Education of migrant children as the factor of social exclusion: Case study of Germany

Abstract

Education represents one of the most important dimensions of social inclusion, while migrants are often subjected to exclusion in the important domains of social life. The aim of this paper is to analyze educational achievements of children of migrants who have been coming to Germany since the 1960s in order to stay for a short period of time, but remained to reside permanently in the country. The introductory part of the paper contains a brief explanation of the topic, followed by theoretical considerations of the links between social inclusion and education. Education in Germany, with an emphasis on the education of children with migrant background, is described in a separate section, as well as the obstacles and opportunities for the inclusion of migrant children into the education system of Germany. The paper represents a case study and is based on the qualitative content analysis of documents of the German educational system and educational outcomes of migrant children.

Obrazovanje predstavlja jednu od najvažnijih dimenzija socijalnog uključivanja, a migranti su često izloženi isključivanju u važnim oblastima društvenog života. Cilj ovog rada je analiza obrazovnih postignuća dece onih migranata koji su počeli da dolaze u Nemačku od šezdesetih godina prošlog veka, u nameri da ostanu tokom kraćeg vremenskog perioda, ali su, međutim, ostali da borave za stalno u ovoj zemlji. Uvodni deo rada, koji sadrži kratko obrazloženje, propraćen je teorijskim razmatranjem veza između socijalnog uključivanja i obrazovanja. Obrazovanje u Nemačkoj, s akcentom na obrazovanju dece migranata, opisano je u posebnom delu, kao i prepreke i prilike za njihovo uključivanje u obrazovni sistem Nemačke. Rad se zasniva na studiji slučaja, sa primenom kvalitativne analize sadržaja dokumenata o nemačkom obrazovnom sistemu i školskim postignućima dece migranata.