Qualitative study: To be an immigrant parent in France

This document is a qualitative study entitled “”Being an immigrant parent in France: What relationship with School for foreign parents?”” carried out by the National Union of Family Associations (UNAF) and published in September 2015. UNAF is a French association representing all families, including foreign families.
This document is an in-depth study conducted to better understands the realities experienced by migrant parents newly arrived, with a clarification and a particular focus on their relationship to school.
21 interviews were conducted in an exclusively qualitative way in the form of in-depth interviews lasting 1h30 with parents living with their children in France who arrived less than 6 years ago, sometimes accompanied by a translator.
The objectives of this study were:
– To understand how migrant parents perceive their lives in France.
– To analyse their relationship with School and their understanding of how it works, in connection with their own experience of school in their country of origin.
– To ask them about the follow-up of their children’s schooling, as well as the possible difficulties experienced by their children.
– To evaluate the popularity of family associations and families’ expectations in terms of service needs.