The school in Madrid

The school in Madrid, in which the fieldwork was carried out, was a secondary public centre, which provided courses at both compulsory secondary level and non-compulsory ‘bachillerato’ – level (the latter both day and evening classes). In addition, the school had a bridging class. In the school year 2007/2008, the school had a total of around 400 students during the day, of whom approximately 65% were at the compulsory secondary school level. According to the school statistics, almost 40% of these students were immigrants, and around 2.5% Roma.

The students categorised as migrants came from a variety of countries, and there were around 20 different nationalities at the school. Reflecting the national and local tendencies, the single largest group of immigrants at the compulsory school level were from Ecuador, counting for around 30% of the total number of immigrants. In the class, where I was situated, the majority of foreign students were, thus, also from Ecuador. In total, the class had 24 students, of whom eleven were from a Spanish background, nine from Ecuador, one from Colombia, one from the Dominican Republic, one from China and one from Ukraine. In terms of gender, there were more boys in the class than girls (fifteen and nine respectively) and age wise the students were between fifteen and seventeen years of age (with the youngest one turning sixteen and the oldest turning eighteen during the fieldwork).

In the bridging class all thirteen students were, quite naturally, migrants. Two were from the Dominican Republic (Spanish speakers but with a ‘curricular gap’) and the rest were from China, Nigeria, Morocco, Guinea and Romania. Gender wise, there was a larger

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amount of boys than girls (eight and four, respectively), and in terms of age, they were between twelve and fifteen years.

Geographically, the school covered a large area and was composed of two main buildings with three floors. In one building were the classes of students from the first two years of compulsory secondary schooling, in the other the classes of students from the last two years of compulsory secondary schooling and from the bachillerato31. Furthermore, this second building contained a staff room, a cafeteria, a meeting room, an assembly room, a computer room and a number of offices. Close to the director’s office, armchairs were placed around a little table, for visitors to sit and perhaps read one of the newspapers on display, but at break-time these armchairs were often occupied by students chatting and eating snacks.

In between the two buildings there was a large outdoor area, with three football/basketball courts, trees and benches. The whole of the school was surrounded by a high fence and the only way to enter was through one of the main entrances leading to one of the two buildings. At each entrance there was a reception, and during the school day the entry doors were usually locked. Teachers and students thus, had to ask the receptionist to open the doors in case they needed to leave during the day. Within the school, all the main doors were kept open, except during lunch-time when the students were supposed to either stay outdoors or remain at the ground floor.

Most rooms at the school had a sign on the door indicating the name of the room (teaching room, class room, toilets, assembly room, etc) in different languages (Spanish, Romanian, Arabic, Portuguese, English, and Chinese). This, I was told, was introduced at the same time as the bridging class, which had started two years earlier. Around the school

31 _{In many of the narratives of students and teachers, there was a clear distinction between these two} buildings. The building where the younger year groups were situated was often described by teachers as more uncontrolled or undisciplined. As quotes later on will show, this repeated itself in the narratives of the students.

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there were also several posters and drawings (mostly made by the students themselves) with messages of tolerance, non-violence and equality. Most things hanging on the walls were, however, information about local activities for young people and families (sport activities, youth clubs, etc.) and events happening at the school (exams, extra-curricular activities, etc). Finally, some notifications were put up in relation to specific yearly events. On the ‘Day of the Book’ (23.april) a wall mounted display made by students was hung in the main hall, featuring a number of traditional Spanish poems.

A day at the school in Madrid

The school day in Madrid began at 8.30 am and ended at 2.15 pm. The students generally entered the school when they arrived, and only a few hung out outside the school, before the bell rang. Some students went to their class rooms to sit and chat with their class mates until lessons began; others arrived at the last minute (or sometimes a bit later), and rushed to their classrooms, where they tried to slip in quietly. The students did not wear uniforms, and there were no regulations regarding jewellery, hats or other accessories. Also, most students brought their mobile phones to class and it was not uncommon to see them check the time or send text messages during lessons.

In the last years of compulsory secondary schooling the students had a mix of compulsory and elected classes. The compulsory classes included Spanish language, mathematics, social science, ethics, physical education and English, and the electives: art, biology, commerce, religion, music and French. In addition, the year group had one hour of tutorials a week, in which they were meant to talk about subjects relevant to their lives (the future, gender equality, co-existence, and other similar topics).

The students had six lessons a day, separated by a 25 minute break between the third and the fourth. This break was mostly used to meet up with friends, chat, play football or

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basketball or buy a snack or drink in the cafeteria, where the lady behind the counter quickly served the large number of shouting students hitting their coins at the counter to attract her attention. At the side of the counter, the teachers patiently waited for the students to be served, so that they could have their coffee or tortilla.

In the 4th cycle, where I spent most of the fieldwork, there were two groups – one with 24 students and one with 14 students. The larger of the two (where I did most of my participant observation) was further divided into a regular class and a group of students in the diversificación curricular programme. The diversificación curricular group consisted of eight students, but only six of them came regularly to class. Their curriculum covered more or less the same topics as that of the regular class. The compulsory subjects were, however, composed in a different way32 and the group had a subject called ‘transition to adult life’, which focused on helping the students find out what they would like to do in their future life, which options they had, and how they would be able pursue them. Besides their main subjects, the diversificación curricular-group spent English classes, physical education, tutorials and some elective classes with the regular group.

For the regular group all compulsory classes were spent in their own classroom. This was a large room with capacity for around 30 students. The tables were placed so that two or three students sat together facing the teacher. Most often, the students remained at the same place every day. A few posters were hanging on the wall, describing the Spanish educational system and showing a map of Europe. The students had also drawn all the European countries and stuck them to the wall as part of a Europe project they had recently carried out.

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The group had two main classes called ACT - Ámbito Científico Tecnológico (which included maths and science) and ASL - Ámbito Sociolingüístico (including Social Studies and Language).

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In the bridging class, which was a bit further down the hall, the lay-out of the room was significantly different. Almost all of the walls were covered with maps of Madrid and Europe, tourist posters from Spain and China, a chart of the Spanish educational system and the different options of vocational training, drawings made by students, and human bodies cut from paper naming the different parts of the body in Spanish. Around the room small notes were put, for example on the black board and the table, which had the Spanish name of these objects written on them. The Spanish ABC hung behind the teacher’s desk, and finally, an emergency plan, translated into all the languages of the class, were placed on one side of the room. It was the only class room in the school, except for the computer room, to have a computer and an internet connection. In addition, the room had a TV and a Video/DVD player.

Students in the bridging class had most of their classes together. However, in line with the goal of integrating the students into the school, they also gradually attended lessons together with a regular class of their age level, following a ’separate transitional model’ (Eurydice 2004:42).

At the end of the school day, most students left the school relatively quick. Some walked home, others caught the bus and only a few stayed to chat outside the school gates. At four o’clock the school opened again for a variety of extra-curricular activities. A number of sports activities were offered, mainly basketball and football, and there was a possibility for students to come and do their homework. For students from the bridging class special help with language and math was offered twice a week, but only four of the students regularly made use of it. This extra teaching was carried out by a tutor, employed by the immigration council, and specially contracted at the school to deal with immigrants arriving without any prior knowledge of Spanish. The extra-curricular activities ended around six o’clock.

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