Education and Minorities: Education as a Humanitarian Response 9781350091283, 9781441124944

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Notes on Contributors Chris Atkin is Professor of Education and Head of the Graduate School in the Faculty of Education at Liverpool Hope University, UK. His main research expertise lies in the policy and practice of adult education and training with a particular focus on rural communities. He has completed a range of research projects funded by the UK funding councils (EPSRC, NERC), the British Academy, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy (NRDC), Local Authorities and the Learning and Skills Council. His research has included both national and international comparative studies including ‘practitioner-based’ enquiry with a range of eduction stakeholders. Wendy Bignold is Vice Dean of Education at Liverpool Hope University, UK, where she is Co-director of the Centre for International and Development Education. She is also Co-director of the Centre for Research in Education and Society, a collaboration with St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, India. Her research interests include cross-cultural collaborations, researcher identity and participant voice. Much of her research draws on her professional experience in teaching and lecturing in different countries. She is involved in international research projects funded by the UK research councils (EPSRC, NERC) and the Department for International Development, UK. Jennifer H Chung is a Lecturer in Education and Social Sciences at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, UK. Her main research interests lie in the Nordic countries and in Finland in particular. Her doctoral dissertation, completed at the University of Oxford, UK, was entitled An Investigation of Reasons for Finland’s Success in PISA. She has recently been awarded a British Academy grant to investigate the normaalikoulu, or university-affiliated teacher education schools in Finland. Snoeks Desmond has worked in the field of early childhood education and development in her home country of South Africa and in England. From 2000 to 2007 she was the founding director of the Family Literacy Project and is

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Notes on Contributors now a consultant specializing in developing course and classroom materials and policies relating to young children and their families. Anna Horvai was born in Budapest, Hungary and spent her childhood in the United States of America before moving to the United Kingdom to attend university. She received her BA with Honours from the University of Cambridge, having spent three years studying Education and English at Christ’s College. She went on to complete her Master’s in Comparative and International Education at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford. During this time, she had the chance to expand on her research interests developed during her undergraduate studies. As a Master’s student, Anna undertook a small-scale qualitative study on the topic of Roma integration in the Hungarian education system, drawing on the perspectives of academics and officials from leading civil society organizations. Following her Master’s, Anna completed an internship with Minority Rights Group International, enabling her to broaden her understanding of minority issues worldwide. Her primary research interest is the impact of social inequalities on educational access and achievement. Anna is currently working in academic publishing. Gary Mills is a Lecturer in History Education at the University of Nottingham, UK, where he convenes the PGCE History, teaches on MA modules and supervises PhD students. His research interests are in Holocaust and Genocide education and he is currently working on a research project, funded by the British Council, with the Kigali Institute of Education examining how beginning teachers teach about the Holocaust and the 1994-Genocide in ways that promote community cohesion. He is also the educational adviser for the National Holocaust Centre at Laxton, Nottinghamshire, UK. Janet Philipp is Professor and Chair of the Health Professions Division and Director of the Doctoral Program at College of Saint Mary, Omaha, NE, USA. Her primary research interest lies in access to health care for vulnerable populations with a focus on Native Americans and the homeless. She has been a Fellow of the international Salzburg Seminar on vulnerable populations and a research design consultant for a ‘Healthy Start Native American Program’. As an administrator in colleges and universities, she has experience with federal and local programs that provide support for low-income, minority and at-risk students. Namrata Sharma is a research scholar in education and has authored books and articles on innovative pedagogies concerning human rights and

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citizenship education in India, Japan and the UK. During her Master’s in Education (Tokyo, Japan), and PhD (London, UK), her work concentrated on Soka Schools in Japan and selected Gandhian institutions in India. As a PostDoctoral Fellow in London, UK and Research Fellow in Nottingham, UK, her work has engaged with intercultural issues that affect the status and empowerment of youth; as well as research into the use of technology in learning and teaching in higher education. Joan Walton is Director of the Centre for the Child, Family and Society at Liverpool Hope University, UK. Prior to joining the university, she worked as a consultant, manager and in staff development within social care, health and education settings. Her research interests include improving professional practice with children and young people. Rolf Wiesemes is a Lecturer in Language Education and Information Technology in Education at the University of Birmingham’s School of Education, UK. He has worked in close partnership with Kigali Institute of Education and Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre supporting and co-developing ways to teach (and learn) about the Rwandan genocide in schools. He is particularly interested in language use in formal and informal settings where sensitive issues such as genocide are taught. He is currently exploring the contributions that technologies can make to genocide education in challenging settings such as Rwanda and is generally interested in the use of technologies for learning and teaching.

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Series Editor’s Preface Underlying this entire series on Education as a Humanitarian Response is the well-known adage in education that ‘if we get it right for those most in need we will likely get it right for all if we take the same approach’. That sentiment was born in relation to those with special educational needs within a full mainstream system of schooling. In relation to this series it is taken further to embrace the special educational needs of those experiencing disasters and their aftermath, whether natural or man-made, but also to other groups who may be significantly disadvantaged. Much can be learned of value to the provision of mainstream systems from the holistic approach that necessarily follows in response to situations of disaster. Sadly very little of this potential value is actually perceived, and even less is embraced. Consequently one of the aims of the series, both in the core volume Education as a Global Concern, and the contributing volumes, is to bring the notion of education as a humanitarian response to the mainstream, and those seeking to serve it as teachers, other educators and politicians. The situation of minorities of various kinds is much less clear-cut than that in the context of education in emergencies, though of course a disaster can focus on a minority, especially if it is remote or part of a modern urban complex. In general, the issue of Education and Minorities is extremely varied and complex, as illustrated by the cases in this book. They have been selected so as to come from very different parts of the world and circumstances, but are inevitably nowhere near exhaustive. The nature of minorities leads towards the greater consideration of issues of scale in respect of educational studies that are considered in the core volume. A greater understanding of the issue of scale, sometimes well illustrated by the situations of minorities should be at the forefront of thinking about the type of education we need to be fostering in order to be successful in meeting the challenge of sustaining the human and physical environment on planet Earth. Colin Brock UNESCO Chair in Education as a Humanitarian Response University of Oxford, UK

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Acknowledgements On behalf of all the contributors to this edited book – Education and Minorities – I would like to thank all the learners, teachers, policy makers and other stakeholders who gave their time with such generosity of spirit to inform the case studies shown here. Without your help this important text would not have been written. Chris Atkin

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Introduction Chris Atkin

Chapter Outline The chapters

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For policy makers and practitioners around the globe the role of education in promoting social cohesion and functional skills continues to be a contested area. Each of the authors in this volume Education and Minorities in the series ‘Education as a Humanitarian Response’ sets this in a particular context and provides a range of educational interpretations of the purpose of education in relation to minority groups. This volume in the series contains eight case studies from very different parts of the world to highlight the relationship between education (formal and informal) and minority groups. The book is primarily aimed at students at undergraduate and masters levels although it will be of interest to all those concerned with education policy and practice. The chapters present a balance of education policy and practice responses to minority groups highlighting the complexity of the macro and micro position of minorities. Before introducing the chapters that make up this volume it is important to draw out a number of the key issues present in all of the case studies used by the chapter authors. The first is the different contextual definitions of minority used by the authors in highlighting their choice of case studies. For all but two of the authors minority is a construct of population size (in a specific geography) and the distribution and power. Walton and Desmond use Watson’s definition of minority based on their (the minority group) relative ‘political, economic and cultural position’ (1985: 72) as their sole defining

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Education and Minorities feature. A second example is Sharma’s chapter from India which includes girls as part of her construct of minority. This brings into focus a number of issues for those involved in education policy and practice. In the developed economies of the world attention is focused on the underachievement of boys in comparison with their female peers. In the majority of the world it is the need to improve access and standards of education for girls and women more generally which is the priority. See as an example, The Millennium Development Goal Number 3, Target 3.A: ‘Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015’ (United Nations, 2000). The second is how many of the authors highlight the different purposes of education for minorities; education both as a potential for empowerment and emancipation, as a series of functional skills to be ‘schooled in’ and as a means of maintaining existing social structures and power relations (Illich, 1973: 6). This is the paradox in formal education policies and practices; two sides of the same coin. The case studies highlight the important function of education in promoting: z

z

z

z

Literacy as a core requisite for a prosperous society/economy. Language competency and the ability to read, in particular are often seen as a key to unlocking the wider curriculum of learning. I have included in this the emerging understanding of literacies based on an individual’s ability to access and negotiate services; as an example: literacies of health, literacies of education, and literacies of finance. This is particularly important for new communities as they often have the most difficulty accessing services. Skills linked to the workplace. Education processes designed to enhance performance in the workplace; human capital development (Becker, 1964). The transformation of many economies from a manufacturing to service focus (e.g. Europe and Hong Kong) has been achieved in part by an education system reconceptualized as lifelong. Democracy, peace and human rights. In promoting these values education can support individuals and communities to ‘challenge social structures and working collectively to gain more control on how these structures are formed’ (Jesson and Newman, 2004: 254). Respect for diversity and conflict resolution within a pluralist society. Learning has a very important role to play in ensuring our communities have sufficient knowledge and understanding to reject fundamentalism – in all its manifestations – and embrace Buber’s (1958) concept of the dialogical nature of existence and mutual respect for difference.

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Introduction z

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The need to support a sense of citizenship based on a core set of values. These values – again based on a series of democratic rights and responsibilities – in themselves are contentious and will at least in part depend on education programmes if they are to gain widespread acceptance. The need to sustain civil society in this time of financial and industrial upheaval is an important role of learning programmes as governments across the globe retreat from services once considered the natural responsibility of local, regional or national government.

The third issue raised within the chapters is the relationship between education, minorities and their ability to access and influence policy makers. All of the authors highlight to some extent the imbalance in power relations between the instruments of authority and the minority communities described. This appears to be a recurrent issue for each of the minority groups described in the case studies. The case studies highlight the potential of education to support minority groups, but remind us that education policy is only one element of society and not a panacea for addressing the inequalities in society; a point made by a number of authors.

The chapters Chapter 1 highlights Janet Philipp’s review of education policy in the United States of America (USA) where despite the growing number of minorities accessing all phases of education, racial minority groups still lag behind their white peers. Philipp suggests there is a developing underclass in American society – with a range of social and economic difficulties – of which minority status is a quasi indicator. The position of minorities within the US education system is considered using ‘capital deficiency theory’ (Massey et al., 2003) which links successful academic achievement to the level of resources available to the individual and community. The theory brings together a range of differing forms of capital identifying financial capital as the most significant marker of educational success. The author goes onto consider the benefits to the classroom and campus of a more diverse student body. Philipp uses the Latina Summer Academy at the College of St. Mary, Omaha where researchers gathered data on a group of Latina eighth grade students for eight years following graduation. Two fictionalized accounts of the students’ experience are used to make real the cultural and operational difficulties many minority students face in accessing educational opportunities.

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Education and Minorities Chapter 2 is written by Jennifer Chung on the position of the Swedishspeaking minority in Finland. Chung provides a historical overview of Finland’s relationship with Sweden focusing on language policy. Following Finnish independence from Sweden in 1919 the country’s new constitution declared Finland to be a bilingual nation with Finnish and Swedish as the two national languages of the new state putting behind it the turbulent history of the states. This has ensured that all aspects of the state are available in the Swedish language including all phases of education; including higher education. In her analysis of provision Chung challenges the assumption by many policy makers that minority status adversely affects education performance in schools. Chung makes the point that Swedish language schools have a tradition of being the schools of choice in bilingual families and seen as generally being ‘better’ than the majority Finnish-speaking schools, and yet in Finland’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores the Finnish-speaking schools appear to do best. This counterintuitive outcome of the PISA exercise is putting further pressure on Finland’s bilingual heritage with policy makers looking at the higher than expected scores from Finnishspeaking schools and considering how this has been achieved and whether this marks a longer term decline in power associated with the Swedish language in Finland. Chapter 3 uses as a case study the migrant population in the East of England (Lincolnshire), the majority of who have moved from the former European accession countries (Poland et al.) to work in agriculture and horticultural enterprises. Rather than taking a policy-based approach to the chapter, Atkin tries to identify what the experience of a minority family might be in accessing school services for themselves and their children and the support offered by the local authorities. English as an additional language service itself is going through a period of changes and realignment. The detail of the case study highlights areas of good practice and concern as services are reviewed and remodelled within a more tightly controlled financial framework. Atkin suggests Bourdieu’s work as a theoretical lens to consider the educational experiences of minority groups and in particular the role of schools in social and cultural reproduction (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1990). The chapter concludes by considering the role ‘supplementary schools’ play in maintaining the cultural markers of minority groups, such as language and social practice. In Chapter 4 Namrata Sharma considers the role of education in empowering the disadvantaged youth of India. Sharma uses a very broad definition of disadvantaged to include a range of minority groups (scheduled castes, tribal

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members, migrant workers and displaced youth) and girls. This is an interesting example of an education response to a perceived social stress point and the fear of those perceived to be disengaged from ‘mainstream society’. The author adopts a Gandhian perspective on empowerment and its potential for shaping education in the twenty first century. Chapter 5 focuses on the role of education in developing community cohesion in post-genocide Rwanda. The authors draw on their work with colleagues, at the National University of Rwanda, Kigali, in the teaching of sensitive curriculum. The authors highlight the role of the post-genocide school curriculum in promoting reconciliation and a common sense of what it is to be Rwandan; what key elements of Rwandan identity can be shared and agreed by the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa tribal groups. The authors suggest that the new curriculum is in complete contrast to the pre-1994 curriculum which stressed tribal divisions and secular histories linking citizenship to ethnic identity (Hutu) with minorities portrayed as the ‘other’; foreign invaders (Said, 1978). The chapter highlights an interesting issue for those involved in education curriculum policy. If identity and culture are to be ‘taught’ then does this reduce identity and culture to that which can be taught? Another example of this is religious studies where teaching tends to be about the religion (history, key facts buildings, etc.) rather than providing opportunities to experience religious behaviours congruent with the children’s home life (Burtonwood, 1998). In Chapter 6 Anne Horvai explores the education of the Roma community in Hungarian education context suggesting education is both a vehicle for perpetuating and reducing inequalities. This dichotomy in the consequences of education is perhaps more obvious in this case study, but is a backcloth to all the examples shown. The authors make the point that Roma children are often streamlined into special classes within mainstream schools further marking them out as the ‘other’ (Said, 1978). Despite highlighting a range of successful initiatives, Anne concludes her chapter by calling for a greater focus on inclusion of the Roma community in Hungary and across Europe. In Chapter 7 Wendy Bignold highlights the education of Tibetan monitories in China and in particular the role of education in promoting a sense of national identity (what it is to be Chinese). The chapter begins with an overview of Tibet’s relationship with its larger more populous neighbour, contrasting the Tibetan culture based on a religious foundation with the majority Chinese culture based on family and social obligation. The author suggests the education response to these differences is to impose a specific cultural

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Education and Minorities system; a position Bourdieu and Passeron outline in their discussion of symbolic violence and pedagogic action within schooling systems (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1990: 10). Chapter 8, the final case study is set in South Africa and explores the concept of minority in relation to South Africa’s complex social structure. Walton and Desmond consider minority as essentially a marker of access to political, economic and cultural power based on Watson’s thesis (1985: 72). The authors identify the use of ‘communities’ in the post-apartheid constitution as a marker of minority and how this links to Watson’s definition. Using an action research model the authors report on a family literacy programme in KwaZulu Natal established to support children’s literacy which very quickly expanded to support the parents’ literacy needs. The case studies provide a range of sociological and practice perspectives on the relationship between minority groups (however they are defined). The majority of the case studies are focused on the formal education systems in a specific context, but as you read the accounts please consider the wider informal education structures informing and sometimes at odds with the formal structures presented. Many working in education would claim those who achieve the greatest (examination) success in our formal schooling systems are those children whose family culture and practices most closely align with that of the school (itself an instrument of the state). If we accept this position, then inevitably minorities culturally dislocated from the state are always going to need our support to reach their educational potential. I hope you find the case studies which follow helpful in developing your thinking about education and minorities and the complex interrelationship between education policy, its stated intentions, the practice of education and its outcomes on both the individual and wider community.

References Becker, G. (1964) Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Bourdieu, P. and Passeron, J.-C. (1990) Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture (2nd edn). London: Sage. Buber, M. (1958) I and Thou 2e. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark Publishers. Burtonwood, N. (1998) ‘Liberalism and communitarianism: a response to two recent attempts to reconcile individual autonomy with group identity’, Educational Studies, 24 (3), 295–304. Illich, I. (1973) Deschooling Society. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

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Jesson, J. and Newman, M. (2004) ‘Radical adult education and learning’, in Foley, G. (ed.), Dimensions of Adult Learning. Buckinghamshire: Open University Press, pp. 251–64. Massey, D., Charles, C., Lundy, G. and Fischer, J. (2003) The Source of the River: The Social Origins of Freshmen at America’s Selective Colleges and Universities. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Said, E. (1978) Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books. United Nations (2000) The Millennium Development Goals. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ gender.shtml (accessed 3 June 2011). Watson, K. (1985) ‘Educational policy and provision for a multi-cultural society’, in Watson, K. (ed.), Key Issues in Education: Comparative Perspectives. London: Croon Helm, pp. 64–86.

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Education for Learning and Democracy: Frameworks and Models Janet S. Philipp

Chapter Outline Introduction Demographics and trends in higher education of minorities Core challenges to achievement and success Conceptual frameworks to consider the education performance of minorities Theory of Capital Deficiency The state of practice: models of success Diversity and higher education: impact on learning and democracy Summary Case study: The Latina Summer Academy Further reading

8 9 11 13 14 16 19 21 22 31

Introduction A report from the US Department of Education ‘Status Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities’ (Aud et al., 2010) examined the educational progress and challenges of students in the Unites States of America by race and ethnicity. Over time, there has been growth in the numbers of all US students completing high school and continuing their education in college. However, despite these gains, rates of progress among racial and ethnic minority groups

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have lagged behind their white counterparts in the realm of higher education utilization. This chapter addresses this issue by discussing the changing demographics of the higher education1 consumer (or market), discussing the reasons why minorities have not been fully served by our secondary and tertiary educational systems, and discussing ways to reduce the disparity between whites and minorities. An example of the policy responses to the education of minorities is the Latina2 Summer Academy which provides a case study to demonstrate the issues surrounding the education of minorities.

Demographics and trends in higher education of minorities To understand why fewer minorities have achieved a university education, we begin by examining the changing demographics. Between 1980 and 2008, the racial and ethnic make-up of the US shifted in the following ways: z z z z z

White population declined from 80% of total population to 66%. Hispanic population increased from 6% of total population to 15%. Black population remained at about 12%. Asian Pacific Islanders population grew from less than 2% to 4%. American Indians continue to make up about 1%.

In contrast, college enrolment between 1980 and 2008 changed in the following ways: z

z

44% of whites 18–24 years old were enrolled in college compared to 28% in 1980. 32% of blacks 18–24 years old were enrolled in college compared to 20% in 1980.

1 The term higher education is used interchangeably with post-secondary education, colleges and universities. They refer broadly to all formal education beyond secondary education or high school. College is offered at two- and four-year public and private, not-for-profit institutions as well as graduate institutions. Post-secondary education began in the United States in the mid-1600s, first as private, followed by public institutions. More recently the for-profit industry in higher education has appeared on the horizon, offering vocational, technical and college degrees. 2 The terms Latino and Hispanic are used interchangeably in this document. Latina is used when referring exclusively to females in the Latino culture.

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Education and Minorities z

26% of Hispanics 18–24 years old were enrolled in college compared to 16% in 1980.

Between 1976 and 2008, the total undergraduate enrolment increased for each group: Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islanders increased at a faster rate and whites had the slowest rate of growth. In 2008, more females than males were enrolled as undergraduates with the gender gap being the largest for blacks. In addition, future earnings and employment opportunities are dependent, to a large degree, on educational attainment. In 2008, 33% of white adults had at least a bachelors degree while 20% of black adults, 13% of Hispanics, 52% of Asian/Pacific Islanders, and 15% of American Indians had at least a bachelors degree. A 1994 report on ‘Minorities in Higher Education’ (Justiz et al., 1994) reported common elements that affect minorities, including poor educational attainment and the pressures of modern urban life. Educational attainment is highly correlated with moving into the economic mainstream, yet higher high school drop-out rates and low college graduation rates are barriers to economic independence and upward mobility. While the authors praised the increasing numbers of minorities completing high school since 1976, they remained disappointed in the quality of high school preparation for urban minorities. A lack of cohesion and leadership by African American families as well as increasing exposure to stressors such as drug addiction, prison, crime and teen pregnancies result in an ‘American-style apartheid with a group of underclass (p. 33)’, according to Gene Maeroff of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (Justiz et al., 1994: 33). The report outlines new strategies to increase the proportion of minorities in colleges and universities. These include: z

z

z z

z

institutionally-sponsored ‘transition year’ programmes to improve the skills of minorities who are inadequately prepared for college, more rigorous efforts to recruit transfer students to community colleges where many are enrolled, university-sponsored, community-based tutorial and mentor programmes that draw on the resources of corporations, professional associations and civic service clubs, creating a more hospitable campus environment for minorities, broadening the ‘Euro-centred’ curriculum in the arts, humanities and social sciences to include studies of cultures around the world, and providing opportunities for students to examine race relations, racism and its history in the United States (Justiz et al., 1994).

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There are accredited institutions in the United States with the principal mission of educating a specific ethnic group. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) were first established in the mid 1800’s. It wasn’t until 1964 that the US government officially recognized them as a group of institutions with a mission to educate African Americans. There are 105 in the United States, located primarily in the eastern and southern regions of the United States (White House Initiative, 2010). Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) are accredited, degree granting institutions that must enrol at least 25% first generation, low-income Hispanics. In the past decade, the number of HSI has more than doubled from 164 to 386 and the proportion of Hispanic students in these institutions has grown from 40% to 48%. Tribal colleges are tribally controlled and located on American Indian reservations. They enrolled 8% of all American Indian students in 2007.

Core challenges to achievement and success The Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 did much for minorities to equalize educational access and access to opportunities, especially in the early years following enactment. US colleges and universities began taking deliberate steps to recruit minorities, specifically through ‘affirmative action’ initiatives, or positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education and business from which they have been historically excluded (Stanford University, 2010 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/affirmativeaction/). Initially, the goal of the Civil Rights Act was to rectify past injustices to minorities. As immigration of Latinos and Asians increased, colleges and universities took on ‘diversifying’ their campuses as a broader initiative. President Lyndon Johnson stated, ‘It is not enough to just open the gates of opportunity. All our citizens must have the ability to walk through those gates . . . We seek not just freedom but opportunity. We seek not just legal equality but human ability, not just equality as a right and theory but equality as a fact and equality as a result’ (Harris, 2009: 2). As decades passed, it became clear that recruiting minorities to primarily white institutions would not, in itself, lead to successful outcomes, mainly graduation. A 2010 Report on Minorities (Ryu, 2010) found key barriers for minorities desiring a university education. These include lack of a high school

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Education and Minorities diploma, disruptions in education in their home country, immigrating at an older age, language barriers, lower socio-economic status, low-paying and/or unstable jobs, and, for some, illegal status in the United States. When minorities do have credentials, their high school performance and/or curriculum may be deficient. While Advanced Placement (AP) courses are increasingly available in high schools, Hispanics and African Americans are less likely than whites and Asian Americans to take the ‘college preparatory’ courses (Massey et al., 2003). Hispanics and African Americans are more likely to have experienced growing up in unstable, segregated neighbourhoods with more disorder and violence. Exposure of this nature leads to problems with attention span, concentration, and ability to cope with frustration. When minorities do enrol in college, it is often a ‘sink or swim’ situation for them in their first semester. Racial identity and attitudes and group stereotype continues inside the academic institution as it did on the outside. At the institutional level, the Lumina Foundation (Harris, 2009) examined programmes, policies and services that impact success of minority males in post-secondary education. Policy experts, higher education leaders, grantmakers and others were interviewed, identifying three universal failings: (i) failure of public schools to prepare minorities for higher education, (ii) lack of recruitment and maintenance of minority students and (iii) overall lack of institutional support. (i) First, public schools often fail to effectively educate some minorities and prepare them for college. One reason, identity dissonance, is the difficulty minority males sometimes experience reconciling their gender, cultural and racial identities with the prevailing culture within the public school. Second, teachers’ and administrators’ low expectations of minority students, so-called ‘soft’ bigotry, is another contributing factor. Lastly, educational goals and strategies, aside from athletics and vocational training programmes, are often ambiguous for minorities; it is unclear what education will prepare them for in their future lives. (ii) Universities often lack the knowledge of what works to recruit and retain minorities. Few programmes have a long-standing track record of success. Most programmes are locally developed or serve lowincome, but high-achieving students. The programmes may be funded by grants, but are often supported from operational funds. Minimal resources are allocated to the programme. Volunteers cycle through the programme. Assessment of outcomes is weak. The result is ineffective outcomes and an unsustainable programme. (iii) There is inadequate institutional leadership and faculty support. Without the engagement of campus leaders, there is no

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one with authority to champion the minority-focused strategies. Leadership from the board of directors and president/chancellor is a critical and central motivating factor for actions by the institution. Consistent institutional leadership coupled with faculty who are accountable for defined outcomes are key principles in the implementation of effective strategies.

