Migrant Students in Russian Schools: Teachers’ Attitudes and Practices

Abstract

In the absence of state adaptive programmes, the key role in the inclusion of migrant children in the educational environment is assigned to the school teacher. The attitudes and educational strategies of the teacher are important competences for working with foreign students at school. This problem is little covered in the Russian context and requires special scientific analysis. The paper presents data from a qualitative study designed to identify and characterise teachers’ attitudes and practices in their work with migrant children, as well as to determine whether there is a relationship between the variables. The empirical data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and categorized using deductive and inductive content analysis. The study participants were school teachers from the Republic of Tatarstan who had experience in working with foreign students. The findings revealed three types of educational practices, i.e. language support, academic support, and creating a friendly environment in the classroom. Analysing teachers’ attitudes toward migrant schoolchildren in the interview responses, the authors have found that teachers’ positive attitudes mostly lead to high expectations for the academic achievement of migrant students. The study also revealed the conceptual orientation of teachers’ attitudes that predominantly reflected a pluralistic approach to the ethnocultural diversity in the classroom. The paper concludes that positive attitudes, high academic expectations, and pluralistic ideas favourably influence teacher practices, which contributes to the academic success of migrant children in school. The research findings will be used in the joint professional development programme for teacher education institutions and universities, following the introduction of modules on the adaptation of foreign minors and children from the families with migration history.