Social Problems in the Education of the Immigrant Child

I N VIEW OF the fact that restrictions upon immigration have been in force in the United States since ig22, a number of pertinent questions regarding immigrants have been raised by teachers, social workers, and laymen alike. These questions are indicative not only of the range of problems involved but of the attitudes entertained by Americans toward the immigrant child and his culture, and show the misconceptions and the lack of adequate appreciation of the nature of the problems by the very people who are in considerable measure guiding the destinies of the immigrant. Is there still an immigration problem? From the United States Census we learn that in 1930 there were over I4,000,000 foreign-born and over 26,000,ooo persons of foreign or mixed parentage, making a total of over 40,000,000, or almost one-third of the country's population composed of first and second generation immigrants. In spite of this astonishing total, the Foreign Language Information Service tells us that popular interest in the problems of the immigrant has greatly decreased of late. While immigration has reached its lowest point during the depression and many immigrants have been repatriated by the government, the country still faces a vast problem of assimilation. The question was asked of six hundred American-born children (fifth to eighth grade) of foreign-born parents: How many considered themselves fully Americanized? No more than fifteen per cent replied in the affirmative. Again it was asked: How many came from homes where there was no between the New and the Old World standards? Not more than ten per cent denied existence of conflicts. (Of course, every precaution was taken in giving the children the proper interpretation of conflict and Americanization.) Why should we single out the educational needs of the immigrant child? There is every indication that the immigrant child recognizes his

Demographic economics · Economics · Immigration · Political science · Sociology · Diverse Education Studies and Reforms · Parental Involvement in Education · Psychology

• Le paradoxe suisse

  Open Access•Luca Gnaedinger•Champ pénal•2024

  Add to list