingand tolerance in some Eastern European countries as it is within the UK Thereforeparents unsure about whether their children will be accepted into mainstreamsettings may remain silent It is an area meriting further research

Teacher workload potential lsquotipping pointrsquo and perceptions of cultural homogeneity

This study suggests that there is a lsquotipping pointrsquo (Gladwell 2000) regarding the levelof support practitioners give to migrant learners Many of the migrant children whoentered lsquosolorsquo into schools where little cultural and linguistic diversity existedseemed to be better supported by their teachers than those in schools where there is agreater intake Whereas most teachers generally coped with the diverse needs of oneor two migrant children many struggled to accommodate more than a couple ofchildren

As the numbers have grown it has become really difficult catering for the different levelsof EAL children Before we only had one or two to consider It has made my job muchharder (Teacher 7)

Where there are only one or two EAL pupils children are more supported Manyteachers are proud to see the progression made by these children When in largernumbers some are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 3)

As illustrated below increased numbers of migrant children in any oneclassroom may lead to teachers questioning the time they are able to give insupporting this group of learners It has left some teachers struggling to determinewhere their loyalties should lie and which pupils should receive more support ndash localchildren with learning differences or migrant children with limited English languageproficiency

We have 320 pupils 50 are registered as SEN and 40 are EAL 13 of EAL is a largechunk of our children Wersquove got to think about how much time we can give tosupporting these children Wersquove also got to be fair to our own children (Head teacher)

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Sometimes yoursquove to ignore the EAL children and let them flounder I feel guilty but itrsquosdifficult catering for the wide range of needs in the class Someone ends up missing out(Teacher 5)

These children often need a lot of help before they can access a task and then you haveto constantly check that they remain on task This requires a lot of time and energy(Teacher 3)

Increased demands on teachersrsquo time in a performance-driven culture may makethe task of providing the in-depth support often initially required by migrantchildren too challenging for some practitioners It may leave even the most inclusive-minded of teachers adopting socially inequitable practices in the classroom such asrationing their interactions with migrant pupils When in greater numbers there is arisk that migrant learners will become perceived as a burden where as previouslyidentified having a first language other than English is regarded as a lsquodeficitrsquo(Loewen 2004 Issa 2006 Monaghan 2010) Migrant children might also beperceived to be culturally homogenous Vandenbroeck (2007) asserts that one of themain misconceptions practitioners hold is that ethnic groups are lsquohomogeneousrsquo AsPolish children account for 74 of all migrant learners within Wales (Estyn 2009)this study suggests that pupils from other Eastern European countries riskmarginalisation their needs being considered in relation to their Polish classmatesSuch children may face multiple prejudices and barriers to learning as manypractitioners focused their work on lsquoPolishrsquo pupils (as can be seen within thenarratives included in this article) with little reference to children of other EasternEuropean heritage Perceptions of cultural homogeneity are greatly misleading as itfails to account for the variable nature of identity formation and extreme variationsthat exist among childrenrsquos cultures pre- and post-migratory experiences familystability cognitive ability socio-economic status and the levels of individualresilience

Training and support required by teachers

The unexpected settlement of migrant children to the UK meant that the supportoffered to many schools was late in arriving The lack of training written guidanceand suitable teaching resources has been challenging for many practitioners involvedin this study particularly as the local authority had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity Out of the 37 teachers 31 claimed that they had notbeen adequately trained to work with migrant children instead developing skills andstrategies in practice Of the six who felt they could cope five said this was because ofthe support they were receiving from the EAL Service whilst the other felt it wasbecause there was only one migrant pupil in her class

I wasnrsquot trained in university Irsquove built up coping strategies as I have gone along Themore experience I have with EAL children the easier it is becoming but I would likemore training on teaching strategies (Teacher 8)

Itrsquos a matter of managing rather than understanding where Irsquom going with thesechildren (Teacher 9)

The inadequacy of initial teacher education and in-service training to address theissues of teaching minority ethnic and linguistic learners is widely acknowledged(Crosse 2007 Parker-Jenkins et al 2007 Estyn 2009) Research indicates thatteachers who have been trained in areas where there was little ethnic diversity and

Education 3ndash13 213

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later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

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Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

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but worthy of consideration is the significance that increased commitment to theWelsh language and heritage within the Welsh education system has on migrantchildren who settle in Wales The study indicates that the progression and attainmentof migrant children warrants careful monitoring

Adjusting to an unfamiliar education system

Despite sharply contrasting cultural and educational experiences and the fact thatthe majority of the schools involved in the study had little previous experience ofcatering for ethnically and linguistically diverse learners 35 of the 40 EasternEuropean migrant children felt lsquohappyrsquo at their primary school Of the five childrenwanting to return to school in their country of origin four had been in the UK fora period of 6 months or less Although these children described themselves asfeeling lsquookayrsquo they were still coming to terms with the transition particularlydealing with the loss of previous social anchors Transition literature and theoristssuch as Van Gennep (1960) ndash lsquothe rites of passagersquo and Bronfenbrenner (1979) ndash thelsquoecological approachrsquo illustrate that policy makers teachers and parents cannotafford to underestimate the significant challenges often placed upon children whenthey enter new cultures and communities As migrant childrenrsquos psychological well-being is an area requiring much deliberation discussion will take place in asubsequent article

Teachers stated that migrant children entering nursery or reception generallysettled in a way typical to local children attending school for the first timePractitioners discussed how the pedagogical approach of the Foundation Phase withits emphasis on learning through play and tuning into childrenrsquos interests wasbeneficial to language learning and helping children with their transitions Lessemphasis on academic work and higher levels of one-to-one adult facilitationfrequently lead to relaxed and supportive environments in which young learners canadjust to the unfamiliar Such conditions have the potential to accelerate languagedevelopment and understanding of new cultures As the following comment showsolder children with social anchors firmly established in their home country and whooften take little or no part in the decision to migrate (Coelho 2001 Leach 2003) mayfind the transition more challenging Older learners are soon expected to learn thelanguage of the dominant population and become accustomed to diverse pedagogyin order to access the curriculum

Many older children struggle to adjust They have the stress of adapting to a new cultureand school environment and are soon expected to access the whole curriculum (EALteacher 1)

Despite the challenges faced by many older learners 15 out of 18 children whohad attended schools in their home country claimed that they preferred schoolingwithin Wales Reasons for their preference included

less didactic teaching methods and practitioners

less homework

interesting or easier lessons

free school resources

not having to carry around personal belongings

being able to move about in classrooms

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good friends

and opportunities to play

Factors identified by practitioners as affecting migrant childrenrsquos ability to settleinto their new school environment included the childrsquos age personality level ofattendance stability of parentingfamily functioning joining shared language peersand the time at which children start school in relation to the academic year Personalcharacteristics such as gender age order of birth IQ temperament and social skillstogether with family factors such as socio-economic background ethnicity andreligious affiliations have previously been identified as influencing childrenrsquosadjustment to school (Griebel and Niesel 2003 Margetts 2003 Brooker 2005Rees and Morley 2007) Due to their religion statistics show that many EasternEuropean migrant parents have enrolled their children into Roman Catholic schoolsin Wales (Estyn 2009) The daily activities associated with Catholicism seem toprovide some children a sense of familiarity resulting in an immediate connectionand sense of belonging to their school community However the study indicates thatwhere significant numbers of migrant children exist within any one schoolenvironment they risk becoming segregated and polarised from the mainstreamcommunity regardless of being in a faith school Whilst the reflexive teacherthrough creative and inclusive strategies may attempt to minimise the effect ofsegregation and polarisation it is unlikely that such processes will be altogethereliminated as it is an inherent part of human nature to seek out similar others in thiscase ndash peers who have a shared language

Pedagogy

In an attempt to prevent the historical underperformance of minority ethnic pupilswithin the UK current educational policy advises cognitive challenges be keptappropriately high for EAL learners (Department for Children Schools andFamilies [DCSF] 2007) and that teachers remain vigilant of barriers to learningand assessment by providing pupils with materials that are appropriate to theirability and previous educational experience (Qualifications and CurriculumAuthority [QCA] 2000 Department for Children Education Lifelong Learningand Skills [DCELLS] 2008a) Although many Eastern European migrant pupilssettle successfully into primary schools within the UK the study suggests thatcertain factors are making it difficult for teachers to personalise the learningenvironment and eliminate obstacles which exist within the educational and socialcontext for migrant learners Consequently some children might be at risk ofunderperforming

Thirty-two out of 37 teachers commented how the initial language barriertogether with insufficient data accompanying migrant children was making itdifficult for them to implement a swift and individualised personalised starting pointfor learners ICC (2007) and Estyn (2009) have also reported how the lack ofinformation relating to migrant childrenrsquos prior education learning differencesmedical conditions and family structures are creating challenges for practitionersTeachers also discussed how the later compulsory school age in many Europeancountries meant that some migrant learners were starting school unable to write theirname comprehend basic math and lack skills to socialise with other children Thedifficulties that teachers face with migrant children who arrive with limited social

Education 3ndash13 207

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numeracy and literacy skills have previously been identified (National Assembly forWales [NAW] 2008)

An approach commonly adopted by teachers was the initial grouping of migrantlearners for academic purposes either with shared language peers or children whohave specific learning differences ndash teachers perhaps unknowingly contributing tosegregation and polarisation Whilst acknowledging the emotional support sharedlanguage grouping offers migrant pupils who predominately circulate within sharedheritage groups may choose lsquopreservationrsquo (Schumann 1986) maintaining their owncultural identity due to little urgency to learn the culture and language of the newcommunity Such individuals are at risk of developing a receptive understanding ofEnglish only As the lsquozone of proximal developmentrsquo (Vygotsky 1978) is consideredcentral to accelerating language acquisition (Schumann 1986 Cummins 2001)second language learning is more likely to succeed when learners are fully integratedinto the social and academic environment of the dominant community Commentsmade by practitioners imply that shared language pupils often gravitate towardseach other forming their own distinct social groupings which peers and teachersfrom the dominant culture may find difficult to penetrate Camouflaged by theirshared language peers the initial language barrier and the lack of data outliningprior learning may mean teachers fail to recognise the individual needs and abilitiesof some migrant children

In the past children from different countries have integrated Now because there are somany of them itrsquos a group of Polish children within an English school They use theirown language and are not crossing the border (Teacher 1)

When in larger numbers children chatter away in their own language and do not listenproperly Some refuse to sit still and behave It can be very frustrating for the teachersSome are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 2)

Seating migrant children with lower ability pupils may lead some teachers (andperhaps children themselves) into assuming migrant learners as having specialeducational needs The study shows how a lack of suitable curriculum materials maycause reliance upon resources produced for much younger learners and children withspecial needs Although teachers acknowledged that low ability work is not alwayssuitable for migrant pupils some defended the use of this strategy

EAL children usually get lower ability work Agness and Kamila could have been top ofthe class but because of their language I have to give them something basic because Ihave another 22 children (Teacher 2)

The Polish children just arrived We should have been provided with resources It takesa long time to build these resources and special needs material is not always appropriate(Teacher 1)

Irsquove kept the low ability EAL children together I shouldnrsquot really say low ability as youdonrsquot know where they are (Teacher 3)

Such practices may be demoralising and demeaning for children particularly forthose who have been high achievers in their home country As the followingcomments show although migrant children are fearful of getting work wrong manywant to be appropriately challenged and can recognise when they are givenmeaningless tasks to complete as has also been found by Nutbrown (1996)

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I feel scared when doing work I donrsquot understand But when the other children are givenwork and I am given things to colour I donrsquot feel I am learning anything (AgnessYear 4)

I want to do Year 5 work not Year 4 work Irsquom not doing the same work They all readbig books Tommy [Dutch pupil] is on level X but Irsquom only on Y Itrsquos not fair I feelangry every day I get told off sometimes (Eryk Year 5)

A careful balance is essential as children who are unable to access the curriculumor those not challenged enough may become distracted and disengagedUncooperative and disruptive behaviour on the part of children can be detrimentalto the pupilndashteacher relationship and consequently to childrenrsquos learning as apositive rapport has been found to enhance emotional regulation reducebehavioural difficulties and promote academic achievement (Cefai 2008) Challen-ging behaviour may be prevented through the design and delivery of relevant andpersonalised learning (and care) packages a key requirement of the NationalInclusion Statement and Foundation Phase framework Differentiated learning andassessment strategies can help migrant children to feel included and competent intheir learning environments

Galton (2007) whose work focuses on pupil transfer from primary to secondaryschool identifies an lsquoinitial diprsquo in academic progress among many learners duringthe early stages of school transition Galton (2007) attributes this decline to learnershaving to first acclimatise themselves to a new learning culture Migrant children arelikely to be lsquoout of the cultural balancersquo (Pollock and Van Reken 2002) to a greaterdegree as they will have to first master the language of the dominant community inorder to learn the basic rules by which the new world around them is operatingChildren who have schooled within their country of origin may also have to becomeaccustomed to diverse pedagogical approaches and differences in the pupilndashteacherrolerelationship

Supporting migrant children beyond social fluency

DfES (2003) acknowledged proficiency in the English language to be the mostsignificant guarantee that pupils will achieve in schools within the UK Yet for manyschools in the UK providing learning opportunities for minority linguistic childrenis a new experience (DCSF 2007) for which Perregaux (2007) argues that many arenot adequately prepared