Conceptual frameworks to consider the education performance of minorities Massey et al. (2003) document through research the benefits of affirmative action for minority students, their communities and the nation at large. Despite this, many minority students fail to achieve academic success. The authors examine the roots of minority underperformance and the characteristics that students bring to the campus. Successful learning outcomes depend on connections, community trust and identity. The social sciences provide a number of theories which can be used to explain student underperformance. While the Theory of Capital Deficiency is applied in this chapter, other theories are described briefly. These include: z z z z z z

Theory of Oppositional Culture Theory of Stereotype Threat Theory of Peer Influence Attachment Theory Critical Theory, Segregation and School Effects, and Theory of Capital Deficiency

The Theory of Oppositional Culture originated with anthropologist John Ogbu (1978, 1981). Also known as the Blocked Opportunities Framework, it seeks to explain academic performance of racial and ethnic minorities to broad social structures and historic processes. It identifies two kinds of minorities – voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary minorities are comprised of immigrants who entered the country without restraint to seek a better life. Involuntary minorities were brought into or incorporated into American society against their will – African Americans as slaves and Native Americans and Mexicans by colonization in settlement times. Those conscripted involuntarily were forced to a subordinate status and were made

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Education and Minorities aware of their disadvantaged positions, resulting in negative feelings towards the mainstream values and institutions. Their cultural differences, for them, have become symbols of pride and resistance. Claude Steele’s Theory of Stereotype Threat (1988, 1992, 1998) states that ‘members of the minority group underperform academically because of unconscious fear of living up to stereotypes about their group’s intellectual capacity’ (Massey et al., 2003: 12). Stereotypic threat occurs whenever people are at risk of fulfilling a negative stereotype associated with their group. Minority students may downplay their academic success or appear indifferent about school, thereby communicating to their peers that academic success is irrelevant to their self-worth. Coleman (1961, 1966) and Halliman’s (1982) Theory of Peer Influence states that academic aspiration and success are shaped by social pressures from classmates in schools and classrooms. The social, demographic and economic composition of the student body or influences of students in a friendship network influence a person’s goals and ambitions. Attachment Theory, according to Tinto (1993), proposes that students who are engaged socially and academically within the institution are less likely to leave or dropout. Institutions that develop programmes and systems to increase student engagement, social support and integration into the fabric of the institution find higher levels of student retention. Attachment Theory is the foundation for the National Student Success and Engagement (NSSE) movement and resulting survey in US higher education (NSSE, 1998). Institutions measure and benchmark their success with student engagement using the scores and outcomes of NSSE. Critical Theory, Segregation and School Effects (Bowles and Gintis, 1976) argues that dominant social classes drive the curriculum with an outcome of social inequality over time. One explanation for underperformance of minorities in the US colleges and universities is that primary and secondary schools attended provided lower quality education, resulting in students less prepared for the rigours of college work.

Theory of Capital Deficiency The Theory of Capital Deficiency (TCD) (Massey et al., 2003) supports our understanding of student achievement or lack of success in their college years. TCD is based on a lack of resources needed for success. It posits that

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academic achievement and success are correlated with forms of capital – social, financial, human and cultural. Without such capital people cannot reach their goals. For purposes of this chapter, it serves as the overarching explanation for programmes developed for minority education in the United States. While other theories explain some of the causes for failure to achieve, the TCD is the most comprehensive. Although four types of capital are identified, financial capital is the most commonly recognized. It includes income, assets and other financial sources that together comprise a household’s, a family’s economic resources. Financial resources are an advantage to students as they prepare for college. With good financial resources, parents can afford academic inputs of higher quality including good schooling, tutors, extracurricular activities, comfortable housing, good nutrition and intellectual stimulation (Massey et al., 2003); specialized help can be accessed when problems arise. Nearly all non-profit programmes focusing on the success of minority students in universities, including Lumina and Posse, provide financial resources for students to attend transitional summer programmes. Universities also receive financial support (capital) to continue support systems during the college career of the students and to provide the programmes beyond the institution’s core mission programmes. A second type of capital, human capital, is described as the skills, abilities and knowledge possessed by specific individuals (Schlutz, 1963; Becker, 1964). Human capital includes educational pursuits as well as opportunities to develop athletic and cultural skills. College-educated parents are more likely to read to their children, provide intellectual stimulation, and take an active role in their children’s education. Parents who invest in their child’s development, enhance the child’s potential for success, including happiness, productivity, higher social economic status and prestige. The parents of minority students more often have less access to formal education and are, therefore, less prepared to guide their children through the complex processes of applying to and enrolling in college. Successful pre-college programmes for minorities in higher education focus heavily on preparing students and their families for the complex processes involved in applying to college and especially, the complex processes of obtaining federal financial aid, a critical element of future success. Social capital includes the tangible benefits and resources that are attained by virtue of their inclusion in a social structure (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992). People with close and healthy ties to friends and family are better prepared for college – socially, psychologically, culturally and academically. Social

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Education and Minorities capital is acquired through membership in networks and institutions, resulting in improved positions in society (Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman, 1990). Students with social capital are better prepared for college because of these friendships and relationships. For minority students, transition and summer programmes contribute to building a social network in preparation for enrolling in college. Latino and African American agencies, sports clubs and churches in the local, ethnic community also build social capital. Cultural capital includes the knowledge of norms, styles, conventions and experiences that permeate social settings and allow people to navigate in ways that increase their odds of success (Bourdieu, 1977). It is cultural information that is passed on from generation to generation that helps carry on social standing. Academics is its own niche with its own customs, traditions and expectations. Prior exposure to the culture of higher education can be crucial in preparing students for success. As an example, Euro-American culture permeates academic universities. Di Maggio and Ostrower (1990) found significant black–white differences in this cultural knowledge resulting in an undermining of confidence and achievement of minority students from poor, working class backgrounds. Seminal work by Coleman (1966) and subsequent work by Hanusek (1989) and Miller (1995) found that differences in achievement among whites, blacks, Asians and Latinos were more strongly influenced by parental education, income and occupational status. School characteristics had only a modest effect on academic achievement. Again, minorities can benefit from transition and summer programmes that contribute to building a social network in preparation for enrolling in college. In summary, while Capital Deficiency Theory is comprised of four sources of capital, financial capital transcends and facilitates acquisition of other forms of capital. Parental resources and therefore social capital protect children from barriers that might stand in the way of academic achievement and provides a stable environment for academic achievement (Massey et al., 2003). It is the margin for capital that predicts a student’s potential for academic success. The more resources they have or acquire, the greater the likelihood students will achieve their goals.

The state of practice: models of success While financial and policy issues at the national level inhibit new national initiatives, successful public and private programmes for minorities and

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underserved students do exist. Most models of success in colleges and universities are supported by non-profit foundations and organizations. A number of larger non-profit organizations, driven by their mission, established programmes that are used by ‘member’ universities. Often the programmes are resource-intensive, leaving out smaller, less-funded universities from participation. The Lumina Foundation launched a programme called MSI – Models of Success Institutions (Harris, 2009). Colleges and universities received grants from Lumina to assist them in efforts to serve and graduate their students by offering higher quality programmes more quickly and by multiple pathways. One model, funded by Lumina, addresses complexity of attending college by requiring cohort enrolment and block scheduling of courses (fewer courses for a shorter time frame). This tactic addresses the issue of life-stressor-related college drop-outs. Because many minorities in the United States are non-traditional students with complicated lives the accelerated rigorous programme allows them to progress more quickly, reducing the likelihood of costly delays and eventual drop-out. With this initiative the institution provides clear, consistent information about schedules, costs, duration, success rates and job outcomes. This enables students to access the cost/benefits and understand the intensity and necessity of persistence, organize their lives to support it, and make sacrifices to achieve their goals. Another successful Lumina initiative is titled ‘Call me Mister’. Mister is an acronym for ‘Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models’. The programme was launched in 2000 to educate more black male teachers after researchers found that less than 1% of the elementary school teachers in South Carolina were black men; yet, the overall population of minorities in the public schools was 42%. Participants are provided access to academic support systems and are part of a cohort for social and cultural support. Nine years later about 50 graduates of the programme are teaching in the South Carolina schools, a 25% increase in the number of black male teachers in the state (12 October 2009, para 10). The programme has been replicated in five states and thirteen colleges (Harris, 2009). Limitations include lack of an independent evaluation, concern about quality and the ability to replicate it, and availability of ongoing funding. The Posse Foundation (Posse, 2011), founded in 1989, focuses on college access and leadership development. Their mission is to build campuses that are more interactive and offer more dialogue so they can be welcoming to people of all backgrounds and to ensure that Posse Scholars are successful

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Education and Minorities in their academic studies, graduate, and become leaders in the workforce. Public high school students with high academic achievement and leadership skills who may be overlooked in the traditional college recruitment and selection process are identified using a Dynamic Assessment Process (DAP). Leadership abilities, capacity for teamwork and motivation to succeed are evaluated. A diverse group of ten students is selected for each participating college or university. Each student is awarded a 4-year, full tuition scholarship. The Posse Scholars participate in a pre-college programme that addresses team building and group support, cross-cultural communication, leadership, becoming an agent of change and academic excellence. A mentor is assigned to each Posse Scholar and meets with them every two weeks during the first two years of college. The Posse Foundation partners with successful companies and organizations that provide internships, networking opportunities and career services. As the US becomes an increasingly multicultural society, Posse believes that these new leaders will reflect the rich demographic mix to develop consensus solutions to complex social issues. TRIO is a federal outreach and student services plan designed to identify and provide services to students from disadvantaged backgrounds (TRIO, 2011). Eight programmes comprise the TRIO programmes that target and serve low-income, first-generation college students and individuals with disabilities. Several programmes in TRIO are designed exclusively for minorities. Minorities, however, comprise the participants in all programmes. The Student Support Services (SSS) programme of TRIO supports students in academic development, basic college requirements, and motivates students towards successful completion of their post-secondary education. In some institutions, students participating in the SSS programme graduate at a higher rate than the total enrolment. Specifically, the SSS programme provides academic tutoring in reading, writing, study skills, mathematics, science and other subjects; academic advising, assistance to access financial aid programmes, and assistance to apply for admission to graduate programmes. Career services and counselling may also be offered. English Language Learners (ELL) is a widely used programme to address language issues of students who come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and whose first language is not English. ELL curriculum involves authentic reading and writing experiences and provides choices of reading texts that are meaningful to the students. Recognition of prior literacy experiences as well as cultural background results in more positive outcomes. This comprehensive programme is taught at all levels in the

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United States (ELL website, 2011). Many initiatives to support minorities and underserved students are unique to the institution. The case study in this chapter is such an example. Colleges and universities depend most heavily on grants to support the initiatives. This is congruent with the first component of the conceptual framework. Financial support is the underpinning for both the student and the institution. Financial support and resulting initiatives depend on the mission of the institution, the leadership of the administration and regents and availability of funding to match the goals of the institution.

Diversity and higher education: impact on learning and democracy Gurin, Day, Hurtados and Gurin (2002) studied the relationship between students’ experiences with diverse peers in the college and university setting and their educational outcomes’ (p. 330). The authors hypothesized that racial and ethnic diversity would be impacted by engagement with diverse peers in informal campus interactions and in the classroom. Two categories of educational outcomes were identified. Learning outcomes include active learning skills, intellectual engagement, motivation and a variety of academic skills. Democracy outcomes include perspective-taking, citizenship engagement, racial and cultural understanding and discernment of compatibility among different groups in a democracy. The impact of diversity on learning and diversity outcomes is believed to be especially important during college years because students are at the critical developmental stage of late adolescence and early adulthood. Psychologist Erik Erikson (1956) believed that this is a time of personal and social identity formation. College is a time and place where students can experiment with different social roles before making permanent commitments to career, life partners, social and political groups and ideas and a philosophy of life. Gurin et al. (2002) argue that this is an ideal time for students to encounter a confrontation with diversity and complexity rather than making decisions based on their past experiences. The social context is different from their home environment and community background. The diversity and complexity found on the university campus results in the realization by students that many options exist. Developmental theorist Jean Piaget (1985) theorizes that discontent and discrepancy spur growth. New situations lead to uncertainty. New information is needed to make sense of this new situation.

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Education and Minorities Gurin et al., hypothesize that learning outcomes are a consequence of curriculum that exposes students to knowledge about race and diversity through the classroom environments and interactions with peers from diverse and racial backgrounds. Active thinking and intellectual engagement are supported in that learning environment. Thoughtful, mindful, conscious thought is developed when students are exposed to new situations for which they have no prior scripts. Then they are challenged to think or act in new ways. Will students educated in an ethnically diverse environment be more motivated and better able to participate in a society that is increasingly diverse and complex? If diversity and democracy are to be compatible, diverse perspectives are needed; there must be equality among peers, and discussions using civil discourse must be readily available. Gurin et al., tested these ideas using students at the University of Michigan, a large Midwestern university, in the mid-1980s. The sample included 1,129 white students, 187 African Americans and 266 Asian Americans. Latino/as and Native American student numbers were too small to be significant. Data from the same time frame was obtained from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP). The sample included 10,465 whites, 216 African Americans, 496 Asian Americans and 206 Latino/as. All students were attending predominately white, 4-year universities. Both sets of data showed that diversity has a strong effect on educational outcomes. The research measured three types of diversity experience: classroom diversity, participation in multicultural events and intergroup dialogue and informal interactions between diverse students. Results for learning outcomes found informal interactions among diverse students accounted for higher levels of intellectual engagement, self-assurance and academic skills. All three kinds of diversity experiences related to higher levels of active thinking scores. The largest effect came from campus-facilitated diversity activities, including classroom diversity and intergroup dialogues on campus. The study found that diverse experiences also helped students develop skills to participate and lead in a diverse democracy. Information interactions impacted citizen engagement. The research supported the importance of campus and classroom diversity to enable students to perceive differences within and between groups. ‘The worst consequence of a lack of diversity arises when a minority student is a token in a classroom’ (Gurin, 2002: 360). The undue attention can lead to a greater stereotyping by the majority. Gurin et al. conclude that education is the foundation of democracy, resulting in informed citizenship. In order to foster citizenship for a diverse democracy,

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education must offer intentionally structured opportunities for students to leave the comfort of their homogeneous peer group and build relationships across ethnic and racially diverse student communities on campus.

Summary To understand the factors in academic success of minorities and the role of education to produce informed citizens, the author presented a framework of support. Demographics, trends and documented challenges introduced the topic of higher education and minorities. The conceptual framework, TCD was selected to encompass the multiple factors impacting academic success in higher education. Individual institutions and broader regional and national partnership models of success were cited. Finally, the overarching impact of diversity in higher education as a foundation for democracy was discussed. Learning outcomes and a case study follow.

Guiding questions Why are Latinas targeted for the programme described? What elements of the environment (the college, its mission and the community) persuaded the college to create this programme?

As you read the case study the ‘Latina Summer Academy’ shown below consider the following points: z z

z

z

What elements of the conceptual framework are present in this case study? Describe how additional capital (financial, social, cultural, or human) might be identified and infused into this programme or another by the institution? The community? The students? Others? The evaluation tool used by the Latina Summer Academy surveys changes in attitudes of students. List the strengths and weaknesses of assessing attitudes change as an outcome of the Academy. In what ways can it be improved? What other outcomes might provide a stronger indication of success of the programme? What, if any, are the benefits of a more diverse classroom and campus? Compare and contrast the barriers/challenges of the minority group in this study with the minority group highlighted in the case study from England and one example from a developing country referenced in this text. Consider the political environment, government support, and socio-economic realities of the countries.

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Education and Minorities z

z

Draw a relationship between the US-based case study model in this chapter and a model used in another country. Outline the similarities and differences. Identify common factors/components of a programme to prepare minorities for success in the university. Use a minority population familiar to you to develop a model programme that prepares them for university. At what age does it begin? What are the components? Identify sources for financial support. Identify barriers to overcome. I hope the case study provides a helpful vehicle to consider these broader issues and helps to focus your thinking.

Case study: The Latina Summer Academy The National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) is a study to determine Latino achievement through university education (Swail et al., 2004). Data collection began in 1988 with eighth grade students who were followed until 2000, 8 years after their scheduled high school graduation. The study identified a number of variables reflecting motivation and preparedness for college and university work. The main active variables were family income, educational legacy (family members who with college or university experience), aspirations for a college degree, and academic preparedness. Latino students were at higher risk for several negative traits such as having parents without a high school education, low family income, being held back in school, changing schools, having a low grade point average and having their own children while still in high school. According to the US Census Bureau (2010), of all ethnic female groups in the United States, Latinas are most likely to drop out of high school. Further, only 6.9% of the Latina population has completed college – considerably lower than the completion rates of African American women (10.2%) and Caucasian women (17.6%). In Nebraska (Nebrasaka Quick Facts Census, 2010) Hispanics comprise 8.4% of the population and African Americans 4.6%. In the greater Omaha area, Hispanics are 10% of the population and African Americans are 11.8%. In a report ‘Taking Stock: Higher Education and Latinos’ (Santiago and Reindl, 2009) a key point is the need for the administration to tailor programmes to engage the Latino student. By offering outreach activities, financial aid workshops, mentoring programmes, and parent programmes, students and their families are more likely to become engaged and successful in their college pursuits. One example of a programme tailored to engage Latina students is the Latina Summer Academy (LSA). This

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initiative addresses variables and risks by providing school-age Latina girls an educational experience that increases their knowledge of math, science and technology, supports their aspirations of completing high school and enrolling in college, and promotes their own sense of worth and self-esteem.

Setting College of Saint Mary (CSM) is a Catholic university for women located in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1923 in a single building in downtown Omaha, CSM was originally designed as a teachers’ college meant to educate young women. In 1955, College of Saint Mary moved to a new 80-acre campus on the western edge of the city. That year, 255 students enrolled. CSM now offers more than 30 undergraduate courses of study with divisions in professional studies, arts and sciences and health professions. While CSM is committed to undergraduates, the University also offers graduate programmes in leadership, occupational therapy, nursing and education and an accredited doctorate in education. In this intimate education setting, students receive a high-quality education that combines a liberal arts core with practical learning opportunities, career-specific skills, leadership development and community service. CSM is motivated by its mission to extend educational opportunities to those most in need and its long history of serving women and girls, not only in the classroom, but also in co-curricular activities and community outreach. A Board of Directors governs CSM. CSM has 57 faculty and 88 staff. Over 1,100 students are enrolled. CSM serves a diverse population with 21.25% minority enrolment, over 40% first-generation college students and 57% with an income level that makes them eligible for the federal PELL grant. PELL grant is a financial grant, not a loan, based on household income and number of family members. CSM enrols a high percentage of students qualifying for PELL. In contrast, the average US university enrols just 15–20% of their students qualifying for PELL grants.

Purpose and description The Latina Summer Academy is designed to address the specific challenges Latinas face in high school, including pressure to drop out of school, familial obligations, conflicting societal messages and confusing cultural expectations. The intent of LSA is to promote academic achievement for a segment of

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Education and Minorities society that is underserved and often neglected. Additionally, LSA is designed to increase the self-esteem of Latinas by addressing the societal, cultural and familial pressures Latinas face. The Latina Summer Academy is a week-long workshop at CSM for 9th and 10th grade Latinas that focuses on intensive study in math, science and technology. The Academy provides a college experience that features hands-on instruction in math, science and computer technology. Educational field trips, lunches with Latina community leaders, and events and discussions about well-being and social pressure allow each participant to see college as a realistic and accessible option in her future. Because the girls live on campus, they become immersed in the college environment, making them more comfortable and confident in seeking a higher education. Also, a presentation on how to apply to college and obtain financial aid is part of LSA programming. Each participating Latina is issued a hand-held computer to utilize technology and social media as a learning tool and develop a website documenting her experience. In addition, participants are provided room and board on the campus, offering them a taste of the campus life experience. LSA participants are selected on the basis of academic standing, a written essay and recommendations from teachers. With the exception of a $25 registration fee to ensure student interest and parental involvement in the programme, participants attend the programme free of charge.

Goal The primary goal is to increase Latina collegiate matriculation. In fact, the Department of Education has concluded that summer pre-college programmes have been shown to increase access and persistence in higher education for low-income students (CSM grant, 2009). Perhaps more importantly, the programme proposes to change attitudes and improve self-esteem. Latinas often do not believe they can attend college, even if they can afford it. Through interactions with Latina role models and peers, the participants come to see college as part of their future.

Objectives of LSA z

z

Latinas will be encouraged to excel academically and to graduate from high school; Higher education will be promoted as critical preparation to realizing fullness of life and equality in society;

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Latinas will be taught to use education as a tool for developing leadership and service skills on the job, in daily community life and in the home and Latinas will learn the relevancy of math, science and technology to their lives and increase their confidence levels in these subject areas.

CSM has partnered with local agencies and foundations to ensure the survival of LSA since 2002. The entire programme is funded through a combination of operating support funds from the general college budget and through fundraising. Additionally, LSA is supported through in-kind contributions of area non-profit organizations that aid in the learning components and field trips. Latina leaders who volunteer their time as mentors are a key component to the programme. Each year CSM explores new partnerships and funding opportunities for LSA based upon the chosen theme and its connections to donor and foundations’ priorities. A recent programme focus on food and nutrition resulted in support from the area food retailers. The Wells Fargo Foundation has been a long-standing partner of LSA through grant support, as well as providing and hosting field trips and Latina speakers. CSM expects to secure funding from mission-oriented foundations well into the future. Regional and local foundations and businesses underwrite the cost of room and board, instructional fees, extracurricular activities and field trips.

Project activities Each year LSA has a theme designed to encourage Latinas to increase their interest in science, math and technology. The curriculum is designed by CSM faculty. Topics have included The Culture, Cost and Ethics of Food, Urban Ecology, Wonders of Technology, Energy and the Environment, Natural Disasters and the Connections between Art and Science. The most recent focus of the LSA was on food and nutrition and its impact on society. The students explored hands-on science and technology activities relating to human health and food, including national and global economic and environmental issues. They learned about nutrition and gained facts in eating nutritiously in order to live a balanced lifestyle to create success in school and life. Students examined ‘slow food’ vs. ‘fast food’, justice issues for food production workers, animal cruelty and cultural components of food, and cooking. There were also field trips to explore food and nutrition resources in the community. New and exciting careers in health and ecology fields were also explored.

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Education and Minorities The programme starts on Sunday afternoon and ends on Friday evening with a graduation ceremony for the families. Highly qualified faculty and bilingual staff closely supervise students. In addition to classes and field trips, the students meet many Latina women who share their struggles and accomplishments in various professions and encourage the girls to succeed.

