Interactive Acculturation of Turkish-Belgian Parents and Children in Flanders: A Case Study of Beringen

This article tackles the relationship between the child care and pre-school experiences of Turkish-Belgian families and their interactive acculturation patterns with the Flemish society. Our findings are based on qualitative data gathered through a focus group with mothers and interviews with three professionals working in the field of early childhood education and care in the town of Beringen. We discuss the intercultural dimension of the relationships between these families and ECEC services using the Interactive Acculturation Model (IAM). The acculturation patterns are discussed under three main headlines: language acquisition, social interaction and maternal employment. Within the context of the IAM, our findings point to some degree of separationism in the acculturation pattern of Turkish-origin families, while they in turn perceive the Flemish majority to have an assimilationist attitude. This combination suggests a conflictual type of interaction. However, both parties display some traits of integrationism as well, which results in a more qualified overall picture.