The Same Classroom, A Different Childhood

The problem of migrant children is the same as the problem of left-behind children,which is an important issue of extensive and sustained attention of all sectors of society and academia.In the process of rapid urbanization,the adaptation and education of migrant children in urban areas are more concerned.Migrant children in the compulsory education stage are main facing the problems for ensuring adequate funding for public schools and the admittance threshold,which reflected the education policy and urbanization policy,and the conflict and imbalance of local government education resources supply.Chongqing,as the only municipality directly under the central government in the west,is the national urban-rural comprehensive reform pilot area.Its pattern of compulsory education presents a complex features of “big city,big countryside,big mountain area,and the reservoir of multiple” etc.Promoted by the policy superiority of overall urban-rural development,Chongqing has basically solved the problem of that “enrollment difficulty in school”,especially in the nine districts of the main city area.Western cases are provided to help solve education problem for migrant children in megacity.But for the issues of education fairness and education urbanization,more efforts need to be done,considering the comprehensive development status of migrant children in the process of compulsory education.Whether the migrant children can get education normally in cities has become a new issue of research and policy practice.Current researches on migrant children are mainly focused on the issue of education access,with few studies focusing on their comprehensive development status.The research area is also mainly concentrated in megacities such as Beijing,Shanghai,and Guangzhou.This study probes into the comprehensive development condition of the migrant children during the compulsory education phase in Chongqing using anthropology research method.Researches were done in three different public schools.It can be served as a case study in the field that whether the migrant children can get normal education in cities as the others.Results show that the social intercourse between the migrant children and the native children formed differentiated circles.There is a significant gap between migrant children and native children on academic achievement.It is more likely that migrant children in psychological development tend to become “invisible” who have no sense of existence in the class.Results also show that there is obvious gap between migrant children and native children in terms of social integration,the reason mainly lies in that(i).In school association,the achievement is the important standard that divides group communication;(ii).The parents’ education level and the family income affect the performance of the migrant children in study;(iii).The achievement difference and communication estrangement have caused psychological problem for migrant children,which make them worry a lot.The discussion of this study is focused on that whether the migrant children can get education normally in cities.It is emphasized that the overall development should be achieved through more equitable distribution of social resources.In particular,at the government level,a right direction should be set up,and special funds should be provided for migrant children.At the social level,efforts should be made by advocating public welfare funds and organizing public benefit activities,to help targeted migrant children.At the school level,better quality education should be carried out to promote the integration of the two groups.And at the family level,a harmonious family atmosphere should be created to help children build confidence and practice all-round development.All in all,joint efforts of all parties are needed in order to help migrant children be equally educated in cities,and experience the same childhood as the native ones.