Project manager qualifications The Director of Hispanic Admissions, at CSM Maria Luisa assists Latina girls and their families successfully navigate the admissions process and overcome the barriers Latinas face in achieving a college education. Under her leadership, the enrolment of first-year Latina students at CSM climbed from 4 in 2005 to 23 in 2009, representing 28% of the entering high school graduates. She also serves as the director of the Latina Summer Academy. On campus she also serves as an Advisor to the Latina students and Advisor to the Multicultural Association of Students, a student-run organization focused on cultural enrichment and civic involvement. Originally from Cuba, Maria Luisa has decades of experience working with minority populations. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in the sciences and humanities and has worked in leadership training with Hispanic communities in Miami, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and DC-Baltimore. In Omaha, Nebraska she was the Director of the Latina Resource Center where her mission was to reach out to Latina women, especially recent immigrants, with services in their own language and culture. As spokesperson for the needs of Latinas, she developed a new self-esteem programme, organized art classes taught by the clients themselves, and collaborated with the local agencies to provide services including English and driving classes, domestic violence intervention, and parenting and legal help. She has a strong network of Latino/Latina leaders and serves on several community boards. With these resources she has enhanced LSA programming and has grown LSA from 9 participants in 2002 to 60 participants in 2011.

Outputs The Latina Summer Academy was created to improve self-esteem, increase confidence and change attitudes of participating Latinas towards college. The success of LSA in achieving the above self-esteem, confidence and

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attitude outcomes is measured through pre- and post-surveys and written evaluations completed by the participants. Any measurable increase in confidence and competence from pre- to post-survey is considered a success. Additionally, contact is maintained with LSA alumnae to confirm their completion and graduation from high school and enrolment in college. The following outcomes are expected for success of the programme: z

z

z z

100% of LSA participants will demonstrate increased skills and confidence in math, science and technology; 100% of LSA participants will demonstrate increased skills and knowledge of social media as a learning tool; 100% of LSA participants will demonstrate improved self-esteem and 100% of LSA participants will demonstrate improved attitudes towards college and careers.

LSA is also designed to support the secondary and post-secondary educational goals of its participants. LSA expects to achieve the following outcomes: z z

100% of LSA alumnae will graduate from high school and 75% of LSA alumnae will complete high school and enrol in college.

Evaluation methods LSA is evaluated using several metrics. Each of the girls in LSA completes a pre- and post-survey to measure increased skills in specific technology uses and changed attitudes towards and confidence in math, science, technology and social media. The survey also measures changing attitudes about themselves, their Latino roots and confidence in their academic and social abilities, after activities and meetings with Latina women from various professions. The survey compares attitudes towards college and careers before and after the week-long programme. Written evaluations are also completed by the participants to receive non-structured comments on programming, speakers, field trips and the overall experience. To measure the effectiveness of LSA, follow-up telephone surveys are conducted with alumnae, their families and high school counsellors to track whether the students graduate from high school and the number who enrol in college. Information is

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Education and Minorities maintained in a database, which includes all the Latinas enrolled in LSA since its inception in 2002. The database contains the names, ages, contact information, anticipated date of high school graduation and college enrolment information. The database is updated each year, adding the names of new participants. To track the Latinas’ retention and graduation rate in high school and enrolment in college, CSM reviews the database yearly and collects the names of those students who are expected to graduate from high school. Contact is made with the students and/or their high school counsellor to determine whether they graduated from high school and if they plan to attend college. What follows are fictionalized accounts of two ‘typical’ students enrolled at CSM, using factors found common to Latina students attending this university.

Student one: Juana Juana was a second year student at CSM. She attended the Latina Summer Academy 4 years ago. That experience solidified her desire to attend CSM. She stated, ‘LSA taught me that there is no excuse not to go to college. It already changed my mind. I wasn’t planning on going to college, and now I want to go’. That experience solidified her desire to attend CSM. Her goal was to be an elementary teacher. Her classes met for 3 hours each Monday, Wednesday and Friday and for 1-1/2 hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition, since she was majoring in education, she was required to spend 4 hours each week observing in a first grade classroom at an elementary school. Juana was also a residence hall assistant in the dormitory. The compensation for that job was a 40% reduction in cost to live in the residence hall. She had a part-time job off campus at restaurant on weekends and was a member of the Student Council. She was developing as a student leader. Juana’s parents immigrated to this city of 600,000 population 15 years ago for employment of her father at a meat-packing plant, a common job for Mexican immigrants in the Midwest. Her father completed the 6th grade and her mother completed the 11th grade, both in Mexico. Although Juana’s father has legal status in the United States, her mother does not. Her parents speak a modest amount of English, but depend on Juana and her siblings to translate for school conferences with teachers and health care needs. Juana was born in the United States and is the middle of five children. She has two older brothers, one who works in the meat-packing plant and the other who

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has part-time jobs and attends a technical programme in auto mechanics. Because CSM awarded Juana sufficient financial grants for her first year in college, she did not need to borrow money for tuition. She paid for room and board by working as a residence assistant and at her off-campus job as a restaurant waitress on weekends. Even though Juana qualified for federal grants and loans to pay for tuition in her remaining years at CSM, her parents resisted signing the required papers. A common practice in the immigrant Latino population, particularly if family members are undocumented in the United States, is to eschew banks and manage their financial affairs strictly with paper money. Her parents lived and worked in a survival mode and with fear that her mother might be deported back to Mexico. While they wanted a better life for Juana and her siblings, they didn’t understand the time commitment for pursuing a college education, especially when they needed her continued help at home. They didn’t understand why she couldn’t come home every weekend. If she was not in class, then what was she doing? At times, Juana lied to her parents in order to stay at the college during the weekend when she could interact with her friends, attend athletic events, and study for her classes. When she did go home, she was treated as she was in high school – expected to help prepare meals and take care of siblings. Recently, Juana’s mother was deported back to Mexico. Juana was obligated to return home and drop out of college.

Guiding questions What were the primary capital deficiencies impacting Juana’s ability to succeed in obtaining a college education? How might CSM have intervened to allow Juana to remain in college? Or to eventually complete her education? Or was that possible?

Student two: Maria Maria is a junior student at CSM. Maria’s family is also from Mexico, but her father and mother moved to the United States as teenagers with their parents, Maria’s grandparents. Her father has a 10th grade education and her mother graduated from high school, both in the United States. Maria is one of four children and is the oldest. Maria has always dreamed of being a nurse and knew that a college education was a requirement for that profession. She heard about CSM from some friends, but didn’t think she knew anyone at the college.

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Education and Minorities But, Maria’s family knew Luisa Maria, now the CSM admissions director for minorities, when she headed the Latino Resource Center in the Latino community in the same mid-western city. In high school, Luisa Maria was an exchange student to the US from Central America. She stayed for her college education and to live and work in the United States. Luisa Maria spoke Spanish and remained very involved in the Latino community. Everyone knew her, especially those interested in bettering themselves, either by improving their English skills, improving the health and nutrition of their families, or enhancing their place in the local community. Luisa Maria attended all of the Latino celebrations and was invited to many baptisms, confirmations and weddings of those in the community. Now Luisa Maria is employed by CSM to recruit Latinas to the college. Luisa Maria has known Maria’s family for several years and followed Maria’s success in high school where she excelled academically and participated in theatre. While Maria’s family has been in the United States for a longer time, they remained faithful to their Latino culture and were resistant to letting Maria live away from home and attend college. They wanted her to attend the local community college for 3 months and work as a certified nursing assistant. She would then, in their eyes, have gone to college and attained the American dream. But, Maria wanted more. She wanted to be a professional nurse. Fortunately, Maria’s path crossed with Luisa Maria at Cinco de Mayo, the annual Latino celebration of spring. When Luisa Maria discovered Maria’s interest in attending college, she made an appointment to visit with Maria’s parents. They were relieved to know that Luisa Maria worked at CSM and that there were other Latinas on the staff. While Maria is still expected to come home sometimes, her parents are secure in knowing that their daughter is attending a college for girls and that there are Latina staff members when their daughter needs assistance. And, it is not uncommon for them to see Luisa Maria and other Latina CSM staff at community celebrations.

Guiding questions What factors of the TCD impacted Maria’s admission to CSM and her ability to remain and complete her degree? Maria’s parents were legal immigrants and had been in the United States for over 20 years. Why were they so reticent to allow her to attend college for a professional degree?

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Further reading Gurin, P., Dey, E. L., Hurtado, S. and Gurin, G. (2002). ‘Diversity and higher education: theory and impact on educational outcomes’, Harvard Educational Review, 72 (3). This study analyses data from the most comprehensive database in higher education in the United States, the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, and compares it with data from one of the largest and most esteemed public universities in the United States. The authors explore the relationship between students’ experiences with diverse peers and their educational outcomes. Sound cognitive development and social psychology theories support the findings. Massey, D. S., Charles, C. S., Lundy, G. F. and Fischer, M. J. (2003) The Source of the River: The Social Origins of Freshmen at America’s Selective Colleges and Universities. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Despite 30 years of deliberate minority recruitment efforts in the US and documented benefits of affirmative action for minority students, African Americans and Latinos continue to earn lower grades and drop out of college at a higher rate than whites or Asians. The authors of this book investigate the root causes of underperformance by minorities in select colleges and universities. This book is a helpful resource for examining theoretical frameworks and short case studies of underperformance by minorities. It also displays a broad range of data to support the outcomes and assertions. Santiago, D. A. and Reindl, T. (2009) ‘Taking stock: higher education and Latinos’ (Excelencia in education). www.EdExcelencia.org (accessed 12 January 2011). This document is a succinct report of stakeholders’ positions, steps that can be taken to accelerate Latino student success, key factors impeding success and accounts from elected officials, colleges and Latino students about what works. Highly recommended for those working with Latino populations.

References Aud, S., Fox, M. A. and Kewal-Ramani, A. (July 2010) ‘Status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups’, US Department of Education and National Center for Educational Statistics. http:// nces.ed.gov/pubsearch (accessed 29 January 2011). Becker, G. (1964) Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education. New York: Columbia University Press. Black America Web http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_state_of_black_america_ news/13339 (accessed 12 October 2009). Bourdieu, P. (1977) Outline of a Theory of Practice. New York: Cambridge University Press. —(1986) ‘The forms of capital’, in J. G. Richardson (ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. New York: Greenwood Press, pp. 241–58. Bourdieu, P. and Wacquant, L. (1992) An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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Education and Minorities Bowles, S. and Gintis, H. (1976) Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life. New York: Basic Books. Coleman, J. (1961) The Adolescent Society: The Social Life of the Teenager and Its Impact on Education. New York: Free Press. —(1966) Equality of Educational Opportunity. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office. —(1990) Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. College of Saint Mary (2010) Latina Summer Academy Grant Request. Di Maggio, P. and Ostrower, F. (1990) ‘Participation in the arts by black and white Americans’, Social Force, 68, 753–78. English Language Learners (ELL) (2011) http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/ PolicyResearch/ELLResearchBrief.pdf (accessed 13 February 2011). Erikson, E. (1956) ‘The problem of ego identity’, Journal of American Psychoanalytic Association, 4, 56–121. Gurin, P., Dey, E. L., Hurtado, S. and Gurin, G. (2002) ‘Diversity and higher education: theory and impact on educational outcomes’, Harvard Educational Review, 72 (3), 330–66. Halliman, M. T. (1982) ‘The peer influence process’, Studies in Educational Evaluation, 7 (3), 285–306. Hanusek, E. (1989) ‘The impact of differential expenditures on school performance’, Educational Researcher, 18, 48–52. Harris, L. (2009) ‘Higher education success among historically marginalized males’. http://www. luminafoundation.org/publications/success-among-historically-marginalized-males.pdf (accessed 14 December 2010). Justiz, M. J., Wilson, R. and Bjork, L. G. (ed.) (1994) Minorities in Higher Education. American Council on Educational Services Oryx Press, p. 33. Massey, D. S., Charles, C. S., Lundy, G. F. and Fischer, M. J. (2003) The Source of the River: The Social Origins of Freshmen at America’s Selective Colleges and Universities. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Miller, S. L. (1995) American Imperative: Accelerating Minority Educational Advancement. New Haven: Yale University Press. National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) (1998) http://nsse.iub.edu/html/origins.cfm (accessed 13 February 2011). Nebraska Quick Facts Census (2010) http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/31000.html (accessed 6 February 2011). Ogbu, J. U. (1978) Minority Education and Caste: The American System in Cross-cultural Perspective. New York: Academic Press. —(1981) ‘Education, clientage, and social mobility: caste and social change in the United States and Nigeria’, in G. D. Berreman (ed.), Social Inequality: Comparative and Developmental Approaches. New York: Academic Press, pp. 277–300. Piaget, J. (1985) The Equilibrium of Cognitive Structures: The Central Problem of Intellectual Development. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (original work published 1975). Posse Foundation. (2011) http://www.possefoundation.org/about-posse (accessed 29 January 2011).

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Ryu, M. (2010) Minorities in Higher Education: Twenty-fourth Status Report. American Council on Education. Santiago, D. A. and Reindl, T. (2009) ‘Taking stock: higher education and Latinos’ (Excelencia in education). www.EdExcelencia.org (accessed 12 January 2011). Schlutz, T. (1963) The Economic Value of Education. New York: Columbia University Press. Stanford University (2010) http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/affirmative-action/ (accessed 13 February 2011). Steele, C. (1988) ‘The psychology of self-affirmation: sustaining the integrity of self ’, in L. Berkowitz (ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. New York: Academic Press, pp. 261–302. —(1992) ‘Race and the schooling of black Americans’, The Atlantic Monthly, 269 (4), 68–78. —(1998) ‘A threat in the air: how stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance’, in J. L. Eberhardt and S. T. Fiske (eds), Confronting Racism: The Problem and the Response. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 234–62. Swail-Watson, S., Cabera, A. F. and Lee, C. (2004) ‘Latino youth and the pathway to college’. http:// www. pewhispanic.org (accessed 11 January 2011). Tinto, V. (1993) Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition (2nd edn). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. TRIO (2011) http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/index.html (accessed 6 February 2011). White House Initiative (2010) http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/list/whhbcu/edlite-list.html (accessed 13 February 2011). United States Census Bureau (2010) http://2010.census.gov/2010census/ (accessed 13 February 2011).

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Education for the Swedish-speaking Minority in Finland Jennifer H. Chung

Chapter Outline Introduction Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden Language The Swedish language in Finland Education for Swedish-speaking Finns Swedish-speaking Finns in PISA Education in two languages Conclusion Further reading

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Introduction The phrase ‘education and minorities’ often conjures up the image of oppression, disadvantage and hardship. However, this is not always the situation. The case of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland counteracts this notion. The Swede-Finns hold a privileged place in society, one of wealth, esteem and education. The enigmatic Finns need and deserve more than a brief explanation to explain and clarify their unique qualities. The question, ‘Who are the Finns?’ necessitates a long answer:

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But where does Finland belong? Is it a Baltic state, like Estonia? Is it part of Scandinavia, like Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, with which it is linked and with which it has such close ties? Is it really a part of Russia? Or is it something different from all these? A great part of Finnish history has been devoted to trying to solve this problem. (Bacon, 1970: 16)

Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden In order to understand Finland’s history, culture and ties with Scandinavia, one must investigate the country’s relationship with Sweden. In fact, in ancient times, the Swedes did inhabit some places in modern Finland, especially around the coast and in the west and southwest. These areas of Finland always possessed a Swedish-speaking population (Niiniluoto, 1960: 12). Nevertheless, the Finns lived in a separate, isolated peace until the Middle Ages: [The Finns] remained for hundreds of years without any coherent political or social organization to connect their sparse and widely separated settlements, although their western neighbours were already progressing towards a more unified state. Thus, in the Middle Ages, their country could be easily annexed by Sweden, and gradually swallowed, administratively, into the kingdom of Sweden-Finland. (Hall, 1967: 14)

Sweden ruled Finland for approximately 600 years. In 1323, a peace treaty assigned Eastern Finland to Novgorod and the Western and Southern parts of Finland to the Kingdom of Sweden. By the middle of the fourteenth century, Sweden held Finland fully under its control (Chislett, 1996: 18). However, the Swedes ‘were benevolent overlords, who brought them learning and industry, and married their own political and legal organization to the native Finnish instinct for social democracy’ (Hall, 1967: 16). Sweden viewed Finland as a group of provinces, and granted much power to the Bishop of Turku, then the main city in Finland. The Bishop represented Finland at the Royal Council of Sweden. By 1362, the Finns did have a voice in the election of a new King of Sweden, and by the sixteenth century, Finland had representatives in the Swedish parliament (Chislett, 1996: 18). The Kingdom of Sweden at that time did not have the power, even if it wanted to do so, to overpower the Finns. ‘And, separated as the two countries were by the Gulf of Bothnia, the liaison was conducted in twin beds, with a corresponding increase in independence’ (Bacon, 1970: 52). Therefore,

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Education and Minorities the Finns felt no bitterness towards their rulers, and even appreciated the benefits of Swedish rule. In fact, ‘Finland gave constantly faithful service to her suzerain power, and on her side Sweden showed a generous appreciation of Finnish loyalty’ (Fox, 1926: 8–9). The only source of contention, however, came through the use of language. The Finns held on tightly to their Finnish identity and language, even though they needed the Swedish language in schools, politics and all aspects of official life. Educational and social advancement required the use of Swedish, but most Finns refused to give up their unique language. At the height of Swedish power, 20% of the population of Finland spoke Swedish, either as a native or adopted tongue (Hall, 1967: 16). Finland, geographically sandwiched between Sweden and Russia, became the battleground for continuous wars between 1300 and 1800. Sweden enjoyed time as a great power between 1617 and 1721. Its control over the Baltic even expanded the Finnish border further east into Russia. However, from 1714 to 1721, Russia occupied Finland. The treaty of Uusikaupunki saw Sweden hand over Inkeri, Estonia and Livonia to the Russians. This denotes the decline of Swedish power and the emergence of Russia as a power in the Baltic (Chislett, 1996: 19).

Language The Finnish language possesses unique characteristics that separate it from other European languages. In fact, the distinctiveness of the language demonstrates the Finns’ uniqueness as a people and remains an extraordinary characteristic (Bacon, 1970: 37). The mysterious nature of their origins as well as the nature of their language, in concert with their history under foreign rule, adds to pride in their exceptional language. The centuries under Swedish rule enhanced the pride in their language, due to the necessity of Swedish, used in all officialdom, including education (Hall, 1967: 16). The bilingualism of Finland, stemming from Swedish rule, adds a new dimension to the influence of language. In order to better understand Finland one must understand its ties with Sweden and the reasons behind its bilingualism. During their time under the reign of the Kingdom of Sweden-Finland from the thirteenth century to 1809, the Finns were forced to accommodate the Swedish language. The people of Finland expressed their nationalist feelings in Swedish, as the educated people of Finland used the Swedish language, and Swedish remained the language of instruction in all schools (Bacon,

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1970: 82). With the implications of language use in Finland, a feeling of superiority developed in reference to the Swedish language. The advantages for Swedish speakers were significant. Because the educated spoke Swedish and schools used Swedish as the medium of instruction, those wishing to advance in society adopted the Swedish language as their mother tongue. Even workers along the mainly Swedish-speaking coast assumed Swedish as their native language (ibid.: 88). So powerful did the Swedish language become that a Swedish-born professor in the university in Turku promoted the abolition of the Finnish language and even the prohibition of sauna use, a most unique Finnish custom (ibid.: 72–3). Since the dual-language system in Finland hindered complete unity of the Kingdom of Sweden-Finland, the Swedes worked hard to change all language use into Swedish. Churches and schools used Swedish. People even adopted Swedish names to better assimilate into the upper class. This movement later created social problems that resonated for centuries (Hall, 1967: 90). Despite, or because of this, a Finnish nationalistic sense emerged, and through this came the fight for the Finnish language. ‘More correctly they might be called the harbingers, since at first they were less concerned with the possibility of an independent Finland than with the new interest in things Finnish’ (Bacon, 1970: 73). This nationalism emphasized education for all, the expansion of the Finnish language to a position equal to Swedish, and to have two official languages in Finland (Saari, 1944: 33). At this time, the rebellion against the Swedish language began, quite possibly the only source of tension during Sweden’s rule of Finland. The push for the Finnish language came on two levels. The first, more practically advocated the use of Finnish in terms of government and administration. The other, more emotional level, saw Finnish as a unique language, influencing the character of the Finns and most highly valued by them (ibid.: 88). However, this new push for the Finnish language raised many questions for both the Finnish and Swedish-speaking inhabitants of the country. The sole use of Finnish, so different from European languages, would immediately isolate Finland and its people. Would the abandonment of the Swedish language have adverse effects for Finland (ibid.: 84)? After the annexation by Russia, Swedish curiously remained the language of administration and of schools. Upon closer examination, however, one can understand the reasons. Many feared that the rejection of Swedish would allow for Russian to take its place (Hall, 1967: 92). Many in Finland championed the cause of the Finnish language. For example, many consider church reformer Mikael Agricola as the father of written

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Education and Minorities Finnish. In the 1540s he produced a Finnish alphabet book (Louhivouri, 1968: 176). Agricola also translated the prayer book and the New Testament into Finnish. Owing to these accomplishments, many call him ‘the father of Finnish literature’ (Hall, 1967: 87). Ironically, those who fought most for the rights of the Finnish language came from the Swedish-speaking minority and aristocracy: A group of Swedish-speaking Finns took up the unlikely task of advancing the Finnish language at the expense of their own. Foremost among them was J. V. Snellman (1806–81), teacher, editor, and administrator, who devoted himself to a crusade to persuade his compatriots that unity and independence could never be achieved until the whole country spoke and used the Finnish language, and only the Finnish language. A country, he affirmed, in which the bureaucracy and the cultivated class spoke Swedish and the rest Finnish, was a country divided against itself, and one which laid itself open to the imposition by the Russians of their own language. It was therefore the duty of Swedish-speaking Finns to learn and adopt the Finnish language, and so identify themselves with the nation as a whole. (Hall, 1967: 92)

The efforts of people like Agricola and Snellman allowed for more acceptance of the Finnish language. A. I. Arvidsson, the Finnish poet, encouraged modernization and the expansion of education. Finland could achieve these goals, he felt, by removing the language barriers and tensions between Swedish and Finnish: ‘We are no longer Swedes, we cannot become Russians, let us therefore become Finns in thought, feeling and deed’ (Saari, 1944: 35). Finnish, formerly the language of peasants, started to infiltrate education. In 1841, the Finnish Lyceum started teaching Finnish, and the university in Finland established a chair of Finnish in 1850. In 1858, the first Finnish secondary school started in Jyväskylä, followed by another school in Helsinki in 1869. Finnish secondary schools followed later in the cities of Kuopio, Joensuu and Hämeenlinna. By 1860, Finnish-speakers joined the cultured social class (Gilmour, 1931: 21).

The Swedish language in Finland Through this history, one can more clearly understand the bilingual rights of the dwindling Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. After Finland gained its independence, the Constitution of 1919 declared the official bilingualism of Finland. However, the animosity and tension between

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these two groups does still exist. ‘But the Finnish national conscience, now wide awake, remains unsatisfied, and a new generation of “Pure Finns” has arisen to demand rights strictly proportional to their numbers’ (Gilmour, 1931: 22). In addition to these problems, ‘the battle has been transferred to the scholastic areas where the pure Finns oppose the preferential treatment accorded to Swedish education’ (ibid.). Therefore, according to the aforementioned references, one can understand the tensions surrounding the Finnish and Swedish languages infiltrating all aspects of Finnish culture and even education. However, this link to Swedish culture and language allows Finland to cooperate in the Nordic community. To the casual observer, Finland belongs to the group of Scandinavian countries by proximity of geography: Finland participates as the easternmost of the Nordic countries, or of FennoScandinavia, as the geographer would say. But it would be a mistake to imagine that this cooperation is motivated by purely or even primarily geographic considerations. There is so much else to bring the Nordic countries together. They all have the same cultural background, and a historical fellowship of fate. (Fagerholm, 1960: 69)

With the onset of independence in 1917, Finland turned to its Swedish roots for guidance as a new country, despite the time as a Russian Grand Duchy. In the end, Russian influence did not shape Finland as much as Sweden. Upon Finnish independence in 1917, the Finns chose to begin their time as an independent country upon the previous Scandinavian foundations (Fagerholm, 1960: 69–70). The influence of the Swedish language allows Finland to assume Scandinavian identity. Finland secured its position as part of the North, rather than the East. Despite the differences from its Scandinavian counterparts, modern, independent Finland has formed its unity and identification with them (Hall, 1967: 205).

