Özet:
During the last few years, East-Europeans, predominantly Romanians, have
become the second largest cultural minority in Catalonia (Spain). Spanish
educational institutions now have students from more than twenty different
cultures. This paper focuses on the educational background and the factors which
characterize the educational experience of Romanian students prior to attending
schools in Spain, and how this affects their experiences into Catalonian primary
schools. Twenty seven interviews were undertaken, of Catalonian and Romanian
teachers, of experts and parents from the host primary schools where the
proportion of Romanian students was highest. Two focus-group sessions were
carried out with school teachers from Romania. The analysis shows that there is
some consistency between educational practices and values in Romania and the
practices and values of the host schools. The ability of children to assimilate into
the host school is directly influenced by their previous experience in the schools in
their country of origin.
