Abstract EN:

The foreign child is compelled so manage two well defined situations whose rules find their roots in specific cultural phenomena ; the first situation is the family back ground representing the native culture and the other is the school system restituting the culture of the welcoming new country. The access to the dynamics in which several active factors are closely involved, the child, the school and the family background, shows clearly the different process of the young foreigners' insertion into the educational system. A micro-analysis centred upon the notions of trajectory, of insertion into the school system and of biography throws open an important diversity in how these children insert themselves and in their family trajectories within the society of welcome. Thus, according to this family trajectory, the young foreigner can either take advantage of his abilities or else have difficulty in inserting himself into the school world. However, the family trajectories won't successfully enlighten the school trajectories because these depend to a large extent on the school background influence and also on the action of the child.