The Road to Integration
Education and Migration
Migration has been at the centre of policy debates across the OECD in recent years. This synthesis report identifies eight pillars of policy-making that the Strength through Diversity project has revealed to be crucial if education systems to effectively support newcomers. For each pillar, the report details a set of principles driving the design and implementation of system-level policies and school-level practices. The eight pillars are: 1. consider the heterogeneity of immigrant populations, 2. develop approaches to promote the overall well-being of immigrants, 3. address the unique needs of refugee students, 4. ensure that motivation translates into a key asset for immigrant communities, 5. organise resources to reduce the influence of socio-economic status on the outcomes of immigrants, 6. provide comprehensive language support, 7. build the capacity of teachers to deal with diversity, and 8. break down barriers to social cohesion while ensuring effective service delivery.
Provide comprehensive language support
This chapter uses data from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) to illustrate the important role that language plays in the social, academic and economic integration of immigrant students and adults. While factors beyond language may sometimes prevent immigrants from thriving in their host communities, this chapter argues that tailored language support – which are personalised to an individual’s characteristics and contexts – can help facilitate integration processes. This chapter also discusses a selection of policies and practices that countries have used to support the linguistic integration of immigrants.
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