1. Introduction

Since China’s reform and opening-up, rapid urbanization has triggered massive rural-to-urban migration, resulting in the emergence of a substantial population of migrant children.

The educational policies for migrant children in China have evolved through five distinct phases, reflecting the changing governmental approach from exclusion to inclusion. From 1992 to 2000, the hukou system severely restricted migrant children’s access to urban education, explicitly assigning educational responsibility to their places of origin [1]. The policy shift took place from 2001 to 2005, and began recognizing inflow-area governments’ responsibility, significantly increasing public school admissions in cities like Shanghai from 32% in 2000 to 57% in 2005 [2, 3]. The financial guarantee period (2006-2013) established equal educational rights in law and dedicated funding, with Shanghai achieving 90% public school enrollment by 2012 [4]. The residence permit era from 2014 to 2020 introduced a points-based system that standardized but also conditionalized educational access, creating new barriers for some families [5]. Currently (2021-present), policy emphasizes quality improvement and sustainable development, with Shanghai maintaining over 95% public school enrollment rate by the end of 2023 [6].

Despite these improvements, significant challenges persist. With 71.09 million migrant children nationwide (2020 Census) and 1.478 million in Shanghai alone—a 53.6% increase since 2010—the education system faces tremendous pressure. While access has improved substantially, inequality persists in educational resources: annual per-student funding for migrant children remains less than half that of local students [7]. This resource gap manifests in dramatically lower participation in extracurricular activities, namely 43% for migrant children and 82% local students [8]. This may bring disadvantages for migrant children in social skills development and cultural integration.

Thus, the fundamental challenge has shifted from basic access to qualitative integration. Migrant children continue to experience significant social adaptation difficulties and regional identity anxiety [9], lacking both the resources and opportunities for meaningful cultural exchange and community belonging. It is within this context that NGO interventions like the Sunflower Project have emerged to address the limitations of policy implementation. Established in 2003 and formalized in 2014, the Sunflower Project operates four service centers across Shanghai, providing extracurricular education and community-building activities through cross-sector partnerships with universities and corporations [10]. While policy-evolution has solved the “hardware” of educational access, Sunflower addresses the “software” of integration—the social, cultural, and psychological dimensions of inclusion [11].

Therefore, the study tries to examine how the Sunflower Project addresses the implementation gaps in migrant children’s education policies in Shanghai through extracurricular programs, and what are the potential limitations of its approach in achieving comprehensive urban integration?

2. Literature review

Many researches on migrant children’s development have found that despite policy advancements aimed at improving educational access for migrant children, significant institutional barriers persist. For instance, points-based enrollment systems employ high thresholds that effectively exclude low-income families. In Shanghai, requirements for extended social security contributions and the closure of private schools to migrant students create substantial obstacles to quality education [10, 12]. This institutional exclusion not only limits educational opportunities but also exacerbates social integration challenges.

In addition to the structural challenges, migrant families’ limited economic and cultural capital substantially constrains children’s integration and development. With annual educational expenditure for migrant children less than half that of local students, resource disparities are profound [7]. Parental work schedules and financial constraints further restrict access to extracurricular activities and academic support, creating a widening achievement gap that undermines future competitiveness [13, 14].

Meanwhile, migrant children face significant cultural adaptation difficulties, often experiencing “regional identity anxiety” that impedes social integration. Research indicates that extracurricular participation significantly enhances integration [15], yet migrant children’s participation rates remain substantially below local peers [8]. This cultural exclusion fosters psychological isolation and limits the development of social networks essential for urban belonging. Moreover, the research offers a comprehensive dimension for the integration for migrant children in Europe, involving access to rights, language and culture, well-being, social connections, and educational achievements [16].