This study has identified certain factors within the school environment whichmay impede second language learning The classroom environment created foryounger pupils typically leads to the natural emergence of language and literacythrough play and social interaction Key Stage 1 classrooms are traditionally morevisual with pictures key words and phrases used to support the language learning ofyoung children Alternatively the conventional classroom environment designed forolder pupils tends to expect children to have a pre-established command ofvocabulary Furthermore once migrant EAL children have gained good commandof social English (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) often achieved within12ndash18 months of being within the UK various assumptions may be made regardingchildrenrsquos language comprehension and ability to access the curriculum This wasparticularly true of some of the younger learners involved in the study who spokeEnglish with only a trace of an Eastern European accent Whilst a lack of physical orlanguage differences may help migrant children gain acceptance some blend in too

Education 3ndash13 209

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well with their peers from the dominant culture rendering their individual needs andabilities invisible Pollock and Van Reken (2002) have also identified the challengesfaced by lsquohidden immigrantsrsquo As can been seen from the following comments ifteachers fail to see beyond conversational fluency they may assume that migrantchildren have the same level of understanding and skills to perform tasks undertakenby pupils from the dominant culture

You forget Damian might not understand because hersquos so integrated When you thinkthey have grasped the language you let them get on with things and help others thatneed you more (Teacher 4)

Children may sound fluent but they often struggle with reading and writing Many learnto decode words but havenrsquot got a clue what they are reading (EAL teacher 3)

A good teacher will see beyond social fluency but this is often missed as teachers have somany other issues to contend with Many EAL children fail to reach their potentialbecause it takes several years to catch up enough to access the academic curriculum(EAL teacher 4)

The disparity between childrenrsquos linguistic capabilities in social settings comparedto that in academic settings risks teachers placing inappropriate linguistic loads onmigrant learners As it may take upwards of 5 years to reach a level of academicproficiency (Cognitive Academic Language) in English sufficient enough to copewith the language associated with some curriculum areas (Cummins 2001 Gardner2006 DCSF 2007) children may underachieve Teachers as also identified byMcKeon (2001) reported subjects involving unfamiliar abstract concepts andtechnical terms such as science history and geography as being those migrantchildren found more difficult to access

The language used in history and geography is often completely alien to them so theydo a lot of colouring and copying This might not be the best focus but it keeps themoccupied (Teacher 1)

We need more visual resources in science because of the complex technical terms andSEN resources are not appropriate (Teacher 5)

Concern about the lack of appropriate academic literacy support received bymore orally advanced learners particularly those who have exited specialised secondlanguage tuition has previously been reported (DfES 2003 Rutter 2006) Migrantchildren have been found to be more effectively supported both academically andpastorally when EAL and class teachers work in unison (Estyn 2009) Joint planningmay lead to more focused activities and progression targets that meet the needs ofindividual migrant pupils It is therefore unfortunate to have found some EALteachers within the study working without a base room Noisy and poorlyresourced locations are unlikely to be conducive to second language learningFurthermore it may send out messages that the work undertaken with these childrenis unimportant

Assessment

The assessment of migrant learners requires careful consideration End of key stageassessments for English maths and science were considered problematic Manypractitioners commented tests such as the NFER used to determine a childrsquos readingage against standardised scores are inappropriate for migrant pupils Formative

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assessment was considered to be more effective for identifying the progress made bymigrant children However as teachers are expected to give a detailed report ofchildrenrsquos ability at the end of Year 6 for entry into Key Stage 3 emphasis remainson summative assessment

EAL children usually underperform on standardised assessment tasks because of theirinability to access the language Children are not going to be at the same level as theywould be if assessed in Polish (EAL teacher 4)

Some children may be shy because of their language differences which makes assessmentdifficult because you do not know whether they are meeting their true potential(Teacher 1)

Monolingual assessments based on English-speaking British middle-class normsand educational expectations have long been criticised for their failure to accuratelyreflect the academic potential of migrant children (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke 2000Loewen 2004 Sikan 2007) Such assessment strategies risk devaluing the remarkableskills held by minority language pupils which as demonstrated below may result inchildren becoming demoralised and disengaged with their learning

One very able girl in Poland felt a complete failure because she couldnrsquot do the Dolchspellings [list of high frequency words] She burst into tears I told her to throw the testin the bin (EAL teacher 5)

It is argued that a more precise indication of migrant childrenrsquos attainment can beacquired through assessments which are contextualised carried out in mainstreamclassrooms undertaken in the first language as well as the second language andwhere pupils are supported by trained bilingual staff (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke2000 Loewen 2004 Crosse 2007) However with over 200 different languages nowspoken in schools within the UK (Parker-Jenkins et al 2007) and the increasingdispersal of minority language children it may not always be possible to locate staffwho can speak the different languages represented in the setting

Special educational needs

Many teachers were concerned that the special educational needs and medicalconditions of some migrant children were going unrecognised This is an arearequiring urgent attention as the Welsh Assembly (DCELLS 2008b) reports there tobe a significant number of migrant children who have specific learning differencesneeds which are not always identified upon arrival The following commentsdemonstrate how the lack of information accompanying children together withinitial language barriers makes the identification of learning differences problematic

Itrsquos really difficult to unpick what is SEN and what is EAL Some children are held backby language and a special need (Teacher 2)

When the EAL children first arrived we were told not to treat them as special needschildren so I have six EAL children in my top set for English Some are only juststarting to access the language They shouldnrsquot be with me (Teacher 1)

It was 12 months before Kuba was identified as dyslexic His parents had already got astatement from their home country Either they hadnrsquot got the vocabulary to tell us orthey wanted him to have a fresh start (EAL teacher 5)

Education 3ndash13 211

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One girl was here a year but understood very little We thought she may have specialneeds The school had to ask for an interpreter because the mother spoke little EnglishWe found out that the girl was in the process of being statemented before she migratedThe mother thought the child was going to be thrown out of school because she wasnrsquotbright enough She was so relieved when she was told the purpose of the meeting was tofind a way to support the child she wept (EAL teacher 3)

Distinguishing language differences from special educational needs is extremelycomplex as external factors (eg interrupted schooling disrupted family context)may be disabling migrant children rather than any underlying condition (Coelho2001) As shown by Teacher 1 there might be reluctance to label migrant children ashaving particular needs as educational policy (DfES 2001) warns teachers againstforming assumptions that minority language learners have learning difficultiesPractitioners may well need to be mindful of making such assumptions ascurriculum and pedagogy including frameworks used to assess childrenrsquos languageproficiency largely constitute the values and attitudes of middle-class Anglomonolingual educationalists (Tomlinson 2000 Brooker 2005) potentially placingmigrant pupils at a disadvantage The above comments suggest that some migrantparents may not be forthcoming in disclosing information about childrenrsquos specificlearning differences This could be due to the language barrier but may also indicatethat special educational needs is not perceived with the same level of understandingand tolerance in some Eastern European countries as it is within the UK Thereforeparents unsure about whether their children will be accepted into mainstreamsettings may remain silent It is an area meriting further research

Teacher workload potential lsquotipping pointrsquo and perceptions of cultural homogeneity

This study suggests that there is a lsquotipping pointrsquo (Gladwell 2000) regarding the levelof support practitioners give to migrant learners Many of the migrant children whoentered lsquosolorsquo into schools where little cultural and linguistic diversity existedseemed to be better supported by their teachers than those in schools where there is agreater intake Whereas most teachers generally coped with the diverse needs of oneor two migrant children many struggled to accommodate more than a couple ofchildren

As the numbers have grown it has become really difficult catering for the different levelsof EAL children Before we only had one or two to consider It has made my job muchharder (Teacher 7)

Where there are only one or two EAL pupils children are more supported Manyteachers are proud to see the progression made by these children When in largernumbers some are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 3)

As illustrated below increased numbers of migrant children in any oneclassroom may lead to teachers questioning the time they are able to give insupporting this group of learners It has left some teachers struggling to determinewhere their loyalties should lie and which pupils should receive more support ndash localchildren with learning differences or migrant children with limited English languageproficiency

We have 320 pupils 50 are registered as SEN and 40 are EAL 13 of EAL is a largechunk of our children Wersquove got to think about how much time we can give tosupporting these children Wersquove also got to be fair to our own children (Head teacher)

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Sometimes yoursquove to ignore the EAL children and let them flounder I feel guilty but itrsquosdifficult catering for the wide range of needs in the class Someone ends up missing out(Teacher 5)

These children often need a lot of help before they can access a task and then you haveto constantly check that they remain on task This requires a lot of time and energy(Teacher 3)

Increased demands on teachersrsquo time in a performance-driven culture may makethe task of providing the in-depth support often initially required by migrantchildren too challenging for some practitioners It may leave even the most inclusive-minded of teachers adopting socially inequitable practices in the classroom such asrationing their interactions with migrant pupils When in greater numbers there is arisk that migrant learners will become perceived as a burden where as previouslyidentified having a first language other than English is regarded as a lsquodeficitrsquo(Loewen 2004 Issa 2006 Monaghan 2010) Migrant children might also beperceived to be culturally homogenous Vandenbroeck (2007) asserts that one of themain misconceptions practitioners hold is that ethnic groups are lsquohomogeneousrsquo AsPolish children account for 74 of all migrant learners within Wales (Estyn 2009)this study suggests that pupils from other Eastern European countries riskmarginalisation their needs being considered in relation to their Polish classmatesSuch children may face multiple prejudices and barriers to learning as manypractitioners focused their work on lsquoPolishrsquo pupils (as can be seen within thenarratives included in this article) with little reference to children of other EasternEuropean heritage Perceptions of cultural homogeneity are greatly misleading as itfails to account for the variable nature of identity formation and extreme variationsthat exist among childrenrsquos cultures pre- and post-migratory experiences familystability cognitive ability socio-economic status and the levels of individualresilience

Training and support required by teachers

The unexpected settlement of migrant children to the UK meant that the supportoffered to many schools was late in arriving The lack of training written guidanceand suitable teaching resources has been challenging for many practitioners involvedin this study particularly as the local authority had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity Out of the 37 teachers 31 claimed that they had notbeen adequately trained to work with migrant children instead developing skills andstrategies in practice Of the six who felt they could cope five said this was because ofthe support they were receiving from the EAL Service whilst the other felt it wasbecause there was only one migrant pupil in her class

I wasnrsquot trained in university Irsquove built up coping strategies as I have gone along Themore experience I have with EAL children the easier it is becoming but I would likemore training on teaching strategies (Teacher 8)

Itrsquos a matter of managing rather than understanding where Irsquom going with thesechildren (Teacher 9)

The inadequacy of initial teacher education and in-service training to address theissues of teaching minority ethnic and linguistic learners is widely acknowledged(Crosse 2007 Parker-Jenkins et al 2007 Estyn 2009) Research indicates thatteachers who have been trained in areas where there was little ethnic diversity and

Education 3ndash13 213

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later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

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Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

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good friends

and opportunities to play

Factors identified by practitioners as affecting migrant childrenrsquos ability to settleinto their new school environment included the childrsquos age personality level ofattendance stability of parentingfamily functioning joining shared language peersand the time at which children start school in relation to the academic year Personalcharacteristics such as gender age order of birth IQ temperament and social skillstogether with family factors such as socio-economic background ethnicity andreligious affiliations have previously been identified as influencing childrenrsquosadjustment to school (Griebel and Niesel 2003 Margetts 2003 Brooker 2005Rees and Morley 2007) Due to their religion statistics show that many EasternEuropean migrant parents have enrolled their children into Roman Catholic schoolsin Wales (Estyn 2009) The daily activities associated with Catholicism seem toprovide some children a sense of familiarity resulting in an immediate connectionand sense of belonging to their school community However the study indicates thatwhere significant numbers of migrant children exist within any one schoolenvironment they risk becoming segregated and polarised from the mainstreamcommunity regardless of being in a faith school Whilst the reflexive teacherthrough creative and inclusive strategies may attempt to minimise the effect ofsegregation and polarisation it is unlikely that such processes will be altogethereliminated as it is an inherent part of human nature to seek out similar others in thiscase ndash peers who have a shared language

Pedagogy

In an attempt to prevent the historical underperformance of minority ethnic pupilswithin the UK current educational policy advises cognitive challenges be keptappropriately high for EAL learners (Department for Children Schools andFamilies [DCSF] 2007) and that teachers remain vigilant of barriers to learningand assessment by providing pupils with materials that are appropriate to theirability and previous educational experience (Qualifications and CurriculumAuthority [QCA] 2000 Department for Children Education Lifelong Learningand Skills [DCELLS] 2008a) Although many Eastern European migrant pupilssettle successfully into primary schools within the UK the study suggests thatcertain factors are making it difficult for teachers to personalise the learningenvironment and eliminate obstacles which exist within the educational and socialcontext for migrant learners Consequently some children might be at risk ofunderperforming

Thirty-two out of 37 teachers commented how the initial language barriertogether with insufficient data accompanying migrant children was making itdifficult for them to implement a swift and individualised personalised starting pointfor learners ICC (2007) and Estyn (2009) have also reported how the lack ofinformation relating to migrant childrenrsquos prior education learning differencesmedical conditions and family structures are creating challenges for practitionersTeachers also discussed how the later compulsory school age in many Europeancountries meant that some migrant learners were starting school unable to write theirname comprehend basic math and lack skills to socialise with other children Thedifficulties that teachers face with migrant children who arrive with limited social

