Active Integration, Invisible Barrier

Since1980s, rapid economic growth and urbanization process have been prompting a large number of migrant workers into the cities. In addition, children with their parents migrate into the city increasingly, making the education situation and the related problems turn up. And cultural integration is one of the most serious problems in these issues. Shanghai Y primary school is chosen as the object of study. As a school in urban areas, local students and children of migrant workers there integrated sampling of typical significance. As to research methods, in the paper participant observation and talk are mostly used, supplemented with questionnaire survey.This article consists of four parts; first part introduced the background that contributed to the "migrant tide" and the research of the children of migrant workers cultural integration firstly. On the research significance, cultural integration of migrant children is not only new thinking on education equity issues, but also the new perspective of educational integration. Secondly, in the foreign and domestic research domain, this article focuses on the cultural theory of the foreign research, such as Onion Cultural Theory and John Berry’s adaptation model theory; on domestic research, migrant children’s education, children of migrant workers integration issues were mainly summarized. Finally, research proposals and related concepts are defined.In the second part of the essay, with the aid of related theory of cultural integration, on the basis of judgment based on facts, the current situation of migrant children’s education in primary schools is discussed. This part focuses on four aspects: material aspect, behavior aspect, spiritual aspect and system aspect. By analysis this part reach a conclusion that the cultural integration in school has both unidirectional (i.e., children of migrant workers assimilated into Shanghai) and complexity (i.e., active integration of the invisible barrier) characteristics.The third part mainly analyses the factor of integration from macro level, micro-level, and culture media level. On the macro level, economic disparities and policy deficiencies are the main reason lead to cultural integration; On micro level, schools and families’cooperation matters in the promotion of cultural integration, as well as the absence of Home-School Co-operation make the situation even worse; Culture Media should play an positive role in promoting cultural integration of migrant children, while in fact the popular culture virtually cured the cultural imprint of the children of migrant workers, and didn’t give a proper guidance.The fourth part is an in-depth analysis based on the third part of the article, to find the appropriate solution for the education integration of children of migrant workers, including the government level, school level and media level. Government should develop a policy in favor of cultural fusion, such as relax the residence policy or provide the children of migrant workers with more opportunities to enter local schools. And schools should implement a mixed classes system, and teachers there actively play a unique role in the promotion of cultural integration, also run the implementation of home school cooperation; culture media should pay attention to publicize the positive image of the children of migrant workers and have a proper attitude toward cultural diversity.