Integrating Immigrant Children into Schools in Europe

Chapter 5 – School-based Recognition of Immigrant CultureIn countries where schools less commonly lay down requirements regarding what pupils should wear,introducing policies in this area seems more far-reaching. Belgium (the French Community), France, theNetherlands, Sweden and Norway have witnessed recent public debate on matters of school dress, andespecially the display of various religious symbols.Debate of this kind appears to be a melting pot for different sets of values. In some countries, respect forfreedom of religion is combined with the belief that public measures should not be discriminatory.Strictly secular approaches – as well as educational considerations – seem to run counter to respect fordiversity. In the cases of dress, this applies most notably to garments covering most of the face, whichmake it difficult for teachers and the class to identify and communicate with the pupil, thus obstructingsmooth teaching and learning.In Belgium (the French Community) the issue of school dress has been discussed at the level ofgovernment and, as no agreement has been reached, schools may act at their own discretion.In France, in which public education is secular and non-confessional, a bill was approved in February2004 following intense debate. It aims to ban confessional items worn conspicuously on schoolpremises and becomes law on 1 September 2004.In the Netherlands, the degree of tolerance to be observed with regard to dress codes is also stillsubject to debate. Tension over the increasingly varied cultural backgrounds of school pupils isreflected in the ban imposed by some schools on the headscarves worn by Muslim girls. The courtshave granted school management the right to ban clothing considered to interfere with normaleducational processes or eye-to-eye contact.In Sweden, school education is non-denominational. At the same time, schools are meant toencourage all pupils to discover their uniqueness as individuals and, in so doing, to contribute activelyto the life of society by giving of their best in a spirit of freedom responsibly exercised. Given thecontroversy over pupils wearing burqas in class, the Swedish National Agency for Education (NAE) hassaid that any school may ban the practice. Schools must above all be able to educate effectivelythrough teaching and learning in which face-to-face communication is regarded as very important. TheNAE stresses that any ban should be accompanied by a discussion of values, equality and democraticrights and obligations.Schools do not serve meals in all countries. In some countries, pupils are expected to provide their ownmeals, so schools are not necessarily faced with any need to adapt in this respect. In countries in whichmeals are served on school premises, there is scope for adaptation. However the level of the decision andthe approach adopted vary.For example, several Autonomous Communities in Spain have taken steps to adapt canteen menus tothe religious and cultural precepts of immigrant pupils and, in both France and Luxembourg, schoolmenus take account of the customary preferences of immigrant families. In Finland and Sweden,adaptation of the school menu in recognition of cultural or religious precepts is often possible andapproached in the same way as changes on dietary grounds in the case of vegetarianism, allergies,diabetes, etc.55