Education 3ndash13 207

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numeracy and literacy skills have previously been identified (National Assembly forWales [NAW] 2008)

An approach commonly adopted by teachers was the initial grouping of migrantlearners for academic purposes either with shared language peers or children whohave specific learning differences ndash teachers perhaps unknowingly contributing tosegregation and polarisation Whilst acknowledging the emotional support sharedlanguage grouping offers migrant pupils who predominately circulate within sharedheritage groups may choose lsquopreservationrsquo (Schumann 1986) maintaining their owncultural identity due to little urgency to learn the culture and language of the newcommunity Such individuals are at risk of developing a receptive understanding ofEnglish only As the lsquozone of proximal developmentrsquo (Vygotsky 1978) is consideredcentral to accelerating language acquisition (Schumann 1986 Cummins 2001)second language learning is more likely to succeed when learners are fully integratedinto the social and academic environment of the dominant community Commentsmade by practitioners imply that shared language pupils often gravitate towardseach other forming their own distinct social groupings which peers and teachersfrom the dominant culture may find difficult to penetrate Camouflaged by theirshared language peers the initial language barrier and the lack of data outliningprior learning may mean teachers fail to recognise the individual needs and abilitiesof some migrant children

In the past children from different countries have integrated Now because there are somany of them itrsquos a group of Polish children within an English school They use theirown language and are not crossing the border (Teacher 1)

When in larger numbers children chatter away in their own language and do not listenproperly Some refuse to sit still and behave It can be very frustrating for the teachersSome are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 2)

Seating migrant children with lower ability pupils may lead some teachers (andperhaps children themselves) into assuming migrant learners as having specialeducational needs The study shows how a lack of suitable curriculum materials maycause reliance upon resources produced for much younger learners and children withspecial needs Although teachers acknowledged that low ability work is not alwayssuitable for migrant pupils some defended the use of this strategy

EAL children usually get lower ability work Agness and Kamila could have been top ofthe class but because of their language I have to give them something basic because Ihave another 22 children (Teacher 2)

The Polish children just arrived We should have been provided with resources It takesa long time to build these resources and special needs material is not always appropriate(Teacher 1)

Irsquove kept the low ability EAL children together I shouldnrsquot really say low ability as youdonrsquot know where they are (Teacher 3)

Such practices may be demoralising and demeaning for children particularly forthose who have been high achievers in their home country As the followingcomments show although migrant children are fearful of getting work wrong manywant to be appropriately challenged and can recognise when they are givenmeaningless tasks to complete as has also been found by Nutbrown (1996)

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I feel scared when doing work I donrsquot understand But when the other children are givenwork and I am given things to colour I donrsquot feel I am learning anything (AgnessYear 4)

I want to do Year 5 work not Year 4 work Irsquom not doing the same work They all readbig books Tommy [Dutch pupil] is on level X but Irsquom only on Y Itrsquos not fair I feelangry every day I get told off sometimes (Eryk Year 5)

A careful balance is essential as children who are unable to access the curriculumor those not challenged enough may become distracted and disengagedUncooperative and disruptive behaviour on the part of children can be detrimentalto the pupilndashteacher relationship and consequently to childrenrsquos learning as apositive rapport has been found to enhance emotional regulation reducebehavioural difficulties and promote academic achievement (Cefai 2008) Challen-ging behaviour may be prevented through the design and delivery of relevant andpersonalised learning (and care) packages a key requirement of the NationalInclusion Statement and Foundation Phase framework Differentiated learning andassessment strategies can help migrant children to feel included and competent intheir learning environments

Galton (2007) whose work focuses on pupil transfer from primary to secondaryschool identifies an lsquoinitial diprsquo in academic progress among many learners duringthe early stages of school transition Galton (2007) attributes this decline to learnershaving to first acclimatise themselves to a new learning culture Migrant children arelikely to be lsquoout of the cultural balancersquo (Pollock and Van Reken 2002) to a greaterdegree as they will have to first master the language of the dominant community inorder to learn the basic rules by which the new world around them is operatingChildren who have schooled within their country of origin may also have to becomeaccustomed to diverse pedagogical approaches and differences in the pupilndashteacherrolerelationship

Supporting migrant children beyond social fluency

DfES (2003) acknowledged proficiency in the English language to be the mostsignificant guarantee that pupils will achieve in schools within the UK Yet for manyschools in the UK providing learning opportunities for minority linguistic childrenis a new experience (DCSF 2007) for which Perregaux (2007) argues that many arenot adequately prepared

This study has identified certain factors within the school environment whichmay impede second language learning The classroom environment created foryounger pupils typically leads to the natural emergence of language and literacythrough play and social interaction Key Stage 1 classrooms are traditionally morevisual with pictures key words and phrases used to support the language learning ofyoung children Alternatively the conventional classroom environment designed forolder pupils tends to expect children to have a pre-established command ofvocabulary Furthermore once migrant EAL children have gained good commandof social English (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) often achieved within12ndash18 months of being within the UK various assumptions may be made regardingchildrenrsquos language comprehension and ability to access the curriculum This wasparticularly true of some of the younger learners involved in the study who spokeEnglish with only a trace of an Eastern European accent Whilst a lack of physical orlanguage differences may help migrant children gain acceptance some blend in too

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well with their peers from the dominant culture rendering their individual needs andabilities invisible Pollock and Van Reken (2002) have also identified the challengesfaced by lsquohidden immigrantsrsquo As can been seen from the following comments ifteachers fail to see beyond conversational fluency they may assume that migrantchildren have the same level of understanding and skills to perform tasks undertakenby pupils from the dominant culture

You forget Damian might not understand because hersquos so integrated When you thinkthey have grasped the language you let them get on with things and help others thatneed you more (Teacher 4)

Children may sound fluent but they often struggle with reading and writing Many learnto decode words but havenrsquot got a clue what they are reading (EAL teacher 3)

A good teacher will see beyond social fluency but this is often missed as teachers have somany other issues to contend with Many EAL children fail to reach their potentialbecause it takes several years to catch up enough to access the academic curriculum(EAL teacher 4)

The disparity between childrenrsquos linguistic capabilities in social settings comparedto that in academic settings risks teachers placing inappropriate linguistic loads onmigrant learners As it may take upwards of 5 years to reach a level of academicproficiency (Cognitive Academic Language) in English sufficient enough to copewith the language associated with some curriculum areas (Cummins 2001 Gardner2006 DCSF 2007) children may underachieve Teachers as also identified byMcKeon (2001) reported subjects involving unfamiliar abstract concepts andtechnical terms such as science history and geography as being those migrantchildren found more difficult to access

The language used in history and geography is often completely alien to them so theydo a lot of colouring and copying This might not be the best focus but it keeps themoccupied (Teacher 1)

We need more visual resources in science because of the complex technical terms andSEN resources are not appropriate (Teacher 5)

Concern about the lack of appropriate academic literacy support received bymore orally advanced learners particularly those who have exited specialised secondlanguage tuition has previously been reported (DfES 2003 Rutter 2006) Migrantchildren have been found to be more effectively supported both academically andpastorally when EAL and class teachers work in unison (Estyn 2009) Joint planningmay lead to more focused activities and progression targets that meet the needs ofindividual migrant pupils It is therefore unfortunate to have found some EALteachers within the study working without a base room Noisy and poorlyresourced locations are unlikely to be conducive to second language learningFurthermore it may send out messages that the work undertaken with these childrenis unimportant

Assessment

The assessment of migrant learners requires careful consideration End of key stageassessments for English maths and science were considered problematic Manypractitioners commented tests such as the NFER used to determine a childrsquos readingage against standardised scores are inappropriate for migrant pupils Formative

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assessment was considered to be more effective for identifying the progress made bymigrant children However as teachers are expected to give a detailed report ofchildrenrsquos ability at the end of Year 6 for entry into Key Stage 3 emphasis remainson summative assessment

EAL children usually underperform on standardised assessment tasks because of theirinability to access the language Children are not going to be at the same level as theywould be if assessed in Polish (EAL teacher 4)

Some children may be shy because of their language differences which makes assessmentdifficult because you do not know whether they are meeting their true potential(Teacher 1)

Monolingual assessments based on English-speaking British middle-class normsand educational expectations have long been criticised for their failure to accuratelyreflect the academic potential of migrant children (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke 2000Loewen 2004 Sikan 2007) Such assessment strategies risk devaluing the remarkableskills held by minority language pupils which as demonstrated below may result inchildren becoming demoralised and disengaged with their learning

One very able girl in Poland felt a complete failure because she couldnrsquot do the Dolchspellings [list of high frequency words] She burst into tears I told her to throw the testin the bin (EAL teacher 5)

It is argued that a more precise indication of migrant childrenrsquos attainment can beacquired through assessments which are contextualised carried out in mainstreamclassrooms undertaken in the first language as well as the second language andwhere pupils are supported by trained bilingual staff (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke2000 Loewen 2004 Crosse 2007) However with over 200 different languages nowspoken in schools within the UK (Parker-Jenkins et al 2007) and the increasingdispersal of minority language children it may not always be possible to locate staffwho can speak the different languages represented in the setting

Special educational needs

Many teachers were concerned that the special educational needs and medicalconditions of some migrant children were going unrecognised This is an arearequiring urgent attention as the Welsh Assembly (DCELLS 2008b) reports there tobe a significant number of migrant children who have specific learning differencesneeds which are not always identified upon arrival The following commentsdemonstrate how the lack of information accompanying children together withinitial language barriers makes the identification of learning differences problematic

Itrsquos really difficult to unpick what is SEN and what is EAL Some children are held backby language and a special need (Teacher 2)

When the EAL children first arrived we were told not to treat them as special needschildren so I have six EAL children in my top set for English Some are only juststarting to access the language They shouldnrsquot be with me (Teacher 1)

It was 12 months before Kuba was identified as dyslexic His parents had already got astatement from their home country Either they hadnrsquot got the vocabulary to tell us orthey wanted him to have a fresh start (EAL teacher 5)

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One girl was here a year but understood very little We thought she may have specialneeds The school had to ask for an interpreter because the mother spoke little EnglishWe found out that the girl was in the process of being statemented before she migratedThe mother thought the child was going to be thrown out of school because she wasnrsquotbright enough She was so relieved when she was told the purpose of the meeting was tofind a way to support the child she wept (EAL teacher 3)

Distinguishing language differences from special educational needs is extremelycomplex as external factors (eg interrupted schooling disrupted family context)may be disabling migrant children rather than any underlying condition (Coelho2001) As shown by Teacher 1 there might be reluctance to label migrant children ashaving particular needs as educational policy (DfES 2001) warns teachers againstforming assumptions that minority language learners have learning difficultiesPractitioners may well need to be mindful of making such assumptions ascurriculum and pedagogy including frameworks used to assess childrenrsquos languageproficiency largely constitute the values and attitudes of middle-class Anglomonolingual educationalists (Tomlinson 2000 Brooker 2005) potentially placingmigrant pupils at a disadvantage The above comments suggest that some migrantparents may not be forthcoming in disclosing information about childrenrsquos specificlearning differences This could be due to the language barrier but may also indicatethat special educational needs is not perceived with the same level of understandingand tolerance in some Eastern European countries as it is within the UK Thereforeparents unsure about whether their children will be accepted into mainstreamsettings may remain silent It is an area meriting further research

Teacher workload potential lsquotipping pointrsquo and perceptions of cultural homogeneity

This study suggests that there is a lsquotipping pointrsquo (Gladwell 2000) regarding the levelof support practitioners give to migrant learners Many of the migrant children whoentered lsquosolorsquo into schools where little cultural and linguistic diversity existedseemed to be better supported by their teachers than those in schools where there is agreater intake Whereas most teachers generally coped with the diverse needs of oneor two migrant children many struggled to accommodate more than a couple ofchildren

As the numbers have grown it has become really difficult catering for the different levelsof EAL children Before we only had one or two to consider It has made my job muchharder (Teacher 7)

Where there are only one or two EAL pupils children are more supported Manyteachers are proud to see the progression made by these children When in largernumbers some are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 3)

As illustrated below increased numbers of migrant children in any oneclassroom may lead to teachers questioning the time they are able to give insupporting this group of learners It has left some teachers struggling to determinewhere their loyalties should lie and which pupils should receive more support ndash localchildren with learning differences or migrant children with limited English languageproficiency

We have 320 pupils 50 are registered as SEN and 40 are EAL 13 of EAL is a largechunk of our children Wersquove got to think about how much time we can give tosupporting these children Wersquove also got to be fair to our own children (Head teacher)

P Hamilton212

Dow

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Sometimes yoursquove to ignore the EAL children and let them flounder I feel guilty but itrsquosdifficult catering for the wide range of needs in the class Someone ends up missing out(Teacher 5)

These children often need a lot of help before they can access a task and then you haveto constantly check that they remain on task This requires a lot of time and energy(Teacher 3)

