MiFamily - 2017-2019
- Scope
- Objectives
- Results
- Experimentation
- European networks
- French networks
- Publications & Presentations
I. Scope
MiFamily is an Erasmus + project (2017-2019) led by the English organization NRCSE gathering 5 EU countries: UK (leader & partner), Spain (two partners), France, Romania and Ireland. Many students with a migrant background are faced to linguistic issues as the national language isn’t most of the time their mother tongue. According to the OECD (2015), 64% of first-generation migrant students and 41% of second generation students speak a language at home that is different from the language instruction. In the process of acquisition of the national language, teachers have a major role to play even though they recognize that handling cultural diversity in the classroom is a main issue. Most of the teachers working in sensitive urban issues (characterized by a high proportion of migrant population) feel they need more professional support to deal with a multicultural environment. Linguistic and cultural diversity at school, is important in Southern Europe – such as Italy and Spain but also in specific areas of Northern Europe such as United Kingdom (Brixton, Birmingham), Belgium (Antwerpen) and also in France in the so-called urban sensitive areas- mainly in the region around Paris (Ile de France), around Lyon (former Rhône Alpes), around Marseille (former Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur), or around Toulouse (former region Languedoc Roussillon).
II. Objectives
Children in migrant families are key actors in the process of integration as they bridge the gap between members of the host
community and their own families. Both teachers and migrant families are most concerned by migrant students´ success at school. The more their parents are aware of the importance of education and understand the school system the better they are equipped to support their
children at school as underlined by PISA studies. Even though migrant parents have high expectations for their children, they are faced to many obstacles – mainly language barriers or low understanding of school organization. Lack of time or money to invest in their child´s education is not a major issue in disadvantaged areas - many associations and among them volunteers are quite supportive outside school to support their children together with special public support at school- many EU projects have underlined this point such as the Success at school , Comenius project (led by the University of Northampton, UK, 2012-2014) or the Schola, Erasmus + project (led by the College Blaise Pascal , France, 2016-2018).
III. Results
Therefore the MiFamily approach appears as a win-win situation:
1- for professionals, this is an opportunity to involve migrant parents in the “formal” education of their children ;
2- for migrant families , they can be better equipped by means of non-formal and informal learning to support their children at school thans to the innovative approach of the family learning process
IV. Experimentation
The project will be tested in France in two territories:
1- Montereau (Seine et Marne) thanks to the team of the Success at school implemented since 2006 in the City;
2- Essonne thanks to the Success at school network coordinated by the CRPVE since its creation ten years ago.
V. European networks
VI. French networks
The MiFamily project is closely linked to the Success at school networks implemented in France for the past ten years in order to bridge the gap between families, schools and any association involved in education.
VII. Publications & Presentations
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