This publication is about belonging and othering among young people in the Netherlands. Our respondents are kids and students in Amsterdam primary and secondary education. But also, students and teachers at the University of Applied Sciences, Windesheim, Almere, the Netherlands.
A significant number of these children and students are immigrants or refugees. They have difficulties with a sense of belonging in the ‘white’ world of education. This is sad because a sense of belonging is an important predictor of academic success and socio-emotional development, but the opposite seems to be true of the ‘othering’ they experience on an almost daily basis.
In our studies, we have worked with the concept of learning communities because it best suits the extended families of migrant and refugee pupils and students. Our proposal is also to involve the extended family in the education of migrant and refugee children and students.
This book can be summed up in one sentence: Education itself must learn that young people urgently need to belong in order to grow.
Muses and Measures
This book is required reading for humanistic disciplines. Too often, scholars present theories without knowing how to test them empirically. In an engaging way, the authors teach statistics, leading students through projects to analyze their own gathered data.