Increased demands on teachersrsquo time in a performance-driven culture may makethe task of providing the in-depth support often initially required by migrantchildren too challenging for some practitioners It may leave even the most inclusive-minded of teachers adopting socially inequitable practices in the classroom such asrationing their interactions with migrant pupils When in greater numbers there is arisk that migrant learners will become perceived as a burden where as previouslyidentified having a first language other than English is regarded as a lsquodeficitrsquo(Loewen 2004 Issa 2006 Monaghan 2010) Migrant children might also beperceived to be culturally homogenous Vandenbroeck (2007) asserts that one of themain misconceptions practitioners hold is that ethnic groups are lsquohomogeneousrsquo AsPolish children account for 74 of all migrant learners within Wales (Estyn 2009)this study suggests that pupils from other Eastern European countries riskmarginalisation their needs being considered in relation to their Polish classmatesSuch children may face multiple prejudices and barriers to learning as manypractitioners focused their work on lsquoPolishrsquo pupils (as can be seen within thenarratives included in this article) with little reference to children of other EasternEuropean heritage Perceptions of cultural homogeneity are greatly misleading as itfails to account for the variable nature of identity formation and extreme variationsthat exist among childrenrsquos cultures pre- and post-migratory experiences familystability cognitive ability socio-economic status and the levels of individualresilience

Training and support required by teachers

The unexpected settlement of migrant children to the UK meant that the supportoffered to many schools was late in arriving The lack of training written guidanceand suitable teaching resources has been challenging for many practitioners involvedin this study particularly as the local authority had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity Out of the 37 teachers 31 claimed that they had notbeen adequately trained to work with migrant children instead developing skills andstrategies in practice Of the six who felt they could cope five said this was because ofthe support they were receiving from the EAL Service whilst the other felt it wasbecause there was only one migrant pupil in her class

I wasnrsquot trained in university Irsquove built up coping strategies as I have gone along Themore experience I have with EAL children the easier it is becoming but I would likemore training on teaching strategies (Teacher 8)

Itrsquos a matter of managing rather than understanding where Irsquom going with thesechildren (Teacher 9)

The inadequacy of initial teacher education and in-service training to address theissues of teaching minority ethnic and linguistic learners is widely acknowledged(Crosse 2007 Parker-Jenkins et al 2007 Estyn 2009) Research indicates thatteachers who have been trained in areas where there was little ethnic diversity and

Education 3ndash13 213

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later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

P Hamilton214

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Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

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numeracy and literacy skills have previously been identified (National Assembly forWales [NAW] 2008)

An approach commonly adopted by teachers was the initial grouping of migrantlearners for academic purposes either with shared language peers or children whohave specific learning differences ndash teachers perhaps unknowingly contributing tosegregation and polarisation Whilst acknowledging the emotional support sharedlanguage grouping offers migrant pupils who predominately circulate within sharedheritage groups may choose lsquopreservationrsquo (Schumann 1986) maintaining their owncultural identity due to little urgency to learn the culture and language of the newcommunity Such individuals are at risk of developing a receptive understanding ofEnglish only As the lsquozone of proximal developmentrsquo (Vygotsky 1978) is consideredcentral to accelerating language acquisition (Schumann 1986 Cummins 2001)second language learning is more likely to succeed when learners are fully integratedinto the social and academic environment of the dominant community Commentsmade by practitioners imply that shared language pupils often gravitate towardseach other forming their own distinct social groupings which peers and teachersfrom the dominant culture may find difficult to penetrate Camouflaged by theirshared language peers the initial language barrier and the lack of data outliningprior learning may mean teachers fail to recognise the individual needs and abilitiesof some migrant children

In the past children from different countries have integrated Now because there are somany of them itrsquos a group of Polish children within an English school They use theirown language and are not crossing the border (Teacher 1)

When in larger numbers children chatter away in their own language and do not listenproperly Some refuse to sit still and behave It can be very frustrating for the teachersSome are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 2)

Seating migrant children with lower ability pupils may lead some teachers (andperhaps children themselves) into assuming migrant learners as having specialeducational needs The study shows how a lack of suitable curriculum materials maycause reliance upon resources produced for much younger learners and children withspecial needs Although teachers acknowledged that low ability work is not alwayssuitable for migrant pupils some defended the use of this strategy

EAL children usually get lower ability work Agness and Kamila could have been top ofthe class but because of their language I have to give them something basic because Ihave another 22 children (Teacher 2)

The Polish children just arrived We should have been provided with resources It takesa long time to build these resources and special needs material is not always appropriate(Teacher 1)

Irsquove kept the low ability EAL children together I shouldnrsquot really say low ability as youdonrsquot know where they are (Teacher 3)

Such practices may be demoralising and demeaning for children particularly forthose who have been high achievers in their home country As the followingcomments show although migrant children are fearful of getting work wrong manywant to be appropriately challenged and can recognise when they are givenmeaningless tasks to complete as has also been found by Nutbrown (1996)

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I feel scared when doing work I donrsquot understand But when the other children are givenwork and I am given things to colour I donrsquot feel I am learning anything (AgnessYear 4)

I want to do Year 5 work not Year 4 work Irsquom not doing the same work They all readbig books Tommy [Dutch pupil] is on level X but Irsquom only on Y Itrsquos not fair I feelangry every day I get told off sometimes (Eryk Year 5)

A careful balance is essential as children who are unable to access the curriculumor those not challenged enough may become distracted and disengagedUncooperative and disruptive behaviour on the part of children can be detrimentalto the pupilndashteacher relationship and consequently to childrenrsquos learning as apositive rapport has been found to enhance emotional regulation reducebehavioural difficulties and promote academic achievement (Cefai 2008) Challen-ging behaviour may be prevented through the design and delivery of relevant andpersonalised learning (and care) packages a key requirement of the NationalInclusion Statement and Foundation Phase framework Differentiated learning andassessment strategies can help migrant children to feel included and competent intheir learning environments

Galton (2007) whose work focuses on pupil transfer from primary to secondaryschool identifies an lsquoinitial diprsquo in academic progress among many learners duringthe early stages of school transition Galton (2007) attributes this decline to learnershaving to first acclimatise themselves to a new learning culture Migrant children arelikely to be lsquoout of the cultural balancersquo (Pollock and Van Reken 2002) to a greaterdegree as they will have to first master the language of the dominant community inorder to learn the basic rules by which the new world around them is operatingChildren who have schooled within their country of origin may also have to becomeaccustomed to diverse pedagogical approaches and differences in the pupilndashteacherrolerelationship

Supporting migrant children beyond social fluency

DfES (2003) acknowledged proficiency in the English language to be the mostsignificant guarantee that pupils will achieve in schools within the UK Yet for manyschools in the UK providing learning opportunities for minority linguistic childrenis a new experience (DCSF 2007) for which Perregaux (2007) argues that many arenot adequately prepared

This study has identified certain factors within the school environment whichmay impede second language learning The classroom environment created foryounger pupils typically leads to the natural emergence of language and literacythrough play and social interaction Key Stage 1 classrooms are traditionally morevisual with pictures key words and phrases used to support the language learning ofyoung children Alternatively the conventional classroom environment designed forolder pupils tends to expect children to have a pre-established command ofvocabulary Furthermore once migrant EAL children have gained good commandof social English (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) often achieved within12ndash18 months of being within the UK various assumptions may be made regardingchildrenrsquos language comprehension and ability to access the curriculum This wasparticularly true of some of the younger learners involved in the study who spokeEnglish with only a trace of an Eastern European accent Whilst a lack of physical orlanguage differences may help migrant children gain acceptance some blend in too

Education 3ndash13 209

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well with their peers from the dominant culture rendering their individual needs andabilities invisible Pollock and Van Reken (2002) have also identified the challengesfaced by lsquohidden immigrantsrsquo As can been seen from the following comments ifteachers fail to see beyond conversational fluency they may assume that migrantchildren have the same level of understanding and skills to perform tasks undertakenby pupils from the dominant culture

You forget Damian might not understand because hersquos so integrated When you thinkthey have grasped the language you let them get on with things and help others thatneed you more (Teacher 4)

Children may sound fluent but they often struggle with reading and writing Many learnto decode words but havenrsquot got a clue what they are reading (EAL teacher 3)

A good teacher will see beyond social fluency but this is often missed as teachers have somany other issues to contend with Many EAL children fail to reach their potentialbecause it takes several years to catch up enough to access the academic curriculum(EAL teacher 4)

The disparity between childrenrsquos linguistic capabilities in social settings comparedto that in academic settings risks teachers placing inappropriate linguistic loads onmigrant learners As it may take upwards of 5 years to reach a level of academicproficiency (Cognitive Academic Language) in English sufficient enough to copewith the language associated with some curriculum areas (Cummins 2001 Gardner2006 DCSF 2007) children may underachieve Teachers as also identified byMcKeon (2001) reported subjects involving unfamiliar abstract concepts andtechnical terms such as science history and geography as being those migrantchildren found more difficult to access

The language used in history and geography is often completely alien to them so theydo a lot of colouring and copying This might not be the best focus but it keeps themoccupied (Teacher 1)

We need more visual resources in science because of the complex technical terms andSEN resources are not appropriate (Teacher 5)

Concern about the lack of appropriate academic literacy support received bymore orally advanced learners particularly those who have exited specialised secondlanguage tuition has previously been reported (DfES 2003 Rutter 2006) Migrantchildren have been found to be more effectively supported both academically andpastorally when EAL and class teachers work in unison (Estyn 2009) Joint planningmay lead to more focused activities and progression targets that meet the needs ofindividual migrant pupils It is therefore unfortunate to have found some EALteachers within the study working without a base room Noisy and poorlyresourced locations are unlikely to be conducive to second language learningFurthermore it may send out messages that the work undertaken with these childrenis unimportant

Assessment

The assessment of migrant learners requires careful consideration End of key stageassessments for English maths and science were considered problematic Manypractitioners commented tests such as the NFER used to determine a childrsquos readingage against standardised scores are inappropriate for migrant pupils Formative

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assessment was considered to be more effective for identifying the progress made bymigrant children However as teachers are expected to give a detailed report ofchildrenrsquos ability at the end of Year 6 for entry into Key Stage 3 emphasis remainson summative assessment

EAL children usually underperform on standardised assessment tasks because of theirinability to access the language Children are not going to be at the same level as theywould be if assessed in Polish (EAL teacher 4)

Some children may be shy because of their language differences which makes assessmentdifficult because you do not know whether they are meeting their true potential(Teacher 1)

Monolingual assessments based on English-speaking British middle-class normsand educational expectations have long been criticised for their failure to accuratelyreflect the academic potential of migrant children (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke 2000Loewen 2004 Sikan 2007) Such assessment strategies risk devaluing the remarkableskills held by minority language pupils which as demonstrated below may result inchildren becoming demoralised and disengaged with their learning

One very able girl in Poland felt a complete failure because she couldnrsquot do the Dolchspellings [list of high frequency words] She burst into tears I told her to throw the testin the bin (EAL teacher 5)

It is argued that a more precise indication of migrant childrenrsquos attainment can beacquired through assessments which are contextualised carried out in mainstreamclassrooms undertaken in the first language as well as the second language andwhere pupils are supported by trained bilingual staff (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke2000 Loewen 2004 Crosse 2007) However with over 200 different languages nowspoken in schools within the UK (Parker-Jenkins et al 2007) and the increasingdispersal of minority language children it may not always be possible to locate staffwho can speak the different languages represented in the setting

Special educational needs

Many teachers were concerned that the special educational needs and medicalconditions of some migrant children were going unrecognised This is an arearequiring urgent attention as the Welsh Assembly (DCELLS 2008b) reports there tobe a significant number of migrant children who have specific learning differencesneeds which are not always identified upon arrival The following commentsdemonstrate how the lack of information accompanying children together withinitial language barriers makes the identification of learning differences problematic

Itrsquos really difficult to unpick what is SEN and what is EAL Some children are held backby language and a special need (Teacher 2)

When the EAL children first arrived we were told not to treat them as special needschildren so I have six EAL children in my top set for English Some are only juststarting to access the language They shouldnrsquot be with me (Teacher 1)

It was 12 months before Kuba was identified as dyslexic His parents had already got astatement from their home country Either they hadnrsquot got the vocabulary to tell us orthey wanted him to have a fresh start (EAL teacher 5)

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One girl was here a year but understood very little We thought she may have specialneeds The school had to ask for an interpreter because the mother spoke little EnglishWe found out that the girl was in the process of being statemented before she migratedThe mother thought the child was going to be thrown out of school because she wasnrsquotbright enough She was so relieved when she was told the purpose of the meeting was tofind a way to support the child she wept (EAL teacher 3)

Distinguishing language differences from special educational needs is extremelycomplex as external factors (eg interrupted schooling disrupted family context)may be disabling migrant children rather than any underlying condition (Coelho2001) As shown by Teacher 1 there might be reluctance to label migrant children ashaving particular needs as educational policy (DfES 2001) warns teachers againstforming assumptions that minority language learners have learning difficultiesPractitioners may well need to be mindful of making such assumptions ascurriculum and pedagogy including frameworks used to assess childrenrsquos languageproficiency largely constitute the values and attitudes of middle-class Anglomonolingual educationalists (Tomlinson 2000 Brooker 2005) potentially placingmigrant pupils at a disadvantage The above comments suggest that some migrantparents may not be forthcoming in disclosing information about childrenrsquos specificlearning differences This could be due to the language barrier but may also indicatethat special educational needs is not perceived with the same level of understandingand tolerance in some Eastern European countries as it is within the UK Thereforeparents unsure about whether their children will be accepted into mainstreamsettings may remain silent It is an area meriting further research

Teacher workload potential lsquotipping pointrsquo and perceptions of cultural homogeneity

