Educational Opportunities in the Netherlands: Policy, Students' Performance and Issues

Since 1985 the Educational Priority Policy (EPP) has been in effect in the Netherlands. This policy is aimed at reducing the educational disadvantage of children due to their social, economic and cultural circumstances. The first section of this article describes the outlines of the EPP. The second section presents the results of an EPP evaluation study conducted in secondary education among 20,000 students from nearly 400 schools. The emphasis is on test performance in relation to three student characteristics: gender, social class and ethnic background. The analyses show that the test results are largely determined by social class. Gender hardly plays a role, while the influence of ethnic origin is also limited. It should however be added that the performance of two migrant groups, the Turks and Moroccans, is the worst of all. As most Turks and Moroccans belong to the lowest socioeconomic category, the factor of ethnic origin is so closely interwoven with the factor of social class, that it is not really possible to distinguish the two. In the final section of the article these findings are related to three theoretical perspectives regarding the explanation of differences in educational performance. This is followed by a discussion on possible consequences for the EPP.     

The role of ethnic school segregation for adolescents’ religious salience

Public concerns over the possible effects of school segregation on immigrant and ethnic majority religiosity have been on the rise over the last few years. In this paper we focus on (1) the association between ethnic school composition and religious salience, (2) intergenerational differences in religious salience and (3) the role of ethnic school composition for intergenerational differences in religious salience. We perform analyses on religious salience, one five-point Likert scale item measuring religious salience among 3,612 16-year-old pupils in Belgian secondary schools. National origin was used as a proxy for ethnicity. Ethnic minority pupils in schools with a higher share of ethnic minorities tend to be more religious. This relation holds for Muslim as well as other religious and ethnic minorities. Ethnic school composition also moderates the relationship between migrant generation and religious salience: second generation migrants tend to be more religious in ethnic minority dominated schools. For ethnic Belgians the association is moderated by their religious affiliation: Catholics tend to be more religious, while non-affiliated ethnic Belgians are less religious in schools with a higher share of ethnic minority pupils.     

Counteracting Victimization in Unequal Educational Contexts: Latin American Migrants’ Friendship Dynamics in Chilean Schools

This article addresses the role of friendship dynamics among newcomer Latin American migrant youth during their transitions to Chilean secondary schools. Drawing on qualitative life history interviews, we discuss ethnic minority well-being in two high-ethnic mix schools, and how power inequalities and racial discrimination are managed through social capital in the courtyard. In particular, we demonstrate the importance of ethnic diversity for counteracting victimization. We found few instances of internal segregation (homogenous or bonding forms of friendship groups); instead cross-ethnic friendships were more common, enabling participants to navigate gendered and class-based cleavages within the schools. Although concentrations of ethnic students in low-quality municipal schools represent deeper social justice issues, the research argues for the need to move beyond dichotomized notions of integration and segregation. Creating greater equity in these spaces, we suggest, does not depend on ethnic mix, but on the opportunities to develop social capital support.     

Ethnicity,Religion, and Academic Preparedness: A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Supplementary Secular Schools and Nonsecular Church-Affiliated Schools

Little academic attention has been given to the supplementary education experience of immigrant students in the Canadian research literature, especially in a non-English speaking context such as Quebec. Yet these schools are important for understanding the influence of ethnicity as well as religion on the academic preparedness and social integration of immigrant/minority students in the public school system. From a comparative perspective, this study explores the role that secular Chinese language schools and nonsecular, church-affiliated schools play in responding to the educational needs of Chinese youth in the public schools. Data were collected through ethnographical observation in the two school contexts, as well as through in-depth interviews with Chinese immigrant students, their parents, school personnel, and church ministers. Through a Foucauldian analysis of discourse, the author found that attendance at Chinese supplementary schools benefitted these students’ academic preparedness in a variety of ways, such as the reinforcement and development of ethnic identity. In secular Chinese language schools, ethnicity seems to function through the interaction of cultural attributes and social ethnic structures, whereas in church-affiliated, nonsecular schools, the influence of ethnicity seems to shift to the impact of Christian discipleship. Through this process, church schools actually act as socializing agents that facilitate positive interpersonal relationships among peers and families.     

