‘My language … I don’t know how to talk about it’: children’s views on language diversity in primary schools in France and England

This article investigates the ways in which children from immigrant backgrounds view the place of ‘other’ languages in primary schools in France and England. This article draws on findings from a cross-national ethnographic study, which investigated the experiences of 10- and 11-year-old children of immigrants in two primary schools, one in France and one in England. It shows how, in both schools, children had to negotiate the symbolic domination of a single legitimate language and viewed their other languages as inferior, undesirable or illicit. Building on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, findings in this paper contribute insights into the complex debates around language diversity, multilingualism and intercultural communication in schools in France and England

The European Employment Strategy: Towards More and Better Jobs?

The European Employment Strategy (EES) is the employment policy of the European Union. According to its 2000 orientations, the EES was to promote 'more and better jobs'. In fact, the EES has not lived up to this promise. First, the EES has not been able to put the quality of jobs firmly on its agenda. On the contrary, the EES argues in favour of more flexible jobs. Second, the EES criticizes countries such as Sweden and Denmark for their high levels of taxes and unemployment benefits, despite the results these countries achieve in terms of employment. The orientations of the EES can be understood as deriving from mainstream economics; it is argued that they go against the European social model. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author(s); Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

France: The Increasing Recognition of Migration and Ethnicity as a Source of Educational Inequalities

2nd editio