Study about attitudes toward school and educational expectations of immigrant students

Abstract

The ongoing arrival of a number of immigrants to the Spanish educational system is triggering deep social transformations. Year after year, schools clearly see the number of newcomers from different countries increase. Immigrant youth are often linked to negative student attitudes toward school and low educational expectations but few studies inquire about these representations from students’ own perspectives. The research method involved conducting interviews with 189 students in secondary and junior high schools of Seville province (Spain) who had immigrant backgrounds from Latin America, Africa, Asia, and countries of Eastern Europe. The study concludes that these immigrant students feel strongly committed to their studies, demonstrating a high sense of educational expectation, and differences existed according to the geographical origin and time in Spain. These data question the stereotyped, reductionist generalizations linking immigrant youth with poor school performance and poor positive attitudes towards school.