ADAPTATION AND CULTURAL CONTACT IMMIGRANT CHILDREN IN WARSAW HIGH SCHOOLS

Problems of children adaptation, acculturation and integration have been ignored or treated marginally in large literature devoted to migration process. This article discusses problems that children of immigrants in Poland are facing particularly in Polish school. The qualitative research (based on interviews) is focused on immigrant children attending Polish schools mainly in Warsaw and investigates both the perspectives of children themselves and of school as an institution. Different situations of emigration produce different types of challenges for the host country’s school methods and goals. The research presented here is mainly about the first two categories of people mentioned below: 1) children of diplomats and long term contract employees, whose stay in Poland is strictly determined, AND (2) children of economic migrants who choose between long term stay in Poland or further migration, or even when returning home. Their stay in Poland is an element of the individual life strategy of the family. The third group - (3) children of political refugees and persons who attempt to receive the legal status of political refugee. the conclusions of the article also may be of interest for researchers dealing with children of refugees. Poland became a relatively attractive country of immigration because of (1) its relative easy access, (2) relatively high standard of living, (3) its safety and (4) its high level of education.