Uppeldi og menntun - 01.01.2004, Page 112

VILJI O G VÆNTINGAR
ABSTRACT
This paper, which is based on an ongoing research on nineteen immigrant children in
four preschools and two elementary schools in Reykjavík, lceland, discusses the
effects of the interaction of home culture and school culture on the children's well-
being and progress. The children have in common having started school in Iceland in
the year 2002. Most of them are recent arrivers in Iceland although some of the
youngest children were born in Iceland. They have different ethnic, religious and
socio-economic backgrounds, and I analyse the interaction of home and school, the
hopes and expectations of the parents, and the school policy and development. The
basic research question is how the horne and school interaction affects the progress of
the children in their first school years and their chances of achieving, socially and
academically. The paper focuses on four of the nineteen children included in the
research and their families. I argue that the children's home culture affects their
transition from family-child to school-pupil and, furthermore, that it is important to
take into consideration each family's background and life story when considering the
home culture rather than focusing only on their nationality or ethnicity and religion.
Furthermore, in order to understand the reasons for the children's achievement or
lack of it, it is important to consider each school's culture, i.e. traditions, dominant
values and basic ideologies as well as its policy concerning immigrant children.
Hanna Ragnarsdóttir er
lektor við Kennaraháskóla íslands
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