and successful position, offinding out what their migrant children (particularly)
think and need?
We saythink, because a modicum of research on the teacher’s part into how their
migrant childrenthinkwill repay the teacher enormously. If the migrant children
come, for instance, from a culture that values collective achievement over indi-
vidual achievement then a number of thetechneof conventional pedagogy may be
called into question. For instance are classroom competitions which result in
individual winners going to be counter-productive? Would the class work more
comfortably and/or productively if the layout of the classroom was changed? Is the
‘flexible learning environment’seen as stimulating?...or threatening?
If the focus of research is on what migrant childrenneed,then the temptation is
to focus on those attributes they do not have which would in fact turn them into
members of the dominant cultural group. This is what Bishop et al. ( 2003 ) and
Bishop and Glyn ( 1999 ) refer to as deficit thinking. The conceptual form of
research which focuses on lack will inevitably lead to remedial action, whether it be
teaching-to-the-test, or attacks on specific skills or forms of knowledge that define
the difference between the migrant child and the mainstream. Such research may
have very good short-term results—in improving the child’s ability to communicate
through English for instance—but may also have some undesirable long-term
consequences. It has not been a satisfactory approach to the difference in
achievement between Maori students and Pakeha students to date, although it has
been used for many years. Alison Jones’( 1991 ) research demonstrates the point:
not only were teachers providing what they thought their migrant (Pacific) students
needed, but students were active agents in articulating and enforcing the satisfaction
of the same perceived‘needs’, to the detriment of their educational achievements
and future possibilities.
The complexity of migrant children’s conceptual and philosophic background is
itself a subject for research. It is a mistake to believe that all migrant children share
the same socio-economic status for instance (see Wu 2008 ). As the circumstances of
immigration and the consequent life patterns of families differ, so do their material
and cultural positions in the new context. However, many immigrant children will
not come from well off families. That does not mean that they are culturally poor.
The research of Teisina ( 2011 ) and Pau’uvale ( 2011 ) into the philosophic back-
ground of Tongan immigrants shows a richness of concept and practice which is not
understood by many teachers, but which can stand here as a model for the kinds of
findings an investigation into an immigrant community might produce.
31.6 CASE STUDY: Tongan Concepts and Precepts
- Faka'apa'apa (respect, considerate, humility)—being aware of the Tongan
customs and values in order to show respect towards the people. This will
include wearing the right clothes to gatherings, how to speak to elders and those
who are above the hierarchy of living in a Tongan community. If you show
31 Teacher Education, Research and Migrant Children 475