50th Foundation Year Lecture: 12 Feb 2021

Abstract: This lecture will address complexities in relation to one of the biggest global challenges we face today, migrant integration. More often migration is seen as a threat that is fueled by political crises, such that global migration policies are hinged on short‑term, narrowly defined national interests. In the backdrop of SDGS, and the rhetoric of ‘leaving no one behind’ , the context of migrant integration in education and employment will be explored through reference to research, policies and praxis based largely from the UK and the EU context. Currently, employment and educational attainment figures in OECD countries show a gloomy prospectus for first and second generation migrants. Educational communities are seen as sites of intermediaries for wellbeing, but also complicit in the reproduction of inequalities. Based on a multi-country study on migrant integration, I draw on a child centred approach rooted in the sociology of childhood, to highlight multiple and intersecting educational challenges faced by children and families of various migratory statuses, along with the responses (or lack thereof) from governments and local actors. I will draw on examples of contemporary challenges of migrant integration much shaped by global flows and outcomes beyond national or regional boundaries, calling for de-colonisation of migration narrations, discourses and policies