Prioridades programáticas

U n d e r th e D e p artm en t o f E d ucation and S k ills’ social in clu sio n p ro g ra m m e schoo ls in Irelan d th a t are d esig n ated as d isad v an ta g ed sch o o ls are re fe rre d to as D E IS sch o o ls (D e liv e rin g E q u ality and O p p o rtu n ity in S cho ols). A u th o rs m a in ta in th at su ch sch o o ls d iffe r to n on -D E IS sch oo ls as teac h ers g e n e ra lly d ea l w ith a h ig h e r n u m b e r o f stu d en ts w ith literacy, n u m era cy an d b e h a v io u ra l d iffic u ltie s.42 W h ile m a n y are ‘u n d e r-su b sc rib e d ’ w ith resp ect to stu d en t n u m b e rs,43 e v id e n c e in E n g lan d su g g ests th a t in areas w h e re stu den t p o p u latio n s are d w in d lin g , th e a rriv a l o f M E ch ild re n p ro v id e s ‘a m uch needed b o o st.’ 44 D E IS sch o o ls in Ire la n d are g e n e rally p ro n e to a h ig h tu rn o v er o f s ta ff and h ig h e r rate o f te a c h e r a b s e n te e is m.45 T h o u g h D E IS statu s en title s scho ols to ad ditio nal reso u rces, L o d g e an d L y n c h c o n te n d th at the gap in re so u rces b etw e e n D EIS sch o o ls an d fe e-p a y in g sch o o ls in p artic u la r, re m a in s c o n s id e ra b le.46

T h e re a lity th at M E students are m o re th an lik e ly to a tte n d D E IS sch o o ls ra ise s co n cern s. B y rn e an d o th ers assert th a t th e d istrib u tio n o f M E stu d e n ts acro ss Irish sch o o ls is larg e ly d eterm in ed by sch o o l ad m issio n p o lic ie s - p o lic ie s w h ic h

40 Mi eke Van Houtte and Peter A.J. Stevens, ‘School Ethnic Com position and Aspirations o f Immigrant Students in Belgium’, British Educational Research Journal, 36 (2) (2010), p. 212

.

41 Byrne and others, p. 285.

42 Karl Kitching, ‘An Excavation o f the Racialised Politics o f V iability Underpinning Education Policy in Ireland’, Irish Educational Studies, 29 (3) (2010), p. 221; Smyth and others, p. 53.

43 Smyth and others, p. 53.

44 Grace Reynolds, The Impacts and Experiences o f M igrant Children in UK Secondary

Schools, Working Paper No. 47 (University o f Sussex, Centre for M igration Research,

2008), p. 5.

45 Aine Cregan, From Difference to Disadvantage: Talking Posh, Sociolinguistic

Perspectives on the Context o f Schooling in Ireland (Dublin: Combat Poverty Agency, June

2008), p. 56.

46 Kathleen Lynch and Anne Lodge, Equality and Pow er in Schools: Redistribution,

te n d to fa v o u r settled co m m u n itie s. 47 L od ge an d L y n ch attrib u te th is to the E d u c a tio n A c t (1998), w h ich req uires sch o o ls to re co g n ise so cial, cu ltu ral and re lig io u s differen ces, y et affords d en o m in atio n al scho ols, w h ic h m ak e up a su b stan tial c o h o rt o f all scho ols in Ireland, th e rig h t to p ro te c t th e ir re lig io u s e th o s.48

B ry a n ec h o es th is v iew as d o es L yons w ho d isco v ered th a t o n ly th irty p e rc e n t o f M E stu d en ts w e re fou n d in v o lu n tary seco n d ary sch o o ls w ith a p a rtic u la r relig io us e th o s.49 Issu e s p erta in in g to th e d iscrim in atio n o f n o n -C ath o lic stu d en ts in C ath o lic sch o o ls in o th e r countries has raised sim ilar co n c e rn s.50

