Old And New Diversities In Schools: Exploring Teachers’ Experiences with Migrant Students In South Tyrol's Rigidly Divided School System

Abstract

In the past decade, we witnessed a rise in the study of the relationships between “old” national (autochthonous) minority groups (ethnic, linguistic minorities) and “new” international immigrants within contexts defined as “divided societies” (as defined by Lijphart, 2004). Scholars have investigated the political strategies and the policies which have been put in place by political parties and government elites representing national minority groups, to accommodate this new migrant‐driven diversity. However, the perspective and everyday experiences of micro‐level social actors have been largely under‐investigated. The present article contributes to the academic debate about the relationship between old and new minorities by providing a fresh and bottom‐up perspective through which to explore the complexities of these dynamics. The analysis focuses on the domain of education, looking at how teachers belonging to autochthonous national minorities understand and accommodate “new” forms of diversity and challenges originating from immigration, in an ethnically and linguistically divided society, i.e., the city of Bolzano. The research also highlights some elements that may speak to other linguistically divided contexts beyond the one considered in this article.

The final findings open to new scenarios on the potential power of political narratives and institutional arrangements on the relationships of minority teachers with migrants in linguistically divided societies. Moreover, the article corroborates findings by previous studies on immigrant integration paradigms and existing challenges, about the needs to consider the bottom‐up strategies of the micro‐level local social actors (like teachers), to reach a more comprehensive understanding of migrant integration dynamics, especially at the local level.