However, civil society organizations have emerged to address gaps in public policy provision. The Sunflower Project represents an innovative model combining long-term interest courses, after-school tutoring, and community integration activities [11, 17]. Through partnerships with universities, corporations, and government agencies, it provides psychosocial support and cultural capital development that complements formal education. However, the project faces challenges including government funding dependence (62% of resources), geographical coverage limitations, and occasional mismatches between middle-class-oriented activities and migrant children’s cultural backgrounds [14, 18].

Existing research has extensively documented structural barriers but neglected several critical dimensions. First, few studies examine migrant children’s own perceptions of intervention programs and their self-identified needs. Second, there is a limited understanding of how social capital forms through NGO interventions like extracurricular programs and influences integration outcomes. Third, Western theoretical frameworks often fail to capture the unique urban context of Shanghai and the strategies migrant families employ through kinship networks [19]. Finally, while quantitative studies document educational disparities, qualitative investigations of psychosocial integration mechanisms remain scarce [20].

The study tries to address these gaps by examining how the Sunflower Project mediates structural constraints through social capital formation, while centering migrant children’s agency, perspectives and perception in extracurricular programs. It investigates both the potential and limitations of NGO-led interventions of extracurricular programs in facilitating meaningful integration beyond formal educational access.

3. Theoretical framework

The study employs a dual theoretical framework integrating social capital theory and cultural capital theory to examine how the Sunflower Project influences the urban integration of migrant children in Shanghai. The framework posits that participation in NGO-led extra-curriculum mediates the relationship between structural constraints and integration outcomes through social resource and cultural capital construction and conversion (as shown in Figure 1).

Social capital theory provides the first explanatory pathway. Migrant children typically lack access to the social networks that facilitate engagement in school and community which can improve both academic performance [21] and psychological adaptation to urban environments. The Sunflower Project creates a resource substitution mechanism by constructing alternative support systems through volunteer mentorship and peer learning groups. These interventions compensate for deficiencies in original family and social capital by providing access to information, guidance, and social connection.

Cultural capital theory offers the second explanatory pathway. In addition to social capital, successful urban integration requires familiarity with dominant cultural codes, practices, and values. However, migrant children often lack exposure to the cultural resources such as books, arts, and musical training. Thus, the Sunflower project can function as an informal cultural capital supplement through extracurricular programs that accelerate cultural acquisition. This cultural enrichment enhances self-efficacy, identity recognition, and ultimately fosters a stronger sense of urban belonging [22].

This theoretical integration allows for a comprehensive evaluation of how NOG-led interventions address both the social and cultural dimensions of integration, while accounting for the complex interplay between program participation, capital formation, and integration outcomes.

4. Methodology

This study aims to explore how the extracurricular project promotes the integration of migrant children in Shanghai, with a particular focus on the conversion of cultural and social capital. Based on the literature, social and cultural capital theory, the integration can include academic, social, and psychological dimensions. Thus, in the paper, the integration of migrant children focuses on the extent to which these children integrate into the receiving cities in terms of life, education, culture, interpersonal relationships, and identity recognition. Thus, the degree of integration can be measured by children’s skill and cultural knowledge acquisition, impact of acquisition and acceptance of the status as well as a sense of belonging.

The study adopted a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews to capture the participants' life experiences and cognitive perceptions. Semi-structured interviews are adopted, which can allow participants to share their personal experiences to most extent. From June to August 2025, the study conducted a total of seven semi-structured interviews with three different participant groups: migrant children volunteers, and staff of the Sunflower Project. There are five migrant children, aged between 7-14, who move with their parents from Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Anhui to Shanghai. Among these five, three of them are studying in primary school (two in grade 4 and one in grade 5), and two of them are studying in secondary high school (grade 6 and grade 7 respectively). Moreover, two children lived in Shanghai for 4 years, two for 7 years, and one child for 5 years.