A s n o te d above, th e d istrib u tio n o f M E stu d en ts ac ro ss D E IS sch o o ls in Ire la n d re flects intern atio n al trends. In th e 1970s an d 1980s, in A u stra lia and the U n ite d S tates, B u lliv an t and S u arez-O rozco re sp e c tiv e ly p o in te d to th e su btle system ic p attern s o f discrim in atio n w here ‘p o w e rle ss’ M E stu d en ts w ere ‘ro u te d ’ to d isa d v a n ta g e d sc h o o ls.51 T h is p attern o f d isc rim in a tio n is still o m n ip re se n t acro ss sch o o ls in A u stra lia today; m a n y low so cio -e co n o m ic statu s sch o o ls h a v e h ig h p ro p o rtio n s o f M E stu d en ts.52 In E u ro p ean co u n tries th ere is an o v e r-re p re se n ta tio n o f M E ch ild re n in sch o o ls fo r ch ild ren w ith sp ecial n e e d s.53 In B elg iu m , schools attra c t stu d e n ts from certain so cio -eco n o m ic b a c k g ro u n d s, a n d im m ig ra n ts com e fro m lo w e r statu s b a c k g ro u n d s. 54 T his h as led to th e u n in te n tio n a l creatio n o f ‘c o n c e n tra tio n ’ schools w here in som e h ig h co n cen trated sch o o ls M E stu d en ts m ade

47 Byrne and others, p. 285.

48 D iversity at School, ed. by Anne Lodge and Kathleen Lynch (Dublin: Equality Authority, 2004), p. 69.

49 Audrey Biyan, ‘Corporate Multiculturalism, Diversity M anagement, and Positive Interculturalism in Irish Schools and Society’, Irish Educational Studies, 29 (3) (2010), p. 258; Zachary Lyons, ‘Articulating a Deficit Perspective: A Survey o f the Attitudes o f Post- Primary English Language Support Teachers and Coordinators’, Irish Educational Studies, 29 (3) (2010), p. 292.

50 Michael S. Merry, ‘Social Exclusion o f Muslim Youth in Flemish and French-Speaking Belgian Schools’, Comparative Education Review, 49 (1) (2005), p. 36.

51 Brian M ilton Bullivant, The Ethnic Encounter in Secondary School, Ethnocultural

Reproduction and Resistance: Theory and Case Studies (London: Falm er Press, 1987), p.

55; M arcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, ‘Becoming Somebody: Central Am erican Immigrants in U.S inner-city Schools’, Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 18 (1987), p. 289.

52 Khoo and others, cited in Joel Windle, ‘Shifting Concepts o f M igrant Educational (dis)advantage in A ustralia’, Paper presented at the Education, Social M obility, and Social Cohesion (EDUC) Workshop, ‘Economic Change, Quality o f Life & Social C ohesion’ (University o f Pompeu, Barcelona, EQUALSOC, 22-23 September, 2006), p. 10.

53 Friedrich Heckmann, Education and M igration: Strategies f o r Integrating M igrant

Children in European Schools and Societies (European Commission: Directorate-General

for Education and Culture, 2008), p. 15.

up o v e r fifty p ercen t o f the sc h o o l’s p o p u latio n . T h e sam e p h en o m en o n is re flected in S p ain55 an d in G e rm a n y.56

T h ere is a co rrelatio n betw een e th n icity a n d lo w so c io -e co n o m ic status. In the U n ite d S tates n ew im m igran ts are p ro n e to h ig h e r lev els o f p o v e rty an d as a re su lt th e y are ‘fo rc e d ’ to assim ilate in areas w ith u n d e r-re so u rc e d sc h o o ls.57 S u ch sch o o ls are o ften ill-p rep ared , ill-eq u ip p ed and, as H o o d m a in ta in s, tak e a long tim e to ad a p t to ‘w h o is h e re’ .58 R o b u st evid en ce su g g e sts th a t teac h ers in th ese sch o o ls a re p erceiv ed to h o ld low expectations w h ic h p re d e te rm in e u n d e ra c h ie v e m e n t an d c o n trib u te to stu d en t d isaffectio n.59 C eb o lla-B o ad o a n d M e d in a asse rt th a t teac h ers ten d to ad ap t to the level o f th e student b o d y an d in so d o in g create a less d em an d in g le a rn in g e n v iro n m e n t.60

