1 Subject of the focus on migration and education

"We don't really have anything to do with migration at our school, because there are hardly any migrants here" is a common everyday view of dealing with migration that is also shared in academic discourse.

From a migration society perspective, on the other hand, it is assumed that migration affects social structures, discourses and self-images and world views of all people living in a society. Migration calls into question familiar routines of action in institutions on a pragmatic level, but also affects symbolically effective levels of a social context; for example, when the question of who belongs formally and informally and who is only temporarily and conditionally granted the right to formal and informal membership becomes an issue.

A migration society perspective is dedicated to analysing and questioning social structures in their assumptions of normality, their ideas about migrant others and the power effects embedded in them. It thus addresses the limits of the territorial, legal, political, social and economic conception of community and membership and at the same time opens up the potential to scrutinise and change these.

Educational trajectories and equal participation in and co-determination of educational institutions are also affected by this, meaning that issues relating to migration society are always also educational issues. From a migration education perspective, it is therefore less important to determine exactly who migrants and/or refugees are than to ask which legal, political, social and educational practices make certain people and groups of people into others in the first place.

The aim of a migration education perspective is, firstly, the systematic and well-founded examination of the question of how educational and social practices of thought and action as well as institutionalised structures contribute to marking migrants as Others and how this position is linked to attributions of foreignness and material and symbolically effective exclusion at all levels of society. Secondly, a migration education perspective aims to analyse discriminatory social structures and in particular inequality relations in educational institutions and to ask how these can be transformed in order to become less hurtful, exclusionary and violent.

2 Content focus of the specialisation in migration and education

In the Master's degree programme in Educational Sciences with a focus on migration and education, practices and routines, structures and institutions of education and upbringing and the corresponding actors as well as social discourses are addressed and analysed from a migration society perspective.

To this end, the degree programme picks up on central content from the focus on migration education from the Bachelor's degree programme in Education and continues it in depth.

This deepening takes place through an intensified examination of selected theories, as well as the study of qualitative-empirical studies in educational and social research and courses on the reflection of educational practice. The degree programme is structured in such a way that Bachelor's graduates from different universities are guaranteed compatibility.

The Migration and Education specialisation offers a sound and intensive examination of the following topics and research approaches in particular:

• Racism theory and criticism of racism, especially with reference to the German context
• Postcolonial theory (postcolonial studies)
• Difference and intersectionality theory approaches to ethnicity, gender, age, religion, etc.
• Migration society perspectives on law(s) and politics
• Educational research on discrimination
• Theories of subjectivation and education
• Multilingualism and linguistic criticism
• Reflection and analysis of actions and structures in pedagogical fields
• Theories of pedagogical professionalism and organisational action in the migration society

3 Qualification goals and academic appointments with a focus on migration and education

The Master's degree programme enables students to gain an academic qualification and aims to expand their systematic-theoretical ability to reflect on theoretical texts and pedagogical practice. The structure of the Master's degree programme is designed in such a way that both the basis for further academic activities (e.g. doctorate) can be developed, as well as pedagogical professionalisation from a migration pedagogical and racism-critical perspective for various fields of action in the context of education, upbringing and counselling.

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 pedagogical and migration-related fields of work and action.

Academic appointments for graduates specialising in migration and education include

• Consultancy work in registered associations, organisations, foundations and companies
• Working as an academic consultant in institutions of political education, political parties, adult education organisations, anti-discrimination offices and institutions for equality work or diversity management
• Advisory functions in public service, community and cultural organisations as well as social institutions
• Academic activities at universities of applied sciences and universities, e.g. as research assistants or lecturers for special tasks in the context of research and teaching
• Pursuing a doctorate in education and educational sciences as part of a scholarship, a research training group or employment as a research assistant at a university or university of applied sciences

Further reading tips:

• Mecheril, Paul (ed.). In collaboration with Veronika Kourabas and Matthias Rangger (2016): Handbook of migration education. Weinheim: Beltz Verlag.
• Castro Varela, María do Mar, Dirim, Inci; Kalpaka, Annita; Mecheril, Paul; Melter, Claus (eds.) (2010): Migration Pedagogy. Weinheim and Basel: Beltz Verlag.