1 Social Representations and Biographical Narratives of ‘Migrationsandere’ Towards an integration of social representations research and biographical narrative research in racialized experiences of migrants in schools Pre-publication copy Gekeler, B. & Howarth, C. "We're beginning to realize, once again, that education at its core is more than just teaching our young the skills that are needed for a job, however important that is. It's also about passing on to each new generation the values that serve as the foundation and cornerstone of our free democratic society--patriotism, loyalty, faithfulness, courage, the ability to make the crucial moral distinctions between right and wrong (…)." (Ronald Reagan) Whenever people migrate from one place to another, complex psychological, personal, social and societal issues arise. A shared attribute of all migration processes, voluntary or forced, is an associated emotional ambivalence. Migration can be a source of curiosity and anticipatory excitement of a better life as well as a traumatic flight from persecution and violence (physical or psychological), and so incorporates seeking protection with some fear of the unknown. This ambivalence is closely related to questions of who we are and want to be – hence to questions surrounding identity. Identity is a way of announcing to the world and affirming to oneself who one is” (Parekh, 2008). Yet, we are also born into a world of re-presentations in which we attempt to constitute our ideal self. Hence, while public representations about who we are dictate our public image, our life’s biography incorporates experiences into our internally re-presented world. Consequently, it is from the construction of our inner worlds within and from the constraints of the world without that possibilities and limitations to our identities are posed.