Young Migrants and Integration into Mainstream Learning in Schools

Written during “the refugee crisis” (2017–2020) and the increasingly hostile international response to immigration at that time, this book reports on an in-schools study carried out with young migrants in two countries with highly diverse populations: France and Aotearoa New Zealand. Backgrounded by questions of how minority language speakers can succeed within monolingual education systems, case studies are presented of newly-arrived migrant, asylum-seeker and refugee-background teenagers learning in mainstream classes.

A critical, comparative approach is taken to investigate background and foreground phenomena that construct and sustain inequalities in education. Findings highlight useful and effective solutions for teachers working in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms.

Fiona Smythe is a comparative education researcher at the Université de Bordeaux, France. Her research examines equitable education for culturally and linguistically diverse students in different school systems. Her publications include Young Migrants and Plurilingualism in Schools (Brill, 2024).