The Integration Challenges in the Educational Context – A Comparative Perspective of the Refugees in Poland and in the Netherlands

This text examines the specificities of migrants’ integration by analysing the attitudes and expectations of the Ukrainian war refugees in Poland and their integration into the public education system, with a comparative perspective on the experience of the Moroccan refugees in the Netherlands. In both situations, the everyday challenges of growing multiculturalism in school environments are approached. The analysis presents challenges in integrating foreign-born students and their families into the public education system and mainstream societies in both selected countries. In this research, the authors used standardised questionnaires with both closed- and open-ended questions, distributed to a group of teachers (N=101) working in a multicultural environment in Poland. The results are presented in the text, with an emphasis on the challenges of teaching and general work with foreign-born pupils both in the Netherlands and Poland. In the discussion, the authors propose a list of challenges for integration and coexistence, as well as the potential for future return migration. Finally, an overview of dos and don’ts regarding national policies for settling and integrating refugees is provided. Both examples are treated according to their potential to be generalised in the integrational context of public education policies, the school environment, and the challenges that arise when the multicultural environment of pupils, teachers, and parents becomes a new reality.