This study suggests that there is a lsquotipping pointrsquo (Gladwell 2000) regarding the levelof support practitioners give to migrant learners Many of the migrant children whoentered lsquosolorsquo into schools where little cultural and linguistic diversity existedseemed to be better supported by their teachers than those in schools where there is agreater intake Whereas most teachers generally coped with the diverse needs of oneor two migrant children many struggled to accommodate more than a couple ofchildren

As the numbers have grown it has become really difficult catering for the different levelsof EAL children Before we only had one or two to consider It has made my job muchharder (Teacher 7)

Where there are only one or two EAL pupils children are more supported Manyteachers are proud to see the progression made by these children When in largernumbers some are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 3)

As illustrated below increased numbers of migrant children in any oneclassroom may lead to teachers questioning the time they are able to give insupporting this group of learners It has left some teachers struggling to determinewhere their loyalties should lie and which pupils should receive more support ndash localchildren with learning differences or migrant children with limited English languageproficiency

We have 320 pupils 50 are registered as SEN and 40 are EAL 13 of EAL is a largechunk of our children Wersquove got to think about how much time we can give tosupporting these children Wersquove also got to be fair to our own children (Head teacher)

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Sometimes yoursquove to ignore the EAL children and let them flounder I feel guilty but itrsquosdifficult catering for the wide range of needs in the class Someone ends up missing out(Teacher 5)

These children often need a lot of help before they can access a task and then you haveto constantly check that they remain on task This requires a lot of time and energy(Teacher 3)

Increased demands on teachersrsquo time in a performance-driven culture may makethe task of providing the in-depth support often initially required by migrantchildren too challenging for some practitioners It may leave even the most inclusive-minded of teachers adopting socially inequitable practices in the classroom such asrationing their interactions with migrant pupils When in greater numbers there is arisk that migrant learners will become perceived as a burden where as previouslyidentified having a first language other than English is regarded as a lsquodeficitrsquo(Loewen 2004 Issa 2006 Monaghan 2010) Migrant children might also beperceived to be culturally homogenous Vandenbroeck (2007) asserts that one of themain misconceptions practitioners hold is that ethnic groups are lsquohomogeneousrsquo AsPolish children account for 74 of all migrant learners within Wales (Estyn 2009)this study suggests that pupils from other Eastern European countries riskmarginalisation their needs being considered in relation to their Polish classmatesSuch children may face multiple prejudices and barriers to learning as manypractitioners focused their work on lsquoPolishrsquo pupils (as can be seen within thenarratives included in this article) with little reference to children of other EasternEuropean heritage Perceptions of cultural homogeneity are greatly misleading as itfails to account for the variable nature of identity formation and extreme variationsthat exist among childrenrsquos cultures pre- and post-migratory experiences familystability cognitive ability socio-economic status and the levels of individualresilience

Training and support required by teachers

The unexpected settlement of migrant children to the UK meant that the supportoffered to many schools was late in arriving The lack of training written guidanceand suitable teaching resources has been challenging for many practitioners involvedin this study particularly as the local authority had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity Out of the 37 teachers 31 claimed that they had notbeen adequately trained to work with migrant children instead developing skills andstrategies in practice Of the six who felt they could cope five said this was because ofthe support they were receiving from the EAL Service whilst the other felt it wasbecause there was only one migrant pupil in her class

I wasnrsquot trained in university Irsquove built up coping strategies as I have gone along Themore experience I have with EAL children the easier it is becoming but I would likemore training on teaching strategies (Teacher 8)

Itrsquos a matter of managing rather than understanding where Irsquom going with thesechildren (Teacher 9)

The inadequacy of initial teacher education and in-service training to address theissues of teaching minority ethnic and linguistic learners is widely acknowledged(Crosse 2007 Parker-Jenkins et al 2007 Estyn 2009) Research indicates thatteachers who have been trained in areas where there was little ethnic diversity and

Education 3ndash13 213

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later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

P Hamilton214

Dow

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Yor

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708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

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Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

Dow

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Nov

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I feel scared when doing work I donrsquot understand But when the other children are givenwork and I am given things to colour I donrsquot feel I am learning anything (AgnessYear 4)

I want to do Year 5 work not Year 4 work Irsquom not doing the same work They all readbig books Tommy [Dutch pupil] is on level X but Irsquom only on Y Itrsquos not fair I feelangry every day I get told off sometimes (Eryk Year 5)

A careful balance is essential as children who are unable to access the curriculumor those not challenged enough may become distracted and disengagedUncooperative and disruptive behaviour on the part of children can be detrimentalto the pupilndashteacher relationship and consequently to childrenrsquos learning as apositive rapport has been found to enhance emotional regulation reducebehavioural difficulties and promote academic achievement (Cefai 2008) Challen-ging behaviour may be prevented through the design and delivery of relevant andpersonalised learning (and care) packages a key requirement of the NationalInclusion Statement and Foundation Phase framework Differentiated learning andassessment strategies can help migrant children to feel included and competent intheir learning environments

Galton (2007) whose work focuses on pupil transfer from primary to secondaryschool identifies an lsquoinitial diprsquo in academic progress among many learners duringthe early stages of school transition Galton (2007) attributes this decline to learnershaving to first acclimatise themselves to a new learning culture Migrant children arelikely to be lsquoout of the cultural balancersquo (Pollock and Van Reken 2002) to a greaterdegree as they will have to first master the language of the dominant community inorder to learn the basic rules by which the new world around them is operatingChildren who have schooled within their country of origin may also have to becomeaccustomed to diverse pedagogical approaches and differences in the pupilndashteacherrolerelationship

Supporting migrant children beyond social fluency

DfES (2003) acknowledged proficiency in the English language to be the mostsignificant guarantee that pupils will achieve in schools within the UK Yet for manyschools in the UK providing learning opportunities for minority linguistic childrenis a new experience (DCSF 2007) for which Perregaux (2007) argues that many arenot adequately prepared

This study has identified certain factors within the school environment whichmay impede second language learning The classroom environment created foryounger pupils typically leads to the natural emergence of language and literacythrough play and social interaction Key Stage 1 classrooms are traditionally morevisual with pictures key words and phrases used to support the language learning ofyoung children Alternatively the conventional classroom environment designed forolder pupils tends to expect children to have a pre-established command ofvocabulary Furthermore once migrant EAL children have gained good commandof social English (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) often achieved within12ndash18 months of being within the UK various assumptions may be made regardingchildrenrsquos language comprehension and ability to access the curriculum This wasparticularly true of some of the younger learners involved in the study who spokeEnglish with only a trace of an Eastern European accent Whilst a lack of physical orlanguage differences may help migrant children gain acceptance some blend in too

Education 3ndash13 209

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ded

by [

Yor

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708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

well with their peers from the dominant culture rendering their individual needs andabilities invisible Pollock and Van Reken (2002) have also identified the challengesfaced by lsquohidden immigrantsrsquo As can been seen from the following comments ifteachers fail to see beyond conversational fluency they may assume that migrantchildren have the same level of understanding and skills to perform tasks undertakenby pupils from the dominant culture

You forget Damian might not understand because hersquos so integrated When you thinkthey have grasped the language you let them get on with things and help others thatneed you more (Teacher 4)

Children may sound fluent but they often struggle with reading and writing Many learnto decode words but havenrsquot got a clue what they are reading (EAL teacher 3)

A good teacher will see beyond social fluency but this is often missed as teachers have somany other issues to contend with Many EAL children fail to reach their potentialbecause it takes several years to catch up enough to access the academic curriculum(EAL teacher 4)

The disparity between childrenrsquos linguistic capabilities in social settings comparedto that in academic settings risks teachers placing inappropriate linguistic loads onmigrant learners As it may take upwards of 5 years to reach a level of academicproficiency (Cognitive Academic Language) in English sufficient enough to copewith the language associated with some curriculum areas (Cummins 2001 Gardner2006 DCSF 2007) children may underachieve Teachers as also identified byMcKeon (2001) reported subjects involving unfamiliar abstract concepts andtechnical terms such as science history and geography as being those migrantchildren found more difficult to access

The language used in history and geography is often completely alien to them so theydo a lot of colouring and copying This might not be the best focus but it keeps themoccupied (Teacher 1)

We need more visual resources in science because of the complex technical terms andSEN resources are not appropriate (Teacher 5)

Concern about the lack of appropriate academic literacy support received bymore orally advanced learners particularly those who have exited specialised secondlanguage tuition has previously been reported (DfES 2003 Rutter 2006) Migrantchildren have been found to be more effectively supported both academically andpastorally when EAL and class teachers work in unison (Estyn 2009) Joint planningmay lead to more focused activities and progression targets that meet the needs ofindividual migrant pupils It is therefore unfortunate to have found some EALteachers within the study working without a base room Noisy and poorlyresourced locations are unlikely to be conducive to second language learningFurthermore it may send out messages that the work undertaken with these childrenis unimportant

Assessment

The assessment of migrant learners requires careful consideration End of key stageassessments for English maths and science were considered problematic Manypractitioners commented tests such as the NFER used to determine a childrsquos readingage against standardised scores are inappropriate for migrant pupils Formative

P Hamilton210

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

assessment was considered to be more effective for identifying the progress made bymigrant children However as teachers are expected to give a detailed report ofchildrenrsquos ability at the end of Year 6 for entry into Key Stage 3 emphasis remainson summative assessment

EAL children usually underperform on standardised assessment tasks because of theirinability to access the language Children are not going to be at the same level as theywould be if assessed in Polish (EAL teacher 4)

Some children may be shy because of their language differences which makes assessmentdifficult because you do not know whether they are meeting their true potential(Teacher 1)

Monolingual assessments based on English-speaking British middle-class normsand educational expectations have long been criticised for their failure to accuratelyreflect the academic potential of migrant children (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke 2000Loewen 2004 Sikan 2007) Such assessment strategies risk devaluing the remarkableskills held by minority language pupils which as demonstrated below may result inchildren becoming demoralised and disengaged with their learning

One very able girl in Poland felt a complete failure because she couldnrsquot do the Dolchspellings [list of high frequency words] She burst into tears I told her to throw the testin the bin (EAL teacher 5)

It is argued that a more precise indication of migrant childrenrsquos attainment can beacquired through assessments which are contextualised carried out in mainstreamclassrooms undertaken in the first language as well as the second language andwhere pupils are supported by trained bilingual staff (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke2000 Loewen 2004 Crosse 2007) However with over 200 different languages nowspoken in schools within the UK (Parker-Jenkins et al 2007) and the increasingdispersal of minority language children it may not always be possible to locate staffwho can speak the different languages represented in the setting

Special educational needs

Many teachers were concerned that the special educational needs and medicalconditions of some migrant children were going unrecognised This is an arearequiring urgent attention as the Welsh Assembly (DCELLS 2008b) reports there tobe a significant number of migrant children who have specific learning differencesneeds which are not always identified upon arrival The following commentsdemonstrate how the lack of information accompanying children together withinitial language barriers makes the identification of learning differences problematic

Itrsquos really difficult to unpick what is SEN and what is EAL Some children are held backby language and a special need (Teacher 2)

When the EAL children first arrived we were told not to treat them as special needschildren so I have six EAL children in my top set for English Some are only juststarting to access the language They shouldnrsquot be with me (Teacher 1)

It was 12 months before Kuba was identified as dyslexic His parents had already got astatement from their home country Either they hadnrsquot got the vocabulary to tell us orthey wanted him to have a fresh start (EAL teacher 5)

Education 3ndash13 211

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

One girl was here a year but understood very little We thought she may have specialneeds The school had to ask for an interpreter because the mother spoke little EnglishWe found out that the girl was in the process of being statemented before she migratedThe mother thought the child was going to be thrown out of school because she wasnrsquotbright enough She was so relieved when she was told the purpose of the meeting was tofind a way to support the child she wept (EAL teacher 3)

Distinguishing language differences from special educational needs is extremelycomplex as external factors (eg interrupted schooling disrupted family context)may be disabling migrant children rather than any underlying condition (Coelho2001) As shown by Teacher 1 there might be reluctance to label migrant children ashaving particular needs as educational policy (DfES 2001) warns teachers againstforming assumptions that minority language learners have learning difficultiesPractitioners may well need to be mindful of making such assumptions ascurriculum and pedagogy including frameworks used to assess childrenrsquos languageproficiency largely constitute the values and attitudes of middle-class Anglomonolingual educationalists (Tomlinson 2000 Brooker 2005) potentially placingmigrant pupils at a disadvantage The above comments suggest that some migrantparents may not be forthcoming in disclosing information about childrenrsquos specificlearning differences This could be due to the language barrier but may also indicatethat special educational needs is not perceived with the same level of understandingand tolerance in some Eastern European countries as it is within the UK Thereforeparents unsure about whether their children will be accepted into mainstreamsettings may remain silent It is an area meriting further research

Teacher workload potential lsquotipping pointrsquo and perceptions of cultural homogeneity

This study suggests that there is a lsquotipping pointrsquo (Gladwell 2000) regarding the levelof support practitioners give to migrant learners Many of the migrant children whoentered lsquosolorsquo into schools where little cultural and linguistic diversity existedseemed to be better supported by their teachers than those in schools where there is agreater intake Whereas most teachers generally coped with the diverse needs of oneor two migrant children many struggled to accommodate more than a couple ofchildren

As the numbers have grown it has become really difficult catering for the different levelsof EAL children Before we only had one or two to consider It has made my job muchharder (Teacher 7)

