Teachers and School Heads

• Author: Eurydice (European Education and Culture Executive Agency)
• Pages: 115-126

115

I.4: TEACHERS AND SCHOOL HEADS

Teachers and other educational staff are in the front line when it comes to supporting migrant

students' integration into society. Without a sound education these young people will not be able to

access the high level skills and employment opportunities needed to achieve their personal ambitions

and make an effective contribution to the social and economic fabric of the host country. Students

from migrant backgrounds often have a range of educational and psychosocial needs that must be

met if they are to achieve their potential – needs which demand a wide range of skills and expertise

from teachers and the various other education professionals working within schools and in the wider

education system.

This chapter looks at the various policy levers used by top-level education authorities to make sure

that educational professionals have the appropriate skills to meet migrant students' specific needs and

facilitate their integration into schools. It focuses mostly on teachers, and marginally on school heads.

Other staff, such as teaching assistants, are not employed in all schools across Europe, and/or their

role is not defined or regulated by top-level education authorities. Consequently, they are not covered

in this comparative mapping of official recommendations/regulations.

A first step that may be taken by top-level education authorities is to build a clear view of the specific

challenges in relation to teaching staff and their role in integrating migrant students into schools (see

Figure I.4.1). This knowledge is clearly useful in identifying appropriate policy measures. For example,

where there are teacher shortages in schools accommodating a large number of migrant students,

top-level education authorities may want to provide specific incentives, including financial ones (see

Figure I.4.2), to encourage teachers to work in these schools.

The education and training of teachers and other educational staff is largely the responsibility of higher

education institutions, which have a great deal of autonomy in designing study programmes. However,

top-level education authorities may contribute to the shaping of the professional profile of teachers

through, for example, the competence framework for initial teacher education (see Figure I.4.3), the

organisation of continuing professional development (CPD) activities (see Figure I.4.4) and the

establishment of resource centres (see Figure I.4.5) that support the integration of migrant students.

Migrant students usually have specific language needs, which mus t be properly addressed. Top-level

education authorities may want to ensure that those responsible for teaching migrant students have

appropriate qualifications. This chapter contains two indicators focusing specifically on those providing

additional classes where the language of instruction is taught (see Figure I.4.6) and those teaching

home languages (see Figure I.4.7).

As already highlighted, the successful integration of migrant students in schools requires expertise

from various educational professionals, which in turn necessitates close cooperation between all

stakeholders. In this context, adopting a whole-school approach is helpful in tackling the issues

relating to migrant students in schools (see Part II). Such an approach demands strong and skille d

leadership from school heads (see Figure I.4.8).

In nearly two thirds of education systems, teaching a diverse range of students in multicultural

classrooms is acknowledged as a challenge for teachers

The integration of migrant students into education systems poses many challenges. Figure I.4.1

focuses on the main policy challenges, particularly those relating to teachers working with migrant

students, as indicated in official documents. The role of school staff in this area is indeed crucial, and

the majority of countries have identified some recruitment and skill-related issues as particularly

challenging.