The Nordic Council Finland’s bilingual status and Swedish-speaking minority has allowed for Finland’s membership in the Nordic council. Finland’s ascension to the Nordic Council marks a significant post-war accomplishment for the country and its development as a nation. The Nordic Council, consisting of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, decided to work together in all realms.

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Education and Minorities The Council, born in 1953, officially outlined the cooperation between the Nordic countries, a practice essentially already in place. This cooperation comes at all levels and disciplines, such as politics, medicine, fashion and the arts (Hall, 1967: 132). In other words: Cooperation on this scale becomes part of the life of the ordinary citizen, rather than a remote governmental policy, and it is undoubtedly to this groundwork of solidarity that Northern cooperation in general owes its success and momentum . . . broadly speaking, [to] its forty examinations, cultural exchanges, inter-availability of social benefits, a common labor market, economic cooperation, the establishment of a single passport zone, and cooperation in the development of communications. (Hall, 1967: 132–3)

The Nordic Council, by the 1960s, saw many of its goals realized. The cooperation between the countries, whose population only reaches approximately 20 million, allows for better efficiency in the execution of projects which benefit all five nations (Hall, 1967: 133). For Finland especially, the Nordic Council has proved beneficial. Their struggles before and after independence with neighbouring Russia followed by the Soviet Union, in addition to the geography, placed Finland in a tenuous position. Finland’s determination during the World War II seemingly deterred the Soviet Union from adding the country to its republics (Chislett, 1996: 26). However, the Nordic Council helped cement Finland’s position as a Northern democracy, along with its Scandinavian neighbours. This gave Finland protection from encroaching Communism and security as a part of a Nordic union. ‘The remarkable development in cooperation has made the Finns feel psychologically, as well as politically, more secure, and more satisfied that they are able to play a part in European affairs’ (Hall, 1967: 134). The Finnish identity, while not quite Scandinavian, remains an elusive entity. ‘The Finns know and understand the Russians, and their imprisonment in history, better than do most Europeans; they have long-standing ties of sympathy with the Poles; they have a kinship, if remote, with the Hungarians; and they are part of the Scandinavian family’ (Hall, 1967: 137). Even though Finland does have many similarities with the rest of Scandinavia, Finland possesses many attributes that render the country different from the Scandinavian countries. The Finnish political system, for example, has a separate history, setting itself apart from its Scandinavian counterparts. The political structure came to fruition at a very different time in history and in very distinct circumstances from the rest of the Scandinavian countries, and these dissimilarities make

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Finland unique (ibid.: 138). Nevertheless, Finland’s place in the Nordic Council confirms its place among these countries in the modern world. The Nordic countries manage to maintain their individuality while in this union. ‘They have many individual characteristics which they are anxious to retain; they have also many common characteristics which give them a basic similarity of outlook’ (Hall, 1967: 208). The Nordic countries all have a relatively similar degree of homogeneity and share a similar religion. All, with the exception of Finland, speak a similar language, but the Finns speak Swedish as a second language, and their Swedish-speaking minority has a Scandinavian language as a mother tongue. Finland has Swedish as an official language, which allows better cooperation with its Scandinavian counterparts (Hall, 1967: 208–9). The Nordic Council confirmed Finland’s ascent towards being a wealthy, independent nation. For the first few decades of independence, Finland struggled with internal disagreements and war, both within the country and through protecting itself from others. The Nordic Council ‘brings to a close the isolation of the past and stabilizes her position in Europe and the world’ (Hall, 1967: 210). It brings great possibilities for social, economic, and cultural development for Finland, more so than Finland could have accomplished without this union (ibid.). How much Finland will change due to this cooperation remains a question. Isolation and resistance have heightened the tenacity of the Finns. They clearly differ from their Scandinavian counterparts: ‘The Finns are, as it were, half-brothers who bring a different genetic inheritance into an environment which is comparable, though modified by the duality of the marchland’ (ibid.). Finland’s former relationship with Sweden also adds another dimension to her membership in the Nordic Union: The centuries of subordinate relationship to Sweden have left the Finns with a still unsatisfied anxiety to prove that Finland can do as well as her more advanced and wealthy neighbor. Over the years, many Swedish developments have reached Finland, with a certain time-lag, and made a considerable contribution to the Finnish advance; but Finland sometimes risks overstraining her resources, or choosing less suitable policies, when emulating the Swedes. (Hall, 1967: 210)

This statement by Hall describes a well-known statement regarding Finnish education, that Finland makes the same mistakes as Sweden, only 10 years later (Välijärvi et al., 2002: 3). However, Finland’s performance in PISA illustrates a new relationship that has emerged as a result of the success of Finnish education.

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Education and Minorities The Finns will most likely cling to their uniqueness that differentiates them from their Scandinavian counterparts. Their history will make sure of this for some time: As the North influences and is influenced by the rest of Europe, the Finns may acquire some of the superficial features of both Northern and Western standardization. Beneath the surface, out of an instinctive tenacious reaction, they are likely to cling all the more closely to the traditions, the background, the language and the land which have contributed so much to their individuality. The Finns have above all one of the most individual characteristics – they are among the few peoples of Western Europe who are still in love with the world. If they should lose this zest and optimism they would lose themselves and they would no longer be Finns. (Hall, 1967: 211)

Education for Swedish-speaking Finns Swedish-speaking Finns, called finlandssvenskar in Swedish, or suomenruotsalaiset in Finnish, hold a unique place in Finnish society. The SwedeFinns, constitute a ‘declining cultural, economic, and social elite [which] has sought to maintain ethnic identity boundaries through control of a separate Swedish-speaking school system and widespread non-formal educational efforts’ (Paulston, 1977: 181). Separate schooling, Paulston argues, allowed the Swede-Finns to maintain the survival of their minority group (ibid.: 182). Although a minority, Swedish-speaking Finns had an atypical role compared to other ethnic minorities. They constituted ‘a high percentage of Finland’s economic and social elite . . . with . . . superior resources, historical dominance, and psychological advantage’ (ibid.). In response to the Finnish nationalist movement in the mid-nineteenth century, the Swedish-speakers started their own counter movement, but only in the interests of the upper classes. The common Swedish-speakers did not have a part in this movement (Paulston, 1977: 183). Many viewed the Finnish language as the language of peasants and felt superior to Finnish speakers (ibid.). In 1906, Swede-Finns founded the Swedish People’s Party in order to unite the entire Swedish-speaking population in Finland, irrespective of social class. This party still exists today, and commands approximately 5.1% of the country’s political affiliations (Chislett, 1996: 65). This uniting of Swede-Finns supports their view that Finland, much like Switzerland or Belgium, has a culturally and linguistically pluralistic society, and ‘that both nationalities in Finland have existed side by side since the beginning

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of Finland’s history. Both have contributed to its development’ (Paulston, 1977: 183). With Finnish independence came official bilingualism, and with this legal status, the Swedish-speaking Finns ‘aggressively pursued a policy of separatism and cultural autonomy’ (Paulston, 1977: 183). Along with this legal bilingualism and separatism came separate Swedish-speaking schools. The Constitution of Finland clearly declares the rights of education in the Swedish language. In Section 17, the Constitution confirms the two national languages of Finland, Finnish and Swedish. The Section also asserts the right to use the mother tongue in official capacities, such as in courts of law and government documents. It also affirms the provision for cultural and societal necessities, on an equal basis, in the mother tongue (Finnish National Board of Education, 2010: 3). In 1920, with the founding of the Swedish Department in the Central Bureau of Schools, both Swedish schools and Finnish schools held, legally, an equal position (Paulston, 1977: 184). This advantageous minority position does not find a parallel with the Finnish-speaking minority in Sweden. The Swedes have the vision of assimilating and integrating the Finnish minority into Swedish society (ibid.). During the 1920s and 1930s, Finnish-speaking university students battled for the ‘Finnification’ of the University of Helsinki (Paulston, 1977: 184). The prevalence of Swedish-speaking professors and Swedish as the language of instruction placed a great onus on the Finnish-speaking students (ibid.). Furthermore, the large number of Swedish schools and the ‘disproportionately large size of the Swedish-speaking educated class’ encouraged ‘an overproduction of Swedish-speaking university students in comparison to the total Swede-Finn population’ (ibid.). Nevertheless, today’s University of Helsinki still does have a quota for Swedish-speaking students and professors, and Åbo Akademi in Turku caters only to Swedish-speakers (ibid.). The original dominance of the Swedish-speaking population’s needs is clear. Economically and intellectually, the Swede-Finns held great power in Finland. ‘The penetration of ethnic or nationality sentiments into the field of economic and financial activities . . . that have successfully provided the funds necessary to support . . . educational work in popular education, folk high schools, cultural activities, and in the media’ illustrates this power held by the Swedish-speakers in Finland, and in so many realms (Paulston, 1977: 186). Efforts for separate education secured a mutual acknowledgement that the Swede-Finns were different from Finns. Nordenskiöld cites that between 1880 and 1881, Swedish-speaking students in secondary school numbered

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Education and Minorities 1,764 while the total of Finnish-speaking students came to only 786. In 1908–09, however, the Swede-Finn numbers remained nearly constant at 1,771 while Finnish students grew to 4,756 (1919: 375). More recently, the ‘resettlement of Finnish refugees and post-War reconstruction, along with increased economic power and [the] legitimacy of Finnish nationalism, has meant increased intermarriage and the rejection of Swedish culture for a national identity by a relatively small but growing number of young Swede-Finns’ (Paulston, 1977: 186). In other words, the events unfolding after World War II lessened the stronghold of Swede-Finn identity and allowed for mixing of the two language groups. Although the number of Swedish-speakers has remained consistent over the years, their percentage of the overall Finnish population has decreased. Language shifting has become more common, as the Finnish language gained recognition in Finnish society and became the language of the labour market. Intermarriage also influences this trend. Swedish-speakers also emigrate to Sweden, further decreasing their percentage in the Finnish population. As recently as 1919, people still believed that ‘Finland is permeated with Swedish culture. The majority of the leading men still have Swedish as their native tongue’. However, ‘the Finnish element is coming more and more to the front . . .’ (Nordenskiöld, 1919: 376). Less than 60 years later, in 1977, Paulston could say ‘the Swede-Finns continue to surpass national educational norms, and especially those SF [Swedish-speaking] youth who live in towns and regional urban centres . . . The continuing high priority of urban Swede-Finns on formal schooling is apparent’ (p. 184). Upon investigation of current Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results, we must wonder if this ethnic superiority still exists. The 2003 PISA results also showed Swedish-speaking Finns as a separate result.

Swedish-speaking Finns in PISA Most Finns believe that the Swedish-speaking schools were superior to the Finnish-speaking schools. Parents most often send their bilingual children to Swedish schools, as many perceive them as ‘better’. Swedish-speaking schools also have smaller class sizes and Swedish-speakers have an easier entrance to university. This perception of Swedish-speaking schools as ‘better’ became challenged after the release of the PISA scores. PISA, or the Programme for International Student Assessment, surveyed students around the world in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy.

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Mean score

The scores from the assessments thus far have indicated that Finland has one of the top-performing education systems in the world. The 2000 survey indicated that the Swedish-speakers scored lower in PISA than the Finnishspeakers; therefore, the 2003 survey sampled all Swedish-speaking schools to investigate this counterintuitive result. The following figures show the disparity between the Swedish-speakers and the overall Finnish result.

544 542 540 538 536 534 532 530 528 526 524 522

Finland (all) Finland (Swedish)

1 Language group

Figure 2.1 Finland in PISA 2003 – Reading Literacy

550

Mean score

545

540

Finland (all) Finland (Swedish)

535

530

525

1 Language group

Figure 2.2 Finland in PISA 2003 – Mathematical Literacy

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Education and Minorities 550 545

Mean score

540 535

Finland (all) Finland (Swedish)

530 525 520 515 510

1 Language group

Figure 2.3 Finland in PISA 2003 – Scientific Literacy

Reasons for lower Swede-Finn achievement in PISA The 2003 PISA survey showed Swedish-speakers’ scores separately from the rest of Finland. However, the sample is not actually a sample, but all of the Swedish-speaking schools in Finland (Chung, 2009: 345). Although the differences do not have any real statistical significance, the outcome is quite curious. Further investigation into the matter by Finnish educationalists shows how the Swedish-speakers in Finland can separate into two categories: the pure Swedish-speakers of the West Coast, and the more bilingual Swedish-speakers of the South (ibid.: 346). The Southern group has similar outcomes as Finnish-speakers, while the less academically inclined students on the more rural West Coast have lower achievement (ibid.). As previously stated, the PISA results for Finland revealed that the Swedishspeaking minority curiously scored lower than their Finnish-speaking counterparts. However, most, including Ministers of Education, would have guessed it the other way around (Chung, 2009: 222). The Swedish-speaking Finns traditionally had the power, money and influence in Finnish society. The Swedish language became the language of administration, courts and education in Finland; therefore, the educated class of Finland spoke Swedish (Andersson and Herberts, 1996: 384). The counterintuitive PISA results for Swedish-speaking Finns holds interesting revelations about the education for Swede-Finns. First of all, Swedishspeaking schools have more temporary teachers and fewer fully qualified

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teachers in their schools (Chung, 2009: 222, 288). Second of all, textbooks in these schools tend to be older and more obsolete as translation from Finnish to Swedish takes some time (ibid.: 289). Finally, Swedish-speakers have easier university entrance than their Finnish-speaking counterparts (ibid.: 247). They have their own university, quotas at primarily Finnish-speaking institutions, and also have the option of studying in Sweden (ibid.: 343). Finnishspeakers, however, need to compete heavily for university places. This suggests that teacher training for Swedish-speakers may not be up to par. Interestingly, Swedish-speaking parents and parents of bilingual children choose the Swedish-speaking schools because they are considered better. The classes are smaller, and there is more contact with teachers (ibid.: 247). With the disparities in PISA outcome, one must wonder if this preference for Swedish-speaking schools will continue.

Education in two languages Educationalists in Finland believe the nation’s bilingualism and the linguistic and educational rights for the Swedish-speaking minority have benefits for the country. An officially bilingual country calls for increased language abilities for the Finnish people. A bilingual country also supports the learning of other languages and allows for contact and cooperation across Finnish borders (Chung, 2009: 221). One of the strengths of Finnish education lies in the country’s minority education policy. Education in the Swedish language supports the Swedish-speaking minority, and the Saame people of Lapland, although numbering only 7,000 in the Finnish population, have a similar right. Education in one’s native tongue need not impede education (ibid.). A bilingual country of Finnish and Swedish and learning Swedish in school strengthens and reinforces Finnish society. Even though compulsory Swedish may detract from learning other languages, it helps Finland cooperate with the Scandinavian countries and aids Nordic cooperation, as with the Nordic Council (ibid.). Overall, the education policy granting educational rights to the Swedish-speaking minority has ultimately had great benefits for Finland.

Conclusion The case of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland presents a counterintuitive example of education of minorities upholding a position of privilege.

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Education and Minorities Swede-Finns traditionally had high status in Finnish society, with higher levels of education and socio-economic background than their Finnish-speaking counterparts. The historical legacy of Finland as part of the Kingdom of Sweden has left Swedish-speakers in Finland with enviable rights, to doctors and lawyers from their community as well as education from preschool to university in their mother tongue. This powerful minority has been supported by its high socio-economic status over the years, and has therefore kept rights to education in the Swedish language. The Swede-Finns are not the only minority group in Finland. The Saame, or Sami people of Lapland have cultural autonomy according to the Finnish constitution. They have their own parliament which does command educational influence. For the municipalities located in the Sami areas in Lapland, pupils learning the Sami language must have the provision of primary education in the language, if requested by their parents. The Russian minority in Eastern Finland, while growing, does not have any rights to education in their language. As suggested in the chapter, the percentage of Swede-Finns in Finland keeps dwindling. If this continues, one must wonder what will happen to the minority itself and the rights to education in the mother tongue of Swedish. Will Finland turn increasingly ‘Finnish’, or will Finland uphold its cultural, historic and linguistic legacy and preserve the rights to education in the Swedish language? Finland’s top performance in PISA, which began in 2000, has garnered much attention to the country because of its educational achievement. Curiously, however, the Swedish speakers scored lower in PISA than their Finnish counterparts. Schools for Swede-Finns, traditionally considered ‘better’, were proven, by PISA, to be worse. Has PISA unveiled a paradigm shift in the quality of education for Finland’s main linguistic groups? Only time will tell.

Guiding questions z z z

z

How does Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority differ from minorities in other countries? Do any other countries have minorities with a position of privilege? How does Finland’s historical context influence the educational and linguistic rights of the Swedish-speaking minority? Should minorities elsewhere have the same rights to education in their mother tongue?

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Further reading Andersson, H. and Herberts, K. (1996) ‘The case of Swedish-speaking Finns’, International Review of Education, 42 (4), 384–8. In this article Anderson and Herberts chart the rise and influence of Swedish culture and language on the Finnish culture and schools. The article provides an excellent commentary on the historical and contemporary impact of Swedish culture on Finland’s education system. Paulston, R. G. (1977) ‘Separate education as an ethnic survival strategy: the Finlandssvenska case’, Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 8 (3), 181–8. This study addresses three questions: i.e., (1) under what conditions do ethnic movements create separate schools; (2) what influences the development of their pedagogical components; and (3) why is ethnic education more or less effective? Types of formal and non-formal ethnic education are typologized regarding degrees of ethnic control and degree of change sought. The Swede-Finn Movement is then examined as a ‘defensive-’ type case with, presently, high ethnic control and low change orientation. It suggests the need to study further how ethnic-movement education programmes – as ‘transforming experiments’ – have contributed to change in social relations, movement ideology and individual values in various movement configurations and settings.

References Andersson, H. and Herberts, K. (1996) ‘The case of Swedish-speaking Finns’, International Review of Education, 42 (4), 384–8. Bacon, W. (1970) Finland. London: Robert Hale & Company. Chislett, W. (1996) Finland: A Coming of Age. London: Euromoney Publications PLC. Chung, J. (2009) ‘An investigation of reasons for Finland’s success in PISA’. Doctoral Dissertation, Oxford University. Finnish National Board of Education (2010) Education in Finland. Helsinki, Finland: Finnish National Board of Education. Fagerholm, K. A. (1960) ‘Finland in the Nordic family circle’, in U. Toivola (ed.), Introduction to Finland 1960. Helsinki: Werner Söderström Osakeythiö, pp. 69–78. Fox, F. (1926) Finland Today. London: A & C Black, Ltd. Gilmour, K. (1931) Finland. London: Methuem & Co. Ltd. Hall, W. (1967) The Finns and Their Country. London: Max Parrish & Co. Louhivouri, J. (1968) ‘The Church and education’, in H. Kallas and S. Nickels (eds), Finland: Creation and Construction. London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., pp. 176–7. Niiniluoto, Y. (1960) ‘Finland – an introduction’, in U. Toivola (ed.), Introduction to Finland 1960. Helsinki: Werner Söderström Osakeythiö, pp. 11–16. Nordenskiöld, E. (1919) ‘Finland: the land and people’, in Geographical Review, 7 (6), 361–76.

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Education and Minorities Paulston, R. G. (1977) ‘Separate education as an ethnic survival strategy: the Finlandssvenska case, Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 8 (3), 181–8. Saari, J. (1944) ‘Finnish nationalism justifying independence’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 232, 33–8. Välijärvi, J., Linnakylä, P., Kupari, P., Renikainen, P. and Arffman, I. (2002) ‘The Finnish Success in PISA – and Some Reasons behind it: PISA 2000’. Jyväskylä: Jyväskylä University Institution for Educational Research.

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Migrant Agricultural Workers in EasternEngland Chris Atkin

3

Chapter Outline Introduction Context Schooling A theoretical framework to consider education and migrant workers Case study: starting school in South Lincolnshire Further reading

51 52 55 57 59 68

Introduction In this chapter I consider the position of migrant agricultural workers in Eastern England and their interaction with formal education provision (schools and other institutions of the state) and to a lesser extent informal education opportunities. In the chapter the case studies are centred around starting school in south Lincolnshire an area with a large migrant population working in the agricultural and horticultural industries. Bourdieu’s thesis on habitus and field are used to frame the guiding questions around the purpose of education and its link with forms of capital. The chapter concludes by highlighting some of the difficulties in providing educational opportunities for an expanding minority population in Lincolnshire’s schools and the role of minority groups themselves play in complimenting state education provision such as the expanding number of Supplementary Schools.

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Education and Minorities

Context The case study is taken from the experiences of migrant workers in south Lincolnshire largely working on the fenland around Boston, Spalding and Holbeach. Lincolnshire is one of England’s largest counties and its largest food producer with an estimated 20% of all fresh food sold in England produced in the county (SelectLincolnshire, 2011). The fens are characterized by high productivity vegetable and cut flower production requiring large labour inputs at planting, harvesting and processing points. As outlined in a recent consultation document from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) Skills for Sustainable Growth: Consultation of the Future Direction of Skills Policy (BIS, 2010) many industries consistently fail to attract job applications from skilled UK-based labour sources and are reliant on migrant workers. This is particularly true in the agricultural and horticultural sectors which have traditionally relied on the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Scheme (SAWS) to provide short-term unskilled workers during key periods of the year. The scheme which previously allowed farmers to recruit workers from outside the European Union has now been restructured and currently allows only Bulgarian and Romanian nations to apply for work in the UK under this scheme. [The quota for SAWS workers 2010–11 is 21,250 (UK Border Agency, 2011).] The BIS consultation document suggests this reliance can be in part addressed through training but recognizes that certain industries (including agriculture and horticulture) must act to address their recruitment difficulties: While many of these skills gaps and shortages will be met through training or recruitment, others are persistent and highlight specific and critical weaknesses in the economy. These weaknesses include poor working conditions or employment terms and negative public perceptions of particular occupations. Employers must take action over the coming years to tackle these issues and reduce their reliance on migrant workers. (BIS, 2010: 21)

The numbers of migrant workers in Lincolnshire has remained fairly stable over the last few years since the dramatic rise following the enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004 which saw the largest single wave of in-migration to the British Isle (Salt and Millar, 2006). It is estimated that the number of migrant workers in Britain rose from around 800,000 in 1996 to 1,500,000 in 2005 (Salt and Millar, 2006). Of these migrants around 45% were

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from the eight EU accession countries, known as the A8, including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia (Salt and Millar, 2006). Although many migrant workers are attracted to the Britain to work in skilled occupation (medicine, dentistry, business, etc.) those entering Britain from the A8 countries are far more likely to work in semi-skilled and unskilled jobs (process operatives, agricultural and construction works, packing and cleaning) (Pearson, 2007). In rural areas, such as the Scottish Highlands and Islands (De Lima et al., 2005), Grampian (De Lima et al., 2007), Lincolnshire (Atkin et al., 2005; Zaronaite and Tirzite, 2006; Green et al., 2006) and Chichester (Gaine, 2006), the increase in numbers of migrant workers has been significantly greater than in the rest of the United Kingdom (Somerville, 2008: 7). Migration into rural areas of England by overseas workers and their families should be seen against a broader movement of population from urban England to rural areas. Table 3.1 clearly identifies the 10% + increase in Lincolnshire’s population over the decade (1999–2009); a population rise of almost twice the national growth rate (5.7%). Each of Lincolnshire District Councils has seen a rise in population ranging from 4.5% in the City of Lincoln to 17.3% in North Kesteven which stretches from Lincoln in the north to Sleaford in the south. County Councils in England are responsible for services such as education, policing and fire services, waste management and strategic planning within a specific geographical area – a county. Within Lincolnshire there are seven smaller District Councils who are responsible for local services such as housing, waste collection and local planning (Lincolnshire County Council: Economic Regeneration, 2010b). Table 3.1 Population trends in England and Lincolnshire (1999–2009) Geographical area

Mid-1999

Mid-2009

England

49,032,900

51,809,700

5.7

632,700

697,900

10.3

County Council: Lincolnshire District Council: Boston District Council: East Lindsey

Percentage change (%)

54,900

59,000

7.5

126,900

140,800

11.0

District Council: Lincoln

84,700

88,500

4.5

District Council: North Kesteven

90,100

105,700

17.3

District Council: South Holland

105,700

84,100

13.0

District Council: South Kesteven

74,400

131,200

6.1

District Council: West Lindsey

78,100

88,600

13.4

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Education and Minorities Estimating the number of migrant workers is notoriously difficult as official data only measures those working legally and therefore tend to underestimate the scale. Official numbers are based on National Insurance (NINo) registrations which reflect the number of migrant workers entering the regulated work force and contributing to national tax and pension provision. In Lincolnshire the numbers of NINo registrations in the year 2007–08 have decreased slightly in all distinct areas except Boston (2,160 new registrations) and South Holland (1,610 new registrations) where over half the county’s registrations (7,140 new registrations) were made (Lincolnshire Research Observatory, 2008). It is these two district council areas which have the greatest number of jobs in the agricultural production and processing industries. These figures for NINo registrations are set alongside the numbers registering for local health service (GP Registered Population) to plan services including education and language provision. Services for migrant workers and their families in Lincolnshire are developing and have continued to add additional levels of support for migrant workers, their families and services providers (e.g. individual schools and teachers) since the expansion in numbers during 2004/05. Many of these migrant workers and their families are anxious to access education services to provide initial language support and then ongoing support for adults and children. Indeed in a study of migrant workers in Eastern England by McKay and Winkelmann-Gleed (2005) migrant workers often listed education services as one of the motivation factors in deciding to enter the United Kingdom. As an example they quote a 50-year old Brazilian women who said: My son was studying at university; I was still married and could pay his studies with my pension. But I [was in] no condition to pay university for my girls, as I was already separated [from my husband]. My brother said that in England it was very good for work; that the salary was very good. As I was already retired and couldn’t see a future for my daughters, I decided to come [to England]. (McKay and Winkelmann-Gleed, 2005: 109/10)

Haque (2002: 13) confirmed education and English language fluency were the key determinants of employment success. It is also worth noting that the evidence would suggest that many of the migrant workers were themselves well educated and were prevented from accessing better-paid jobs which better reflected their qualifications/experience due to their lack of language competence.

