In my research project I would like to deal with the education and integration policies in Germany and France.
The easiest way for integration of immigrants is by education. If the immigrants speak the language of the country of destination it is easier for them to integrate or get integrated. So it is then easier for them to find a place in the receiving society, and to integrate themselves.
For young (school attendance) migrants language and structural assimilation is the key to social integration in the country of destination, into the education system in the sense of formal equal opportunities.
However, the reality in the two largest European countries is quite different.
Migrants- with large differences between individual nationalities, waves of migration and migration backgrounds- in the German education and employment system are usually have disadvantages compared to local (Dollmann 2010).
In Germany the policy and the locals believed the integration of immigrants is not necessary they a long time it was assumed that guest workers and migrants would return to their homeland after a while. Even the migrant workers themselves lived with this illusion of return. Today, awareness has risen in Germany about how important the integration of migrants is and also gaining more and more importance due to demographic change.
For a long time, the concept of integration in France equated with assimilation. The word assimilation shall describe the integration of migrants in French society. But it was only in the 70s when the concept of integration got encouragement in the political and social debates. Despite this fact, the term assimilation is anchored by the French state understanding. In France, it's more about acquiring French citizenship, as to successfully integrate or hoped that by this very acquisition of citizenship is the integration of equip.
Both countries but realize more and more that a successful integration of migrants is becoming increasingly important. This is also the fact that this issue is always in the public debate. For example looking at the book "Deutschland schafft sich ab - Wie wir unser Land aufs spiel setzen" published in 2010 by Thilo Sarrazin (SPD), or the riots in the French suburbs in 2005, 2007 and 2010.
Despite the high relevance of the topic, the two countries differ in dealing with problems of integration of migrants greatly.
Against this background I would like to deal with my research with the following question:
How far the education system is a factor for success or failure of the integration of migrants in France and Germany?

In my research, I will proceed as follows:
Answering my research question of how education affects the integration of migrants, the following hypothesis is served: The higher the level of education of people with a migration background, the better their chances for integration.
For a detailed analysis, I prefer first approach to have a look on the integration concepts of Germany and France. First of all I deal with is the definition of integration in both countries. Then I go on to look at both the current and the historical developments of integration concepts. Also, I finally explain, the current debates in both countries.
In addition to the first part of my research I deal in the second part with the education policy in both countries concerning the inclusion of migrants.
In the third part of my research I will use two case studies. Once a study of Turks living in Germany, and another study of North Africans living in France. Given that the Turkish people are the largest group of migrants in Germany that is why I have decided to choose this as a case study. In France it looks the same with the North Africans, they are the largest group of immigrants living in France.
Finally, I summarize the comparison of the two countries together and just check my working hypothesis.
Integrating models of both countries and to the written comments together form the theoretical background of my research. To investigate the influence of education on the integration of migrants, I'll take the most-similar system to help. This system is very good for a comparison between Germany and France, as both countries are EU Member States, both are Western democracies and in addition, the current republics were founded (Germany) or proclaimed (France) only with a ten year difference. Furthermore both countries are now considered as immigration states.
My independent variable in this research will be the education policy in France and in Germany. The dependent variable is the integration of migrants. This results from the fact that I will try to show how great the influence of education is on the success of the integration.