Ukrainian children find a welcoming classroom in Berlin

The discussion of immigrants in Europe made me think of current events, more specifically the Russian attacks in Ukraine. I read on the news that many countries were accommodating a large number of Ukrainian refugees, but that also meant that the educational system in each country needed to accommodate Ukrainian children as well. I decided to search up how different countries were welcoming Ukrainian students into their schools and found this particular example about Germany.

“The children nervously clutched their new exercise books, sharpened pencils and erasers as their new teachers welcomed them in Ukrainian on the third floor of the former factory. They will follow their curriculum from back home and also take German language classes. The three hours of school each weekday will be followed by activities such as playacting, painting or handicrafts” (Grieshaber, 2022).

It is reassuring to see that other countries are attempting to give Ukrainian children educational opportunities and limit the gap in interrupted schooling. In this case, German and Ukrainians worked together to start an educational program, instead of directly mainstreaming Ukrainian children into German classrooms. The classes are meant to be Ukrainian-German transitional classes. It reminds me of the transitional language programs, or Structured English Immersion classes in the United States. 

It is also important to note the long-term effects of Ukrainin immigration to various countries. Barban and White (2011) mention that immigrants in school often differ from native children in terms of performance and attainment. Immigrant status depends on characteristics such as socioeconomic status, educational achievements, and family composition (Barban & White, 2011). As refugees, Ukrainians are low on the social ladder and will depend on the host country to provide employment opportunities for families as well. In the current climate, political factors also play a large role in the amount of support that Ukrainian children and their families get. 

This leaves me pondering that as time progresses, is the goal of European governments to assimilate Ukrainian children or to work towards a multilingual and multicultural educational system? Or is this simply a temporary measure? 

Group 2- Yan Li

This is a sticker or bookmark I created after my Arrupe trip to Guatemala. During the trip, we stayed in a village with different families and saw a glimpse into their everyday lives. My host family was Gonzolo (on the right in the photo), Teresa (on the left in the photo), and their children.

The videos and readings from this module reminded me a bit of the trip, because the module highlighted the importance of understanding stories. Dr. Alvarez and Sarah Gallo are inspiring because they do not try to make assumptions. They go into the everyday lives of migrants and try to understand them. Before the trip to Guatemala, I was completely unaware of the personal and collective struggles of Guatemalan people.

During my stay with Gonzolo’s family, we had many conversations around the dinner table. The other Boston College girl that was with me spoke fluent Spanish, so she translated every sentence for me. When talking about the Mexican-American border, Gonzolo said that “We are treated like less than animals. Even animals could eat the grass from the other side of the wall”. They are happy for their friends that have successfully crossed the border, but they knew that it would be too dangerous to do so.

I thought it was very interesting when Dr. Alvarez mentioned in the video that contemporary globalization intentionally covers up undocumented travel. She mentions choosing between two evils of life of experiencing racism, violence, under-the-table unemployment in their home country or facing the same issues in the new country. The video definitely helped me gain new perspectives on what I had heard from Guatemalans, and helped me consider the bigger issue of migrant struggles and feeling unwelcome everywhere.

When reading the articles for this module, I started thinking about my own identity as an immigrant, more specifically an Asian immigrant.

My parents immigrated to New York City when I was 6 years old, but they had their own reason. As Kelly (2009) puts it, “It is important to avoid any inclination to collapse or homogenize all migrations and instead to note the specificity of context” (Kelly, 2009, p.31). My parents believed that raising me in the United States would offer better opportunities for my educational and professional future. They gave up their jobs and said goodbye all our family members to pursue a life in Brooklyn. Even though they both held college degrees, they returned to school in a community college to learn English. Due to language barriers, my parents could not find jobs that matched their years of skill and experience. My dad transformed from a manager in a medicine company to an assistant who cleaned medical equipment, and my mom went from a middle school teacher to a paraprofessional. They chased the “American dream”, but we did not experience much upward social mobility. We had to move back to China during the financial crisis of 2008 because of financial troubles.

I chose this article because it addresses a lot of the issues that I have thought about, both in general and through reading the articles in this module. Asian Americans are associated with the “model minority” term, and stereotyped to be hard and intelligent workers. On the surface, this may seem like a positive term, but the stereotype also includes quietly working without protest, or serving non-leadership jobs. Furthermore, this gives a false sense of success. Experiences are diverse across any racial group, and this over-generalization seems to single out one group. Just as the article mentions, there is still a high-income gap among Asian Americans. I agree with the article that not only does the myth mislead people, it also compares and pits different minority groups against each other. The myth views Asians in technical roles, and not as outspoken representatives in business or politics. Just like how English language learning does not necessarily lead to success (Warriner, 2007) discrimination simply cannot be avoided just by working hard and increasing income as the model minority myth suggests.

Works Cited:

Kelly, U. (2009). Migration and education in a multicultural world: Culture, loss, and identity. Springer.

Warriner, D. S. (2007). Language learning and the politics of belonging: Sudanese women refugees becoming and being “American”. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 38(4), 343-359.