Student mobility: moving beyond deficit views

Abstract

This paper discusses issues that relate to student mobility and implications for teachers and guidance officers. Whilst there has been a tendency to locate problems associated with mobility in the children themselves or in their families, it is argued that this is not a particularly productive approach. Taking lessons from recent literacy understandings and using data from a study about the children of itinerant fruit pickers, this paper takes a broader perspective, recommending that school personnel widen their focus to include an examination of school practices and to consider equity implications for mobile students.