Crossing the border from ‘migrant’ to ‘expert’: exploring migrant learners' perspectives on inclusion in a primary school in England

ABSTRACT

This article considers findings from a small-scale qualitative research project that explores the inclusion of migrant children in education, drawing on the examples of learners in a multi-ethnic primary school in northern England. It takes a creative approach to methods, combining the use of picturebooks, photography, group discussions and observations. Against the background of migrant children’s rights and the political and socialising roles of education, the research develops a framework for the inclusion of migrant children that involves educational access in terms of access to the curriculum as well as to the learning environment, both spatially and socially. The paper argues, then, that this understanding of inclusion can allow learners and educators to cross the tightly constructed borders of the deficit model of migrant abilities and identities and enter a space that recognises migrant learners’ agency and allows more complex and co-constructed ways of knowing and learning to emerge.

KEYWORDS:

• Education
• migration
• England
• creative methods
• expert
• agency

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.