Migration movements have a significant impact on contemporary societies. Germany's societal, social and individual reality is also fundamentally characterised by migration phenomena. Experiences in the migration society are structured in a significant way by orders of belonging.

Thesubject of migration pedagogy is the orders of belonging confirmed and produced by migration phenomena and in particular the question of how these orders are repeated and produced in educational institutional contexts and how they can be changed.

A central task of migration pedagogy is to address the question of how the natio-ethno-cultural Other is produced under conditions of migration and what contribution pedagogical discourses and practices make to this.

Migration education focuses on

• on orders of belonging in the migration society: e.g. the restrictive focus on "cultural" differences,
• the power relations that bring about distinctions: e.g. describing and analysing the dominant schemes and practices of differentiation between natio-ethno-cultural "we" and "not-we",
• strengthening and expanding alternative possibilities for action, e.g. on the question of "Who benefits from which distinctions, to what extent and in what form?"
• on the educational processes that are enabled and prevented in these powerful orders: e.g. what role pedagogical action plays here: "How can professional pedagogical action be shaped that is less dependent on distinctions?"

Migration pedagogy is therefore not "migrant pedagogy" in the sense that the first concern of migration pedagogy would be to change "the migrants". In contrast to pedagogical approaches that primarily aim to support "migrants", migration pedagogy focuses on institutional and discursive orders and the possibilities of changing them.

The migration education specialisation at the Carl von Ossietzky University offers the opportunity for an intensive examination of the following topics, among others:

• Educational science perspectives on migration and education
• Analysing and reflecting on historical, political and cultural conditions of difference and dominance in the migration society
• Law in the context of flight and migration
• Postcolonial theory (postcolonial studies) and criticism of racism
• Dealing with multilingualism and linguistic dominance relations
• Pedagogical professionalism and analysing pedagogical institutions and routines from a migration pedagogical perspective
• Knowing and reflecting on the scientific theory of research into migration society

Migration education content is represented in many modules of the degree programme in Education. In the advanced and specialisation modules, they form the focus if they are appropriately valid. The project phase - conceptualisation and implementation of a research project as group work - and the training module - an internship during the course of study - also serve to provide in-depth reflection on issues relating to migration education.

A variety of fields of activity in the areas of upbringing, education, counselling and support in coping with life are available for later professional practice in education. The academic appointments in migration education are explicitly not limited to specific areas of work with or for migrants (e.g. migration or integration counselling centres). Rather, migration education is to be seen as a key qualification and cross-sectional task for all educational and migration-related academic appointments and fields of action. This includes, for example

• Child, youth, educational and family support organisations,
• Educational organisations in adult education,
• Public (early childhood) education centres (crèches, daycare centres),
• facilities for the elderly and care of the elderly,
• Counselling centres for people in precarious life situations, crisis situations or with specific concerns,
• Leisure facilities with socio-educational programmes,
• Community and cultural work facilities.

Further reading:

Castro Varela, María do Mar, Dirim, Inci; Kalpaka, Annita; Mecheril, Paul; Melter, Claus (eds.) (2010): Migrationspädagogik. Weinheim and Basel: Beltz Verlag.