CHILDREN WITH A MIGRATION HISTORY IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF ORENBURG REGION
Authors: Omelchenko Elena A. , Shevtsova Anna A. 
Published: October 2023

Schools and kindergartens of Orenburg region, as well as many other regions of Russia, from the early 2000s began to accept children from migrant families of Central Asia and Transcaucasia for education. In the 2010s, this trend intensified, and classes began to be filled with already significant groups of children whose families had moved to the region over the past ten years. Orenburg Region is multinational in itself, so the influx of non-ethnic migrants only increased the multicultural nature of children’s and pedagogical collectives.

The purpose of the study is to determine the level of linguistic and socio-cultural adaptation of children with a migration history in the region, the degree of readiness of Orenburg region educational organizations to receive foreign minors and to form ideas about the attitudes of migrant families and students themselves for full socio-cultural integration into the Russian society.

Methods and materials. The source base of the study was made by statistical materials on migration processes, in-depth interviews and conversations with teachers and administration of educational organizations in Orenburg region, diagnostic examination of non-native speaking schoolchildren in three educational organizations of the region using a special technique.

The scientific novelty of the research lies in combination of applied ethnographic tools with the study of the current situation in the educational system of the region. The authors answer the problematic question: how to organize the work on linguistic and socio-cultural adaptation of foreign-speaking students, depending on the proportion of children with a migration history at school, the level of teachers’ education and qualification on the example of specific educational institutions in the cities Orenburg and Orsk, a suburban district of Orenburg region.

Study results. The data collected in a number of Russian cities in 2021–2022, including in the region under study, are analyzed, which give the opportunity to assert that the proportion of children from migrant families in school and the native language of foreign-speaking children are not the determining factors in the progress of linguistic and socio-cultural adaptation by means of education. The article gives a description of an approximate distribution of students with a migration history participating in the study in four groups, depending on the recommended model of language adaptation. The factor that significantly complicates the activities on linguistic and socio-cultural adaptation of migrant children in the conditions of the Orenburg region is emphasized: this is a “pendulum” migration, as well as long summer and winter holidays, when parents send their children to their homeland “to grandparents”, not really considering the need to support language practice. The data obtained during the study indicate that the majority of students with a migration history in Orenburg region associate their future with Russia: it is very important to support such children at the initial stage of adaptation and training in a Russian school, because, as a rule, they will be motivated to successfully study and move up the social ladder if the language barrier is overcome.

Conclusions. In general, the experience of many years of positive interethnic interaction accumulated in Orenburg region and reasonably structured national and migration policies create the basis for successful adaptation and integration of migrant families arriving in the region. However, if we talk about the educational system of Orenburg region, then in order to successfully solve the tasks of linguistic and socio-cultural adaptation of children with a migration history, Orenburg region schools need additional staff and financial support.