Trends in ethnic inequality in the attainment of vocational degrees: a cohort study in Germany

The present article analyzes the development of the ethnic gap—with respect to the attainment of vocational degrees—over the immigration cohorts 1960–2001 by examining how social integration indicators and general secondary school education may help to explain the trend. It was found that the gap between natives and migrants increased. Above all, the large increase in the gap over cohorts between Germans and Turks is alarming. In contrast to that the gap and its increase between the group of immigrants from Central-/Eastern-/Southeastern European countries as well as from other former recruitment countries and German natives is comparably small and can to a large extent be explained by a growing gap regarding the level of general secondary education among the newer immigration cohorts and native Germans due to educational expansion and to a growing impact of the secondary school education for the achievement of vocational education. The effect of social integration plays a smaller role compared to general secondary school education and it even decreases over immigration cohorts.     

Ethnic minority students from South Asia in Hong Kong: language ideologies and discursive identity construction

This article explores how ethnic minority students in Hong Kong secondary schools discursively construct their identities in relation to culture, heritage, and social discourse. It finds that the ethnic minority students negotiate their identities within multiple positioning from parents, school, and the broader social discourse on minority languages and cultures. It also finds that they construct contradictory language ideologies when attempting to legitimate their heritage languages and to illegitimate the status of Chinese in the social context. The findings indicate that the participants tend to establish an essentialized cultural difference between their heritage culture and host culture. It argues that fixed and stereotyped views towards language practices and culture may lead to antagonistic relations between the ethnic minority students and locals, and become obstacles to their socialization and integration into the mainstream community. The implications for establishing a flexible and relational view on cultural differences and language use are explored.     

藏区教育的地域性和民族性研究

藏区教育受自然、社会环境、经济发展程度以及民族传统文化的影响较大,表现出明显的地域性和民族性特征.重视藏区教育的地域性和民族性是十分必要和紧迫的.藏区要在开办寄宿制学校,发展实用教育,建立激励和稳定人才的长效机制,服务民族学生、培养民族人才,开展双语教学,传承民族文化、强化民族及文化交流与融合等方面,积极探索与实践,突出教育的地域性和民族性,确保藏区教育的持续发展.     

Understanding academic performance of international students: the role of ethnicity,academic and social integration

More than 3 million students study outside their home country, primarily at a Western university. A common belief among educators is that international students are insufficiently adjusted to higher education in their host country, both academically and socially. Furthermore, several groups of international students experience considerable amounts of stress while adapting to the culture of the host-institute. Several researchers argue that studies on adaptation of international students should widen its focus to the underlying mechanisms that leads towards this “misalignment”. In a cross-institutional comparison among 958 students at five business schools in the Netherlands, differences in academic performance between local and international students were identified by focussing on their levels of academic and social integration. Students’ academic integration was measured with the Students’ Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ), while students’ social integration was measured with a newly developed and validated questionnaire. The results indicate that the degree of academic success of international students is multi-faceted. International students with a (mixed) western ethnic background perform well on both academic and social integration, and also attained higher study-performance in comparison to domestic students. In contrast, international students with a non-Western background are less integrated compared to other international students. Nevertheless, they have a similar study-performance. Finally, academic adjustment is the main predictor of study-performance for Dutch, Western and Mixed-Western students. Social adjustment was negatively related to study-performance. The lack of fit for predicting long-term study success of non-Western students indicates that their academic and social integration processes are more complex and non-linear.     

‘Go,go on and go higher an’ higher’. Second‐generation Turks’ understanding of the role of education and their struggle through the Dutch school system

With reference to capital theories and rational choice theory, this paper aims to understand how abilities and schooling ambitions are intertwined with social class, gender and ethnicity. By drawing on 16 in‐depth interviews carried out with highly educated second‐generation Turks in the Netherlands, the paper discusses the resources, opportunities and educational attitudes of young people, together with the role of the school system and that of teachers in perpetuating ethnic inequalities in schooling, with special emphasis on gender differences in schooling ambitions.     