Where there are only one or two EAL pupils children are more supported Manyteachers are proud to see the progression made by these children When in largernumbers some are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 3)

As illustrated below increased numbers of migrant children in any oneclassroom may lead to teachers questioning the time they are able to give insupporting this group of learners It has left some teachers struggling to determinewhere their loyalties should lie and which pupils should receive more support ndash localchildren with learning differences or migrant children with limited English languageproficiency

We have 320 pupils 50 are registered as SEN and 40 are EAL 13 of EAL is a largechunk of our children Wersquove got to think about how much time we can give tosupporting these children Wersquove also got to be fair to our own children (Head teacher)

P Hamilton212

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Sometimes yoursquove to ignore the EAL children and let them flounder I feel guilty but itrsquosdifficult catering for the wide range of needs in the class Someone ends up missing out(Teacher 5)

These children often need a lot of help before they can access a task and then you haveto constantly check that they remain on task This requires a lot of time and energy(Teacher 3)

Increased demands on teachersrsquo time in a performance-driven culture may makethe task of providing the in-depth support often initially required by migrantchildren too challenging for some practitioners It may leave even the most inclusive-minded of teachers adopting socially inequitable practices in the classroom such asrationing their interactions with migrant pupils When in greater numbers there is arisk that migrant learners will become perceived as a burden where as previouslyidentified having a first language other than English is regarded as a lsquodeficitrsquo(Loewen 2004 Issa 2006 Monaghan 2010) Migrant children might also beperceived to be culturally homogenous Vandenbroeck (2007) asserts that one of themain misconceptions practitioners hold is that ethnic groups are lsquohomogeneousrsquo AsPolish children account for 74 of all migrant learners within Wales (Estyn 2009)this study suggests that pupils from other Eastern European countries riskmarginalisation their needs being considered in relation to their Polish classmatesSuch children may face multiple prejudices and barriers to learning as manypractitioners focused their work on lsquoPolishrsquo pupils (as can be seen within thenarratives included in this article) with little reference to children of other EasternEuropean heritage Perceptions of cultural homogeneity are greatly misleading as itfails to account for the variable nature of identity formation and extreme variationsthat exist among childrenrsquos cultures pre- and post-migratory experiences familystability cognitive ability socio-economic status and the levels of individualresilience

Training and support required by teachers

The unexpected settlement of migrant children to the UK meant that the supportoffered to many schools was late in arriving The lack of training written guidanceand suitable teaching resources has been challenging for many practitioners involvedin this study particularly as the local authority had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity Out of the 37 teachers 31 claimed that they had notbeen adequately trained to work with migrant children instead developing skills andstrategies in practice Of the six who felt they could cope five said this was because ofthe support they were receiving from the EAL Service whilst the other felt it wasbecause there was only one migrant pupil in her class

I wasnrsquot trained in university Irsquove built up coping strategies as I have gone along Themore experience I have with EAL children the easier it is becoming but I would likemore training on teaching strategies (Teacher 8)

Itrsquos a matter of managing rather than understanding where Irsquom going with thesechildren (Teacher 9)

The inadequacy of initial teacher education and in-service training to address theissues of teaching minority ethnic and linguistic learners is widely acknowledged(Crosse 2007 Parker-Jenkins et al 2007 Estyn 2009) Research indicates thatteachers who have been trained in areas where there was little ethnic diversity and

Education 3ndash13 213

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

P Hamilton214

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

Dow

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ded

by [

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Lib

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es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

well with their peers from the dominant culture rendering their individual needs andabilities invisible Pollock and Van Reken (2002) have also identified the challengesfaced by lsquohidden immigrantsrsquo As can been seen from the following comments ifteachers fail to see beyond conversational fluency they may assume that migrantchildren have the same level of understanding and skills to perform tasks undertakenby pupils from the dominant culture

You forget Damian might not understand because hersquos so integrated When you thinkthey have grasped the language you let them get on with things and help others thatneed you more (Teacher 4)

Children may sound fluent but they often struggle with reading and writing Many learnto decode words but havenrsquot got a clue what they are reading (EAL teacher 3)

A good teacher will see beyond social fluency but this is often missed as teachers have somany other issues to contend with Many EAL children fail to reach their potentialbecause it takes several years to catch up enough to access the academic curriculum(EAL teacher 4)

The disparity between childrenrsquos linguistic capabilities in social settings comparedto that in academic settings risks teachers placing inappropriate linguistic loads onmigrant learners As it may take upwards of 5 years to reach a level of academicproficiency (Cognitive Academic Language) in English sufficient enough to copewith the language associated with some curriculum areas (Cummins 2001 Gardner2006 DCSF 2007) children may underachieve Teachers as also identified byMcKeon (2001) reported subjects involving unfamiliar abstract concepts andtechnical terms such as science history and geography as being those migrantchildren found more difficult to access

The language used in history and geography is often completely alien to them so theydo a lot of colouring and copying This might not be the best focus but it keeps themoccupied (Teacher 1)

We need more visual resources in science because of the complex technical terms andSEN resources are not appropriate (Teacher 5)

Concern about the lack of appropriate academic literacy support received bymore orally advanced learners particularly those who have exited specialised secondlanguage tuition has previously been reported (DfES 2003 Rutter 2006) Migrantchildren have been found to be more effectively supported both academically andpastorally when EAL and class teachers work in unison (Estyn 2009) Joint planningmay lead to more focused activities and progression targets that meet the needs ofindividual migrant pupils It is therefore unfortunate to have found some EALteachers within the study working without a base room Noisy and poorlyresourced locations are unlikely to be conducive to second language learningFurthermore it may send out messages that the work undertaken with these childrenis unimportant

Assessment

The assessment of migrant learners requires careful consideration End of key stageassessments for English maths and science were considered problematic Manypractitioners commented tests such as the NFER used to determine a childrsquos readingage against standardised scores are inappropriate for migrant pupils Formative

P Hamilton210

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

assessment was considered to be more effective for identifying the progress made bymigrant children However as teachers are expected to give a detailed report ofchildrenrsquos ability at the end of Year 6 for entry into Key Stage 3 emphasis remainson summative assessment

EAL children usually underperform on standardised assessment tasks because of theirinability to access the language Children are not going to be at the same level as theywould be if assessed in Polish (EAL teacher 4)

Some children may be shy because of their language differences which makes assessmentdifficult because you do not know whether they are meeting their true potential(Teacher 1)

Monolingual assessments based on English-speaking British middle-class normsand educational expectations have long been criticised for their failure to accuratelyreflect the academic potential of migrant children (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke 2000Loewen 2004 Sikan 2007) Such assessment strategies risk devaluing the remarkableskills held by minority language pupils which as demonstrated below may result inchildren becoming demoralised and disengaged with their learning

One very able girl in Poland felt a complete failure because she couldnrsquot do the Dolchspellings [list of high frequency words] She burst into tears I told her to throw the testin the bin (EAL teacher 5)

It is argued that a more precise indication of migrant childrenrsquos attainment can beacquired through assessments which are contextualised carried out in mainstreamclassrooms undertaken in the first language as well as the second language andwhere pupils are supported by trained bilingual staff (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke2000 Loewen 2004 Crosse 2007) However with over 200 different languages nowspoken in schools within the UK (Parker-Jenkins et al 2007) and the increasingdispersal of minority language children it may not always be possible to locate staffwho can speak the different languages represented in the setting

Special educational needs

Many teachers were concerned that the special educational needs and medicalconditions of some migrant children were going unrecognised This is an arearequiring urgent attention as the Welsh Assembly (DCELLS 2008b) reports there tobe a significant number of migrant children who have specific learning differencesneeds which are not always identified upon arrival The following commentsdemonstrate how the lack of information accompanying children together withinitial language barriers makes the identification of learning differences problematic

Itrsquos really difficult to unpick what is SEN and what is EAL Some children are held backby language and a special need (Teacher 2)

When the EAL children first arrived we were told not to treat them as special needschildren so I have six EAL children in my top set for English Some are only juststarting to access the language They shouldnrsquot be with me (Teacher 1)

It was 12 months before Kuba was identified as dyslexic His parents had already got astatement from their home country Either they hadnrsquot got the vocabulary to tell us orthey wanted him to have a fresh start (EAL teacher 5)

Education 3ndash13 211

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

One girl was here a year but understood very little We thought she may have specialneeds The school had to ask for an interpreter because the mother spoke little EnglishWe found out that the girl was in the process of being statemented before she migratedThe mother thought the child was going to be thrown out of school because she wasnrsquotbright enough She was so relieved when she was told the purpose of the meeting was tofind a way to support the child she wept (EAL teacher 3)

Distinguishing language differences from special educational needs is extremelycomplex as external factors (eg interrupted schooling disrupted family context)may be disabling migrant children rather than any underlying condition (Coelho2001) As shown by Teacher 1 there might be reluctance to label migrant children ashaving particular needs as educational policy (DfES 2001) warns teachers againstforming assumptions that minority language learners have learning difficultiesPractitioners may well need to be mindful of making such assumptions ascurriculum and pedagogy including frameworks used to assess childrenrsquos languageproficiency largely constitute the values and attitudes of middle-class Anglomonolingual educationalists (Tomlinson 2000 Brooker 2005) potentially placingmigrant pupils at a disadvantage The above comments suggest that some migrantparents may not be forthcoming in disclosing information about childrenrsquos specificlearning differences This could be due to the language barrier but may also indicatethat special educational needs is not perceived with the same level of understandingand tolerance in some Eastern European countries as it is within the UK Thereforeparents unsure about whether their children will be accepted into mainstreamsettings may remain silent It is an area meriting further research

Teacher workload potential lsquotipping pointrsquo and perceptions of cultural homogeneity

This study suggests that there is a lsquotipping pointrsquo (Gladwell 2000) regarding the levelof support practitioners give to migrant learners Many of the migrant children whoentered lsquosolorsquo into schools where little cultural and linguistic diversity existedseemed to be better supported by their teachers than those in schools where there is agreater intake Whereas most teachers generally coped with the diverse needs of oneor two migrant children many struggled to accommodate more than a couple ofchildren

As the numbers have grown it has become really difficult catering for the different levelsof EAL children Before we only had one or two to consider It has made my job muchharder (Teacher 7)

Where there are only one or two EAL pupils children are more supported Manyteachers are proud to see the progression made by these children When in largernumbers some are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 3)

As illustrated below increased numbers of migrant children in any oneclassroom may lead to teachers questioning the time they are able to give insupporting this group of learners It has left some teachers struggling to determinewhere their loyalties should lie and which pupils should receive more support ndash localchildren with learning differences or migrant children with limited English languageproficiency

We have 320 pupils 50 are registered as SEN and 40 are EAL 13 of EAL is a largechunk of our children Wersquove got to think about how much time we can give tosupporting these children Wersquove also got to be fair to our own children (Head teacher)

P Hamilton212

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Sometimes yoursquove to ignore the EAL children and let them flounder I feel guilty but itrsquosdifficult catering for the wide range of needs in the class Someone ends up missing out(Teacher 5)

These children often need a lot of help before they can access a task and then you haveto constantly check that they remain on task This requires a lot of time and energy(Teacher 3)

Increased demands on teachersrsquo time in a performance-driven culture may makethe task of providing the in-depth support often initially required by migrantchildren too challenging for some practitioners It may leave even the most inclusive-minded of teachers adopting socially inequitable practices in the classroom such asrationing their interactions with migrant pupils When in greater numbers there is arisk that migrant learners will become perceived as a burden where as previouslyidentified having a first language other than English is regarded as a lsquodeficitrsquo(Loewen 2004 Issa 2006 Monaghan 2010) Migrant children might also beperceived to be culturally homogenous Vandenbroeck (2007) asserts that one of themain misconceptions practitioners hold is that ethnic groups are lsquohomogeneousrsquo AsPolish children account for 74 of all migrant learners within Wales (Estyn 2009)this study suggests that pupils from other Eastern European countries riskmarginalisation their needs being considered in relation to their Polish classmatesSuch children may face multiple prejudices and barriers to learning as manypractitioners focused their work on lsquoPolishrsquo pupils (as can be seen within thenarratives included in this article) with little reference to children of other EasternEuropean heritage Perceptions of cultural homogeneity are greatly misleading as itfails to account for the variable nature of identity formation and extreme variationsthat exist among childrenrsquos cultures pre- and post-migratory experiences familystability cognitive ability socio-economic status and the levels of individualresilience

Training and support required by teachers

The unexpected settlement of migrant children to the UK meant that the supportoffered to many schools was late in arriving The lack of training written guidanceand suitable teaching resources has been challenging for many practitioners involvedin this study particularly as the local authority had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity Out of the 37 teachers 31 claimed that they had notbeen adequately trained to work with migrant children instead developing skills andstrategies in practice Of the six who felt they could cope five said this was because ofthe support they were receiving from the EAL Service whilst the other felt it wasbecause there was only one migrant pupil in her class

I wasnrsquot trained in university Irsquove built up coping strategies as I have gone along Themore experience I have with EAL children the easier it is becoming but I would likemore training on teaching strategies (Teacher 8)

Itrsquos a matter of managing rather than understanding where Irsquom going with thesechildren (Teacher 9)

