Collisions and Continuities

Icelandic society has seen considerable demographicchanges during the last decade with growing numbersof immigrant families settling in the country. Thishas created a challenge to the Icelandic educationalsystem, demanding improvement to meet the ethnicdiversity of students at all school levels. Thisbook presents a study of ten immigrant families,with particular emphasis on the children and theirschooling during their first years in Iceland. Themain significance of the study is its close analysisof individual experiences during the processes ofimmigration and adjustment to a new society andschool community. The main conclusions of the studyreveal insufficient school conditions of many of theimmigrant children and discontinuities between someof the homes and schools. A reform agenda is neededat all school levels in Iceland to respond to thenew multicultural reality and to prevent thesegregation of immigrant children. The book shouldbe useful to researchers within the fields ofeducation, sociology, anthropology and multiculturalstudies as well as practitioners, such as teachers,school leaders and policy makers.

Autorentext

Hanna Ragnarsdóttir is an Associate Professor in Multicultural Studies and Anthropology at the University of Iceland, School of Education. Her research experience is within the field of multicultural and immigration studies, with particular emphasis on multicultural education and ethnic minority children in Icelandic schools.

Klappentext
Icelandic society has seen considerable demographic changes during the last decade with growing numbers of immigrant families settling in the country. This has created a challenge to the Icelandic educational system, demanding improvement to meet the ethnic diversity of students at all school levels. This book presents a study of ten immigrant families, with particular emphasis on the children and their schooling during their first years in Iceland. The main significance of the study is its close analysis of individual experiences during the processes of immigration and adjustment to a new society and school community. The main conclusions of the study reveal insufficient school conditions of many of the immigrant children and discontinuities between some of the homes and schools. A reform agenda is needed at all school levels in Iceland to respond to the new multicultural reality and to prevent the segregation of immigrant children. The book should be useful to researchers within the fields of education, sociology, anthropology and multicultural studies as well as practitioners, such as teachers, school leaders and policy makers.