An Examination of Distributive and Relational Justice in the Issue of Education Fairness for Urban Migrant Workers’ Children

Abstract

Current arguments on educational fairness for the children of migrant workers in cities primarily promote the opportunity to enroll in local public schools. Drawing on current research, as well as discussions of fairness and justice from Aristotle in the classical period to Rawls, Dworkin, Walzer, and the contemporary scholar Young, we investigate educational fairness for migrant children on the two levels of distributive justice and relational justice. The study finds that some migrant children in more disadvantaged socioeconomic situations still attend simple private schools. Obstacles still hinder migrant children in public schools from accessing high-quality educational resources in cities, as they are mostly concentrated in lower-quality schools. Thus, the principle of distributive justice is not realized when examining the opportunities for migrant children to attend school. Even when they attend public school, due to stereotypes and systemic factors, migrant children are collectively marginalized and experience cultural oppression in everyday school life. Thus, relational justice is hindered as these youths feel powerless and without educational rights.