Exploring school climate among first-and second-generation immigrant students and school educators: A qualitative study

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide an overview of immigrant students' school climate perception, along with the challenges encountered by school educators working in multicultural schools. This chapter presents the findings of a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with first- and second-generation immigrant students and a sample of school educators in six countries: Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, and Turkey. In general, immigrant students felt safe at school, yet they reported experiencing bullying and social exclusion. Both first- and second-generation immigrant students tended to affiliate with other immigrant students, showing that peer segregation is quite common within schools. Simultaneously, students reported their struggles in terms of succeeding academically. School educators found it difficult to communicate with the students and their parents due to the language barrier. They also felt unprepared to work in multicultural classrooms due to the lack of appropriate training. This chapter offers important suggestions in terms of developing intervention programmes aimed to foster inclusion and diversity within schools. Multicultural teacher training could support teachers in terms of working with immigrant students. © 2024 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.