Abstract:

As migration trends increase and the number of migrating children rises, host countries need to ensure access to and inclusion in formal education for newly arrived students. Education is one of the most important factors for integration into a new society. Although many migrant students are enrolled in formal education, not all migrant children experience inclusion in their new learning environment. Therefore, it is important to address the barriers that prevent all students from feeling accepted. This study aims to identify barriers to the inclusion of newly arrived migrant children in formal education. To achieve this aim, a systematic literature review was conducted, including 21 research papers on migrant education and inclusion published between 2015 and 2025. Barriers identified in the selected studies were systematically extracted, coded, and thematically grouped to identify recurring patterns of inclusion challenges. Both deductive and inductive approaches were applied in the analysis. A deductive framework informed by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory was used to classify barriers into three analytical levels: individual, organizational, and policy. Inductively, additional categories emerging from the data were identified to contribute to the existing scientific literature. The results reveal more than 250 mentions of barriers to the inclusion of newly arrived migrant children in formal education identified in the analysed studies. The barriers are further classified according to four models of school inclusion presented in the analysed articles. The findings indicate that barriers to educational inclusion are a complex, multi-level phenomenon. By systematizing barriers identified in the literature and linking them to ecological levels and models of school inclusion, this study contributes to a clearer understanding of the challenges faced by newly arrived migrant students in formal education. The findings also highlight the need for further empirical research on how practitioners address and overcome these barriers at different levels of the education system.

Keywords:

Migrant students, barriers to inclusion, school inclusion, formal education, systematic literature review.