The interviews were conducted in three stages, divided by the type of interviewees involved (children first, then the volunteers, and finally the staff); each interview lasted for about 40 minutes, for a total of 2 hours, enabling researchers to continuously track new key information that emerged in the interview content throughout the research process. In semi-structured interviews, the conversations are conducted in Mandarin. This is to enable participants to express themselves comfortably and precisely. Before the interview, the researcher recruited the interviewees through online recruitment and informed them of the purpose of the interview, the level of confidentiality, and other precautions. At the request of the migrant children interviewees, in order to better encourage them to express their thoughts, the researcher gathered several interviewees together who requested to be together into a group for the interview. All interviews were recorded with the informed consent of the participants and their guardians, and there were also on-site notes to more accurately grasp the key points. The audio recordings after the interviews were all converted into text for subsequent research. During the data collection and analysis process, while the researcher took advantage of being able to perform the role of an insider as a teacher for the migrant children, the researcher was simultaneously aware of and continuously reflecting on my role as a researcher.

The interview outlines cover a wide range of topics. It includes the participants' family background, living, participating and studying experiences, as well as social relationships etc. For immigrant children, the researcher pays attention to their participation frequency, the aspects they like and dislike during the participation process, gains and the composition of their social relationships, and whether they have changed under the influence of the courses. For the volunteers, the researcher focuses on the impact of the course they gave, the impressive cases, and their views on the sunflower. The interview for staff focused on the curriculum design, their views on students, resource constraints, and the interaction between them, children, and their families. During the interview process, I expanded on relevant topics based on their responses to gain a more detailed understanding of their feelings and the problems they encountered.

The study adhered to established ethical guidelines and was approved by the ethics review committee of the relevant institution. All children and their parents, and other participants, were informed of this study and were told that their responses were confidential, that their participation in the study was voluntary, and that they could stop the interview at any time to protect their privacy and feelings. Meanwhile, all identification information was deleted during the transcription process, and encrypted codes such as Children Ming, Children Hua, Children Ye, Children Fang, Children Lin were used when presenting the research results. Audio files and on-site notes are securely stored, and only the researcher has access to them.

To analyze the data, the researchers encoded the transcribed text in three levels based on the grounded theory [23]. This process aims to gradually shift from the original descriptive data to more abstract and analytical categories, thereby revealing the underlying mechanisms of emotional development and capital transformation (as shown in Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3). First-level coding involves researchers manually performing open coding on all interview records. In this process, the codes are directly derived from the participants' expressions which generates a broad set of key word, including skills acquisition, connection and cognitive perception. Second-level coding classifies descriptive codes into broader topic concept groups by identifying conceptual similarities and overlaps. This can enable the data to gradually align with the framework of the research theme: the social capital and the cultural capital. The third-level coding further refines the second-level concepts, directly targeting the research objectives.

5. Findings

The study reveals five key findings regarding the Sunflower Project’s intervention for migrant children in Shanghai and their integration.

First, observations and interviews reveal that migrant children often face challenges in school and society, and these challenges are mainly brought about by the family and social environment they are in. In many cases, the family environment and economic conditions of migrant children tend to be less favorable, and their social status often appears to be relatively low. At the same time, their family social networks are very scattered. Relatives are distributed in different areas due to work and lack stable support. Because parents have a relatively low educational level, they are unable to offer cultural support to their children, but sunflowers make up for this role.

“My parents don't have enough time and concerns for my study. They don't check my homework for me either. I can only come to Sunflower for after-school tutoring." (Children Ming)

“I don't have the concept of my hometown because my relatives are scattered all over the country, and it’s hard to see them in daily life. My parents seldom care about my life either. They are always busy with their own work.” (Children Hua)

Unstable family relationships are more likely to leave migrant children lacking emotional support and the care necessary for their growth. This feeling of being neglected is also reflected in school. In certain circumstances, migrant children with relatively lower economic a social status may be perceived by some teachers as having limited potential and facing fewer development opportunities. Consequently, they might receive less attention and support, which could potentially contribute to a gradual deterioration of their overall environment.

