There are more than 225 million rural-to-urban migrant workers, and some 20 million migrant children in Chinese cities. Because of policies related to the household registration (hukou) system, migrant students are not allowed a public high school education in the cities, so their urban education stops abruptly at the end of middle school. This book investigates the post-middle school education and labor market decisions of migrant students in Beijing and Shanghai, and provides a glimpse into the future of a crucial link in China’s development. The stories of how these migrant students seek upward mobility and urban citizenship also reveal one of the most intricate structural inequalities in China today. Based on quantitative data collected from middle schools in Beijing and Shanghai, and ethnographic data drawing on in-depth interviews with migrant children, their parents, and teachers, this book offers a portrait of the migration and educational experiences and prospects of second generation migrant youth in China today. It explores the urban experience of migrant students, contrasting it with that of local city youngsters, examining the migrant students’ family backgrounds, family dynamics, neighborhood and school experience, and interaction with locals. It goes on to look at the migrant students’ education and career aspirations, the structural obstacles preventing their fulfilment, and how migrant families respond to institutional constraints on educational opportunity. Finally, the book concludes with a discussion of policy implications and offers proposals for resolving the dilemmas of migrant youth. This book will of great interest to students and scholars of Chinese studies, Asian education, migration and social development.

This dissertation, "Educational Experiences of Chinese Migrant Children: the Role of Acculturation, Social Support and Psychological Mediators" by Lue, Fang, 方略, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: China's internal migration, as characterized by massive human mobility from rural to urban regions, offers an unparalleled scientific opportunity to study the impact of migration processes on children's developmental outcomes. This dissertation explores the educational experiences of Chinese migrant children. Three interrelated studies were conducted to investigate the extent to which social support, acculturation, and psychological variables are related to Chinese migrant children's school wellbeing. Study One developed an acculturation scale for Chinese migrant children, based on an acculturation model involving integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization (Berry, 2003). Thirty-two items were created to tap into behavioral, psychological and social domains of migrant children's acculturation processes. The validity of the scale was established through the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Results indicated that the Acculturation Scale for Chinese Migrant Children is a viable instrument for future investigation of acculturation orientations among migrant sample in China. Study Two investigated the mechanisms and conditions under which social support from family, teachers and peers exert influence on academic achievement of Chinese migrant children. Drawing upon the data from 2491 migrant children attending 15 elementary and middle schools, results from structural equation modeling analysis suggested that support from teachers played the most significant role in academic achievement of these students, followed by family and peer support. Psychological variables of self-esteem, hope, and school satisfaction fully mediated the effect of social support on achievement. In addition, support from family demonstrated a greater effect on academic achievement among children who have been integrated into both city and hometown contexts. Study Two concluded that it is imperative to fully understand the nature of support, as well as its conditions and underlying mechanisms, under which children from migrant backgrounds can thrive and benefit. The overall purpose of Study Three was to understand the contextual forces that shape migrant children's family processes, school climate, and acculturation. Using semi-structured interviews with 30 migrant students plus 5 of their parents, it was found that there was a substantial in-group variation in migrant children's educational experiences. Parenting practices among the migrant families demonstrated a combination of traditional beliefs and modern influences. Positive interactions with teachers and peers provided strong support for adjustment in the urban context. The third study concluded that the substantial in-group variation in children's educational experiences might be related to differences in parenting ideology and practices, social support and children's agency, all of which are further shaped by the broader cultural milieu. Positive school experiences for Chinese migrant children are vital for nurturing competent citizens who are fully engaged in social, economic and civil activities of the society. Migrant children's school adjustment and success is a pre-requisite for social stability and economic wellbeing. Understanding how the socio-ecological factors contribute to school experiences of Chinese migrant children can provide important implication

Highlighting the changing landscape of Chinese urban state schools under the pressure of recruiting a tremendous number of migrant children, this book examines the quality of state educational provisions from demographic, institutional, familial and cultural angles. Rooted in rich qualitative data from five Chinese metropolitan cities, it identifies the demographic changes in many state schools of becoming ‘migrant majority’ and the institutional reformation of ‘interim quasi-state’ schools under a low cost and inferior schooling approach. This book also digs into the ‘black box’ of cultural reproduction in school and family processes, revealing both a gloomy side of many migrant children’s academic underachievement as a result of troubled home-school relations and a bright side that social inclusion of migrant children in state school promotes their adaptation to urban life. The author concludes that migrant children’s experiences in state (and quasi-state) schools turn them into a generation of ‘new urban working-class’. The monograph will be of interest to scholars, students, practitioners and policymakers who want to better understand educational equality for migrants and other marginalised groups.

Rachel Murphy explores Chinese children's experience of having migrant parents and the impact this has on family relationships in China.

This book introduces the concept of reciprocal educational learning among cultures with very different historical and philosophical origins. The concept of reciprocal learning grows out of a four year study of immigrant Chinese family narrative experiences in a Western context. This book captures the lived moments of such transitional lives both in and out of school settings to demonstrate why a child would appear and disappear from different caregivers’ purview. Through the narrative lens of student and family life, the study illustrates the intersection of Confucian and Western philosophies of education and how their interaction creates complications as well as benefits for both traditions, hence, the idea of reciprocal learning.

​Winner of the AERA Division B Outstanding Book Recognition Award This book examines the dynamics surrounding the education of children in the unofficial schools in China’s urban migrant communities. This ethnographic study focuses on both the complex structural factors impacting the education of children attending unofficial migrant children schools and the personal experiences of individuals working within these communities. As the book illustrates in careful detail, the migrant children schools serve a critical function in the community by serving as a hub for organized collective action around shared grievances related to issues of education, employment, wellbeing, and other social rights. In turn, the development of a collective identity among teachers, students, parents, and other members in the migrant communities makes it possible for activists to begin to working to address multiple forms of discrimination and maltreatment while simultaneously moving towards the possibility of more profound social transformation.