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In many cases, migrant workers have been found working in food processing, agriculture and hospitality, in low-skilled works for which they are largely over-qualified, and making significant demands on services for English learning, interpreting and translation (Somerville, 2008: 7). An action research project carried out by Bowser (2007) highlighted not only the importance of language classes for migrant workers but the crucial role of employer support for ESOL. To illustrate the point Bowser sites the variance in attendance between classes where workers were released from shifts with pay to attend ESOL classes (average attendance 72%) and those expected to attend outside working time (average attendance 39%) (Bowser, 2007: 27).

Schooling Funding for the children of migrant workers in Lincolnshire’s schools follows the normal pattern of funding with additional resources available to support those children where English is an Additional Language (EAL). Pupils qualify for the additional resources if they have ‘been in a school in England for less than two years’ (Lincolnshire County Council, 2010a: 1). In order to access this additional resource a school must meet the trigger point which has been established at 5% of pupils meeting the EAL definition at the January school census point or 14 pupils, whichever is the greater. Schools meeting the trigger are allocated an additional £333 per two-term period. In Lincolnshire the school year is based on six terms, hence a full year’s funding would amount to £999. Schools which have pupils who meet the EAL but don’t meet the 5% or 14 trigger point are expected to meet the children’s needs using their existing resources. It is worth highlighting at this point that the above formula for supporting EAL pupils does not include maintained nursery provision for younger children due to the nature of the formula, although funding has previously been made available on a fairly ad hoc basis through the funding stream allocated to the County’s Ethnic Minority Achievement Support Service (EMAS) for schools. This is a key element in early childhood support for migrant families. The evidence suggests the issue of childcare to assist those working shifts is a crucial one. Migrant workers – both men and women – are more likely to be working shifts but are less likely to have family support networks to assist them in their caring responsibilities. As a consequence they are more likely to be dependent on unregistered childcare (McKay and Winkelmann-Gleed, 2005: 163).

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Education and Minorities In Lincolnshire the EMAS are a team of advisory teachers, bilingual consultants and teaching assistants who work in partnership with schools and minority communities to meet the needs of learners of English as an additional language (EAL) and ethnic minority pupils who are at risk of underachieving. On their website the service makes the following claims: Who is the service for? z

z z z

Pupils who use a language other than English at home and in the community. They may be recent arrivals, returnees from extended stays abroad or UK-born. Ethnic minority pupils at risk of under-achieving. Bilingual and ethnic minority families. School staff and support services working with EAL and ethnic minority pupils.

How does the EMAS service operate? z

z

z

z z

We assess each school’s needs through negotiation. Schools contact us via a referral form. We work with schools and parents to collect necessary information on pupil’s educational background, linguistic ability, cultural and religious identity. We work in partnership with school staff to promote effective teaching and learning and to disseminate good practice. We give schools and parents guidance on reporting and dealing with racism. We run training courses for teachers and teaching assistants. (Lincolnshire County Council, 2011a)

The most recent figures show the number of children eligible for EAL funding in Lincolnshire fell between May 2009 and May 2010 by 153 from 1419 in 2009 to 1266 in 2010 (Lincolnshire County Council, 2010a: 2). Although the numbers of new arrivals appears to be decreasing there is no evidence from the data to suggest that there is a reduction in the total number of EAP pupils in Lincolnshire’s schools other than the expected reductions as pupils leave at 16 plus. In an interview for this chapter a representative of the EMAS reinforced the importance for the ongoing support in schools beyond the two-year funding window for EAL learners. This ongoing need for language support is not reflected in the published headline figure of 1266 and is very dependent on individual schools and teachers. In the same interview the EMAS representative named a number of teachers who had taken it upon themselves to learn a second language to help EAL pupils. The EMAS service in Lincolnshire has been in operation since 1991, when it was established to work with the families of non-English speaking children entering the county’s schools. The focus was holistic and was about supporting the family in their ‘new life’ in Lincolnshire.

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This meant that families were known (in a personal sense) to the EMAS Service. Contact was regular and typically would include home visits to support a range of needs beyond the services education remit. In 2000 the numbers of non-English speaking children in Lincolnshire schools had gone from a few hundreds in the 1990s to thousands. At this point the focus of the EMAS Service moved from supporting the families of migrant workers to supporting the schools. [The personal contact with families was largely lost for pragmatic rather than ideological reasons. This is a key question for policy makers in the field. Should the support for minorities (in this case non-English speaking children in school) be about the needs of the family (demand) or the schools (supply)?] In studies of ‘family literacy programmes’ in England and Europe the evidence would suggest that the holistic focus is highly effective in raising the language competencies of all those in the family unit (Rose and Atkin, 2007).

A theoretical framework to consider education and migrant workers The reference to field in the title of this chapter links to Bourdieu’s work on culture (habitus) and capital. In the following section of the chapter I position Bourdieu’s work as a theoretical lens to assess migrant workers’ experience of and engagement with education. Bourdieu argues that what people do and value is the result of a non-conscious, practical, embodied competence (habitus) in particular areas of reality (fields). He writes: To the reduction of conscious calculation, I oppose the relationship of ontological complicity between the habitus and the field. (Bourdieu, 1998: 80)

He pictures this ‘ontological complicity’ between habitus and field through various metaphors: a self regulating machine (Bourdieu, 2000: 10), a fight (Bourdieu, 2000: 11), a game (Bourdieu, 1998: 80–1). In Bourdieu’s view, being caught up in the game, having ‘a feel for the game’, is identity: actors do not just confront their current circumstances. They are an integral part of those circumstances. Within them they have grown up, learning and acquiring a set of practical cultural competencies, including a social identity – the sense of the position one occupies in social space – which renders them largely incapable

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Education and Minorities of perceiving social reality, in all of its arbitrariness, as anything other than ‘the way things are’, necessary to their existence as who they are. (Jenkins, 1998: 70)

So, self/identity are constituted in the act of doing, of being, and tend not to be questioned; in this case the migrant community’s previous experiences of education and its value culturally and economically. This non-questioning is what Bourdieu terms ‘doxical experience’ (Bourdieu 1998: 81). It follows that habitus are durable, not easily altered (Jenkins, 1998: 79, Mahar et al., 1990). Bourdieu uses the metaphor of the ‘field’ or ‘marketplace’ to describe particular areas of social reality containing different kinds of ‘capital’: economic capital, social capital (social relations), cultural capital (knowledge) and symbolic capital (prestige and social honour). In considering the experiences of minority groups in schools we might consider literacy and academic achievement as particular kinds of cultural capital. Following Bourdieu, individuals’ interest (or lack of it) in literacy and educational credentials is not conscious, but part of the relation between habitus and field: Illusio is the fact of being caught up in and by the game, of believing the game is ‘worth the candle,’ or, more simply, that playing is worth the effort. In fact, the word interest initially meant very precisely what I include under the notion of illusio, that is, the fact of attributing importance to a social game, the fact that what happens matters to those who are engaged in it, who are in the game. Interest is to ‘be there,’ to participate, to admit that the game is worth playing and that the stakes created in and through the fact of playing are worth pursuing; it is to recognise the game and to recognise its stakes. . . . If . . . your mind is structured according to the structures of the world in which you play, everything will seem obvious and the question of knowing if the game is ‘worth the candle’ will not even be asked.. . . illusio is the enchanted relation to a game that is the product of an ontological complicity between mental structures and the objective structures of social space. (Bourdieu, 1998: 76–7)

Guiding questions z

z

What should the purpose of education be for migrant workers in south Lincolnshire? Should it make them better citizens, workers, parents or able to access and negotiate better services for themselves and their community? In terms of migrant workers engaging with the educational opportunities available to them the question is whether in Bourdieu’s terms the habitus and fields (market places) of migrant workers and their families makes education an attractive form of capital (in contrast to the immediacy of financial capital to be had in the farms and food factories).

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In the following case study I offer an analysis of provision linked to this sense of worth and suggest that this must be assessed not simply as a matter of academic attainment (although clearly this is very important) but a complicated blend of human identity and social capital. Linked to this issue of worth is the more contested debate about ‘worth for whom’? As policy around the world drifts towards notions of functional skills, and functional literacy in particular (Rabušicová and Oplatková, 2010), there is a legitimate debate to be had about the purpose of education in general and for migrant workers in particular and their place in the workforce. Implicit in the question is the potentially limiting nature of the education and training on offer to migrant workers and their families. Functional skills are linked to performance in the workforce (in this case agricultural/horticultural labour) and not necessarily linked to broader social or economic opportunities. The Department of Business Innovation and Skills highlights the potential benefits to employers of funding high quality training but the doubt remains about whether migrant workers will remain long enough for employers to see any benefit to their business: Investing in training has many economic and social benefits to employers and individuals, especially people with low skills (Dearden et al., 2006). Yet there are many reasons why employers and individuals may choose not to invest in learning and skills. These include an inability of firms to capture the benefits from investing in skills, fear of poaching of workers by other firms, credit constraints, a reliance on migrant workers, insufficient knowledge about learning opportunities, uncertainty about financial returns as well as lack of confidence of those with low skills about returning to learning. (BIS, 2010: 10)

The case study below describes a migrant worker’s family engagement with local schools (primary – rising 5 to 11, and, secondary – 11 to 16/18 years of age) and the policy responses in place to support integration and hence maximize achievement (largely judged in terms of academic performance).

Case study: starting school in South Lincolnshire In Lincolnshire, as in the majority of England’s schools, the normal school admission points are at the beginning of the primary stage of education at

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Education and Minorities rising 5 (children who will reach the age of 5 years during the coming academic year), at year 7 (the point of transfer from primary to the secondary stage of education at 11 years of age) and at year 12 (the point of transfer from GCSE examinations into sixth form at age 16). Migrant workers would apply on behalf of their child (or children) for a place at a school of their choice. In this context ‘their choice’ is an interesting concept given that for most parents choice of school is a mixture of personal and community history. Anecdotally migrant workers tend to choose the nearest school to the family home base. Lincolnshire County Council (the centralized admissions authority for the vast majority of schools in the county) on their admissions website clearly explains how the application process can be done online, by phone or using a paper application form. The website states: Application forms are available from any Lincolnshire infant or primary school. Parents and carers can apply to any state school, in or out of county on their Lincolnshire application. You will have the opportunity to name up to three preferences. We strongly advise you to name three schools on your application as we cannot guarantee a place at your most preferred school. (Lincolnshire County Council, 2011b)

The system works well with around 97% of children being offered places at the family’s first choice school (Lincolnshire County Council, 2011b). For families changing schools at points in the year other than the normal admission point (September each year) the County Council has a separate application form. For migrant workers who are perhaps one of the most likely groups to be applying for school places throughout the year ‘choice advises’ are available to support families through the application process. Atkin et al. (2005: 22) and Green et al. (2006) reported on the difficulties many migrants (in rural areas including Lincolnshire) have in representing themselves when engaging with instruments of the state, i.e., education provision, health services and housing. The research suggests that where ESOL programmes are provided for migrant workers their working conditions (e.g. long hours, shift patterns, lack of personal transport) often act as a barrier. Despite these difficulties often faced by the workers themselves, language support is available in a limited number of schools where specific translation support is available or where individual teachers have taken it upon themselves to engage with a particularly common language used by children and parents in the school. The County Council provides a technology-based

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solution to help teachers to communicate with speakers of other languages (non-English). A software translation programme (Little Learner) is freely available to all teachers and support staff to help communicate with ‘new arrivals’ in Polish, Romanian and Lithuanian. The County Council’s website also provides a limited number of standardized letters to parents in Polish (School trip, Free school meals, Injury, Initial parents meeting, Absence form) and the ‘initial parent meeting’ form alone in Lithuanian, Portuguese, Romanian and Russian. The list reflects the common languages spoken by the migrant worker population although research shows that Lincolnshire’s migrant population are from across the globe which in itself presents particular difficulties as the total numbers speaking particular languages are often very small (Atkin et al., 2005: 60). It also highlights the difficulties faced by the authorities in providing language support as particular minority groups move in and out of the workforce. As the extract from Sommerville’s report highlights: In Boston, the numbers of Portuguese on the housing register, which had been fairly stable for some years, declined dramatically in 2007. In contrast, the number and proportion of Poles has increased incrementally since April 2005, while the number and proportion of Lithuanians and Latvians, having increased sharply from mid 2005 to mid 2006, has stabilised since then. (Sommerville, 2008: 3)

Having selected and been accepted into a school all new parents and their child(ren) would be invited to an ‘initial meeting with parents’ at the school to establish some basic information about the child and family context. The initial meeting with parents could be at any point before the child joins the school or as soon after as is possible. The meeting would be structured around five broad headings: (1) Pupil information; (2) Family information (including date of arrival in Lincolnshire/Britain, language spoken at home and religion); (3) Contact information; (4) Previous education (including the number of years in formal education, breaks in education, curriculum strengths and weaknesses, and, previous English language lessons; (5) Arrangements for induction. With this information the school can look at what additional needs are there and what resources can be deployed to assist the child(ren) into the school community. This induction process continues into the child’s first year at school with many schools in south Lincolnshire operating a ‘buddy’ scheme which brings together one or more existing pupils to support the new arrival.

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Education and Minorities Advice offered to schools by Lincolnshire County Council’s Ethnic Minority Achievement Support Service (2007) suggests buddies for EAL pupils should: be of a similar age (to the incoming pupil) and be able to model good language and behaviour; buddies should be trained in the role and given ongoing support including a set time (weekly or monthly) when they can talk to a responsible adult about their experiences as a buddy. School should ensure buddies are reliable, friendly and willing to befriend a pupil with EAL. Schools are also encouraged to consider having more than one buddy for each EAL new starter to ensure there is ‘an academic buddy (to sit with in lessons) and a social buddy for breaks and lunchtimes’ (Lincolnshire County Council, 2007: 1). EAL pupils starting school in south Lincolnshire are immediately integrated into classes and taught in line with the English National Curriculum. The brief overview below shows the current subject areas studied across the four compulsory education phases: Key stage 1: Ages 5–7 (Years 1–2) Key stage 2: Ages 7–11 (Years 3–6)

At key stages 1 and 2 the statutory subjects that all pupils must study are art and design, design and technology, English, geography, history, information and communication technology, mathematics, music, physical education and science. Religious education must also be provided at key stages 1 and 2. Key stage 3: Ages 11–14 (Years 7–9) Key stage 4: Ages 14–16 (Years 10–11)

Key stage 3 The statutory subjects that all pupils must study at key stage 3 are art and design, citizenship, design and technology, English, geography, history, information and communication technology, mathematics, modern foreign languages, music, physical education and science. The teaching of careers education, sex education and religious education is also statutory.

Key stage 4 The statutory subjects that all pupils must study at key stage 4 are citizenship, English, information and communication technology, mathematics, physical

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education and science. The teaching of careers education, sex education, work-related learning and religious education is also statutory (DfE, 2011). The EMAS service produces a series of booklets in English and another language (e.g. English and Polish) which highlight the nature of the formal education system in England providing structural and operational information. Separate booklets deal with Early Years, Primary and the Secondary phases of education. To highlight the nature of the information, these booklets provide the contents of the booklet Primary Education: A Guide for Parents with Children 4–11 years Old which includes sections on the following: Do you need an interpreter?; Education structure in England; Primary Education; Before applying to schools; Admissions; At school; The National Curriculum; Transferring to secondary school; The 11+ examination; Concerns; Frequently asked questions and Useful Contacts (Lincolnshire County Council, 2011c: 1). Teachers are also encouraged to consider the pedagogical needs of pupils from migrant worker communities and consider their educational experiences to date. Lincolnshire teachers (like others across England) are encouraged to consider a global perspective in lesson planning and teaching methods. Teachers are given the opportunity to access financial aid (e.g. the British Council support) to promote international links which have included school teachers visiting other counties to see how others organize and promote learning, e.g. how do they teach mathematics in Poland. At the time of researching this chapter, a group of primary and secondary school mathematics specialist teachers had just returned from Poland having spent time looking at pedagogical methods employed in Polish schools. The experience had prompted them to review the mix of process (a characteristic of UK classrooms) and content (a dominant feature of Polish schools). Although there is little evidence to suggest that there is wide-spread policy borrowing taking place among schools in Lincolnshire, it is clear that particular schools are looking at how the challenge of children from minority ethnic groups can be supported using a range of pedagogical approaches, some of which reflect the traditions in Eastern Europe. One of the dilemmas for schools dealing with migrant worker children where English is not their first language and is at a rudimentary level of competence is where to place the child in terms of class level (setting)? The child may be very gifted and able in mathematics (as an example), but without the language skills; this often means they are placed in the low attainment mathematics group – which is where the additional support is available. The danger with this is that if a child is put in a lower ability group, the evidence would suggest their

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Education and Minorities talents for the subject soon become realigned with the skills of the majority (Hymel et al., 1996). It is part of a broader positioning of pupils who are described as EAL. Do schools see EAL pupils in terms of a deficit model or as an opportunity to promote bilingual capacity which has a very different (positive) connotation? In addition to the formal schooling sector highlighted above, several of the minority ethnic communities in Lincolnshire have established communityrun ‘supplementary schools’. These offer out-of-school-hours educational opportunities for children and young people including ‘national curriculum subjects (English, mathematics, science and others), religious studies, mother-tongue classes, cultural studies and a range of extra activities, such as sport, music, dance and drama’ (ContinYou, 2011). Supplementary schools in Lincolnshire are largely run on Saturdays or Sundays and have been established by a range of minority groups. Lincolnshire Supplementary Schools include the Arabic School for All (ASFA, Lincoln), Polish Saturday Club (Boston), Polish Saturday School (Lincoln), Lincoln Chinese School, Polish Kids Club (Grantham), Grantham Chinese School, Lincoln Tamil Education and Cultural Society, New Lincoln Tamil Association and the Boston Arabic School. Supplementary schools in the county are supported by the Lincolnshire Supplementary Schools Forum which became a formal independent organization in April 2010 having initially been established by the County’s EMAS Service. Although these are informal community-based school initiatives, Supplementary schools are encouraged – through access to support and funding – to comply with the quality framework administered by the National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education (NRC), which is part of the learning charity (ContinYou, 2011). The quality framework has four levels. All schools wishing to gain recognition must start with the Bronze Award which requires schools to have basic policies and procedures in place to run safely and effectively and there are clear expectations of behaviour. Once a school has achieved this level, it can work towards the Silver and/or Gold Award and may eventually be awarded the Special Distinction Award which would identify the school as a model of good practice for others in relation to the quality of education offered. Schools can only be assessed for a Special Distinction Award if they have successfully been assessed at Silver or Gold Award levels. Despite the policy and praxis response outlined above to the growing numbers of EAL pupils in Lincolnshire’s school, the education attainment for migrant workers’ children still falls well short of their English-speaking peers. In January 2010 a paper from EMAS to Lincolnshire’s School Forum

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while highlighting the progress being made in raising the standards attained by EAL pupils in primary and secondary education, clearly stated the gap in attainment. There is a 12% gap for EAL pupils in maths, 20% gap for EAL pupils in science and a 24% gap across literacy subjects at the end of key stage 1 (PM data SATS July 2009). Boys with EAL did not show the same rate of progress over the 2008/9 with an average 10% widening in the gap at the end of key stage 2. Further analysis of data is needed to understand the variation in performance for the cohorts of pupils across the given period (PM data SATS Oct 2009). There is a 17% gap in achievement at the end of key stage 4 for pupils from any other white background with 39% achieving 5 A*–C including English and Maths compared with 56% for all pupils (PM data GCSE performance Oct 2009). There is a 22% gap in achievement at the end of key stage 4 for pupils with English as an additional language with 34% achieving 5A*–C including English and Maths (PM data GCSE performance Oct 2009) (Lincolnshire County Council, 2010a). These figures clearly show the work which needs to done with the children of migrant workers where English is an additional language in Lincolnshire’s schools. The performance is below pupils where English is their first language, but Lincolnshire’s schools and EMAS appear to be working well in supporting EAL pupils in comparison with the County’s statistical neighbours at key stage 4 (16 years of age), but less well at the end of key stage 2 (9–11 years of age). (Statistical neighbours are other Council areas which are deemed to have similar characteristics. They provide one method for benchmarking performance and progress.) The figures shown below highlight Lincolnshire’s EAL pupil performance (judged as educational achievement) in comparison with their statistical neighbours. The data in Figure 3.1 suggests performance by EAL learners at key stage 2 is lower than in any of Lincolnshire’s statistical neighbours with just over 40% of learners reaching the level expected for the ‘average’ 11-year-old (level 4). This contrasts with the performance of those pupils whose first language is English which is broadly in line with the statistical neighbours. Does this indicate a particular failing in education policy response or the reality of younger children where EAL entering primary school in the later key stage 2 phase? This may also explain why at the end of key stage 4 (aged 16) pupils are performing much better and although below the average for Lincolnshire

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Education and Minorities 80 70 Pupils whose first language is English

60 50 % 40

Pupils whose first language is other than English

30 20

England

Lincolnshire

Staffordshire

Shropshire

Northamptonshire

Dorset

Norfolk

Suffolk

Worcestershire

Nottinghamshire

Cumbria

0

Derbyshire

10

Figure 3.1 Percentage of pupils achieving Level 4 or above at KS2 in English and Mathematics (Lincolnshire County Council, 2010a: Appendix 3)

70 60 50 %

40

Pupils whose first language is English

30

Pupils whose first language is other than English

20 10 England

Lincolnshire

Staffordshire

Shropshire

Northamptonshire

Dorset

Norfolk

Suffolk

Worcestershire

Nottinghamshire

Derbyshire

Cumbria

0

Figure 3.2 Percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A*–C in English and Mathematics (Lincolnshire County Council, 2010a: Appendix 3)

statistical neighbours, 38% of EAL students are achieving five good GCSEs including English and Maths. The poor performance of EAL learners particularly in primary schools may also be linked to the relatively poor attendance levels at schools of the children of migrant workers. Data in the past has shown that there has been

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an increase in unauthorized absences among ethnic minority groups, particularly new communities. The main reasons for non-attendance are: z

z

z

z

z z

Parents returning to their home country before term ends and/or coming back after term begins. Parents working on shift work leaving child to get up and go to school on their own or left in the hands of sibling(s) – this is quite common. Parents often keep their children off school because of illness. Children are kept at home for minor illnesses, particularly in relation to the weather. Children caring for younger siblings or needed to accompany parents, e.g. to visit doctors, lawyers, etc. Children going to bed late because parents not at home to supervise routines. Children not admitted into school in the first place either because parents are not aware of the procedures, or because they have approached one school and they have been refused, and concluded from this that there is no school place available for them in any local schools.