N e v erth eless, n o t all M E stu d en ts c o m e fro m lo w so cio -e co n o m ic b ac k g ro u n d s a n d attend d isad van taged sch oo ls. D o b so n a n d his co llea g u es c lo sely ex a m in e the so cial b ac k g ro u n d and ac h ie v e m e n t le v e ls o f C h in e se stu d en ts in A u stra lia. T h e y argue that any disad v an tag e th ese stu d en ts h av e th ro u g h th e ir la c k o f ed u c atio n al ex p e rien ce in A u stralia is m o re th an c o m p e n sa te d fo r b y th e ir class. M o re th an h a lf resid e in h ig h -statu s p o stco d es an d th e ir p aren ts are p re p are d a n d a b le to in v est in th e ir ed u c atio n.61 S im ilarly stu d ies in th e U n ite d K in g d o m fin d th at stu d en ts from certain M E grou ps w ho atten d ‘m a in ly w h ite ’ sch o o ls o u tp erfo rm M E stu d en ts w ho atten d m u lti-eth n ic schools. H e n ce M E stu d en ts w h o c o m e fro m ‘e d u c a te d ’ and ‘sk ille d ’ backg ro un ds ten d to beg in o r co n tin u e th e ir ed u c atio n at

55 Hector Cebolla-Boado and Luis Garrido Medina, ‘The Impact o f Immigrant Concentration in Spanish Schools: School, Class and Composition Effects’, European Sociological Review (Advance Access Published June 21, 2010), p. 5.

56 Andreas Ammermueller, ‘Poor Background or Low Returns? W hy Immigrant Students in Germany Perform so Poorly in the Programme for International Student Assessm ent’,

Education Econom ics, 15 (2) (2007), p. 222.

57 Carola Suarez-Orozco, Hee Jin Bang, Erin O ’Connor, Francisco X. Gaytan, Juliana Pakes and Jean Rhodes, ‘Academic Trajectories o f Newcom er Immigrant Y outh’, Developmental

Psychology, 46 (3) (2010), p. 603.

58 Lucy Hood, Im m igrant Students, Urban High Schools: The Challenge Continues (New York: Carnegie Corporation o f New York, 2003), p. 3.

59 Suarez-Orozco and others, p. 152; Heckmann, p. 15.

60 Cebolla-Boado and Medina, p. 5.

61 Ian Dobson, Bob Birrell and Virginia Rapson, ‘The Participation o f Non-English- Speaking-Background Persons in Higher Education’, People and Place, 4(1) (1996), p. 49.

62 Tony Cline, Guida de Abreu, Cornelius Fihosy, Hilary Gray, Hannah Lam bert and Jo N eale, M inority Ethnic Pupils in M ainly White Schools (University o f Luton: Department o f Education and Skills, July 2002), p. 4.

n o n -d isa d v a n ta g e d sch o o ls w ith lo w er c o n c e n tra tio n s o f M E p u p ils. L ik e w ise th eir ac h ie v e m e n t is sim ilar o r h ig h er th an th a t o f n a tiv e s fro m sim ila r b a c k g ro u n d s.63

T h is sec tio n p ro v id ed a b rie f o v e rv ie w o f re c e n t im m ig ra tio n tre n d s in Ireland. It h ig h lig h te d that, in general, im m ig ra n ts w h o ca m e to Irelan d d u rin g th e re c e n t p e rio d o f eco n o m ic p ro sp erity settled in la rg e u rb a n settin g s. O n e s u c h setting w a s D u b lin ’s north inner city. T his a rea p ro v id ed ec o n o m ic m ig ran ts access to p riv a te -re n te d acco m m o d atio n and social an d em p lo y m e n t o p p o rtu n itie s. It w a s also a w a sh w ith g o v ern m e n t-p ro v id ed a c c o m m o d atio n fo r m ig ra n ts w ith in th e asy lu m p ro c ess.

F u rth erm o re , S ectio n O ne ch arted the d istrib u tio n o f im m ig ra n t ch ild re n , th a t is, M E stu d en ts, across Irish schools. In lin e w ith in te rn a tio n a l tren d s, M E stu d en ts in Irelan d g e n e ra lly en ro lled in u rb an d isa d v a n ta g e d (D E IS ) sch ools. A u th o rs in Ire la n d an d ab ro ad h ave co m m en ted o n th e d is c rim in a to ry n a tu re o f th ese en ro lm e n t p attern s. T h e n e x t sectio n o f this ch ap ter fo c u ses o n th e n a tu re o f re s e a rc h co n d u c te d o n im m ig ra n ts, an d su b seq u e n tly on th eir ch ild ren , co m p arin g th is to th e ty p o lo g y to em a n a te fro m o th e r coun tries.

Section Two: Research on the Education of Minority Ethnic Students