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Family, school, teachers.and community: investing together in social capital.The case of Lucerna schools in Flanders
Prof. Ides Nicaise (University of Leuven)assisted by Charlotte Vandooren & Famke De Clercq
The challenge
• Students from Turkish origin in Flanders…– perform substantially below average– have relatively poor command of Dutch– are severely under-represented in general and
higher education• The Flemish education system is characterised by…
– extreme competition => selectivity and segregation– early tracking (age 12)– assimilationist climate (‘Dutch first’)
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Vicious circles…
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The social capital of schools
Schools with disadvantaged students get educational priority funding, and yet often have less resources:– Private infrastructure– Financial, social and cultural resources of parents /
alumni– Teachers: quasi-market mechanisms result in ‘Mathew
effect’, with teachers competing for the ‘easier’ schools (monolingual, close to home, high-SES etc.) => de facto inequalities in human resources
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Lucerna’s response: building on the ethnic capital of the Turkish-Belgian community
• Leadership from 2nd generation of immigrants
• Financial support from Turkish entrepreneurs
• Commitment of teachers (extra-curricular activities, team teaching, individual tutoring, home visits…)