A peer-mentoring scheme for immigrant students in English secondary schools: a support mechanism for promoting inclusion?

ABSTRACT

Immigration in Europe has increased rapidly over the last years. As a result, schools are accepting students arriving from other countries at various stages of the school year. This can be a challenging process both for students and for schools. This paper describes the introduction of a peer-mentoring scheme to support immigrant students in three English schools, which took part in a European Union funded project that involved five countries. Data from semi-structured interviews with mentors, mentees and facilitators were analysed and highlighted a number of positive impacts, such as getting support from mentors, making new friends and increased confidence both for mentors and mentees. However, it seems that the way that the programme was implemented in the English schools, focused only on the individual students, rather than having an impact on the whole school. The implications of such an approach in relation to inclusion are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Immigration
• inclusion
• peer-mentoring
• schools

Acknowledgements

This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. The authors would like to thank all the facilitators and students from schools, as well as the colleagues from the other countries who took part in this project. Without their cooperation, this project would have not been possible. Special thanks to Dr John Schulz for filming and editing the videos for the project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Kyriaki Messiou is Associate Professor in Education at the University of Southampton. Her research interests focus on inclusive education, students’ voices, and participation and marginalisation in school contexts.

Marta Cristina Azaola is a Lecturer in Education at the University of Southampton. Her research interests focus on educational inequalities and social exclusion.

Additional information

Funding

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission; Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency [grant number 540440-LLP-2013-IT-COMENIUS-CMP-2013-3321].