Symposium held on migrant educational journeys

Posted on 26 June 2017

CRESJ PhD student Agata Lambrechts co-organised a one-day University of York Migration Network event on 6 June 2017

The first Migration and Education Symposium, entitled ‘Migrant journeys through educational system in England’, was held on 6 June 2017 at the University of York.

This one-day event was organised by the University of York Migration Network, and hosted by CRESJ. It was funded by the Research Centre for Social Sciences, University of York, through the Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Award Scheme (won by Agata Lambrechts, Department of Education, Lucy Atkinson, Department of Politics, and May Elin Jonsson, Department of Politics).

The purpose of this Symposium was to bring together researchers and educators who are researching and working in educational contexts where issues of access and support arise for migrant children and young people, to highlight theoretical perspectives, empirical contributions, and policy implications addressing how best to promote migrants’ educational success in the schools and universities in England

Over 20 delegates attended the event, representing a number of UK institutions, with one of the key speakers travelling to the event from Malta. The Symposium addressed a variety of topics relevant to the main theme, through a mixture of different sessions, including a presentation on York ESOL Provision Project made by Emma Taylor, Head of International Programmes at York St John University; a workshop on key issues one may encounter when researching with migrants led by Professor Jacqueline Stevenson, Head of Research at Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University; a number of paper presentations; and a book presentation by Dr Damian Spitteri visiting from Malta.