In 2004, the Galician government approved a policy entitled Orde do 20 de febreiro de 2004 pola que se establecen as medidas de atención específica ó alumnado procedente do estranxeiro (Order of 20th February 2004 that establishes measures specifically aimed at students who come from abroad). This policy focused on educational provisions for immigrant students. It stipulated that, upon entering the education system, immigrant students should undergo an evaluation of their linguistic and numerical skills to assess how their educational level aligned with the Spanish education system. It further outlined several criteria by which students would be assessed. The criteria by which students were evaluated were the following:
a) Descoñecemento das dúas linguas oficiais da nosa Comunidade Autónoma, galega e castelá.
b) Desfase curricular de dous cursos ou máis, con respecto ó que lle correspondería pola súa idade.
c) Presentar graves dificultades de adaptación ó medio escolar debidas a razóns sociais ou culturais
a) Lack of knowledge of Galician and Spanish, the two official languages of our autonomous community
b) Curricular lag of two or more years, with that which corresponds to the student’s age
c) Presenting serious difficulties in adapting to the school environment due to social or cultural issues
(my translation)
From reading the above three points, a ‘deficit discourse’, where difference is mistaken for ‘deficit’ (Gorski, 2011, p.2) can be identified. (Deficit discourse is discussed in more depth in chapter 6, and has also been documented in other contexts such as Martín Rojo, 2010; Gorski, 2011; Van Der Wildt et al., 2015; Allard et al., 2014). Rather than a model that views integration as a two way process, with both host and immigrant community participating, an assimilationist view of integration emerges in the above legislation, where the previous knowledge of immigrant students is not valued (see Teasley et al., 2012 for a discussion of 'unidirectional' versurs 'multidirectional' integration in the Galician education sytem). Rather than building on the knowledge immigrant students have, the school curriculum outlines an evaluation that is based on examining what they do not know, rather than what they do know, positioning immigrants as deficient from the moment they enter the education system.
“Cultural issues” (i.e. difference perceived as deficit) are outlined as a category by which students will be assessed. The ‘culture’ of the Galician community is seen as the standard which is normalised, and any deviation from this is perceived as a deficit.
Blommaert and Verschueren (1998a) make specific reference to how ‘culture’ is used in discourses about immigrant integration. “The prototypical ‘migrants’ are depicted as a traditional people, with one foot in the late Middle Ages […] They do not care to adapt, and their culture is static and deterministic.” (Blommaert and Verschueren, 1998a, p.100) This is contrasted with European culture which is promoted as being characterised by “Democratic values, respect for freedom of expression and other basic human rights […] which make Europeans inherently or naturally open-minded and tolerant for ‘otherness’” (Blommaert and Verschueren, 1998a, p.63). In this sense, the above legislation positions Galicians as respectful of democratic values but at the same time paints the culture of the immigrant community as potentially problematic.
In 2005, the Galician department of education built on the 2004 policy document, publishing the Plan de Acollida (Welcome Plan), aimed also at the incorporation of immigrant students in the Galician education system. The plan had the following key objectives:
1. Asumir como centro, dun xeito global, o deseño e posta en práctica das respostas educativas que precisa este alumnado.
2. Favorecer a súa adaptación progresiva ó centro.
3. Proporciona, ós pais e ó propio alumnado, información sobre o funcionamento e organización do centro educativo.
4. Fomentar actitudes de respecto cara a estes alumnos e alumnas e facilitárllelo proceso de integración.
1. Undertake, as a whole school and in a global sense, the design and implementation of the educational interventions required by these students.
2. Foster in them a progressive adaptation to the school.
3. Ensure that the children as well as their parents are informed about the organisation and operation of the school.
4. Develop attitudes of respect towards these students and facilitate the process of their integration.
(Consellería de Educación, 2005, p. 13, Teasley et al., 2012, italics added)
I have used the translation provided by Teasley et al. for the above excerpt as their translation, as well as their italicised text, illustrate clearly the following point: while the 2005 plan aimed to outline a more inclusive plan and move away from the deficit discourse of the 2004 policy, the wording is still indicative of an assimilationist model of integration. As Teasley et al. point out, “this discourse essentialises the immigrant student as the only object of these processes of adaptation and integration […] The existing students do not seem to have any need to integrate themselves with respect to these newcomers. Although they are expected to develop attitudes of respect ‘towards’
their immigrant peers, this does not seem to imply any mutual implication in the integration process” (Teasley et al., 2012).
Therefore, rather than focusing on the possibilities for cultural enrichment that immigration can present, the regional government’s policy focuses on the deficiencies of the immigrant child. For these reasons, the integration policies developed by the Galician government have been criticised; assimilation continues to be the overarching objective, while the possibility for multi-directional integration is largely overlooked (Teasley et al., 2012).