“Teachers at school don't assign us homework, and they don't grade our homework carefully either.” (Children Ming)

Due to the reasons of their family environment, migrant children often cannot afford the cost of expensive after-school interest classes and have a very shallow understanding of after-school interests. They often regard them as useless, but ignore the importance of these after-school courses for physical and mental development.

“Many of my classmates are taking piano lessons outside of class, but I think it's of no use.” (Fang)

Meanwhile, as indicated by staff Wang, the cognitive scope of the parents of these children is highly constrained. They are exclusively oriented towards short-term and practical gains, and pay little attention to elements that do not generate immediate returns. The cognitive limitations of this group of parents have led to their children also being unable to recognize, access, and obtain good resources. This actually also leads to cognitive biases among children. Children often take whether a course can be translated into direct economic conditions as an important criterion for judgment.

“I like video courses because it make me obtain money and resources; my relatives could earn a million RMB a year through programming.”(Children Ming)

Besides the influence of their family, staff Wang pointed out that Children rarely used digital tools for study and the knowledge they obtained online was confusing and lacked substance. The children interviewed generally had little training in critical thinking, and they struggled to evaluate information. Migrant children often held on to existing viewpoints and found it difficult to understand diverse perspectives. This indicates that the weaker the cultural capital, the more significant economic rationality becomes in decision-making. Thus, as staff Wang emphasized, the family environment and parents’ cognitive perception of migrant children significantly shape children’s learning and cognitive capability. On the one hand, limited family economic resources restrict children’s access to digital tools and quality learning resources, and parents cannot promise that children are receiving positive and reliable content or information from the internet. These limitations have a far-reaching impact on children’s decision-making and viewpoint-forming, which might stop children from developing a positive personality. On the other hand, growing up in a relatively closed environment without developing critical thinking skills, migrant children are exposed to a narrow range of ideas and cling to some stereotypes, refusing to accept diverse perspectives.

Second, the semi-structured interview with the staff of Sunflower Project reveals that the project is dedicated to addressing the family and social resource shortage faced by migrant children, but its organizational structure and sources of funds have both advantages and disadvantages. The program has some distinct characteristics such as the community partner mechanism, community integration and the combination with long-term interest courses and after-school diversified tutoring. These traits enabled it to form a new type of embedded community education model [11]. Through interests-cultivation, companionship-establishment, and even exploration activities such as visiting art galleries, Sunflower strengthens the migrant children’s identification with urban culture and the accumulation of social capital.

“Sunflower is precisely helpful in alleviating psychological shock and consolidating a sense of belonging to the city.” (Staff Weiwei)

“I don't feel like I'm not from Shanghai. I've integrated quite well into this city. I like the culture here.” (Children Hua)

Besides, due to the tilt of educational resources, the after-school tutoring, interest education, art courses, language support, and other services provided by Sunflower have, to some extent, helped migrant children narrow the gap with local children.

“I can keep up with the learning progress at school. I got 96 points in the exam. Also, my programming skills are at the same level as those of my classmates.” (Children Ye)

The long-term companionship of volunteers has also enabled the unassisted children to establish social networks and psychological support systems, helping them enhance their self-confidence, sense of belonging and integration, and communication with the community.

“We have many volunteers who are college students. They come here regularly every week to tutor the children. I have seen their dedication and the changes in the children under their guidance.” (Staff Wang)

Also, Sunflower has collaborated with social and governmental organizations. For instance, the Dandelion Plan jointly established with the Shanghai Women’s Federation has generated a very strong leverage effect, achieving a deep closed loop of close cooperation and assessment feedback between the government and professional institutions [24]. As an NGO, Sunflower does indeed demonstrate strong independence and particularity in its organizational operation. They do not rely on government funds as their main source of operation, but raise funds through their own networks and social resources. This feature grants institutions a high degree of financial freedom, enabling them to be more flexible.