During a conversation with a representative of Lincolnshire County Council these emerged as the main causes for non-attendance but there are situations when children do not attend due to low motivation, i.e., not understanding the curriculum, particularly older children who cannot see the benefits of staying at school. Other demotivational factors include bullying, lack of confidence, fear, tiredness, low self-esteem, and, low levels of ability. In themselves these reasons could and do apply to local children with English as their first language, but a combined lack of familiarity with the local education systems and traditions means EAL pupils are particularly likely to miss periods of their schooling. Where strategies have been put in place attendance has improved, although taking children out of school to go back ‘home’ remains an issue. In key stage 1 less importance is often given to attendance by migrant workers as many European countries do not begin their compulsory education system until the child reaches 7 years of age. To conclude this chapter I would suggest we might consider the nature of the curriculum and its link to the workplace. Is the purpose of schools and schooling about providing adults with a cultural reference point in terms of values and behavioural norms, about producing a compliant skilled workforce or about a more transferable global citizenship? It’s true to say that head teachers in Lincolnshire schools have to re-evaluate what they are doing to support EAL learners and what value their presence in Lincolnshire classrooms brings to a local population which has historically been very ethnically homogenous.

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Further reading I would suggest three additional sources of information for students interested in minority groups in England’s rural communities: For further information on migrant workers in England and the issues that affect their engagement with the authorities, civil society and the employment sector see the website shown below established by Lincolnshire Enterprise (an independent, business-led partnership between the private sector, local authorities, public bodies, voluntary and community groups across Lincolnshire) and the East Midlands Development Agency (one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England, set up in 1999 to bring a regional focus to economic development). The site’s web pages contain information, advice, tools and resources for individuals new to the United Kingdom and employers or agencies working with them. It also has information about events and activities for communities living in south Lincolnshire. http://www.migrantworker.co.uk/index.asp (accessed 25 April 2011). Cloke, P and Little, J. (eds) (1997) Contested Countryside Cultures: Rurality and Socio-cultural Marginalisation. London: Routledge. This book edited by two geographers examines the ‘other’ side of the countryside focusing on the experiences of a range of groups largely excluded from policy and cultural representation of the countryside. The book charts the experiences of these marginalized groups and sets this exploration within the context of post-modern, post-structuralist, post-colonial and late feminist analysis. This theoretical framework reveals how notions of the rural have been created to reflect and reinforce divisions among those living in the countryside; not least the migrant workers now a significant group in rural England. Atkin, C., Rose, A. and Shier, R. (2005) Provision of, and Learner Engagement with, Adult Literacy, Numeracy and ESOL in Rural England: A Comparative Case study. London: National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy. Available online at: http://www.nrdc.org. uk/publications_details.asp?ID=32# (accessed 25 April 2011). This research examines the issues surrounding the delivery of adult basic skills (the Skills for Life agenda) to adult learners in six rural counties of England. In the text Atkin, Rose and Shier argue that providing adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL in rural communities and then engaging learners with that provision is a major challenge for providers and policy makers alike. During their research they identify a range of minority communities within rural England and their adult learning needs.

References Atkin, C., Rose, A. and Shier, R. (2005) Provision of, and Learner Engagement with, Adult Literacy, Numeracy and ESOL Support in Rural England: A Case Study. London: DfES/National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy. Bourdieu, P. (1998) Practical Reason: On the Theory of Action. Cambridge: Polity Press. —(2000) Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Bowser, R. (2007) ‘Retention of ESOL students working in the food industry in South Lincolnshire’, in C. Atkin and A. O’Grady (eds) Adult Learning in Lincolnshire and Rutland: Voices from Praxis. Nottingham: The University of Nottingham, UNESCO Centre for Comparative Education Research, pp. 4–28. ContinYou (2011) ‘What are supplementary schools?’ http://www.continyou.org.uk/children_and_ families/supplementary_education/about_us/what_are_supplementary_schoo

(accessed

23

February 2011). De Abreu, G., Cline, T. and Lambert, H. (2004) The Education of Portuguese Children in Britain: Insights from Research and Practice in England and Overseas. London: Portuguese Education Department, Portuguese Consulate General. Dearden, L., Reed, H. and Van Reenan, J. (2006) ‘The impact of training on productivity and wages: evidence from British Panel Data’, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 68 (3), 397–421. De Lima, P., Jentsch, B. and Whelton, R. (2005) Migrant Workers in the Highlands and Islands: Research Report. Inverness: UHI Policy Web and National Centre for Migration Studies. De Lima, P., Chaudhry, M., Whelton, R. and Arshad, R. (2007) A Study of Migrant Workers in Grampian. Report 89. Edinburgh: Communities Scotland. www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk (accessed 23 January 2011). Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) (2010) Skills for Sustainable Growth: Consultation of the Future Direction of Skills Policy. London: BIS. Department of Education (2011) ‘National Curriculum’. http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/index.aspx (accessed 3 March 2011). Gaine, C. (2006) Recent Immigration to the Chichester District: Scale and Impact. Chichester: Chichester District Council. Green, A., Owen, D. and White, R. (2006) ‘Migrant workers: key issues and challenges for skills and learning’, Bulletin of the Warwick Institute for Employment Research No.83. http://www2.warwick. ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/publications/bulletins/ier83.pdf (accessed 5 July 2010). Haque, R. (2002) Migrants in the UK: A Descriptive Analysis of Their Characteristics and Labour Market Performance. London: Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Hymel, S., Comfort, C., Schonert-Reichl, K. and McDougall, P. (1996) ‘Academic failure and school dropout: the influence of peers. Social motivation: Understanding children’s school adjustment’, in J. Juvonen and K. Wentzel (eds), Social Motivation: Understanding Children’s School Adjustment, Cambridge Studies in Social and Emotional Development. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 313–45. Jenkins, R. (1998) Pierre Bourdieu. London: Routledge. Lincolnshire County Council, Ethnic Minority Achievement Support Service (2007) Information on Buddies for EAL Pupils. Lincoln: Lincolnshire County Council. Lincolnshire County Council (2010a) School’s Forum: EAL Formula Funding. Lincoln: Lincolnshire County Council. Lincolnshire County Council: Economic Regeneration (2010b) Available online via Lincolnshire Research Observatory. http://www.research-lincs.org.uk/UI/Documents/Quick%20Ref%202009. pdf (accessed 2 February 2011).

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Education and Minorities Lincolnshire County Council (2011a) Ethnic Minority Achievement Support Service (EMAS). http:// www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/parents/schools/sen/support-services/emas/ (accessed 3 February 2011). Lincolnshire County Council (2011b) ‘Starting school for the first time in reception’. http://www. lincolnshire.gov.uk/parents/schools/school-admissions/find-a-school-place/starting-in-reception/ (accessed 5 February 2011). Lincolnshire County Council (2011c) Primary Education: A Guide for Parents with Children 4–11 Years Old. Lincoln: EMAS Service: Lincolnshire County Council. Lincolnshire Research Observatory (2008) National Insurance Registrations August 2008. http://www. research-lincs.org.uk/Home.aspx (accessed 12 December 2010). Mahar, C., Harker, R. and Wilkes, C. (eds) (1990) An Introduction to the Work of Pierre Bourdieu: The Practice of Theory. London: MacMillan Press. McKay, S. and Winkelmann-Gleed, A. (2005) Migrant Worker in the East of England: Project Report. Cambridge: East of England Development Agency. Pearson, R. (2007) ‘Immigration and the challenge of economic integration in the UK’, in Policy Network, Rethinking Immigration and Integration. www.policy-network.net. Rabušicová, M. and Oplatková, P. (2010) ‘Functional literacy in people’s lives’, Journal of Pedagogy 1 (2), 29–51. Rose, A. and Atkin, C. (2007) ‘Family literacy in Europe: separate agendas?,’ COMPARE: International Journal of Comparative Education, 37 (5), 601–15. Salt, J. and Millar, J. (2006) ‘Foreign labour in the United Kingdom: current patterns and trends’, Labour Market Trends, 114 (10), 335–55. SelectLincolnshire; Home Page (2010) http://www.lincsfoodandfarming.org.uk/section.asp?catid=23791 (accessed 18 February 2011). Somerville, P. (2008) Migrant Workers in South Lincolnshire. Lincoln: University of Lincoln, Policy Studies Research Centre. UK Border Agency (2011) ‘Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme’. http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov. uk/workingintheuk/eea/saws/ (accessed 9 February 2010). Zaronaite, D. and Tirzite, A. (2006) The Dynamics of Migrant Labour in South Lincolnshire. www. migrantworkers.co.uk (accessed 18 February 2011).

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Education and Empowerment of the Disadvantaged Youth in India: A Review of Policy, Programmes and Public Action

4

Namrata Sharma

Chapter Outline Introduction Case study: providing access to education Education of youth: a situational analysis Achieving high literacy rates Re-envisioning the framework for youth empowerment Political commitment and leadership in education – a Gandhian example A framework for measuring youth empowerment Conclusion Further reading

71 74 75 80 81 81 84 86 87

Introduction One of the goals of the Dakar Framework for Action which relates to educational opportunities for adolescent is, ‘ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes’. A thrust has been provided for youth empowerment in Commonwealth countries in

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Education and Minorities particular through the ministers’ commitment to this agenda outlined in the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment (PAYE) for the years 2007 to 2015. Briefly put, PAYE endorses that stakeholders should ‘create and support’ the ‘enabling conditions’ to empower the youth, chiefly to provide: i. An economic and social base; ii. Political will, adequate resource allocation and supportive legal and administrative frameworks; iii. A stable environment of equality, peace and democracy and iv. Access to knowledge, information and skills, and a positive value system.

Although much discussion remains to be undertaken on the definition and steps towards empowerment, the role of education in empowering the youth has started to be addressed as an issue of concern for international agencies such as the Commonwealth Secretariat. It has also been endorsed to some extent by various local, state, regional and national governments and agencies. In India the National Youth Policy1 (2003) complements this strategy with its focus on empowering the youth within different spheres of national life. It acknowledges that the youth have the ‘privilege to receive appropriate education and training which enables them to render themselves socially useful and economically productive’. The policy also has a thrust on citizenship issues. However, although there is an emphasis on providing access to education, the policy is not fully oriented to address the needs of underprivileged groups, especially with regard to removing significant barriers of physical access, gender and caste barrier that confront disadvantaged groups. This chapter examines key issues related to providing access to education that are significant to youth empowerment. It then revisits the PAYE and National Youth Policy framework of empowerment, and questions whether we can find quantifiable and qualitative means to measure youth empowerment, particularly in terms of meeting the condition of providing ‘access to knowledge, information, skills, and values’. This debate is particular timely as several decades after independence on 4 August 2009 the Indian parliament has adopted ‘The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009,’ which envisages free and

1 http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp11/wg11_eleedu.pdf

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compulsory education to children in the 6–14 age group (Article 21A of the Indian Constitution). It includes ‘child belonging to disadvantaged group’ which as the government document states, means a child belonging to the Scheduled Caste, the Schedule Tribe, the socially and educationally backward class or such other group having disadvantage owing to social, cultural, economical, geographical, linguistic, gender or such other factors, as may be specified by the appropriate Government, by notification. (Ministry of Law and Justice, 2009: 2)

It will however be left to the state governments to deal with the barriers facing the youth in their respective regions to meet this target of compulsory elementary education. Although some Indian states including Andhra Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh already have compulsory education in force, and a significant funding has been directed towards primary education under the national initiatives and education for all campaigns (Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan), as well as through international agencies such as the World Bank, UK DFID and other European bilateral aid under the District Primary Education Project (DPEP). As this study argues, to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of ‘universal primary education’ they will need a greater degree of political commitment, public action and leadership.

Guiding questions As you consider the development of policy on education and India’s disadvantaged youth consider the following key questions: z

z

z

What is the purpose of education and training in the context of a rapidly expanding economy and a changing social context? Should education promote or encourage social action as a mean of improving opportunities and access to services? In a country, the size of India, are national education policies helpful or a hindrance to local policy responses?

I hope you will consider these questions as you read the chapter and it helps in framing some of the issues facing policy makers.

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Case study: providing access to education Policy interventions for the youth The main policies drawn for adolescent youth in India after its independence in 1947 are: z z z

National Education Policy (1986, 1992) Youth Policy (1986) National Youth Policy (2001, 2003)

The National Policy on Education (1986 modified in 1992) emphasizes the eradication of illiteracy especially for the age group of 15–35 years, and the universalization of primary education. Schemes such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) are expected to provide supportive measures to ensure that children and adolescents remain in the education system. The SSA aims at providing elementary education to all children in the 6–14 years age group. A study conducted by the Indian Institute of Management has found that the SSA has been successful on the whole and has brought down out of school population in the age group 6–11 years from 28.5% in 2001 to 6.94% by the end of 2005, and also brought Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) children into the educational mainstream and has reduced gender gap in enrolment in the primary and upper primary levels. The Youth Policy (1986) and National Youth Policy (2001) provide a comprehensive overview of youth issues and concerns including making a distinction between the age of adolescent (13–19 years) and the age of attainment of maturity (20–30 years), and a focus on education including non-formal education. Here it must be stated that there is still not a general consensus on which age group should constitute the term ‘adolescent’. For instance National Council of Research Education and Training (NCERT) has identified three main stages of adolescence: z z z

Early adolescence (9–13 years) Mid adolescence (14–15 years) and Late adolescence (16–19 years).

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The National Youth Policy (2003) covers the youth age group of 13–35 years with two broad sub-groups of 13–19 years and 20–35 years. The number of youth in the age group 13–35 years, as per the 1991 Census was estimated at 38 crores in 1997 which is anticipated to increase to about 51 crores by the year 2016. The percentage of youth in the total population, which, according to the 1996 Census projections, is estimated to be about 37% in 1997; is also likely to increase to about 40% by the year 2016. The educational objective of the NYP (2003) is, to provide the youth with proper educational and training opportunities and to facilitate access to information in respect of employment opportunities and to other services, including entrepreneurial guidance and financial credit (section 4.3).

One of the main thrusts of this policy is to provide Equality of opportunity and respect for Human and Fundamental Rights without distinction of race, caste, creed, sex, language, religion or geographic location (section 5.1).

In addition it has an emphasis on ‘gender justice’: Every girl child and young woman will have access to education and would also be primary target of efforts to spread literacy (section 5.2a).

The policy recognizes that an ‘inter-sectoral approach’ for different sectors including the central and state governments to work together collaboratively (section 5.3). Although the policy aims at disadvantaged groups, it fails to make any specific engagement with barriers to access in education and the status of the youth.

Education of youth: a situational analysis A situational analysis of the Indian education scenario is necessary to reflect on the existing differences in education within the various Indian states; gender difference that impact upon education of the girl child; income disparity and other such factors that will reflect upon education in a polarized country. It must

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Education and Minorities be stated at the offset that these issues are complex and this study by no means offers to present a comprehensive analysis of all these problems. To give a flavour of the embedded complexities, the World Youth 2003 Report (Economic and Social Council, United Nations) notes that, ‘Central to youth problems are structural issues which have economic roots such as in policies and programmes2 that consciously and unconsciously create a real or imagined divide in areas of gender relations, urban-rural development, and rich-poor class’.3 As per the 2001 census, the all India literacy rate was only 65.38% (males: 75.85%, females: 54.16%). Although the literacy rates have gone up since the end of the previous century, there are still more than 296 million illiterates of ages 7 and above, of which a significant per cent will be youth.4 The drop-out rate between classes I and X is around 70%, and only 40–60% clear class X and XII examinations (Government of India, 2001: 8). Apart from access and quality of education, there are other factors which force youth to drop out of education and training. These factors include migration and displacement due to manmade disasters (evictions for development projects, riots, war) and natural disasters (tsunami, earthquakes), seasonal migration due to nature of occupation of family/self (landless labourers, construction workers), for which there are no systemic provisions for getting back into formal education. The World Development Report, 2007 mentions the provision of ‘second chances’ as one strategic direction for empowering youth. Provide an effective system of second chances through targeted programs that give young people the hope and the incentive to catch up from bad luck – or bad choices. (World Bank, 2006: 2)

One also finds that the quality of education received at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels differ tremendously and the standards are just

2 See Ginwright and Cammarota, 2002. 3 Appendix 1, p. 1, Report of the ‘Commonwealth Youth Programme, inter-agency consultation on the formulation and development of Youth Development Index (YDI)’, Commonwealth Secretariat, Marlborough House, London 11–12 July 2005. http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Shared_ASP_ Files/UploadedFiles/3F174B40-7340-475A-A87A-6C5B3C3C032E_YDIReport.pdf 4 Although the NYP (2003) covers youth from age 13 (start of secondary education), as the data available from the Indian census is for the age group of 15–34, this study is delimited to the youth within this age group. Further, the most reliable source for data on census seems to be the ‘Indian Youth Portal’ of the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development. http://youthportal.gov.in/

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not comparable. Yet in spite of all the limitations of the formal education system, the positive correlation between women’s education and lower fertility, child mortality and other social development indicators have been well established (ibid.). The Indian constitution enacted in 1949 and adopted in 1950 enshrines equality and social justice as the cardinal principles of the Indian democratic system. Article 14 of the constitution guarantees equality before the law and the equal protection of law to all persons. Article 15(1) prohibits discrimination against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste or sex. Article 16(1) guarantees equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment of any office under the state. Arguably, the starting point to enact these principles of the constitution must be to secure the right to education in the first place. It is hoped that this constitutional provision will make a positive impact on the education of the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), minority groups and women. However, this is a process that will require a much more determined attitude on part of the government. The weakness of the resolve to achieve universal elementary education until now is reflected in the repeated, yet failed determinations expressed in the several National Policies on Education (NPE) (see Dreze and Sen, 2002: 166). Further, the condition of youth varies across the states and a number of factors affect the condition of youth in disadvantaged groups. For instance, gender inequalities exist in various sections of the Indian society. This is in spite of the multi-sectoral interventions by several government and non-government Agencies.5 One of the reasons for the continued disparity in education (despite the larger social and economic struggles for women’s right to education) has been attributed to ‘the absence of critical thinking on formal education’ which in turn ‘indicates the low status educational studies hold in the hierarchy of knowledge, even feminist knowledge, in India’ (Manjrekar, 2003: 4577). Although the NPE (1986) was a radical policy intervention in placing gender equality as a social and political commitment of the State, it has still ‘remained marginal

5 Some of the Government bodies are: the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Department of Women and Child Development MHRD, Ministry of Labour, Department of Elementary Education MHRD, Ministry of Urban Development, Department of Rural Areas and Employment, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Department of Health and Family Welfare.

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Education and Minorities to knowledge-building within the women’s movement and women’s studies’ (ibid.: 4578). The NPE Review Committee (NPERC) in its critique of the 1986 policy notes that ‘the task of bringing a gender perspective into the curriculum is a complex one and requires research inputs, discussion and debate’ (NPERC, 1990: 44). Similarly education among the Indian states has varied with Kerala and Himachal Pradesh6 as one of the leaders amongst Indian States in education and literacy initiatives, whilst Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Bihar have been lagging behind. The 2001 census shows the literacy rates of 15–24 year olds in Kerala as 98.3%, Himachal Pradesh 92.3%, whereas Bihar as 56.8% and Dadra & Nagar Haveli as 67%. Further, the literacy rate of disadvantaged groups such as: rural, SC, ST, and female categories vary between one State and the other. Such as, the Rural Female SC literacy rate (15–24 year olds in 2001) is 96.5% in Kerala, 84.4% in Himachal Pradesh (HP), and only 17.4% in Bihar. Similarly, the Rural Female ST literacy rate for the same age group is shown to be 79.1% in Kerala, 76.3% in Himachal Pradesh and 17% in Bihar. Whereas the SC/ST situation is shown to be similar in Bihar, the literacy rates varies in Kerala and HP with higher literacy rate for girls from the SCs as compared to the girls from STs.7 The statewise differences also show varying figures for literacy rates for the socially disadvantaged communities as well as for minority groups such as Muslims. Apart from social and structural inequalities in access to education there are language barriers that exclude subordinate groups whose languages are

6 For educational initiatives in the Himachal Pradesh see Dreze and Sen, 2002: 177–84. 7 For further details of the differences in educational patterns across the various Indian states and Union Territories the 7th All India School Education Survey (AISES) is a useful reference. This survey aims at collecting comprehensive data on census basis on every facet of school education in the country with date of reference as 30 September 2002. It covers availability of school facilities in rural habitations, physical and educational facilities in schools, incentive schemes and beneficiaries, medium of instructions and languages taught, enrolment particularly of SCs, STs, girls and educationally backward minority community, teachers and their academic and professional qualifications, library, laboratory, ancillary staff and subject-wise enrolment at +2 stage of education. In addition, the enrolment of teachers in unrecognised schools, alternative schools and AIE Centres, oriental schools covering Sanskrit, Pathshalas, Madarsas and Maktabs; special schools for children with disabilities, and pre-primary institutions are covered. This shows the extent to which the data on school education in India across the different regions vary considerably. http://www.7thsurvey. ncert.nic.in/national/index.htm

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not part of the mainstream curriculum recognized by the Indian State. The eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution recognizes 22 scheduled languages and there are over 200 languages with almost 1,600 dialects that exist in the country. Further, Article 350a provides for facilities for instruction through the mother tongue at the primary stage of education. However, as Virginius Xaxa points out: Yet, no efforts whatsoever has been made so far by the federal state or the provincial states towards safeguarding tribal languages, let alone promoting them. Education in all provinces/states, even at the primary level, has been imparted in the language of the dominant community. There were, of course, instances in states like undivided Bihar where primers were prepared in some tribal languages for pedagogic purposes in the mother tongues but these were allowed to rot in government godowns. (Xaxa, 2005: 1368)

The language barrier not only poses problems in relation to the access to education, but also raises questions of how (if so) is the knowledge of subordinate groups represented in the mainstream curriculum. As argued in my previous study, if the curriculum remains exclusive and largely represents the knowledge of the dominant groups in society, it will not be seen to be relevant by those people who come from subordinated and minority groups. It would also deny them access to education and continue to lower educational performances of children from these communities. (Gundara and Sharma, 2010)

The disengagement with the state curriculum can also pose as a serious risk to youth between the ages of 15–24 years who have had schooling to move on to higher education. Rather than confront the crucial issue of disengagement of youth with creative initiatives to make education interesting, relevant for the youth, as well as a means to gaining useful employment, there are often misconceptions found regarding factors that lead to the discouragement for further education. Dreze and Sen (2002) expose some of these ‘myths’ that they find have ‘tended to cloud official thinking and public debates’ on ‘why so many Indian children are out of school’. One such ‘myth’ is the fallacy in the belief that Indian parents have little interest in education, which as their study shows, is not the case.

