Do High Percentages of Foreign Pupils Lead to Problems in School Classes?

Abstract

On the basis of interviews with 7,864 pupils, 3,162 parents and 342 teachers from Münster, Wuppertal and Duisburg, rates of satisfaction/dissatisfaction about school classes (in all types of schools) with different percentages of foreign pupils were compared. The analysis shows that a high percentage of foreign pupils in classes is estimated positively on the part of pupils and parents, whereas it is estimated negatively only on the part of teachers. Multicultural school classes receive significantly better estimation rates than binational classes. The article also includes a discussion of various theories and hypotheses.