Transnational intergenerationalities: cultural learning in Polish migrant families and its implications for pedagogy

Abstract

In this qualitative study, we examine the impact of family migration on intergenerational learning, especially in relation to the transmission of cultural values and practices. Drawing on data collected through in-depth case studies with migrant Polish children and their parents, we explore the influence of intergenerationality on children's cultural practices, values and sense of identity and the significant forms of learning that take place within transnational families. Prompted by the diverse influences on their cultural learning after migration – from statutory services, community organisations, media, peers and family across two countries – children's beliefs about the cultural values they should adopt are constantly under pressure and transformation. Using a sociocultural approach, we examine migrant children's and their parents' positions, and describe these as convergent or divergent in terms of cultural values and practices. We highlight the key role of children's agency in the processes of intergenerational learning and relations and argue that transnational intergenerationalities need to be understood as reconfigured by the new spatiality of family migration and require a more complex relational analysis, in order to inform inclusive practices in schools and community-based initiatives.

En este estudio cualitativo, se analiza el impacto de la migración en el aprendizaje intergeneracional en familias, especialmente en relación con la transmisión de los valores y las prácticas culturales. Basándose en los datos recogidos de estudios detallados con niños Polacos inmigrantes y sus padres, se explora la influencia de la intergeneracionalidad en las prácticas culturales, valores y el sentido de identidad de los niños y las formas de aprendizaje más importantes que tienen lugar dentro de las familias transnacionales. Impulsados por las diversas influencias en su aprendizaje cultural después de su migración- de servicios públicos, organizaciones comunitarias, medios de comunicación, los compañeros y sus familias transnacionales- las creencias de los niños acerca de los valores culturales que deben adoptar están constantemente bajo presión y transformación. Utilizando una teoría sociocultural, examinamos las posiciones de los niños inmigrantes y de sus padres, y describimos estos como convergente o divergente en relación con los valores y prácticas culturales. Destacamos el papel clave del control de los niños en los procesos de aprendizaje y las relaciones intergeneracionales. También sostenemos que las relaciones intergeneracionales transnacionales deben entenderse como transformadas por el nuevo espacio de la migración familiar y requieren de un análisis relacional más complejo, con el fin de informar prácticas inclusivas en las escuelas y otros ámbitos sociales.

Keywords:

• migrant children
• cultural values
• minority languages
• intergenerational learning
• transnationalism

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge funding from the Scottish Centre for Intergenerational Practice and the children and parents who welcomed us in their homes for the research. We also thank Professors Kirsten Stalker and Andy Kendrick for reviewing an earlier draft and the editors and referees for their constructive comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Daniela Sime is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Strathclyde. She specialises in research on social justice, especially in relation with children and young people, and has published work in the areas of migration and its impact on children, parental engagement, child poverty and education and EFL learning.

Dr Emilia Pietka-Nykaza is currently a Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of the West of Scotland. Previously, she was a research fellow at the University of Southampton and research assistant at the University of Strathclyde. Her research and academic experience is centred on exploring complexities of integration and migrants’ settlement processes from a multidisciplinary and policy-focused perspective.