Migrant children and young people's 'voice' in healthcare

This chapter addresses the issue of children and young people's participation and 'voice' in healthcare provision, in the wider context of their inclusion in social and political life and with a focus on young people who have migrated to the UK with their families. While children and young people's participation in decisions that affect their lives is stipulated as a right through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), public services still vary in their commitment and established mechanisms for including children and young people's views in improving provision. The chapter draws on research with Eastern European migrant children newly arrived in the UK in relation to experiences of healthcare provision post-migration. The main focus is on their views of health service provision, the barriers they face in relation to health service use and the strategies migrant families adopt to overcome perceived shortcomings in provision, including adopting a transnational use of health services

The Health of EU Migrant Children in the UK

This paper provides an overview of the research evidence on EU migrant children’s access to health services in the UK. It focusses on evidence on the physical and mental health status of EU migrant children, their health behaviours post-migration, the social determinants that influence migrant children’s health outcomes and, issues in their access to and use of UK health care services post-migration

At home abroad: the life experiences of children of migrant workers in Scotland

The primary aim of this research is to inform the public debate and policy making organisations on the issue of children of migrant workers coming to Britain. Focussing on children aged 6-14 of Eastern European migrants; the study provides a unique perspective on the lives of children and young people settling in Scotland as a result of their parents’ migration for work purposes. The research explores children’s views on what it is like to start life in another country, what impact family migration has on their relationships and identity, and what are the main challenges they face. The study will take place over 21 months. The first stage involves several focus groups with migrant children to identify shared experiences of migration. The second stage consists of detailed case studies of over 20 migrant children between 6-14 years old and their families. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with parents, while children will be invited to take control of the research process through the use of modern technologies such as digital and video cameras. The findings will be disseminated through reports and events suitable for young people, the general public as well as academic audiences, service providers and policy makers

Challenging Bullying : Building Empathy

To help explore and build young people's understanding of the importance of empathy for positive and respectful relationships, and specifically the awareness of and empathy with young people from a migrant background

Migrant children in cities : the spatial constructions of their everyday lives

This chapter explores the significance of place in migrant children’s lives, with a focus on their experiences in urban areas. We discuss the reconfigured spatiality of children’s mobility as a result of their migration and examine how current discourses around socially inclusive cities and children’s rights are in contrast with migrant children’s everyday experiences of mobility and social participation. The chapter reviews existing child-inclusive research, in order to map out the extent and limits of children’s spatial mobility post-migration and illustrate their perspectives on life in the city as a child migrant. By looking at children's views on their experiences of inner city mobility, the review highlights the barriers children are confronted with, their limited opportunities for social networking and civic participation and increased confinement to the domestic space. It also examines the factors which impact on children's restricted mobility, including parents' perceptions of safety, cultural beliefs and limited social networks in facilitating access, and argues that current debates on the role of children’s place in cities need to move away from monolithic views of the ‘urban child’. The chapter concludes that limited consideration of the different ways in which (adults in) cities restrict migrant children’s mobility and a narrow understanding of how children can access opportunities are currently hindering the development of inclusive social policies which reflect fairly children’s voice

Learners' perceptions of teachers' non-verbal behaviours in the foreign language class

