ATTITUDES AND ASPIRATIONS TOWARDS SCIENCE: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF A CHINESE IMMIGRANT STUDENT STUDYING AT A BRITISH SCHOOL IN SPAIN

Authors

  • Joseph Xhuxhi Lecturer in Education, Faculty of Education, Universidad Internacional de la Rioja, Spain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v13i8.6807

Keywords:

Chinese immigrant student, science education, IGCSE, British school, narrative analysis, self-determination theory, Bourdieu, science capital, migration

Abstract

This article explores how a 16-year-old Chinese immigrant girl, Mei, narrates science education while studying for her IGCSEs at a British school in central Spain. Building on Altunbas et al.’s (2024) framework, the study combines self-determination theory with Bourdieu’s concepts of capital, habitus and field. Three semi-structured interviews were analysed narratively, attending to temporal sequencing, turning points, repeated evaluative language, shifts in agency and tensions within Mei’s account. Her story is organised through a marked contrast between her previous school in China and her present school in Spain. Migration does not erase the earlier achievement habitus, guilt about not studying, fear of losing and an instrumental concern with secure employment continue to shape her relationship with science. At the same time, Mei constructs an emerging autonomous STEM future. A childhood fascination with biology is redirected, for ethical as well as practical reasons, towards mathematics, physics, engineering and renewable energy. Family relatedness strengthens after migration, and her parents support her choices despite limited familiarity with the British system. The analysis shows that high competence, science capital and science aspirations can coexist with insecure relatedness and a legacy of controlled motivation. The combined framework illuminates how migration reconfigures, rather than simply replaces, the dispositions through which an immigrant student understands school science and future possibility.

Author Biography

  • Joseph Xhuxhi, Lecturer in Education, Faculty of Education, Universidad Internacional de la Rioja, Spain
    Joseph Xhuxhi graduated from Imperial College London with a degree in Biology- specializing in Neuroscience- he has a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in Science Education from the Institute of Education in London as well as a PGCE in Leading Innovation and Change in Education from the University of Saint Mary’s in London. Joseph completed a master’s degree in science education at the University College London. Joseph has and maintains significant international Science teaching experience in secondary and primary state as well as private schools employing the Albanian, American, British and Spanish curriculums. He is a member of the Research Group “Active Methodologies and Mastery Learning” at UNIR and a lecturer of Innovative teaching in Undergraduate degrees at UNIR. Joseph also maintains a strong interest in Initial Teacher Training as well as ongoing Teacher Professional Development, especially in the Balkan countries.

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Published

2026-06-19

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 8 (2026)

Section

Articles

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