The inadequacy of initial teacher education and in-service training to address theissues of teaching minority ethnic and linguistic learners is widely acknowledged(Crosse 2007 Parker-Jenkins et al 2007 Estyn 2009) Research indicates thatteachers who have been trained in areas where there was little ethnic diversity and

Education 3ndash13 213

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

P Hamilton214

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

assessment was considered to be more effective for identifying the progress made bymigrant children However as teachers are expected to give a detailed report ofchildrenrsquos ability at the end of Year 6 for entry into Key Stage 3 emphasis remainson summative assessment

EAL children usually underperform on standardised assessment tasks because of theirinability to access the language Children are not going to be at the same level as theywould be if assessed in Polish (EAL teacher 4)

Some children may be shy because of their language differences which makes assessmentdifficult because you do not know whether they are meeting their true potential(Teacher 1)

Monolingual assessments based on English-speaking British middle-class normsand educational expectations have long been criticised for their failure to accuratelyreflect the academic potential of migrant children (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke 2000Loewen 2004 Sikan 2007) Such assessment strategies risk devaluing the remarkableskills held by minority language pupils which as demonstrated below may result inchildren becoming demoralised and disengaged with their learning

One very able girl in Poland felt a complete failure because she couldnrsquot do the Dolchspellings [list of high frequency words] She burst into tears I told her to throw the testin the bin (EAL teacher 5)

It is argued that a more precise indication of migrant childrenrsquos attainment can beacquired through assessments which are contextualised carried out in mainstreamclassrooms undertaken in the first language as well as the second language andwhere pupils are supported by trained bilingual staff (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke2000 Loewen 2004 Crosse 2007) However with over 200 different languages nowspoken in schools within the UK (Parker-Jenkins et al 2007) and the increasingdispersal of minority language children it may not always be possible to locate staffwho can speak the different languages represented in the setting

Special educational needs

Many teachers were concerned that the special educational needs and medicalconditions of some migrant children were going unrecognised This is an arearequiring urgent attention as the Welsh Assembly (DCELLS 2008b) reports there tobe a significant number of migrant children who have specific learning differencesneeds which are not always identified upon arrival The following commentsdemonstrate how the lack of information accompanying children together withinitial language barriers makes the identification of learning differences problematic

Itrsquos really difficult to unpick what is SEN and what is EAL Some children are held backby language and a special need (Teacher 2)

When the EAL children first arrived we were told not to treat them as special needschildren so I have six EAL children in my top set for English Some are only juststarting to access the language They shouldnrsquot be with me (Teacher 1)

It was 12 months before Kuba was identified as dyslexic His parents had already got astatement from their home country Either they hadnrsquot got the vocabulary to tell us orthey wanted him to have a fresh start (EAL teacher 5)

Education 3ndash13 211

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

One girl was here a year but understood very little We thought she may have specialneeds The school had to ask for an interpreter because the mother spoke little EnglishWe found out that the girl was in the process of being statemented before she migratedThe mother thought the child was going to be thrown out of school because she wasnrsquotbright enough She was so relieved when she was told the purpose of the meeting was tofind a way to support the child she wept (EAL teacher 3)

Distinguishing language differences from special educational needs is extremelycomplex as external factors (eg interrupted schooling disrupted family context)may be disabling migrant children rather than any underlying condition (Coelho2001) As shown by Teacher 1 there might be reluctance to label migrant children ashaving particular needs as educational policy (DfES 2001) warns teachers againstforming assumptions that minority language learners have learning difficultiesPractitioners may well need to be mindful of making such assumptions ascurriculum and pedagogy including frameworks used to assess childrenrsquos languageproficiency largely constitute the values and attitudes of middle-class Anglomonolingual educationalists (Tomlinson 2000 Brooker 2005) potentially placingmigrant pupils at a disadvantage The above comments suggest that some migrantparents may not be forthcoming in disclosing information about childrenrsquos specificlearning differences This could be due to the language barrier but may also indicatethat special educational needs is not perceived with the same level of understandingand tolerance in some Eastern European countries as it is within the UK Thereforeparents unsure about whether their children will be accepted into mainstreamsettings may remain silent It is an area meriting further research

Teacher workload potential lsquotipping pointrsquo and perceptions of cultural homogeneity

This study suggests that there is a lsquotipping pointrsquo (Gladwell 2000) regarding the levelof support practitioners give to migrant learners Many of the migrant children whoentered lsquosolorsquo into schools where little cultural and linguistic diversity existedseemed to be better supported by their teachers than those in schools where there is agreater intake Whereas most teachers generally coped with the diverse needs of oneor two migrant children many struggled to accommodate more than a couple ofchildren

As the numbers have grown it has become really difficult catering for the different levelsof EAL children Before we only had one or two to consider It has made my job muchharder (Teacher 7)

Where there are only one or two EAL pupils children are more supported Manyteachers are proud to see the progression made by these children When in largernumbers some are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 3)

As illustrated below increased numbers of migrant children in any oneclassroom may lead to teachers questioning the time they are able to give insupporting this group of learners It has left some teachers struggling to determinewhere their loyalties should lie and which pupils should receive more support ndash localchildren with learning differences or migrant children with limited English languageproficiency

We have 320 pupils 50 are registered as SEN and 40 are EAL 13 of EAL is a largechunk of our children Wersquove got to think about how much time we can give tosupporting these children Wersquove also got to be fair to our own children (Head teacher)

P Hamilton212

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Sometimes yoursquove to ignore the EAL children and let them flounder I feel guilty but itrsquosdifficult catering for the wide range of needs in the class Someone ends up missing out(Teacher 5)

These children often need a lot of help before they can access a task and then you haveto constantly check that they remain on task This requires a lot of time and energy(Teacher 3)

Increased demands on teachersrsquo time in a performance-driven culture may makethe task of providing the in-depth support often initially required by migrantchildren too challenging for some practitioners It may leave even the most inclusive-minded of teachers adopting socially inequitable practices in the classroom such asrationing their interactions with migrant pupils When in greater numbers there is arisk that migrant learners will become perceived as a burden where as previouslyidentified having a first language other than English is regarded as a lsquodeficitrsquo(Loewen 2004 Issa 2006 Monaghan 2010) Migrant children might also beperceived to be culturally homogenous Vandenbroeck (2007) asserts that one of themain misconceptions practitioners hold is that ethnic groups are lsquohomogeneousrsquo AsPolish children account for 74 of all migrant learners within Wales (Estyn 2009)this study suggests that pupils from other Eastern European countries riskmarginalisation their needs being considered in relation to their Polish classmatesSuch children may face multiple prejudices and barriers to learning as manypractitioners focused their work on lsquoPolishrsquo pupils (as can be seen within thenarratives included in this article) with little reference to children of other EasternEuropean heritage Perceptions of cultural homogeneity are greatly misleading as itfails to account for the variable nature of identity formation and extreme variationsthat exist among childrenrsquos cultures pre- and post-migratory experiences familystability cognitive ability socio-economic status and the levels of individualresilience

Training and support required by teachers

The unexpected settlement of migrant children to the UK meant that the supportoffered to many schools was late in arriving The lack of training written guidanceand suitable teaching resources has been challenging for many practitioners involvedin this study particularly as the local authority had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity Out of the 37 teachers 31 claimed that they had notbeen adequately trained to work with migrant children instead developing skills andstrategies in practice Of the six who felt they could cope five said this was because ofthe support they were receiving from the EAL Service whilst the other felt it wasbecause there was only one migrant pupil in her class

I wasnrsquot trained in university Irsquove built up coping strategies as I have gone along Themore experience I have with EAL children the easier it is becoming but I would likemore training on teaching strategies (Teacher 8)

Itrsquos a matter of managing rather than understanding where Irsquom going with thesechildren (Teacher 9)

The inadequacy of initial teacher education and in-service training to address theissues of teaching minority ethnic and linguistic learners is widely acknowledged(Crosse 2007 Parker-Jenkins et al 2007 Estyn 2009) Research indicates thatteachers who have been trained in areas where there was little ethnic diversity and

Education 3ndash13 213

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

P Hamilton214

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

One girl was here a year but understood very little We thought she may have specialneeds The school had to ask for an interpreter because the mother spoke little EnglishWe found out that the girl was in the process of being statemented before she migratedThe mother thought the child was going to be thrown out of school because she wasnrsquotbright enough She was so relieved when she was told the purpose of the meeting was tofind a way to support the child she wept (EAL teacher 3)

Distinguishing language differences from special educational needs is extremelycomplex as external factors (eg interrupted schooling disrupted family context)may be disabling migrant children rather than any underlying condition (Coelho2001) As shown by Teacher 1 there might be reluctance to label migrant children ashaving particular needs as educational policy (DfES 2001) warns teachers againstforming assumptions that minority language learners have learning difficultiesPractitioners may well need to be mindful of making such assumptions ascurriculum and pedagogy including frameworks used to assess childrenrsquos languageproficiency largely constitute the values and attitudes of middle-class Anglomonolingual educationalists (Tomlinson 2000 Brooker 2005) potentially placingmigrant pupils at a disadvantage The above comments suggest that some migrantparents may not be forthcoming in disclosing information about childrenrsquos specificlearning differences This could be due to the language barrier but may also indicatethat special educational needs is not perceived with the same level of understandingand tolerance in some Eastern European countries as it is within the UK Thereforeparents unsure about whether their children will be accepted into mainstreamsettings may remain silent It is an area meriting further research

Teacher workload potential lsquotipping pointrsquo and perceptions of cultural homogeneity

This study suggests that there is a lsquotipping pointrsquo (Gladwell 2000) regarding the levelof support practitioners give to migrant learners Many of the migrant children whoentered lsquosolorsquo into schools where little cultural and linguistic diversity existedseemed to be better supported by their teachers than those in schools where there is agreater intake Whereas most teachers generally coped with the diverse needs of oneor two migrant children many struggled to accommodate more than a couple ofchildren

As the numbers have grown it has become really difficult catering for the different levelsof EAL children Before we only had one or two to consider It has made my job muchharder (Teacher 7)

Where there are only one or two EAL pupils children are more supported Manyteachers are proud to see the progression made by these children When in largernumbers some are left to their own devices not pushed (EAL teacher 3)

As illustrated below increased numbers of migrant children in any oneclassroom may lead to teachers questioning the time they are able to give insupporting this group of learners It has left some teachers struggling to determinewhere their loyalties should lie and which pupils should receive more support ndash localchildren with learning differences or migrant children with limited English languageproficiency

We have 320 pupils 50 are registered as SEN and 40 are EAL 13 of EAL is a largechunk of our children Wersquove got to think about how much time we can give tosupporting these children Wersquove also got to be fair to our own children (Head teacher)

P Hamilton212

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Sometimes yoursquove to ignore the EAL children and let them flounder I feel guilty but itrsquosdifficult catering for the wide range of needs in the class Someone ends up missing out(Teacher 5)

These children often need a lot of help before they can access a task and then you haveto constantly check that they remain on task This requires a lot of time and energy(Teacher 3)

Increased demands on teachersrsquo time in a performance-driven culture may makethe task of providing the in-depth support often initially required by migrantchildren too challenging for some practitioners It may leave even the most inclusive-minded of teachers adopting socially inequitable practices in the classroom such asrationing their interactions with migrant pupils When in greater numbers there is arisk that migrant learners will become perceived as a burden where as previouslyidentified having a first language other than English is regarded as a lsquodeficitrsquo(Loewen 2004 Issa 2006 Monaghan 2010) Migrant children might also beperceived to be culturally homogenous Vandenbroeck (2007) asserts that one of themain misconceptions practitioners hold is that ethnic groups are lsquohomogeneousrsquo AsPolish children account for 74 of all migrant learners within Wales (Estyn 2009)this study suggests that pupils from other Eastern European countries riskmarginalisation their needs being considered in relation to their Polish classmatesSuch children may face multiple prejudices and barriers to learning as manypractitioners focused their work on lsquoPolishrsquo pupils (as can be seen within thenarratives included in this article) with little reference to children of other EasternEuropean heritage Perceptions of cultural homogeneity are greatly misleading as itfails to account for the variable nature of identity formation and extreme variationsthat exist among childrenrsquos cultures pre- and post-migratory experiences familystability cognitive ability socio-economic status and the levels of individualresilience

Training and support required by teachers

The unexpected settlement of migrant children to the UK meant that the supportoffered to many schools was late in arriving The lack of training written guidanceand suitable teaching resources has been challenging for many practitioners involvedin this study particularly as the local authority had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity Out of the 37 teachers 31 claimed that they had notbeen adequately trained to work with migrant children instead developing skills andstrategies in practice Of the six who felt they could cope five said this was because ofthe support they were receiving from the EAL Service whilst the other felt it wasbecause there was only one migrant pupil in her class

I wasnrsquot trained in university Irsquove built up coping strategies as I have gone along Themore experience I have with EAL children the easier it is becoming but I would likemore training on teaching strategies (Teacher 8)

Itrsquos a matter of managing rather than understanding where Irsquom going with thesechildren (Teacher 9)

The inadequacy of initial teacher education and in-service training to address theissues of teaching minority ethnic and linguistic learners is widely acknowledged(Crosse 2007 Parker-Jenkins et al 2007 Estyn 2009) Research indicates thatteachers who have been trained in areas where there was little ethnic diversity and

Education 3ndash13 213

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

P Hamilton214

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Sometimes yoursquove to ignore the EAL children and let them flounder I feel guilty but itrsquosdifficult catering for the wide range of needs in the class Someone ends up missing out(Teacher 5)