基于＂多元文化教育三态说＂的仫佬族民族文化传承系统的构建

基于＂多元文化教育三态说＂,从宏观、中观和微观视角探讨仫佬族文化传承的内容和途径,提出应整合学校、家庭、社区的教育资源,建立学校教育、家庭教育、社会教育相互衔接的多元一体的仫佬族民族文化传承系统。     

关于西北民族地区寄宿制学校办学若干问题的思考

寄宿制民族中小学校是国家专为少数民族举办的一种特殊办学形式。主要在少数民族牧区、边远山区和经济不发达地区设立,面向农村、牧区、边远山区招收少数民族学生。民族地区寄宿制学校已经发展成为民族教育的一种重要办学形式。当前民族地区寄宿制学校办学的主要问题表现在生源问题、民族文化传承问题、与家庭教育和社会教育的脱离问题等。解决这些问题,就要将寄宿制学校之根扎于民族文化之中,不仅要提高少数民族学生家长对民族地区寄宿制学校的认同水平,还要加快民族地区寄宿制学校标准化、规范化建设速度,提高农村寄宿制学校的管理水平与家校合作水平。     

The impact of social capital in socio-emotional competencies of Spanish and immigrant adolescents from the Southeast of Spain

How important is the role that the different social institutions play in adolescents’ emotional development? This study alludes to the social capital framework to explain the influence that the family, school and peer relations have on the social-emotional competencies (SEC) of adolescents, immigrants and locals living in Southeastern Spain. Three social capital and socio-emotional competencies assessments scales were used in the study with 1614 pupils from 7 secondary schools. The results show that: (1) The social capital is a predictive and explanatory factor in adolescence. (2) The social relations that influence the SEC the most are those developed at school, followed by peer relations and, lastly, the family. (3) Spanish and Romanian teenagers show higher social capital and more SEC than Moroccans. (4) There are SEC gender differences among the Spanish group. (5) An immigrant school puzzle is observed in the Moroccan teenagers group who value school the most. (6) The family’s low emotional influence, particularly among Moroccan women, suggests that there is a deterioration of the institution and the existence of inter-generational differences. According to the results, schools remain a privileged space for SEC intervention programmes.     

The impact of social capital in socio-emotional competencies of Spanish and immigrant adolescents from the southeast of Spain

How important is the role that the different social institutions play in adolescents’ emotional development? This study alludes to the social capital framework to explain the influence that the family, school and peer relations have on the social-emotional competencies (SEC) of adolescents, immigrants and locals living in Southeastern Spain. Three social capital and socio-emotional competencies assessments scales were used in the study with 1614 pupils from 7 secondary schools. The results show that: (1) The social capital is a predictive and explanatory factor in adolescence. (2) The social relations that influence the SEC the most are those developed at school, followed by peer relations and, lastly, the family. (3) Spanish and Romanian teenagers show higher social capital and more SEC than Moroccans. (4) There are SEC gender differences among the Spanish group. (5) An immigrant school puzzle is observed in the Moroccan teenagers group who value school the most. (6) The family’s low emotional influence, particularly among Moroccan women, suggests that there is a deterioration of the institution and the existence of inter-generational differences. According to the results, schools remain a privileged space for SEC intervention programmes.     

Social Capital and Mathematics Achievement of Fourth and Fifth Grade Children in Segregated Primary Schools

ABSTRACT

Scholars have consistently demonstrated that the socioeconomic composition of the pupil body is related to academic achievement. The effect of ethnic/immigrant concentration, on the other hand, is more controversial, as some have found no impact of the ethnic/immigrant composition when other aspects were taken into account. Social capital theory claims that it is possible to compensate for a disadvantaged background or school composition when pupils benefit from being integrated in specific social structures. This article tests whether social capital is positively related to the mathematics achievement of pupils in the fourth and fifth grades of Flemish primary schools in which most of the pupils have a low socioeconomic and/or an ethnic/immigrant background (i.e. segregated schools).     

Mobilizing ethnic equality in admissions to schools: Litigation,politics, and educational change

This study explores the impact of litigation on the mobilization of ethnic equality in the admission to Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) schools in Israel, and examines the socio-political mechanisms that have shaped this impact. It uses a case-study approach and draws on an analysis of documents and interviews. The findings confirm the conclusions of other studies regarding the limited ability of courts to produce change in schools by showing that ethnic equality was not mobilized until the Ministry of Education reformed its policy. However, the findings also show that the legal discourse empowered a group of Haredi parents to raise the rights consciousness of other parents and to support them in surmounting barriers that had impeded rights claims. The phenomenon of rights agents exemplifies how ethnic equality in school admission is mobilized in a bidirectional process: top-down judicial rulings empowered Haredi agents, who, in turn, have mobilized rights from the bottom-up to the new appeals committees in the Ministry of Education. The phenomenon also demonstrates the significance of collaborative relationships among lawyers, politicians, and social agents in order to generate social reforms in schools of ultra-religious groups.     