This study explores the meanings that participants in a British ELT setting give to teachers' non-verbal behaviours. It is a qualitative, descriptive study of the perceived functions that gestures and other non-verbal behaviours perform in the foreign language classroom, viewed mainly from the language learners' perspective. The thesis presents the stages of the research process, from the initial development of the research questions to the discussion of the research findings that summarise and discuss the participants' views. There are two distinct research phases presented in the thesis. The pilot study explores the perceptions of 18 experienced language learners of teachers' non-verbal behaviours. The data is collected in interviews based on videotaped extracts of classroom interaction, presented to the participants in two experimental conditions, with and without sound. The findings of this initial study justify the later change of method from the experimental design to a more exploratory framework. In the main study, 22 learners explain, in interviews based on stimulated recall, their perceptions on their teachers' verbal and non-verbal behaviours as occurring within the immediate classroom context. Finally, learners' views are complemented by 20 trainee teachers' written reports of classroom observation and their opinions expressed in focus group interviews. The data for the main study were thus collected through a combination of methods, ranging from classroom direct observations and videotaped recordings, to semi-structured interviews with language learners. The research findings indicate that participants generally believe that gestures and other non-verbal behaviours playa key role in the language learning and teaching process. Learners identify three types of functions that non-verbal behaviours play in the classroom interaction: (i) cognitive, i.e. non-verbal behaviours which work as enhancers of the learning processes, (ii) emotional, i.e. non-verbal behaviours that function as reliable communicative devices of teachers' emotions and attitudes and (iii) organisational, i.e. non-verbal behaviours which serve as tools of classroom management and control. The findings suggest that learners interpret teachers' non-verbal behaviours in a functional manner and use these messages and cues in their learning and social interaction with the teacher. The trainee teachers value in a similar manner the roles that non-verbal behaviours play in the language teaching and learning. However, they seem to prioritise the cognitive and managerial functions of teachers' non-verbal behaviours over the emotional ones and do not consider the latter as important as the learners did. This study is original in relation to previous studies of language classroom interaction in that it: • describes the kinds of teachers' behaviours which all teachers and learners are familiar with, but which have seldom been foregrounded in classroom-based research; • unlike previous studies of non-verbal behaviour, investigates the perceiver's view of the others' non-verbal behaviour rather than its production; • documents these processes of perception through an innovative methodology of data collection and analysis; • explores the teachers' non-verbal behaviours as perceived by the learners themselves, suggesting that their viewpoint can be one window on the reality of language classrooms; • provides explanations and functional interpretations for the many spontaneous and apparently unimportant actions that teachers use on a routine basis; • identifies a new area which needs consideration in any future research and pedagogy of language teaching and learning

New Scots? Eastern European young people's feelings of belonging and national identity in Scotland post-Brexit

This article examines the impact of Brexit on young people aged 12-18 who had moved to Scotland from Central and Eastern Europe. It draws on empirical data collected with over 250 young people who contributed to an online survey and focus groups between 2016-2018, immediately after the Brexit referendum took place. The paper examines young people’s feelings of national identity and how their sense of belonging has been impacted by Brexit. The key findings reveal that factors such as their everyday experiences of racism and xenophobia and perceptions of what other people, often their friends, might think about who gets to belong were identified as significant to the identities young migrants felt able to claim. While many young people expressed a strong sense of belonging in the UK as a whole and over half said they were feeling Scottish, access to a Scottish national identity seems to be restricted and often denied to them. At the same time, many felt able to occupy the national identity of their country of birth or claim hyphenated identities that included Scottishness and a European identity. In the context of Brexit, this poses a challenge for making New Scots feel like they belong in Scotland, as many may now decide to review their plans to remain in Scotland long-term if their rights change

Children and young people's experiences and views of poverty and inequalities: Policy and practice implications : Final project report

Publisher PD

Relations between Child Poverty and New Migrant Child Status, Academic Attainment and Social Participation: Insights Using Social Capital Theory

Currently, around one in five children in the United Kingdom and the United States live in poverty. This has a devastating effect on their wellbeing, education and broader socio-political participation, and life chances. In this paper, Scottish policy documentary data are used to discuss the effects of relations amongst categories of children in poverty, migrant child status, and academic under-attainment. The study draws on social capital and intersectionalities theory to explore some of the power and knowledge relations that are effects of policy statements. The paper concludes by suggesting that addressing the issues of poverty and educational under-attainment, including for migrant children, requires a policy strategy beyond education. Disconnections across social, cultural, and economic child policy need to be redesigned in order to change the very real socio-economic-cultural-political relations which policy produces; these relations can lead to either high levels of social participation and potential academic attainment of new arrival children or to their social exclusion. Accordingly, knowledge practices aiming to improve the socio-economic-cultural-political inclusion of migrant children make central the conditions and experiences constitutive of new migrants’ lived social lives

My generation: Involving children and young people in decisions that affect them will be the only way to ensure meaningful solutions to address poverty

Professor Joan Forbes and Dr Daniela Sime share findings from their recent project gathering young people’s experiences of poverty and inequalitie