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Achieving high literacy rates Kerala is one of the states that stands as a good example of long-term sustained public action to achieve high literacy rates for the masses (except for some fishing communities that are still lagging behind and need urgent attention). As Ramachandran’s (1997) work shows: Mass literacy was not achieved in Kerala until basic caste, gender, and class obstacles to literacy were overcome; that is, until literacy was gained by people of the oppressed castes, by women, by the working people, and by the rural and urban poor. The case of Kerala is also an important example of women’s achievement in health and education and of women’s agency in development. (325)

Borrowing from Ramachandran’s study, Kingdon et al. (2004) highlight the significant role of public action, local Non Government Organizations (NGOs) and State Governments in achieving this success, such as the Total Literacy Campaign in the late 1980s which was undertaken to include the most excluded groups (ibid.: 146). Himachal Pradesh, on the other hand, has had a more recent success due to several factors, as recent study suggests: Perhaps the first is a relatively homogenous society. There is much less class and caste division than in many parts of India, and less exploitative relations between different classes and castes. Very significantly, gender relations have long been more equal than in much of India. (Kingdon et al., 2004: 147–8)

However, there is a noticeable barrier of physical access in this state due to it being situated in the mountainous Himalayan region. In spite of this, various factors have lead to achieving high literacy rates, which is an advantage many other states in India may not have experienced yet. there is a strong commitment by the state government, parents and village communities who support their schools, often making up for public deficiencies in public provision. . . .There has been an effort to reduce disparities between districts, and to raise standards even in remote tribal areas. . . . But some of the ‘enabling factors’ are not in place elsewhere, in particular when it comes to caste and gender relations. (ibid.: 148)

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Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in particular stand out as examples of States in which the youth face a worse chance of succeeding. For instance, as Dreze and Gazdar (1997: 61) argue, in contrast to Kerala, the State of Uttar Pradesh (UP) is an example of ‘the failure of civil society to challenge oppressive patterns of caste, class, and gender relations’. Kingdon et al. (2004) indicate that ‘UP’s expenditures on education are among the lowest in India, and the State has never had governments with any kind of broad welfare agenda’ (ibid.: 146).

Re-envisioning the framework for youth empowerment With consideration to the PAYE condition of providing ‘access to knowledge, information, skills and values’ for youth empowerment, the preceding part of this chapter has examined some of the issues related to providing access to education for disadvantaged groups. The success factors and ‘enabling conditions’ of some Indian states have been highlighted, which are a combination of public action, role of government and the work being done by NGOs to achieve literacy. This section is in two parts. The first part will reflect on the unprecedented context for empowerment set within the twentieth century Gandhian movement. This section argues the relevance of our engagement with this recent history in order to reflect on the macro politics of twenty-first-century education that need consideration in determining the context in which access to education is being provided. The second part of this section will revisit the PAYE and National Youth Policy framework of empowerment, and question whether we can find quantifiable and qualitative means to measure youth empowerment.

Political commitment and leadership in education – a Gandhian example While we push for better access to education for disadvantaged groups, we must also question what kind of education will empower the youth? My previous study (Sharma, 2008) reflected on some of the ‘enabling conditions’ that empowered large number of youth to participate in the satyagraha8 8 Directly translated as truth-force, or non-violent resistance; a relentless search for truth; holding on to truth. Also the name of Gandhi’s political movement.

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Education and Minorities movement for India’s independence from the British empire. The primary factor contributing to the engagement of youth in taking an active role in politics was the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. In addition, the political movement encompassed several schools and colleges, as well as allowed for many youth across caste and state boundaries to join in the freedom struggle. As stated previously, if we view Gandhi’s writings in the Harijan and Young India addressed to the youth during the nationalistic struggle, we find that at every stage of the struggle for freedom, Gandhi was giving clear direction to the students, whether to boycott the national universities, or to stay away from politics. When students were not actively involved in the political struggle, they were asked to spend their time studying in schools, to use their vacations to contribute to the social welfare programmes of health, sanitation and hygiene within the villages, and to work with the All India Spinners Association. (Sharma, 2008: 131)

Gandhi as a leader was able to influence a considerable number of youth embroiled in the national struggle. As argued earlier, what appealed to the masses of people, including the youth, was his emphasis on the value of nonviolence, and his clear strategy for political action. In educational terms, as my study shows, there is a need to engage with two main aspects of Gandhi which were definitive in his role as an educator. There can be said to be two Gandhis. The first is Gandhi the person, for whom truth and non-violence was his creed. Then there was the Gandhi who had to play the role of the Mahatma, the moral leader and a nationalist, who had to work through the problematic intercultural issues typified by religious conflicts between the Muslims and Hindus. It can be argued that whereas the former is a ‘teachable Gandhi,’ the latter and more complex Gandhi has been influential within the recent socio-political activities. For education this opens up a complex number of issues. Take the first Gandhi. Teaching this Gandhi has not been easy. The history of Gandhi has been re-written under changing political powers in India. Further, in the mainstream society the use of Gandhi’s values has been contextual. When teaching these values in school it is a challenge to engage with questions related to the contextual use of values in society. The question also arises as to how do we teach the second, more complex and equally relevant Gandhi? In relation to this we need to ask how we can encourage civic aspirations within classroom teaching, given the constraints of the curriculum, time, discipline and other such factors within mainstream education. (Sharma, 2008: 150)

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Empowering the youth in the twenty-first century is not an easy task, particularly within the brick walls of classrooms where student’s own personal values, hopes and aspirations are not taken into account. In addition there are constraints in building a relation between the teacher and student. In contrast, within the Gandhian movement the impact of Gandhi’s own character and determination enthused large number of youth. The PAYE document suggests ‘access to a positive value system’ as an enabling condition for empowering. However, there are complexities of engagement with values in education, particularly in the Indian context with the politicization of religion and the influence of communal politics on values education (ibid.: 94–5). Policies and frameworks need to consider education within the broader societal context in which it works. Aiming to provide access to education without a debate about the macro politics of education can have a reverse effect. Such as, one may also question as to what employability or competitive advantage do literate kisan or village farmers have in the country’s economic progress which does not involve all the people? In a globalized market-operated economy one of the concerns of providing basic education without a youth empowerment plan for particularly the disadvantaged groups is that they may end up working in low-skills jobs for Multinational and Transnational Companies whose profits are largely shared by foreign investors. This could lead to another form of economic colonization which would negate the hard-earned democratic freedom of the people and be an anti-thesis to Gandhi’s concept of Swaraj or self-rule. Policies and programmes designed to uplift the status of youth must have a relevant impact to enable youth to participate as active citizens, which is one of the main thrusts of the National Youth Policy. To the contrary however, in the present scenario one often finds that youth are being used to further party politics, and even further, as goons used to terrorize fellow citizens during election campaigns. It is also significant to consider whether or not a high literacy rate corresponds to youth employment. Dreze and Sen’s (1997) research shows that the youth in Kerala have not adequately benefitted from the economic growth of the country. In this case, a high literacy rate and level of education does not directly correspond to increasing income rates. If we are to rethink the goals of the NYP in terms of not only providing access to education, but also in terms of employability, Kerala can do with specific youth-oriented, targeted action to increase employability. For the NYP to be effective in terms of

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Education and Minorities addressing youth empowerment, the statewise differences in the condition of youth need to be mapped out through future evidence-based research.

A framework for measuring youth empowerment One of the arguments of this chapter is that we need more indicators to measure youth empowerment, such as those used to determine the Youth Development Index (YDI) (based on similar indicators at the Human Development Index9). The Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai has recently completed an extensive study towards the construction of a YDI for India which is an initiative of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD). The YDI index has been used across several countries to measure the condition and status of the nation’s youth. Formulating the YDI has worked successfully in countries such as Brazil which have seen an increase in emphasis given to factors contributing to youth development which includes education.10 The index is calculated through both quantitative and qualitative indicators. The quantitative indicators give a relative weight to each component, which are: z z z

Health, Income and Access to education.

Access to education is measured through three sub indicators: z z z

Illiteracy, Adequate schooling and Quality of education.

These components are quantified with consideration to the quality of education, health and status of the youth, using the Millennium Development

9 For further details on the Human Development Index see: http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/ indices/hdi/ 10 For more details see http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/ydiJulioWaiselfisz_YDIBrazil. pdf

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Goals (MDGs) and Commonwealth Plan of Action as benchmarks. I was involved in the first stage of the project in writing a thematic paper on the role of education and the status of the nation’s youth. This study is useful to get an overview of issues relating to illiteracy and access to education. However, in calculating the YDI the study had to give leeway to the gaps in the data available on youth in India, which makes measuring problematic. For instance, the latest statistics in the Human Development Report on factors that show gender differences in employability are missing, such as the Youth Unemployment Rate (total % of labour force aged 15–24 years old) does not give a separate percentage for unemployed men and unemployed women. In addition, there are gaps in studies on enrolment of people with psychiatric disabilities and migration to Higher Education and employment (Megivern et al., 2003). With respect to migratory patterns, there is a paucity of data of satisfactory quality. This is especially important in the context of youthful populations insofar as they are predisposed to a substantial amount of mobility whether to seek and obtain employment, to pursue further education and training, to leave home, or to enter into marriage or some kind of union. Moreover, the emphasis on youth (15–35 years in India) results in greater and better quality information on older adolescents in comparison with younger adolescents. Further, as Beteille points out, ‘Official statistics mainly show the number of schools and the number of children enrolled in them. What they do not bring out are the disparities in the quality of education provided by schools of different kinds. These disparities are very large and probably increasing’ (Beteille, 2008: 41). Quantitative data does not reflect the qualitative gaps. Beteille further argues in this regard that, ‘No doubt we have quantitative data about enrolment, drop-out, years of schooling completed and so on, but these tell us little about what happens in the school by way of interaction between teachers and pupils’ (Beteille, 2008: 44, original Beteille, 2007). Research needs to be done on the extent to which learning actually takes place in the classrooms as well as the knowledge represented in the curriculum, and this has special significance to dealing with the high drop-out rates. The YDI is a good indicator of the status and condition of youth when measuring youth empowerment. The framework of youth empowerment itself also needs re-envisioning with broader consideration given to the issues raised within this chapter that is not adequately reflected in PAYE and NYP – such as, further research is needed on whether or not higher literacy rates have corresponded to increasing the employability of youth.

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Education and Minorities For instance, the two factors of ‘access to education’ and ‘income levels’ which are considered as fixed indicators in the YDI, will need to be correlated in order to measure the impact for empowerment. In addition, we need research-based evidence to address whether youth are participating in the decision-making process.

Conclusion In view of the various issues raised in relation to the empowerment of youth in India, this final section concludes with the following suggestions which highlight the key questions for policy makers and practitioners. 1. Policy framework that represents public action A policy framework representing the varying degree of public action for education across the diverse Indian states is required. For instance, as Jean Dreze11 points out, there are at least 3 different models among the nation’s states: Kerala shows a successful mixture of public and private education, while Uttar Pradesh has a poor record in public education and a growing reliance on the private sector. Meanwhile Himachal Pradesh uses the public sector almost entirely. 2. State-based policy that is in conjunction with national targets for youth empowerment One policy for all framework has its limitations within a nation where each state has its own unique context. States like Himachal Pradesh have experienced ‘enabling factors’ in terms of caste and gender which are significant barriers for other regions like Uttar Pradesh. Manipur is another state with its own added problems of HIV/AIDs, gun crime, ethnic conflict, that is not adequately addressed in the National Youth Policy. 3. Studies to show whether the National Youth Policy has been directive, not just indicative The upcoming review of the NYP must also indicate the measures to be taken in removing barriers and meeting youth employment including the states with high literacy rates such as Kerala.

Through the Millennium Development Goals, primary education and health (especially in terms of infant mortality rate) are being given increased importance. In addition, towards the upcoming review of the NYP, we need to be also aware of other indicators which can provide a better understanding of the status of youth and empowerment. Further, the revised NYP will need to 11 In a comment at the Welcome Workshop, New Delhi, January 2002 (from Dyson et al., 2004: 145).

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be linked more closely to statewise differences to measure the policy impact, specific needs of the youth in a particular state, and how the policy can work with public action and political will.

Further reading Beteille, A. (2008) ‘Access to Education’, Economic and Political Weekly, 17 May, 40–8. http://www.epw. org.in/epw/uploads/articles/12262.pdf (accessed 25 September 2009). A relatively short piece of writing that will introduce the reader to the work of an author who has investigated, through extensive field study, some of the qualitative and quantitative disparities within education in India. Dreze, J. and Sen, A. (2002) India: Development and Participation. New York: Oxford University Press. As stated on the back cover, this book explores the role of public action in eliminating deprivation in India. The analysis is based on a broad and integrated view of development, which focuses on wellbeing and freedom rather than the standard indicators of economic growth. The authors place human agency at the centre stage, and stress the complementary roles of different institutions in enhancing effective freedoms. Sharma, N. (2008) Makiguchi and Gandhi: Their Educational Relevance for the 21st Century. Maryland, Lanham: University Press of America. This book is a useful reference as a critical study of the changing values and ideologies in Indian education and politics. It identifies strategies, behaviour and beliefs of the Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) and his impact in India. Through these discussions, the book offers innovative perspectives in teaching citizenship education within modern, democratic, nation states. This study is the basis for the module ‘Makiguchi and Gandhi’ within the Post Graduate Certificate Education (International) course at the University of Nottingham, UK.

References Beteille, A. (2007) ‘The School and the Community’, Journal of Educational Planning and Adminstration, 21 (3), 191–201. —(2008) ‘Access to Education’, Economic and Political Weekly, 17 May 2008, 40–8. http://www.epw.org. in/epw/uploads/articles/12262.pdf (accessed 25 September 2009). Dreze, J. and Gazdar, H. (1997) ‘Uttar Pradesh: the Burden of Inertia’, in Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen (eds), Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 33–128. Dreze, J. and Sen, A. (1997) Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press. —(2002) India: Development and Participation. New York: Oxford University Press.

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Education and Minorities Dyson, T., Cassen, R. and Visaria, L. (eds) (2004) Twenty-first Century India: Population, Economy, Human Development, and the Environment. New York: Oxford University Press. Ginwright, S. and Cammarota, J. (2002) ‘New terrain in youth development: the promise of a social justice approach’, Social Justice, 29 (4), 82. Government of India (1992) National Policy on Education 1986 (with modifications undertaken in 1992). New Delhi: Ministry of Human Resource Development. —(2001) Report of Working Group on Adolescents, 10th Five Year Plan (2002–2007). New Delhi: Planning Commission. Gundara, J. and Sharma, N. (2010) ‘Providing access to education: intercultural and knowledge issues in the curriculum’, in D. Mattheou (ed.), Changing Educational Landscape: Educational Practices, Schooling Systems and Higher Education: A Comparative Perspective. New York: Springer, pp. 93–105. Kingdon, G. G., Cassen, R., McNay, K., and Visaria, L. (2004) ‘Education and Literacy’, in T. Dyson, R. Cassen and L. Visaria (eds), Twenty-first Century India: Population, Economy, Human Development, and the Environment. New York: Oxford University Press. Manjrekar, N. (2003) ‘Contemporary challenges to women’s education: towards an elusive goal?’, Economic and Political Weekly, 25 October, 4577–582. Megivern, D., Pellerito, S. and Mowbray, C. (2003) ‘Barriers to higher education for individuals with psychiatric disabilities’, Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, Winter 2003, 26 (3), 217–31. Ministry of Law and Justice (2009) The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, The Gazette of India, Part II - Section I, No. 35 of 2009. 27 August. New Delhi: Authority (Ministry of Law and Justice). http://education.nic.in/Elementary/free%20and%20compulsory.pdf (accessed 8 October 2009). NPERC (1990) ‘Review of National Policy on Education – 1986 relating to elementary education and teacher education’. Status report presented by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India to the NPE Review Committee, August 1990. PAYE (2007–2015) The Commonwealth Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment 2007–2015. Commonwealth Youth Programme. Commonwealth Youth Secretariat. http://www.thecommonwealth.org/ shared_asp_files/GFSR.asp?NodeID=169313 (accessed 25 September 2009). Ramachandran, V. K. (1997) ‘On Kerala’s development achievements’, in J. Dreze and A. Sen (eds), Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 206–326. Sharma, N. (2008) Makiguchi and Gandhi: Their Educational Relevance for the 21st Century. Maryland, Lanham: University Press of America. World Bank (2006) World Development Report: Development and the Next Generation. 16 September 2006. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2007/Resources/1489782-1158107976655/ overview.pdf (accessed 25 September 2009). Xaxa, V. (2005) ‘Politics of language, religion and identity: tribes in India’. Economic and Political Weekly, 26 March, 1368–70.

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Educating Minorities and Developing Community Cohesion in Post-Genocide Rwanda

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Gary Mills and Rolf Wiesemes

Chapter Outline Introduction Background The socio-historical context of education in Rwanda The socio-cultural and economic present: post-1994 education Case study – EDCOCO (Education for Community Cohesion) Conclusion Further reading

89 90 91 94 101 104 105

Introduction After the terrible events of the 1994 Genocide, Rwanda has made significant strides to ensure that everyone in the country sees themselves as being first and foremost Rwandan. This is an understandable attempt to get rid of the ethnic divisions that lay at the heart of the Genocide and the mass killings. It is an approach that has been enshrined in education policies and practices and has been welcomed by the different ethnic groups – Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. In this sense it could be argued that educating minorities in Rwanda is no longer a consideration. And yet as many have attested not exploring ethnic issues can lead to a social and historical amnesia – a forgotten past. This

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Education and Minorities can add to tensions and leave an undercurrent of hatred between groups and between generations. This chapter considers the treatment of ethnic minorities in the education system prior to 1994 and looks at developments in the post Genocide era. Through work undertaken between the Kigali Institute of Education and the University of Nottingham the last section of the chapter looks at a project where issues of ethnic identity are being explored in relation to greater engagement with community cohesion.

Background In 1990 at Jomtien in Thailand, countries from around the world came together to sign The World Declaration on Education for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs. This landmark declaration stated that education is a fundamental right for all people, women and men of all ages throughout the whole world. (UNESCO 1994: 6)

Twenty years later many parts of the world still fail to deliver this fundamental right. People are excluded from education on many grounds including gender, poverty, religion and ethnicity. Since the Genocide of 1994 Rwanda has tried to deal with many of these issues and has met with considerable success, especially in comparison to the educational opportunities and achievements of other African countries. However, some key problems remain. In this chapter, we discuss the key area of ethnicity in education in postGenocide Rwanda. We examine how ethnicity was an historically significant factor in the Rwandan education sector and how this has been ‘replaced’ by the current system that aims to promote the inclusion of both minority and majority groups in Rwandan schools. Key to understanding the current education system is its overarching mission to promote unity and reconciliation, a common ‘Rwandanness’, that is constructed by the current government as a unifying factor shared by the three main ethnic groups, Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, in Rwanda. Drawing on general and research literature and from our past and current work with academics and teachers in Rwanda, we suggest that education of minorities in the Rwandan context means de facto education for all ethnic groups. The reasons for this de-ethnicized form of education can be found in Rwanda’s socio-historical past and its socio-cultural and economic present. Within these contexts we examine past and current education

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practices for minority groups in relation to the majority groups and present findings from a case study which has explored pedagogical approaches to promote Community Cohesion in initial teacher education as a way to tackle issues of ethnicity. However, as we shall see, such policies and aspirations are not without problems and issues of ethnicity are still prevalent in the Rwandan education system.

The socio-historical context of education in Rwanda Historical background Rwanda is a small land-locked country located in the Eastern part of subSaharan Africa bordering Tanzania in the East, the Democratic Republic of Congo in the West, Burundi in the South and Uganda in the North. The population groups of Rwanda were traditionally divided into 3 categories with Hutus forming the majority group (about 85% of the total population), Tutsi making up about 14% of the population and Twa constituting about 1% of the population. There is an ongoing debate about the origins of the distinction between Tutsi and Hutu. Some have argued along ethnic divisions; more recently authors refer to socio-economic differences. (See for example: Eltringham, 2004). Uvin (1997: 93) refers to the ongoing difficulties in discussing the make-up of the Rwandan people: This is partly due to inherent difficulties of recreating the history of oral societies, as well as the distortions introduced by the eurocentric and often outright racist accounts by the 1st colonizers, missionaries and ethnographers. . . . However, the prime cause of the difficulty in reaching any agreed-upon interpretation of these issues is the fact that, since the early days of the anthropological and historical enterprise in Rwanda, these issues have acquired important political stakes. (Uvin, 1997: 93)

During Rwanda’s colonial period, Belgium ruled indirectly through the Tutsi minority first under a League of Nations mandate and then, after World War II, a UN mandate. Under these regimes Hutus were discriminated against especially within education – this is a point that we explore below. The power basis of the ethnic divisions changed in the lead up to independence in 1962 with the Rwandan authorities introducing majority rule by the Hutu population. This

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Education and Minorities led to pogroms against Tutsis occurring in the late 1950s and early 1960s. After what has been described as a bloodless military coup by Juvénal Habyarimana in 1973, the then President Kayibanda was ousted from power and replaced by Habyarimana who ruled Rwanda until the beginning of the Genocide in 1994 (Prunier, 1995). The Rwandan Genocide began in April 1994 and lasted till June 1994. During this time, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans, predominantly Tutsi and opponents to the regime, were killed. A wide range of books and reports have been published on the Rwandan Genocide ranging from historical and journalistic texts (Melvern, 2000; Prunier, 1995, 2009; Semujanga, 2003; Strauss, 2006), personal accounts and testimonies (Dallaire, 2004; Whitworth, 2006), texts examining particular aspects of the Rwandan Genocide such as the role of the Churches (Rittner et al., 2004) to the role of European powers in the Genocide, such as the French government’s support for the pre-1994 regime (Kroslak, 2007). In addition, there is an increasing number of ‘grey literature’ works such as personal accounts, which are often self-published. In June 1994, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took control of the government and stopped the Genocide. In April 2000, Paul Kagame, former leader of the RPF, became the President of Rwanda. Since the end of the 1994 Genocide, the Rwandan government has been promoting a policy of unity and reconciliation, which is reflected in the establishment of gacaca-courts as a way to bring génocidaires to justice and to reintegrate them into their communities, and outlawing the incitement of ethnic hatred and related divisionism. The population of today’s Rwanda is still made up of Hutu as the majority group, Tutsi as a minority and Twa as another small minority. While the ethnic distinctions remain pervasive in people’s minds, the current Rwandan government aims to address inclusion of all groups – no matter whether majority or minority – through de-ethnicized identity and related inclusive education practices. We examine education practices in more detail in the following sections.

Education context: pre-1994 education Any consideration of the pre-1994 education system needs to take account of the long-term involvement of the church and also the development of educational institutions during the colonial rule of Germany and especially Belgium. Under colonial rule it was the Tutsi population that benefited most in terms of access to education although ‘while schools privileged the Tutsis,

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they still mainly served the purposes of the colonizers and the missionaries’ (Walker-Keleher 2006: 38). By 1962, the year of independence, the country had 40 secondary schools with the church, Catholic and Protestant, owning and controlling the vast majority of these institutions. The role of the church, especially the Catholic church remains a dominant factor in Rwandan education (Rittner et al., 2004). When outlining this pre-1994 education system in Rwanda, WalkerKeleher (2006: 40) describes the formal education system as a contributor for ‘creating a context in which the extreme violence of 1994 took place’. This view of the pre-1994 education system is generally agreed upon in the literature (see for e.g., Novelli and Lopes Cardozo, 2008) and is further illustrated in the comments below made by a teacher as part of an African Rights report (2001) on schooling in Rwanda: ‘Students ended up knowing all about ministers and their ministries by heart. There was never any interest in people. Rather, there was a focus on ethnicity. . . . Schools also had to register, at the beginning of each year, statistics of the student body according to their ethnic group. So the children knew each other’s ethnic identity. . . . Nobody had the right to change anything in the programme given the coercive political system. There were no teachers capable of opposing it. This teaching contributed enormously to radicalising ethnic identities.’