“Sunflower doesn't rely on the government because it would have many strict requirements. We are very free now and have our own characteristics.” (Staff Wang)

However, this independence has simultaneously brought about a considerable degree of instability. Due to the limited fundraising channels, it is usually carried out through relatively inefficient methods, such as monthly donations from volunteers and donations from corporate funds, making fundraising rather difficult. This directly leads to insufficient coverage and continuity of services.

“Our funds are extremely tight. We don't have the money to rent a venue for sports events, let alone open a new center. Our courses are only offered up to Grade 8." (Staff Wang)

In terms of management and organizational structure, Sunflower adopts a flattened organization model, characterized by minimal hierarchical layers and decentralized operations.

“A manager at the headquarters is responsible for fundraising and planning courses and activities, while each branch center has a teacher on the ground to manage affairs. However, there are some differences between my education and that of the management teacher, so it is relatively difficult to carry out some of the courses I want.” (Staff Wang)

While this structure enhances operational flexibility and reduces bureaucratic delays, it simultaneously leads to singular and limited decision-making processes. Therefore, institutions often appear relatively monotonous and rigid when dealing with the complex and ever-changing external environment.

Meanwhile, Sunflower’s coverage area has structural blind spots. For instance, its services are mainly concentrated in Minhang (38%) and Pudong (29%), while the coverage rate in Jinshan, Chongming, and other districts is less than 5% [14].

Third, the Sunflower has accumulated and then transformed children's cultural capital, but it has had some limitations. The Sunflower offers migrant children a great many opportunities to acquire skills and knowledge, even some essential specialties, and the children also apply these specialties they have learned.

“I hope to bring the children things that they need to be exposed to at this age, and I strive to provide them with more opportunities. This will bring significant benefits to their future. I once saw a child who was particularly fond of performing, so I invited him to join my acting class, he improved a lot in his skills.” (Volunteer Shao)

"The editing class taught by Sunflower has been very useful to me. Now I have become a media blogger and have earned over two hundred yuan through game videos." (Children Lin)

However, there are still deficiencies in the conversion of cultural capital. While some children participate in English classes and cultural activities, many express reluctance or disinterest. Observations reveal that attendance for these sessions tends to be less consistent and enthusiastic. Several participants mentioned preferring to spend time on more practical learning that could directly contribute to their future employment prospects.

"I think the most interesting course was the photography class, so I signed it up. The least interesting one was the English class, and eventually I dropped it out.” (Chileren Ming)

Fourth, in terms of social capital, the Sunflower project has established social capital for them, but the social network relationships are not extended. Through shared activities and regular interactions, children develop peer relationships and support networks. These connections are visibly demonstrated during group activities where children collaborate effectively, share learning resources, and provide mutual encouragement. It is noticed that before the interview, the migrant children voluntarily requested to be interviewed together with their friends, all of whom they had only met in the project. It can be seen that they made new friends among the sunflowers.

After coming to Sunflower, they made new friends and felt a sense of warmth, describing the organization as similar to a home. (Chilren Ye)

“I'm only in the sunflower with my friends here. After school, we don't make plans to go out and play with each other.” (All Children Mentioned)

Sunflower’s expansion of migrant children’s social capital has gradually enabled them to gain a sense of belonging and security.

“My mother brought me here on the recommendation of her friend. Her friend’s daughter once took classes at Sunflower.” (children Hua)

“I’m very willing to introduce my friends to Sunflower because I can find many good friends here.” (Children Ye)

However, these social bonds appear to remain largely contained within the project's physical and temporal boundaries, with limited extension into children's daily lives outside the program. Sunflower prohibits the formation of deep connections between volunteers and children, or even among children.

“We usually don't allow them to add WeChat because we can't conduct thorough investigations on each person and have no idea what kind of people they are. We are afraid that there will be negative impacts.” (Staff Wang)

Although sunflowers can offer children the experience of seeing a broader world, such as visiting different high schools and universities, these resources are limited and the positive impact they produce is very small. This is because this kind of social capital connection is very slight.

