La integración del alumnado inmigrante en el ámbito escolar: adecuar los recursos y aprovechar la diversidad

Abstract

This article seeks to present the most significant questions and the main conclusions within the study Social and Educational Integration of Immigrant Pupils into the School Environment. The setting within which this study was completed is the Social Work master’s program at the University School of Social Work of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, during the 2007/2008 academic year. This research investigated the possible difficulties arising during the process of the incorporation of immigrant pupils into the Spanish educational system, from two perspectives: Their integration at the educational level: difficulties that could be affecting performance at school and Their social integration: means of incorporation into the educational community. Beginning with the idea that the arrival of students of different nationalities presents new needs that must be addressed by the educational community, it was considered necessary to know what the main existing difficulties were, what concrete aspects they were affecting, and what is being done to address them at schools and at an institutional level. The key to avoiding problems of coexistence and scholastic failure is the acknowledgement of these difficulties, as well as the promotion of intercultural coexistence and the acceptance of differences as an enriching factor from an early age. The text begins with some general questions on the theoretical and legal context within which we operate and with some conclusions drawn from previous studies and then focuses on the results obtained in the case study of immigration in the school environment.