These children often need a lot of help before they can access a task and then you haveto constantly check that they remain on task This requires a lot of time and energy(Teacher 3)

Increased demands on teachersrsquo time in a performance-driven culture may makethe task of providing the in-depth support often initially required by migrantchildren too challenging for some practitioners It may leave even the most inclusive-minded of teachers adopting socially inequitable practices in the classroom such asrationing their interactions with migrant pupils When in greater numbers there is arisk that migrant learners will become perceived as a burden where as previouslyidentified having a first language other than English is regarded as a lsquodeficitrsquo(Loewen 2004 Issa 2006 Monaghan 2010) Migrant children might also beperceived to be culturally homogenous Vandenbroeck (2007) asserts that one of themain misconceptions practitioners hold is that ethnic groups are lsquohomogeneousrsquo AsPolish children account for 74 of all migrant learners within Wales (Estyn 2009)this study suggests that pupils from other Eastern European countries riskmarginalisation their needs being considered in relation to their Polish classmatesSuch children may face multiple prejudices and barriers to learning as manypractitioners focused their work on lsquoPolishrsquo pupils (as can be seen within thenarratives included in this article) with little reference to children of other EasternEuropean heritage Perceptions of cultural homogeneity are greatly misleading as itfails to account for the variable nature of identity formation and extreme variationsthat exist among childrenrsquos cultures pre- and post-migratory experiences familystability cognitive ability socio-economic status and the levels of individualresilience

Training and support required by teachers

The unexpected settlement of migrant children to the UK meant that the supportoffered to many schools was late in arriving The lack of training written guidanceand suitable teaching resources has been challenging for many practitioners involvedin this study particularly as the local authority had little previous experience ofcultural and linguistic diversity Out of the 37 teachers 31 claimed that they had notbeen adequately trained to work with migrant children instead developing skills andstrategies in practice Of the six who felt they could cope five said this was because ofthe support they were receiving from the EAL Service whilst the other felt it wasbecause there was only one migrant pupil in her class

I wasnrsquot trained in university Irsquove built up coping strategies as I have gone along Themore experience I have with EAL children the easier it is becoming but I would likemore training on teaching strategies (Teacher 8)

Itrsquos a matter of managing rather than understanding where Irsquom going with thesechildren (Teacher 9)

The inadequacy of initial teacher education and in-service training to address theissues of teaching minority ethnic and linguistic learners is widely acknowledged(Crosse 2007 Parker-Jenkins et al 2007 Estyn 2009) Research indicates thatteachers who have been trained in areas where there was little ethnic diversity and

Education 3ndash13 213

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

P Hamilton214

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

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rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

later worked in urban primary schools do not always feel adequately prepared(Maguire Wooldridge and Pratt-Adams 2006) Many teachers involved in the studydiscussed the complex issues often faced by migrant children in their efforts to masternew cultures languages and education systems Teachers expressed interest in in-service training aimed at supporting newly arrived children the identification ofspecific learning differences communicating with parents and teaching strategiesappropriate for this group of learners The inter-disciplinary skills knowledge andconfidence necessary to support learners with such issues is unlikely to be gainedthrough isolated training events (Fumoto Hargreaves and Maxwell 2007) thushighlighting the necessity of continuous professional development in this area withparticular exposure to disciplines such as linguistics and developmental psychology

Conclusion

If migrant children are to settle successfully and progress academically and sociallyin the UK careful planning will be required to ensure that inclusive principles are atthe heart of every aspect of school settings culture policies and practices The lsquoIndexfor Inclusionrsquo presented by Booth and Ainscow (2002) offers educationalestablishments a useful starting point Settings which adopt a lsquowhole schoolapproachrsquo where the needs of all stakeholders ndash teachers learners and their familiesare considered and provided for are those most likely to be successful in terms ofacademic outcomes and pastoral support for migrant pupils This will require pro-active practitioners who are critically reflective of their own cultural and linguisticpositioning value base and pedagogy as well as the attitudes of their colleagues andthe systems which operate within the workplace and how normalising discourses ofthe dominant community can disadvantage certain learners The efforts of theinclusive practitioner can have far-reaching benefits Teachers who draw upon theknowledge children bring with them to school have high expectations of all learnersand create language-rich environments which can do much to close the gap betweenthose who achieve and those who underachieve However understanding the viewsand actions of people from diverse backgrounds requires patience and effort (Rose2010) Even when teachers adopt inclusive attitudes and practices to accommodateindividual differences lsquorefugee [and I argue migrant] children may stretchpractitioners far beyond their capabilitiesrsquo (Hamilton 2004 95) Increasing demandswithin the workplace may lead to some practitioners feeling that they haveinsufficient time to consider the needs of diverse lsquoothersrsquo who may be perceived as athreat to traditional ways school performance targets scarce resources and personalwell-being Thus if inclusion is to be a reality rather than idealism the needs ofteachers will need to be equally acknowledged and supported in addition to those ofmigrant pupils and parents This highlights the necessity of a framework of multi-agency co-operation where children and teachers gain access to the relevant supportagencies and resources that will facilitate well-being and learning

Although European migration to the UK has slowed (BBC 2008) the challengesfor schools and practitioners remain Migrant children will continue to appear inschools which have had little or no previous experience of cultural and linguisticdiversity Raising the attainment of minority ethnic pupils is likely to remain a keypolitical target To conclude possible measures that may enhance the educationalexperiences of migrant worker children which the Welsh Assembly and WestminsterGovernment through their local authorities could implement include

P Hamilton214

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Ensuring that teachers are adequately trained to assist migrant children in theirtransitions and to address and promote aspects of cultural and linguisticdiversity

Drawing upon the expertise of EAL teachers to enhance the knowledge andskills of mainstream teachers

Supporting teachers to develop personalised learning and assessment strategiesthat are relevant appropriately challenging and accessible for migrant learners

Providing additional language support for more orally fluent learners

Presenting migrant children and parents with appropriate forums so that theycan voice their experiences of the schoollearning environment

Undertaking a longitudinal study to track end of key stage and GCSEattainment and school-leaver destinations by gender age ethnicity andnationality in order to monitor progression and target underachievementwhere necessary

References

BBC News 2007 Heads warn of migrant problems httpnewsbbccoukgoprfr-1hieducation7112923

BBC News 2008 Drop in Eastern European migration httpnewsbbccoukmpappspagetools printnewsbbccouk1hiuk75

Bell J 2005 Doing your research project A guide for first-time researchers in education andsocial science 4th ed Milton Keynes Open University Press

Booth T and M Ainscow 2002 Index for inclusion Developing learning and participation inschool 2nd ed Bristol CSIE

Bronfenbrenner U 1979 The ecology of human development Experiments by nature anddesign London Harvard University Press

Brooker L 2005 Learning to be a child Cultural diversity and early years ideology InCritical issues in early childhood education ed N Yelland 115ndash30 Maidenhead OpenUniversity Press

Burgess H S Sieminski and L Arthur 2006 Achieving your doctorate in education 2nd edLondon Sage Publications Ltd

Cefai C 2008 Promoting resilience in the classroom A guide to developing pupilsrsquo emotionaland cognitive skills London Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Coelho E 2001 Social integration of immigrant and refugee children In Educating secondlanguage children The whole child the whole curriculum the whole community edF Genesee 301ndash28 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Crosse K 2007 Introducing English as an additional language to young children LondonChapman Publishing

Cummins J 2001 Knowledge power and identity in teaching English as a second languageIn Educating second language children The whole child the whole curriculum the wholecommunity ed F Genesee 33ndash58 9th ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008aFoundation phase Framework for childrenrsquos learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales CardiffWelsh Assembly Government

Department for Children Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) 2008b Pupilsfrom EU accession countries Arrivals since September 2008 Cardiff Welsh AssemblyGovernment

Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) 2007 Supporting children learningEnglish as an additional language Primary national strategy London DCSF Publications

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1981 West Indian children in our schoolsRampton report London HMSO

Department of Education and Science (DES) 1985 Committee of inquiry into the education ofchildren from ethnic minority groups Education for all Swann report London HMSO

Education 3ndash13 215

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Department for Education and Skills (DfES) 2001 Code of practice on special educationalneeds London Department for Education and Skills

Department for Education and Skills (DfES) 2003 Aiming high Raising achievement ofminority ethnic pupils London Department for Education and Skills

Estyn 2009 Local authority support for the education of migrant workers Cardiff EstynPublications

Fumoto H DJ Hargreaves and S Maxwell 2007 Teachersrsquo perceptions of theirrelationships with children who speak English as an additional language in earlychildhood settings Early Childhood Research 5 no 2 135ndash53

Galton M 2007 Learning and teaching in the primary classroom London Sage PublicationsGardner J 2006 Children who have English as an additional language In Supporting

inclusive practice ed G Knowles 73ndash91 Suffolk David Fulton PublishersGladwell M 2000 The tipping point How little things can make a big difference New York

Little Brown and CompanyGlaser B and A Strauss 1967 The discovery of grounded theory Strategies for qualitative

research Chicago AldineGriebel W and R Niesel 2003 Successful transitions Social competencies help pave the

way into kindergarten and school European Early Childhood Education Research JournalSeries 1 25ndash33

Hamilton R 2004 Schools teachers and the education of refugee children In Educationalinterventions for refugee children ed R Hamilton and D Moore 83ndash96 LondonRoutledge Falmer

Hamilton P 2010 The inclusion of Eastern European children into primary schools in NorthWales A case study PhD diss University of Wales

Institute of Community Cohesion (ICC) 2007 Estimating the scale and impacts of migration atthe local level London Local Government Association

Issa T 2006 Childrenrsquos home languages in the classroom Development of identity andemotions in bilingual children Child Right 225 24ndash7

Leach R 2003 Childrenrsquos participation in family decision making London NationalChildrenrsquos Bureau

Loewen S 2004 Second language concerns for refugee children In Educational interventionsfor refugee children ed R Hamilton and D Moore 35ndash52 London RoutledgeFalmer

Maguire M T Wooldridge and S Pratt-Adams 2006 The urban primary school BerkshireOpen University Press

Margetts K 2003 Children bring more to school than their backpacks Starting school downunder European Early Childhood Education Research Journal Series 1 5ndash14

McKeon D 2001 Language culture and schooling In Educating second language childrenThe whole child the whole curriculum the whole community ed F Genesee 15ndash32 9th edCambridge Cambridge University Press

Monaghan F 2010 Mainstream participatory approaches From slipstream to mainstreamIn English as an additional language Approaches to teaching linguistic minority students edC Leung and A Creese 15ndash32 London Sage Publications Ltd

National Assembly for Wales (NAW) 2008 Equality of opportunity committeersquos inquiry intoissues affecting migrant workers in Wales httpwwwassemblywalesorg

Nutbrown C 1996 Questions for respectful educators In Respectful educators ndash Capablelearners Childrenrsquos rights and early education ed C Nutbrown 99ndash108 London PaulChapman Publishing

OrsquoReilly K 2009 Key concepts in ethnography London Sage Publications LtdParker-Jenkins M D Hewitt S Brownhill and T Sanders 2007 Aiming high Raising

attainment of pupils from culturally diverse backgrounds London Paul ChapmanPublishing

Perregaux C 2007 Developing an early passion for languages Children in Europe no 12 10ndash11

Pollock D and R Van Reken 2002 Third culture kids The experience of growing up amongworlds London Nicholas Brealey Publishing

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) 2000 National curriculum Statutoryinclusion statement httpcurriculumqcaorgukkey-stagesndash1-and-2inclusionstatutory-inclusion-statementindexaspx

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at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Reakes A 2007 The education of asylum seekers Some UK case studies Research inEducation 77 92ndash107

Rees D and D Morley 2007 Child and adolescent mental health In Public health practiceand the school-age population ed D DeBell 179ndash207 London Hodder Arnold

Richards L 2006 Handling qualitative data A practical guide London Sage PublicationsRose R 2010 Understanding inclusion Interpretations perspectives and cultures In

Confronting obstacles to inclusion International responses to developing inclusive educationed R Rose 1ndash6 Oxon Routledge

Rutter J 2006 Refugee children in the UK Berkshire Open University PressSchumann JH 1986 Research on the acculturation model for second language acquisition

Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 7 no 5 379ndash392Sikan S 2007 Multilingual children in monolingual centres Children in Europe no 12 15ndash7Siraj-Blatchford I and P Clarke 2000 Supporting identity diversity and language in the early

years Maidenhead Open University PressStrauss A and J Corbin 1998 Basics of qualitative research Techniques and procedures for

developing grounded theory 2nd ed London Sage Publications LtdTomlinson S 2000 Ethnic minorities and education New disadvantages In Combating

educational disadvantage Meeting the needs of vulnerable children ed T Cox 17ndash36London Falmer Press

Vandenbroeck M 2007 Beyond anti-bias education Changing conceptions of diversity andequity European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 15 no 1 21ndash35

Van Gennep A 1960 Rites of passage Trans MB Vizedom and GL Caffee LondonRoutledge and Kegan Paul

Vygotsky LS 1978 Mind in society The development of higher psychological processesCambridge MA Harvard University Press

Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) 2007 Migrant workers in Wales CardiffWLGA

Education 3ndash13 217

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

Lib

rari

es]

at 0

708

06

Nov

embe

r 20

14