Teachers’ visions on the participation of migrant families in the Chilean school

Abstract

The study aims to describe the teachers’ views on the participation of migrant families in the school, in terms of how it establishes linkage mechanisms with parents and how they participate in the school process of their children. In addition, it investigates the training for teachers in Intercultural Education. This qualitative research configures a case study with nine teachers from the municipal secondary school with the highest concentration of student enrollment of migrant children in Chillán, regional capital of Ñuble (Chile); territory that presents a growing increase in its foreign population. The results indicate that teachers express conflicting views on the participation of migrant families. The positive vision confirms said participation that responds to the regulations of the high school, valuing in foreign proxies their attitude rather submissive to the rules of the establishment. A negative vision also emerges, pointing to the lack of participation of immigrant parents, who, in the teachers’ opinion, are constrained by their work commitments. Both visions derive from a school-centered relationship between teachers and families, where the school establishes standardized induction mechanisms for immigrant families, making them invisible. In turn, teaching discourses reveal a lack of training in Intercultural Education in migration contexts.