Migration macht Schule 
Grundlagen,
Materialien,
Unterrichts-
entwürfe
Schools in Immigrant Societies:
International Perspectives from Research and Practice
International Conference of the Georg Eckert
Institute for International Textbook Research
in Cooperation with the Department of Intercultural Education Science, Freie
Universität Berlin, and the Network Migration in Europe.
Henry Ford Building, Freie Universität Berlin, 13th to 15th February, 2008
Funded by:
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Berlin)
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Bonn)
Niedersächsische Lottostiftung
Home
Date: 13th to 15th February, 2008
Place: Henry Ford Building, Freie Universität Berlin, Garystraße 35, 14195 Berlin
Languages: The conference will be bilingual and use both English and German in the plenary sessions with the assistance of simultaneous interpreters; workshops will be monolingual, taking place either in English or in German.
Registration: pdf-file
(german)
Subject and Aims of the Conference:
The integration of immigrants is a pressing challenge for the multiethnic societies of Europe and North America. The formation and development of these migration societies present political and social issues of central importance. Integration concepts and political programmes as well as institutional structures, both judicial and social, can give rise to intense debate in both a social as well as political context. The most significant aspects of the social contention surrounding immigration, however, are the challenges it poses to the job market and education system.
In Germany in particular, the numerous competing political positions have been complemented by only an insufficient number of empirical studies offering sound knowledge on the status of integration, both within the education system and otherwise, and responses to the demand for successful models, methods and practical concepts. This was clarified by the results of the specified assessment (on a random sample of pupils from migrant families) of the PISA survey conducted by the OECD in May 2006. The fact that Germany appeared last on the list of 17 countries when it came to the integration of immigrants within the education system was received with shock and a certain perplexity. The diagnosis demonstrated that Germany is prone to significant gaps in the transfer of academic knowledge and results into practice, as well as hindrances in the adoption of successful international models. As a result, education and integration research (or its cross-sections) in Germany are currently located at a critical point of reorientation. There is an obvious need to take a greater interest in other countries’ experiences and to more successfully transpose the knowledge that has been gained or that is yet to be attained into practical integration politics and projects.
This conference, organised by the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in Braunschweig in Cooperation with the Network Migration in Europe and the Department for Intercultural Education Science at the Freie Universität Berlin, Schools in Immigrant Societies: International Perspectives from Research and Practice, aims to contribute towards closing this gap. Academics and politicians will present and discuss approaches, conceptions and experiences along the cross-sections of school education and integration. Theory and practice will be drawn upon in an international comparison. A guiding question for the conference will ask what can be expected of the institution of the school as an actor in education, upbringing and socialisation processes in migration societies, and where it is to be socially and socio-politically located. The conference is directed towards academics, individuals involved in education and integration politics and school practitioners.