Presentation: Education and Migrants

Abstract

Migratory movements have been a constant in the history of humanity. However, during the 20th century and so far in the 21st century, the largest population movements in recorded history have taken place. Today, as the United Nations Population Division points out, some 175 million people live outside their countries of origin, which is equivalent to approximately 3% of the world's population.

In this regard, there is consensus among those who address the implications of migration processes that such a situation brings with it vulnerability. Indeed, being a migrant is a risk factor that expresses itself in multiple ways and accompanies people from the moment they leave their countries of origin until they settle in their respective destinations. These processes generate consequences of various kinds, especially at the level of human relations: sometimes acceptance and sometimes integration are some of the possible reactions of host societies to the presence of others. However, we know that more often than we would like, there is also racism and xenophobia, attitudes which, expressed in different forms, tend to marginalise human groups. To this we should add the numerous obstacles inherent in national legal frameworks that impede adequate integration, making coexistence difficult and often condemning people to marginalisation, which facilitates the violation of migrants' rights. This urgently poses the challenge of promoting conditions of integration and encounter within societies.

In this context, the question of the meaning of education - and the role played by schools - is central insofar as the orientation of educational processes can determine and modify not only the way in which we relate to others, but also the ways in which we exercise a more inclusive and democratic citizenship, committed to the active respect of the rights of all.