Training and recruitment of teachers with immigrant backgrounds: Contribution toward creating social justice in the swiss education system

Abstract

The issue of the training and recruitment of more teachers with migrant backgrounds has only recently been raised in Switzerland. In this regard, two main arguments are set forth favoring such an approach. Firstly, the teaching profession should better reflect the composition of society. Secondly, having more teachers with migrant background(s) may add value to the school system, facilitate communication with migrant parents, and represent positive examples of successful integration for students. Nowadays, reflecting this social structure has become increasingly important within the Swiss context given the extent of the culturally and linguistically heterogeneous composition of school classes. This chapter focuses on teachers with migrant backgrounds by narrating their training and social integration pathways as well as their social and professional values and experiences with regard to achieving equity and justice in education. To that end, the purpose of this chapter is to address the following questions: what types of social injustices do teachers with migrant backgrounds face during their training and insertion into schools? What are the effects of their presence on students and parents with immigrant background in schools? Finally, are they a genuine asset to generating more social justice in their schools and more broadly within the Swiss education system?.