Ukrainian children and the Danish society

Schools are an important context for acculturalization processes into a new society for children and families who go through transnational migration. Using as a case the reception of a group of Ukrainian children and youth and their families in a Danish school, the paper analyses how the school underpin the acculturalization process into the Danish society of the children and the families through teaching and everyday practices of the school. A special interest is paid to the pedagogies of nation (Millei 2019) of the school. The paper presents findings from four months of ethnographic field research in a Danish school, including data from participant observation of teaching activities (in classroom teaching, gym classes etc.), break time (in classrooms and at the playground), and school-parent cooperation activities (for instance at parent meetings). The presentation concludes with a critical discussion of the tension field between the school as a site of identification and belonging (Yuval-Davis 2006) and as a vehicle for culturalization.