PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The knowledge gained from this study will contribute to the field of migrant education and could encourage policymakers and educators to implement education programmes to both meet the needs and enable the success of migrant children. This multi-case study examined five factors—family, individual, school/teacher, peer group, and community/culture—that influenced the academic achievement of migrant children. The key participants were six migrant children in Grade 6 in two Royal Thai Government schools in Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand, three class teachers, and six caregivers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and observations. Creswell’s five steps of qualitative data analysis was used: organising and preparing data, reading through all data, coding the data, interrelating the themes, and interpreting the meaning of themes. The seven themes were as follows: (1) the value of education; (2) parents/guardians as important agents to support their children’s education; (3) individual characteristics contributing to good grades; (4) the impact of peer relationships; (5) healthy relationships with school and teachers; (6) the power of the community; and (7) gratitude as a motivation for a high level of education.

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