A letter from the authors

It is our pleasure to present you with several “flow-charts” demonstrating a selection of issues and factors which should be considered when working with culturally and linguistically diverse children.

While we tried to be as comprehensive as possible in our descriptions of the psychological situation of children, we are still aware that it is almost impossible to catch and then to reflect in a diagram-like form the whole complexity of the psychological and situational landscape of culturally and linguistically diverse children.

Yet, our main goal was to present the most important issues that should, in our opinion, be considered when working with migrant children and their families. This work surely will be developed  and advanced to better serve its purpose; namely, to help you navigate the most important issues. We truly hope that you will find your way how our work can be used and applied to improve your understanding, and skills needed to work with migrant children. We hope this work will serve for a higher good.

This work is divided into two broad threads.

The first called “Diversity identification” focuses on identification of cultural and/or linguistic diversity in the classroom. It has a from of an algorithm-like chart showing various possibilities relating to cultural and linguistic diversity.

The second thread focuses on psychological processes, factors and issues to be considered when dealing with migrant child in the classroom. This broad thread is divided into four separate yet mutually comprehensive aspects such as: (1) the context of migration and the family, (2) the school level, (3) the classroom level and (4) the child level. We strongly believe that when working with a migrant children all these levels should be considered simultaneously as we work with not only a migrant child but the whole system they function in. We believe that such a system-based approach will be the most effective in working with migrant children in a school context.

Krystian Barzykowski
Joanna Durlik
Paulina Szydłowska-Klakla
& Joanna Grzymała-Moszczyńska