ERIC Number: EJ1248044
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1467-5986
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Being a Teacher with a So-Called 'Immigrant Background': Challenges of Dealing with Social Boundaries
Mantel, Carola
Intercultural Education, v31 n2 p173-189 2020
There have been calls in many European countries to diversify the teaching staff as a response to increasing diversity within student populations. These calls are often based on underlying assumptions that teachers with a migration history are well placed to act as 'intercultural mediators' and 'role models' for successful integration. However, these assumptions often lack differentiation. The presented study addresses this lack of differentiation for the case of the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Based on social constructivist theory (Barth; Wimmer) and pursuing a qualitative-hermeneutical approach (Schütze; Rosenthal), the study shows four ideal types of dealing with social boundary dynamics among teachers who have been categorised or labelled in terms of a 'second immigrant generation'. Additionally, the study provides insight that (a) the category of 'labour migration' is experienced as a particularly significant category of boundary making and (b) that schools in urban-immigrant neighbourhoods -- in contrast to those in rural-non-immigrant neighbourhoods -- are experienced as places with an increased chance of recognition for a teacher 'with an immigrant background', although even there, these teachers find themselves in constant engagement to defend their belonging and to justify their sensitivity in dealing with migration-related diversity.
Descriptors: Teacher Background, Immigrants, Diversity (Faculty), Foreign Countries, Interpersonal Relationship, Urban Schools, Neighborhood Schools, Professional Identity, Competence, Migration, Acculturation
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Switzerland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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