"Previously, we took the children to visit Fudan University to broaden their horizons." We were also fortunate enough to have the person in charge of UWC Changshu come here to show the children and introduce the various schools of this World Union school. But we still lack cooperation with high schools and universities.” (Staff Wang)

Lastly, as the children gradually integrated into Shanghai, some conflicts arose in their sense of identity. Through the skills migrant children have learned and the achievements they have made in the Sunflower program, they feel extremely capable. A sense of self-worth was cultivated.

“I’m the only one in the class who's really good at photography. No one else can match me.” (Children Ye)

What’s more, migrant children start to consider themselves a part of Shanghai. Both Fang and Hua conveyed that they prefer Shanghai to my hometown because Shanghai is an international metropolis and there are many people like them. At the same time, the five of them said, “If Shanghai were a tree, I would be a leaf, because we are very ordinary.” This reflects that migrant children still do not fully integrate into their identity in Shanghai, and they lack a deep connection with the city. From this, it can be indicated that migrant children are often excluded by both cultures, so it is difficult for them to find a balance between their own identities.

“I would be called an outsider in Shanghai, but when I go back to my hometown, I would also be rejected by the locals. I don't know exactly where I belong. Children in cave dwellings have two cultural backgrounds.” (Children Ming)

6. Conclusion

The study demonstrates that migrant children in Shanghai face challenges in urban integration due to deficits in both social and cultural capital. Therefore, the study has examined how the Sunflower Project facilitates the integration of migrant children in Shanghai by introducing extracurricular programs. The findings reveal that while Sunflower Project and its extracurricular programs have achieved success in facilitating the accumulation of cultural capital and building social networks among participants, their effectiveness is constrained by the cognition of migrant parents and children that limits the conversion of these capitals into integration.

The extracurricular program design encompasses both skill training and cultural knowledge acquisition, reflecting a comprehensive approach to cultural capital development. However, the study finds out a distinct preference among migrant children for practical skills courses over cultural or value cultivation. This utilitarian orientation reflects that these migrant children’s cognitive perception were shaped, to some extent, by their parents’ perception, family economic pressures and survival strategies. Thus, while practical skills are readily adopted, the broader cultural competencies necessary for sociocultural integration and urban belonging remain underdeveloped. On the one hand, these facts reflect the project's design is in the absence of children's determination and multi-actors’ feedback. On the other hand, the lack of resources and parental attention in children's daily environments leads to cognitive solidification, which limits their ability to truly understand and apply newly acquired resources. Therefore, although sunflowers provide children with cultural and resources, these resources often remain in the form of accumulation due to the above two reasons rather than being effectively transformed. This ultimately led to children having a certain degree of integration into the city of Shanghai but lacking a deep connection, resulting in identity conflicts.

Furthermore, the extracurricular programs successfully build bonding social capital among participants, creating strong peer networks and supportive relationships within the program. However, these social resources remain largely confined to the program context. Institutional restrictions on volunteer contact, combined with spatial segregation and policy barriers, prevent the development of bridging social capital that could connect children to wider urban networks and opportunities. This limitation reflects both the structural barriers facing migrant communities and the project’s limited capacity to facilitate cross-social field capital conversion.

The implications of these findings extend beyond the specific context of the Sunflower Project. These findings suggest that effective interventions of extracurricular programs for migrant children require not merely providing capital resources but also actively addressing cognitive development for capital conversion.

Therefore, the future interventions should focus on designing curricula that link skills with broader social values, cultivate children's sense of their cultural identity with complicated backgrounds, and establish cooperative relationships with schools, enterprises, and community institutions to expand bridging opportunities. Only by combining resource accumulation with cognitive transformation of both students and parents can NGOs like Sunflower Project achieve sustainable and meaningful urban integration for migrant children through extracurricular programs.