民族学校课程的多维解读

民族教育特殊性的表现之一便是民族学校的课程。民族学校的课程除了具有普通学校课程的共性之外,还在民族学校教育中发挥了特殊的职能和作用,对此可以作多维解读。一是从少数民族学生发展的角度而言,民族学校课程发挥了"先行组织者"的职能;二是从"多元文化整合教育"的角度而言,民族地区学校的课程发挥了不同民族学生相互交流中介的职能;三是从民族文化传承的角度而言,民族学校的课程又是民族文化的浓缩和整合的体现。     

Education of Roma Youth in Hungary: Schools,Identities and Belonging

Historically, schools have been homogenizing institutions that often disadvantaged people of color and ethnic and religious minorities. In this article I examine Roma education in Hungary, focusing on (re)production of racial identities and the negotiation of ethnic labels. I distinguish two models of education as they relate to ideas of integration, and assess the evolving ethnic labels: “bad Gypsies” and “good Roma.” These labels reflect different philosophies of education, and both contain different tensions and challenges.     

Education matters: continuity and change in attitudes to education and social mobility among the offspring of Turkish guest workers in the Netherlands and Austria

By comparing the educational situation of second-generation Turks in the Netherlands and Austria, the paper investigates the reasons behind the differential higher educational gains of the descendants of guest workers in the two countries. By relying on in-depth interviews with second-generation Turks, the paper illustrates how ethnic discrimination in the labour market lead to maintaining a ‘sojourn-perspective’ among Turks in the Austrian setting, who disapprove of long-term educational investments in favour of material resources enabling a potential return to Turkey. At the same time, the sojourn-orientation is giving way to a more long-term perspective in the case of the Netherlands, where Turkish families see investments in Dutch qualifications as worthwhile channels of upward mobility.     

Religious justification,elitist outcome: are religious schools being used to avoid integration?

Despite ongoing efforts to promote ethnic, racial and socio-economic integration, segregation continues to challenge education administrators and legal scholars. Privileged parents seeking to avoid integration employ various strategies such as attending private schools or buying houses in neighbourhoods with good school. This paper offers a combined empirical and legal research of another such strategy: the resort to religious schools. The research is conducted within one specific context, that of Israeli Religious State Schools. The empirical study examines whether “Torani” religious state schools (a category of religious schools that offer enhanced Jewish studies and a strict religious environment) induce socio-economic segregation. The findings indicate that “Torani” schools are indeed socio-economically segregated and serve children from higher socioeconomic class than regular religious state schools. It also shows that “Torani” schools are less reflective of their surroundings than regular religious state schools, and are more likely to be established by privileged parents in poor areas, where they are dissatisfied with the local state schools. The legal research offers an explanation of how legal regulation can determine whether religious schools will become a means for avoiding integration. Specifically, it points to three areas in which “Torani” schools are regulated differently than regular religious state schools – the rules regarding the establishment of new schools; the rules concerning school funding; and the rules concerning student enrolment – and argues that special treatment meant to protect religious interests is responsible for making “Torani” schools socially segregated.     

Diverging or converging trends: an investigation of education policies concerning the incorporation of ethnic minority children in England,France and Germany

This article focuses specifically on the incorporation of ethnic minority children within the education systems of England, France and Germany. The trends in policy development after World War II in these countries are examined through the prism of three ideal-typical incorporation strategies – integration, assimilation and separation. This is done to test the theories of universalism, parallel development and particularism, which anticipate different trajectories with regard to these strategies. The paper finds evidence for convergence towards integration with regard to provisions for extra support in the host country’s language. This supports the theory of universalism. However, no evidence of convergence towards integration is found in four other policy areas. For instance, country-specific trends emerge on minority religious education and enrolment into mainstream schools, which is consistent with the particularist perspective. As there is little evidence of the three countries drawing closer in terms of all three adopting a strategy of incorporation promoted by transnational agencies, the expectation that national states can borrow in a straightforward fashion from internationally advocated models of ethnic minority incorporation appears unfounded. The paper further finds that local practices are sometimes significantly at odds with national educational policy, suggesting that future research should be directed more at the local level to determine the policies affecting ethnic minority children.