Immigrant families interactions with schools. Some evidence from an Italian research

The article examines the ability of immigrant families to interact with Italian schools, seeing this as a fundamental process of social class formation. The idea is that there are specificities due to being migrants, even apart from the “cultural” specificities usually assumed. The paper will draw on material from the ongoing research project Second Generations: Migration Processes and Mechanisms of Integration among Foreigners and Italians (1950-2010) which shows that parents and pupils have very incomplete and inadequate information of the Italian school system and of local schools. This makes information and educational advice and orientation crucial questions in the educational trajectories of children of immigrants and in the creation of class inequalities. Interviews gathered during the research also illustrate the micro mechanisms shaping school choices. We believe these micro-mechanisms influencing choices and strategies are as important as structural constraints in reproducing inequalities.