Lifelong Learning Programme

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
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Guidelines

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Integration of immigrants students

Guideline for Teachers

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9. Relate to the parents

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The relationship with immigrant students’ parents may be difficult for a series of reasons: their lack of interest in school, lack of knowledge of the language and cultural barriers, preconceptions of teachers as well as of parents, low academic achievement and inability of parents to communicate needs and to access school discourses or even to come to school.

  1. Many immigrant families withdraw from public places and stay away from school; they do not come to the parents’ evenings. Find ways to reach them and to invite them into the educational system. This has to do with a sense of security. They feel secure only in the restricted areas they inhabit, so it is important that they feel school is a safe environment.
  2. Invite the parents to visit the school library and to sessions where the educational system is explained. This can be done through parents’ days, parents’ associations and immigrant groups. The success of immigrant students falls back on the personal relationships of the family with the school that show appreciation. Welcome the families in big ceremonies, for example.
  3. Many of these families need a personal companion to institutions, they need a personal relationship to the education system; but once they have established this relationship, they get on their way together with their children.
  4. It is important to create opportunities for children and parents of immigrant extraction. You may offer them excursions with the whole family, accompaniment of teacher discussions, holiday courses.
  5. If language is a barrier, make sure you have your notes to parents translated or adapted.
  6. Do not presume that all immigrants are of low socio-economic background and have low academic records. Some don’t and they can be empowered to lead others.
  7. Parents often misunderstand what is expected of them in school. They may presume, for instance, that it is the teacher’s job to educate the student and that parent involvement should be kept to a minimum. Explain clearly what is expected.
  8. You can carry out surveys and personal interviews with the parents of your immigrant students in order to gain inside information on them.
  9. Together with other teachers and with parents you can create a Parent Resource Centre through which parents could seek information on the school context and give advice to their children as well as empower themselves into better understanding the host culture.

Training Sources From the School Safety Net Portal

Publications From the School Safety Net Portal

Success Stories From the School Safety Net Portal

  • Unity is strength (Italy)
    The story of how opportunities can be created for immigrant of low social and economic backgrounds through a network of agencies.


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20 December 2014

Final Partners’ meeting

The fourth partners’ meeting took place in Florence (IT) on 15 December 2014. The meeting had the objective to check the activities carried out since the third meeting of the project and share and assess the in progress results. A special focus has been dedicated to the presentation of the strategies to solve the case scenarios.