Trust in schools is essential for a positive climate and culture in schools. These are the main criteria that families consider when deciding to enrol their children in a certain school. When immigrants are present, cultural and social distances, as well as differences in rules and codes of conduct perceived by the ethnic majority, are interlinked in the socialization process. This can lead to misunderstandings, ethnic conflicts and tensions that can hinder families’ trust in the centres.

But, how does this diversity affect parents’ trust in schools and in the institutions that regulate education? What are native families’ perceptions towards immigrants? An article by Mina Prokic, a research associate with the Interdisciplinary Research Group on Immigration (GRITIM-UPF) of the UPF Department of Political and Social Sciences, recently published in the journal Educational Review, aims to answer this question, which is little explored by academia: “Family trust in schools, which is the sum of trust in the other families, in the management and administration of the school and its teachers, as well as the perception of school culture and climate, is threatened by perceptions of immigration”, Mina Prokic explains.

Mina Prokic: “A school’s ethnic make-up becomes an indirect measure of its quality"

The study is based on 32 interviews and focus groups with native parents with children who attend schools in various neighbourhoods of Barcelona, with varying degrees of immigration. Specifically, it includes interviews with parents from nine public schools, five from Ciutat Vella and four from Sants-Monjuïc. In addition, she has interviewed parents of two private schools in Ciutat Vella and one in Sants-Monjuïc who deliberately decided not to send their children to public schools due to the high percentage of immigrants.

Racism towards non-European immigrants

According to the author, “my data reveal that non-European immigrants, especially those from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco and India, are subject to racism and are treated differently from European immigrants. There is a hierarchy between immigrant groups, where Western and European migrants are favoured over others”. Racism establishes categories, such as ethnicity, culture and religion, embedded in a person’s nature and functioning as a determinant of their behaviour. “The interviewees see these categories as differential markers between them and immigrant families in schools, despite denying that they are racist”, she asserts.

For this reason, the perception of immigrants from non-Western countries is that they are unwilling to integrate; they impose their cultural and religious practices; they are seen as being inferior and with lower levels of education; they do not participate in school activities; and they take advantage of social benefits. Spanish families also believe that immigrant families do not fulfil their responsibilities, either as parents or towards the school: they do not convey the appropriate educational values to their children, and this generates distrust.

Perceptions that are not based on direct interactions

Mina Prokic explains that these perceptions are rarely based on direct encounters and interactions, but rather on common beliefs and stereotypes about Islam, the colonial past, and subsequent waves of migration. The study data show that respondents who have not sent their children to a public school in the neighbourhood due to the high level of immigrant pupils are the most distrustful of these centres, while those who send their children to public schools have a better opinion and a higher degree of trust. Thus, “a school’s ethnic make-up becomes an indirect measure of its quality”.

“Parents are guided by the social make-up of the centre and they avoid high levels of immigration, rather than being guided by the educational project”, the author explains. But although the interviewees attribute the low performance of immigrant students and the lower participation by immigrant families to their poor culture and to their place of origin, the author points out that most of these negative perceptions are related to structural obstacles, such as immigrants’ lower socioeconomic status and their need to work inflexible working hours, which can pose difficulties for their involvement in formal and informal activities and in language learning.

What areas are affected within the school?

At the school level, some of the aspects of trust that are most affected are those of competence (the school administration is not doing enough to counteract the negative effects of immigration); reliability (the school cannot offer an equal level to all students, as they must pay more attention to immigrant children), and openness (the administration does not listen to their demands concerning immigration and prioritizes the needs of immigrant parents).

Moreover, all interviewees, regardless of their opinion on immigration, think that the effects of immigration should be solved by city-level institutions and not just by the local schools. Thus, they complain of institutional neglect and little attention at highly diverse schools, with a lack of human and economic resources and unequal conditions compared to other schools with lower levels of immigration.

The other side of the coin are the teachers, as the interviewees believe that they manage immigration appropriately, with high levels of competence and reliability; and family associations (AFA), which they consider invest time and a great deal of effort in order for the community to function.

Actions that could help reverse the situation

According to the author, some of the recipes that could be applied to change this situation would be to better educate Spanish citizens (and especially teachers and educators) regarding immigration, its links with colonial history and the implications of racism. Secondly, schools should acknowledge the different countries of origin of immigrant families in the curriculum and make space to discuss ethnic diversity, in order to ensure more pedagogy about different cultures and religions. And finally, institutions should reassure families and explain that diversity has benefits for the education of their children, in addition to being transparent and communicating which policies are being implemented in relation to this area.

“Increasing opportunities and spaces for communication between families from different backgrounds and standardizing cultural and religious demands in all centres, regardless of their level of diversity, would be a step towards improving the current situation, in which programmes and accommodation are implemented differently in each centre”, Mina Prokic concludes.

Reference work: Prokic, M. (June 2024) “Racism, Islamophobia and trust in schools: perceptions of diversity in schools in Barcelona”, Educational Review

https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2024.2364695