Fólki af erlendum uppruna hefur fjölgað mjög á Íslandi undanfarna áratugi. Menntakerfi gegna mikilvægu hlutverki við aðlögun barna og ungmenna að nýju samfélagi
og við að stuðla að lýðræðislegri þátttöku þeirra. Markmið þessarar yfirlitsgreinar
er að varpa ljósi á helstu niðurstöður nýlegra rannsókna höfundar og samstarfsfólks
um málefni barna og ungmenna af erlendum uppruna. Fjallað er um reynslu innflytjenda og flóttafólks af menntun og þátttöku í íslensku samfélagi, reynslu kennara
og stjórnenda af menntun barna og ungmenna af ólíkum uppruna, hvernig skólastarf hefur þróast til að mæta þörfum sífellt fjölbreyttari nemendahópa og hvaða
leiðir eru færar í menntun fjölbreyttra hópa. Niðurstöður rannsóknanna benda til
þess að mörg barnanna og ungmennanna hafi upplifað ýmsa erfiðleika í íslenskum
skólum og frístundastarfi. Þrátt fyrir margs konar styrkleika sem þau telja sig hafa
eiga þau í erfiðleikum með að læra íslensku og að tengjast íslenskum jafnöldrum.
Samskipti heimila og skóla eru í sumum tilvikum ómarkviss og ófullnægjandi. Ein
þessara rannsókna varpar þó ljósi á fjölmörg dæmi um öflugt og gott skólastarf, að
nokkru leyti í anda fjölmenningarlegrar menntunar, þar sem áhersla er á lýðræðislega þátttöku og þar sem börnum og ungmennum af erlendum uppruna vegnar vel.
Immigration to Iceland has increased rapidly in recent decades. People move to the country for different reasons, some as refugees. Education systems play a vital role in the
integration of children and youth to a new society and in supporting their democratic participation. To be able to fulfill these roles, schools must to adjust to the needs of diverse
groups of students and develop their practices according to demographic changes.
The article, which presents an overview of literature, discusses the experiences of immigrants and refugees in Iceland of education and participation in Icelandic society. The
article draws on research conducted with several groups of students at different school
levels and their families the last 20 years. The experiences of practitioners in schools,
teachers and principals at different levels of the education of children and youth of diverse origins are also addressed, as well as the development of educational practices in
the past decades to respond to an increasingly diverse student group. The article concludes with a discussion on possible paths in the education of diverse groups of students
in coming years.
The theoretical background of most of the research studies is in critical approaches
to education (Banks, 2013; May & Sleeter, 2010; Nieto, 2010) where the rights of minority groups to education are emphasized, as well as counteracting inequalities. Nieto
(2010) claims that empowerment in schools entails that students are active participants
instead of being passive receivers and that teachers build on their students’ resources
and abilities in their teaching. The approaches of multilingual education for social justice also form a basis of the article. Scholars (Chumak-Horbatsch, 2012; Cummins, 2004;
Skutnabb-Kangas et al., 2009) argue that it is important to make students’ heritage
languages visible in schools and build on these in teaching. They note that these basic
human rights of every student are often neglected. Theoretical writing on citizenship
education, civic engagement and democratic participation of diverse groups (Sigrún Aðalbjarnardóttir, 2015, 2019) is also discussed. Sigrún Aðalbjarnardóttir (2015, 2019) notes
that participation in decision-making in society is one of the pillars of democracy and
that therefore it is important to promote young people’s interest and ability to engage
in societal matters. Teachers should be supported in their professional development to
reflect on their practices and to create learning communities.
The findings of the research presented in the article indicate that many children and
youths of immigrant and refugee background experience various challenges in Icelandic
schools. These include lack of participation and civic engagement, difficulties in learning Icelandic, lack of support in their heritage languages, and marginalisation. However,
the findings of recent research with youths at compulsory and secondary school levels
indicate that they are positive towards the growing cultural, linguistic and religious diversity in Icelandic society and find it important for everyone to participate in discussions,
learn about each other’s opinions and respect different views. A recent research project conducted in 27 schools on pre-, compulsory and upper secondary levels in four Nordic
countries, including Iceland, focused on understanding the experiences of students of
immigrant backgrounds who have succeeded in education and participation and how
social justice and equity is represented in educational practices in their schools. The findings of the project reveal various initiatives in the schools which promote participation of
diverse groups of students and build on the resources which they bring, such as different
languages and cultures. The schools have developed multicultural and multilingual learning spaces for their students and staff. The project sheds light on how schools can develop educational practices which respond to the growing cultural, linguistic and religious
diversity in Iceland, as well as in other Nordic countries, and create learning spaces where
active participation and learning of all students is promoted.
