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School as Institution and as Symbol in Estonian Migrant Families’ Lives in Finland

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Translocal Childhoods and Family Mobility in East and North Europe

Part of the book series: Studies in Childhood and Youth ((SCY))

Abstract

Assmuth and Siim discuss school, a key institution in the lives of translocal families, in the context of Estonian families who have migrated to neighbouring Finland. In the comparison discourse that these families have about the two education systems, children, with their first-hand school experience, are regarded and treated as experts. The education system shapes and controls not just the individual lives of children, but also those of their families and familial networks. However, such overarching governance is balanced, countered, challenged and bypassed by the agency of children and parents. Translocal children as actors seem to have the advantage of not taking the ‘system’, in this case school, for granted—for them there is always an alternative system that provides a point of reflection and comparison.

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Correspondence to Laura Assmuth .

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Assmuth, L., Siim, P.M. (2018). School as Institution and as Symbol in Estonian Migrant Families’ Lives in Finland. In: Assmuth, L., Hakkarainen, M., Lulle, A., Siim, P. (eds) Translocal Childhoods and Family Mobility in East and North Europe. Studies in Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89734-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89734-9_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-89733-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-89734-9

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