This presentation is a sneak preview of my forthcoming book on belonging and unbelonging (inclusion and exclusion) of migrant children in public and private primary and secondary schools in western Poland. Although migrant children have legally guaranteed access to education in Poland, many struggle to be included and to feel that they belong in Polish schools, and by extension, Polish society. Even children of returned Polish migrants do not always feel welcome in Polish schools. Furthermore, not all Polish pupils are used to having foreign-born classmates. Poland is a country with a relatively short history of immigration in the modern period, a fact that continues to shape institutional expectations and everyday encounters with newcomers.
Most publications about migrant children and education present one point of view, typically that of the teachers. In this book, I look at belonging from the perspectives of three groups: the children, their parents, and their educators. It is my hope that this book will facilitate discussions between and among policy-makers, school administrators and teachers, as well as parents and child activists, and of course the students, on how to best ensure that all children, regardless of their origin, feel welcome in Polish schools. I hope the debates will go beyond discussing what worked (or did not) for Ukrainian children and will consider whether the practices developed for Ukrainians might also work for other children. Poland is becoming more and more attractive to migrants, and I predict that schools will see growing numbers of migrant students from a diverse array of countries. We are already seeing newcomers from Spanish-speaking countries such as Venezuela and Colombia.
My goal is also to contribute to the anthropology of education, which focuses on education and multiculturalism, educational pluralism, culturally relevant pedagogy, and native methods of learning and socializing. Anthropology of education is a burgeoning sub-field of anthropology, especially in the United States. In Poland, it does not yet command the same interest, although there are several anthropologists who have taken interest in education.
Academic commentary by Ingrid Smette, NOVA, OsloMet and Anne Margrethe Sønneland, LUI, OsloMet
About the guest lecturer
Elżbieta M. Goździak, a migration scholar trained in social anthropology, is currently a Visiting Professor at the Center for Migration Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University.
Her research agenda focuses on migrant mobility, integration and belonging, migration and trafficking, medicalization of human suffering, and migrancy and childhoods.
From 2002 to 2018, she was Research Professor at the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) at Georgetown University. From 2016 to 2021 she worked for NOVA-OsloMet on the WELLMIG project, studying relations between Polish nurses and Norwegian society. She also served as the editor-in-chief of International Migration, a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal on migration policy and research.
In 2016, she was the George Soros Chair of Public Policy at the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary. She is a recipient of several Fulbright grants as well as a residential fellowship at the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy. Her recent books include Debating Religion and Forced Migration Entanglements. Palgrave 2023. (Editor, with Izabella Main); African Migration to Thailand. Race, Mobility, and Integration Routledge 2022. (Editor, with Supang Chantavanich); Human Trafficking as a New (In)Security Threat (Palgrave 2020); and Europe and the Refugee Response. A Crisis of Values? (Routledge 2020) (editor with Izabella Main and Brigitte Suter)
Organisers
- NOVA – Norwegian Social Research
- The Network for Migration and Transnationality
- Childlife
- Anthropologists at OsloMet