This potential of education to be divisive and sectarian is also reflected in the wider literature in this field (Davies, 2004, 2005, 2006; Johnson and Stewart, 2007; Novelli and Lopes Cardozo, 2008). The picture of education in this pre-Genocide period is not an easy one to relay in a relatively short section. At the heart of the matter was ethnic identity – it was this that determined access to education. While early on it was the Tutsi who were favoured, it was the Hutu who benefited post-independence. BuckleyZistel (2009: 102), summarizes the role of ethnicity in Rwanda before the 1994 Genocide in the following way, ‘During the First Republic (1962–73), as well as in the Genocide propaganda (1990–94), citizenship was defined through group, that is Hutu identity, leading to the denial of citizenship for Tutsi’. After independence until 1994, Rwandan identity was clearly defined by being a member of the Hutu group. Members of the minority Tutsi community were increasingly portrayed as (foreign) invaders, which ultimately culminated in the 1994 Genocide. Access to education for the Tutsi minority was limited through a quota system (iringaniza) and favouritism and led to the exclusion of minority groups from education. This policy of quotas (iringaniza) meant that whilst pupils were

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Education and Minorities supposedly admitted to secondary school based on academic ability the fact that exam results were never published and made public meant there was widespread discrimination against Tutsi students. There were also regional, ethnic and gender quotas that restricted access to education. This system caused a great deal of animosity. Further educational ‘reforms’ and changes in the 1970s, 80s and early 90s, continued to reinforce these ethnic divisions and quotas. One commentator has observed that the system ‘has allowed the Hutu government the possibility to discriminate at will against Tutsi students’ (Walker-Keleher, 2006: 39).

The socio-cultural and economic present: post-1994 education Constructing discourses of unity and reconciliation through ‘Rwandanness’ Since 1994, the Rwandan education sector has undergone a wide range of changes such as the development of a 9-year basic school system, a change of language of instruction from French to English, a strong focus on the development of ICT (as part of the overall ‘Vision 2020’), an increased emphasis on Science and Technology, fee-free basic education, HIV/AIDS prevention. Education is a growing success in Rwanda and is viewed with envy by many other African countries. It has high aspirations. For example, in an introduction to the recent Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) 2010–15 the Rwandan Ministry of Education outlined its strategic priorities: z

z

z

In addition to the continuing priority of effective 9-year basic education for all our children, this revised plan reflects our new priority of making post-basic education more accessible and more relevant to our national needs. The concepts of universal equitable access and of quality of provision underpin the ESSP. This ESSP aims at improving education, particularly skills development, to meet the labour market demand, by increasing the coverage and the quality of 9-year basic education (9YBE) and strengthening post-basic education (PBE), which includes technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education but also general upper secondary education and teacher education. As we consolidate the 9-year basic education programme we shall be able to focus more on the effectiveness of the bridge between basic education and the world of work. http://www.mineduc.gov.rw/spip.php?article48 (accessed 9 July 2011).

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The basis of universal equitable access has been developed since 1994 and considerable efforts have also been made by the Rwandan government and the Ministry of Education in particular to develop the education system into a fairer and more equitable institution and as a means to promote unity and reconciliation. This is also reflected in the current school curricula. For example, the National Curriculum Development Centre outlines the key principles of the upper primary social studies curriculum as follows: ‘In order to afford curriculum developers a clearer sense of direction, . . . the MINEDUC [Ministry of Education] has highlighted a set of education goals and objectives as indicated below. a. Educate a full citizen who is liberated from all kinds of discrimination, including gender based discrimination, exclusion and favouritism; b. Contribute to the promotion of culture of peace and emphasize Rwandan and universal values of justice, peace, tolerance, respect for human rights, gender equality, solidarity and democracy; c. Dispense a holistic moral, intellectual, social, physical and professional education through the promotion of individual competencies and aptitudes in the service of national reconstruction and sustainable development of the country; d. Promote science and technology, with special attention to ICT; e. Development in the Rwandan citizen an autonomy of thought, patriotic spirit, a sense of civic pride, love of work and global awareness; f. Transform the Rwandan population into human capital for development through acquisition of development skills, and g. Eliminate all causes and obstacles, which can lead to disparity in education, be it by gender, disability, and geographical or social group’ http://www.ncdc.gov.rw/SOCIAL_STUDIES_English_P_1-6.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011)

It is notable how ethnicity – which was the key identifier of being Rwandan in pre-1994 discourses – is not mentioned at all. Instead, there are only indirect references to ethnicity contained in general statements such as ‘the promotion of a culture of peace, and emphasis on Rwandan and universal values of justice, peace, tolerance, respect for human rights, gender equality, solidarity and democracy’ or indirect references to ethnic groups such as the key principle to ‘eliminate all causes and obstacles, which can lead to disparity in education, be it by gender, disability, and geographical or social group’. http://www.ncdc.gov.rw/SOCIAL_STUDIES_English_P_1-6.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011).

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Education and Minorities Similarly, the objectives of the Political Education curriculum for O-level (secondary school) states as follows that, at the end of Ordinary Level, the student will be able: 1. To develop a critical sense and objective analysis of the social, economic and political conditions. 2. To demonstrate desired conduct towards acceptable values: peace, justice, tolerance, unity and reconciliation, patriotism, etc. . . . 3. To recognize the basis of good governance. 4. To contribute to the promotion and the protection of the human rights and of the International Humanitarian Law. 5. To develop a behavior of being conscious of gender issues. 6. To recognize the importance of protection and the conservation of environment. 7. To participate in the fight against the present scourge: HIV/AIDS, STD, alcoholism, nicotinic, juvenile delinquency, sexual violence. . . . 8. To take part in the collective effort in order to develop local resources for the wellbeing of the population. 9. To recognize population problems and their impacts on the development of the country. 10. To adhere to the communication and information technology (ICT) and other media. 11. To develop the conduct that is conducive to acceptable human qualities (truth, respect, honesty, fidelity, respect of the word given . . .) 12. To understand the political history of Rwanda and the need to defend the national independence. 13. To contribute to the preservation of good values within the Rwandan culture and the integration of positive aspects from without. http://www.ncdc.gov.rw/PROGRAM%20EDUPOL%20ANGLAIS %20FINAL%20POUR%20IMPRIMERIE.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011)

The pre-1994 regime’s identification of nationality with Hutu ethnicity has been replaced by stressing universal values such as ‘justice’ and ‘tolerance’ and adopting at the same time a position which stresses the need for national ‘unity’, ‘reconciliation’ and ‘patriotism’. It is interesting to note that there is no reference whatsoever to any ethnic group in these official documents. Along similar lines, in the same O-level curriculum for Political education, the section on ‘conflicts’ lists in relation to positive values: z z z

Tolerance Reconciliation Unity

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Justice Culture of peace Democracy’ http://www.ncdc.gov.rw/PROGRAM%20EDUPOL%20ANGLAIS%20FINAL %20POUR%20IMPRIMERIE.pdf – (accessed 9 July 2011)

The promotion of these values through education is of course highly commendable. They also stress the role that education can play in the development of civil society. However, within these statements and official policies a number of tensions are hidden. Sidiropoulos (2002) points out the tensions between policy documents and the reality in Rwandan society and schools. He comments on the content of policy documents in general as follows: The various policy documents brought out by government in the last few years refer positively to the role that civil society can play in addressing the challenges facing Rwanda. This does not reflect the reality, however. As with many countries, there are elements of civil society that are clearly aligned with the government. Those that are not, and that are critical of the government, have greater difficulty when making policy input, but may also find their ability to carry out their functions severely curtailed. Individuals within organisations are targeted as a means of weakening the institution. (Sidiropoulos, 2002: 14)

Sidiropoulos summarizes his comments on the development of democracy and unity in Rwanda as follows: Rwanda continues to be a polarised society. In such a climate, any discussion of reconstruction entails an analysis based on mutually reinforcing pillars of a strong economic recovery and a strong peace. If either is fragile, the success of reconstruction will be compromised. Rwanda has not achieved a sustainable peace yet. This manifests itself in the oscillation between genuine reform and adoption of policies and systems aimed at improving control and accountability, and the unwillingness to apply those very same principles as rigorously when it comes to matters of security. (Sidiropoulos, 2002: 18)

Buckley-Zistel (2009), commenting on the role of citizenship discourses in conflict and reconciliation in Rwanda, writes that ‘the new government of Rwanda prioritized the promotion of the unity of Rwanda. Based on the understanding that the question of citizenship had been central to past violent conflicts it responded by focusing attention on creating an all-inclusive

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Education and Minorities Rwandan identity. In this sense, “Rwandanness” is a “fictive ethnicity”, a community instituted by the nation state’ (Buckley-Zistel, 2009: 108). Some would argue, however, that while the efforts of the Rwandan government to create a common sense of ‘Rwandanness’ are in many ways commendable, these efforts are also top-down and do only reflect the reality in schools and more widely in society to a very limited extent. Anecdotal evidence based on conversations with teachers, teacher trainers and teacher trainees suggests that many teachers are not prepared to mention terms such as ‘Hutu’ or ‘Tutsi’ in their teaching for fear of being accused of divisionism. While this is understandable this also reveals a real tension between being able to promote unity and reconciliation and not being able to discuss past pre-1994 divisions focusing on an exclusive understanding of Rwandan nationality as ‘Hutu’. In this sense, some government policies aimed at promoting unity and reconciliation are undermined by other government antidivisionism policies, which make it impossible to talk about the past for fear of being accused of ‘divisionism’.

Genocide education as a means to develop unity and reconciliation Formal education in Rwanda is currently aiming to contribute to the promotion of a lasting peace in Rwanda. According to the Rwandan National Curriculum, Rwandan teachers are required to teach about the Genocide of 1994. Genocide Education is supposed to be covered both in the primary and the secondary school curriculum. In the primary school curriculum, there is a strong focus on the development of unity in Grades 1–5 with a specific focus on ‘Unity, Cooperation and Development in Rwanda’ in Grade 6 with a ‘unit of work’ dedicated to Genocide under the heading ‘Conflict: Genocide’ (Social Studies Curriculum for the Basic Education Programme – http://www. ncdc.gov.rw/SOCIAL–STUDIES–English–P–1-6.pdf [accessed 9 July 2011]), (National Curriculum Development Centre, 2008: 81). For secondary education, the history programme for O-level dedicates one chapter to ‘The War of 1990–1994 and the Genocide of Tutsi’. The programme suggests to spend 10 class periods on this topic focusing on a wide range of issues such as the principal causes of the 1990–94 civil war, policies, the development of a multi-party system, ‘hardening of dictatorship and propaganda’ (NCDC, 2008: 70) with one section dedicated to the ‘Genocide of Tutsi (April–July 1994)’ (NCDC, 2008: 71). This section focuses in particular on ‘the development of

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ideology of Genocide’, ‘the phase of execution of extermination of Tutsi and Hutu opposition to the Genocide Ideology’, ‘the role of different actors’ and ‘the consequences of Tutsi Genocide of April–July 1994’ concluding with ‘the consequences of Genocide as a point of view’ (NCDC, 2008: 72) and ‘efforts of the Government of National Unity’ (NCDC, 2008: 72). Kigali Institute of Education, other universities and other teacher training providers have made a series of links between teachers, schools, other universities and Genocide education organizations (with many of these links supported by NGOs and GOs such as DfID and the British Council). For example, ‘Facing History and Ourselves’ has been active in the field of Genocide education as reported in their annual report for 2008 (Facing History and Ourselves, 2008; accessed at http://www.facinghistory.org/sites/ facinghistory.org/files/annual-report-2008.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011): Facing History has provided seminars for 245 teachers from every province in the country. This year, Facing History has worked with our in-country partners to offer teachers in-depth support customized to their particular needs. We have also solidified our relationship with the National Curriculum Development Centre, a governmental entity, which expands our growth throughout the country. We have established two in-depth schools and are working with the teacher training institute at Kigali Institute of Education.

There are also a variety of informal links with European, Canadian and US schools which aim to support school partners in general and sometimes specifically in the field of Genocide education. The most notable and stable provider of formal Genocide education is currently Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre (KGMC). The focus of KGMC activities is on promoting unity and reconciliation and creating ways that allow for dialogue to develop. While this programme has only started in 2010, initial evaluations suggest that the impact of the programme is overwhelmingly positive. However, further and more in-depth research is needed to assess the long term effects and impact of Genocide education at KGMC. At the same time, anecdotal evidence from schools who are not yet able to access the resources of KGMC suggests that teaching about the Genocide is often avoided altogether or done in a highly superficial manner in order to avoid touching on highly personal and sensitive issues which affect both students and teachers in class. Addressing the key issue of learning about the Rwandan Genocide is proving to be extremely complex. This complexity is a result of the highly

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Education and Minorities sensitive subject matter of the 1994 Genocide, recent changes in the Rwandan school system and the general working conditions of teachers. While teachers are asked to teach about the Rwandan Genocide, there are a number of school reforms that have recently taken place in Rwanda such as a change to 9- (instead of 6-) year compulsory schooling and the change of language of instruction from French to English. In addition, it needs to be taken into account that class sizes in many Rwandan schools tend to be about 40–60 students with very limited access to teaching and learning resources that might support more interactive classroom practices than tends to be currently the case. Also, the majority of teachers are not qualified as teachers, although they may be qualified to degree level. The current shortage of trained teachers is supposed to be addressed by Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) who are the main initial teacher education provider in Rwanda. KIE is also aiming to contribute, through its teacher training programmes, to a change of current school practices (which are predominantly based on a traditional transmission model of learning and teaching), to more interactive pedagogies and classroom practices which promote learners’ critical thinking. In summary, the new National Curriculum offers a framework for developing Genocide education and related learning and teaching about community cohesion. However, anecdotal classroom evidence to date suggests that the extent to which children are taught about the Genocide varies greatly from one classroom to another. This points to the need to develop systematic research into related classroom practices in Rwanda. This avoidance of teaching about Genocide also reflects concerns with wider social and official government discourses about Genocide remembrance and commemoration as outlined, for example in Burnet’s (2009: 80–110) work, who claims that ‘by suppressing open discussions about ethnicity through the national unity policy and by politicizing victimhood, the RPF regime has disguised its own ethnisme’ (Burnet, 2009: 100). From an educational perspective, we would argue that while developing educational dialogues about Genocide is necessarily extremely difficult and highly sensitive due to the variety of personal Rwandan histories brought together in Rwandan classrooms, it is exactly this complexity which might constitute a possible starting point for developing genuine learning about the 1994 Genocide. In the following section, we will illustrate, based on some project examples from an ongoing project between the University of Nottingham’s School of Education and Kigali Institute of Education, how this learning process might start and how education of minorities in

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Rwanda must always mean education for all because of Rwanda’s recent Genocide past.

Guiding questions In considering the case study and thinking about the role of education in building national and local identity consider the following guiding questions to help focus your thinking: z

z

z

z

z

Was the sectarian nature of schools and schooling in part responsible for the Genocide of 1994? If the revised school curriculum is about building consensus and tolerance, can this work without family support? Should instruments of the state (schools) be responsible for defining national identity (Rwandanness)? Is the move from French to English as the medium of instruction helpful in the new start for schools? What part does language play in identity? How overt should the Genocide be in the school curriculum at primary and secondary levels? Is there a danger that it will get lost in the desire to forget and move on? Is this a good thing?

We hope you find the case study interesting and helpful in considering the education response to an extreme event in the national consciousness.

Case study – EDCOCO (Education for Community Cohesion) In the final sections of this chapter we describe a development and research project set up between the University of Nottingham, School of Education and the Kigali Institute of Education. This is a 3-year DelPHE project, funded by the British Council in partnership with the Department for International Development and brings beginning teachers and academics involved in initial teacher education together from the two institutions. The beginning teachers are mainly, but not exclusively, history teachers who through a dedicated website and a password protected virtual learning environment are able to explore pedagogical issues about teaching sensitive and potentially controversial issues, particularly the Holocaust and the 1994 Genocide. The Nottingham-based student teachers are on a 1-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course while the student teachers in Rwanda are 3rd/4th year undergraduates

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Education and Minorities on an education degree course. The main aim of this work is to examine how, through the teaching of such topics, greater awareness, engagement with, and promotion of community cohesion can be developed both in Rwanda and the United Kingdom. In many respects this gets to the heart of teaching about some of the key issues where there are divisions between different groups, and this applies to both countries. In Rwanda it is exploring issues around the ‘old’ ethnic divisions, while in the United Kingdom it is exploring issues around ethnic tensions within society – issues such as racism, Islamophobia, class issues and religious divisions. A key part of this EDCOCO (Education for Community Cohesion) project has been the development of a dedicated website (www.edcoco.org). This site is composed of two main sections – a public facing area that provides further details of the project, information about community cohesion and a series of links to other key sites and a second area, a password protected section, that is accessible only to the beginning teachers and academics involved in the project. Within this ‘protected’ section there are a number of online activities. The first set of activities involves the student teachers and academics establishing a forum – a sense of shared space in which there is a ‘we are all in this together’ feeling – as a precursor to further discussions about teaching controversial issues. Thus student teachers are asked to provide a mini autobiography of themselves in which they outline their own educational backgrounds, their own families, what they enjoy doing, as well as to talk about something that is currently in the news. They also present to one another (UK to Rwandan and vice versa), a film or powerpoint presentation about the education system in their respective countries. There are also opportunities to reflect on visits they make to the National Holocaust Centre in Laxton in Nottinghamshire and to the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre. All of these activities aim to build up an understanding of each others’ contexts and to start to establish a sense of confidence, openness and dialogue. The next activities involve the very practical work of planning for the teaching of the Holocaust or Genocide. In this section, many aspects of their work with young people are explored including their feelings and emotions, practical pedagogical approaches, their own evaluations of their lessons and also the pupils’ responses to their teaching. Within this section we also explore how, through the teaching of these areas, they might begin to link to ideas and approaches that develop a greater sense of community cohesion. The students often find this very difficult and to date there are frequent interventions by the tutors to develop the student teachers’ thinking in this area.

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Through this practical work and the discussions that take place a number of key aspects have emerged. The following are some of the major findings that pertain to the focus of this chapter but a full report on the project will be forthcoming. First, the Rwandan students really value the idea of a ‘safe space’ so that they can talk through issues that they face when teaching about the Genocide. These issues relate to their own backgrounds and what happened to their families in the Genocide. Issues of ethnicity are still current in the classroom and many of the student teachers expressed their concerns over the pupils’ reactions to them as teachers, teaching about the Genocide and their own ethnic identities. Although not questioned in a direct way by their pupils, the beginning teachers spoke of their pupils surreptitiously trying to find out whether they were Hutu or Tutsi. The student teachers also spoke of issues around generation divides and saw that teaching about the Genocide in schools was difficult, but this was made more difficult by the messages that pupils got from the older generations back in their families or villages. Some pupils also expressed the view that this was all in the past and that there was no need to know about this and there was a risk of enflaming ethnic tensions again. Some of the beginning teachers were unsure as to how to answer such questions. Many of the beginning teachers spoke about getting the aim of their lessons ‘correct’ and linking this to the wider agenda of community cohesion and ideas of all being Rwandan. Certainly from this work the researchers can see that there are still major issues with ethnicity in Rwandan schools and classrooms. All of these concerns, apprehensions and questions made the UK beginning teachers reflect hard on what they are trying to achieve in their lessons about the Holocaust. This has resulted in more sustained and focused work in the classroom, linking directly to issues about discrimination, victimization and violence in the world that surrounds young people today. Furthermore, the project has resulted in UK beginning teachers thinking more about how to link the history of the European Holocaust to problems in the school and local community, the United Kingdom and wider issues in the world. Through these approaches they address the often-used phrase of ‘Never Again’ and employ other genocides that have happened in history, including the events in Rwanda to further illustrate the key points that they are trying to get across to young people about their own actions and the actions of people around them. In this work one further aspect has come to light and this has meant a reconfiguration of the project. It has become apparent that when trying to

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Education and Minorities work with pupils, beginning teachers and indeed university tutors, we have been trying to make sense of the extraordinary events of the Genocide or the Holocaust and then relating this back to the ‘ordinary’ that we see around us and this may not be working as well as it could. So in recent months we have turned the telescope around so to speak and instead started by exploring together what might be the ‘ordinary’ context around ourselves, and then from these ordinary beginnings we have tried to engage with the extraordinary. This borrows from approaches used in a project called Young Peoples’ Geography (see http://www.youngpeoplesgeographies.co.uk/). Here pupils begin to discuss topics such as where they go to do their shopping, what route they might take to school, who their neighbours are and what they know about them. It is from these discussions that ideas and approaches to community cohesion can take place and from here it is possible to explore how this broke down in the past and in some cases broke down so badly that it led to the Holocaust and other Genocides. It would appear from the early stages of this work that this approach is allowing for issues of ethnicity to at least be acknowledged particularly where this is talked about in an intergenerational way. More research obviously needs to be done in this area and we anticipate that there will be forthcoming publications from this work.

Conclusion It is very clear that Rwanda has achieved much in terms of education since the Genocide. Education is no longer torn apart by ethnic divisions, quota systems and favouritism or the ability to pay for basic (primary school education). It is hard to see what other routes may have been taken post-1994 in terms of education policies and practices but it remains crucial that in attempts to create a Rwandan identity, those ethnic groups and divisions are not just ignored, exploited for political gain or used to foster further hatred. The school curriculum must allow for the acknowledgment that ethnicity has been and is part of the historical, political, cultural, social and geographical make up of the country. Teachers must be able to tackle the questions that pupils will raise in more critical thinking and enquirybased pedagogies that are being introduced in schools. If this is not done, there is a danger of social and historical amnesia and a risk that ethnicity could remain or redevelop as a force for evil.

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Further reading Prunier, G. (1995) The Rwanda Crisis 1959–1994: History of a Genocide. London: Hurst and Company. This work provides a very good overview of the Rwandan Genocide. Early chapters examine the historical background of Rwanda and provide a good overview of the ethnic divisions including the various theories as to the origins of the different ethnic groups, how these divisions were played out in politics and society in general. There are also references that look at developments in education. The main sections of the book consider the harrowing events of 1994 and the immediate postGenocide reconstruction. Buckley-Zistel, S. (2009) ‘Nation, narration, unification? The politics of history teaching after the Rwandan Genocide’, Journal of Genocide Research (2009), 11 (1), March, 31–53. This paper provides a very clear introduction to the idea of collective identity and being Rwandan and the problems that this approach creates in terms of teaching history and developing an understanding of the past. It considers that by promoting this ‘unified’ view of the past, divisions and resentments may persist and by insisting that alternative interpretations of the past do not ‘officially’ exist can inhibit true reconciliation and ‘a genuinely grown national identity in the future’ (31).

References African Rights (2001) The Heart of Education: Assessing Human Rights in Rwanda’s Schools. Kigali: African Rights. Buckley-Zistel, S. (2009) ‘Nation, narration, unification? The politics of history teaching after the Rwandan Genocide,’ Journal of Genocide Research (2009), 11 (1), March, 31–53. Burnet, J. E. (2009) ‘Whose Genocide? Whose Truth? Representations of victim and perpetrator in Rwanda’, in A. L. Hinton and K. O’Neill (eds), Genocide: Truth, Memory and Representation. Durham: Duke University Press, pp. 80–110. Dallaire, R. (2004) Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda. London: Arrow. Davies, L. (2004) Education and Conflict: Complexity and Chaos. London: Routledge Falmer. —(2005) ‘Schools and war: urgent agendas for comparative and international education’, Compare, 35 (4), 357–71. —(2006) ‘Understanding the education-war interface’, in Forced Migration Review Supplement: Education and Conflict: Research, Policy and Practice. Oxford: Refugees Studies Centre, UNICEF, Oxford University’s Department of Educational Studies. Eltringham, N. (2004) Accounting for Horror: Post-Genocide Debates in Rwanda. London; Sterling, VA: Pluto Press. Facing History and Ourselves (2008) ‘Facing history and ourselves 2008 Annual Report’. http://www. facinghistory.org/sites/facinghistory.org/files/annual-report-2008.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011).

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Education and Minorities Johnson, D. and Stewart, F. (2007) ‘Education, ethnicity and conflict’, International Journal of Educational Development, 27 (3), 247–51. Kroslak, D. (2007) The Role of France in the Rwandan Genocide. London: Hurst. Melvern, L. (2000) A People Betrayed: The Role of the West in Rwanda’s Genocide. London, New York: Zed Books. National Curriculum Development Centre (2008) ‘National Curriculum Guide’. Education. Kigali: NCDC. Novelli, M. and Lopes Cardozo M. T. A. (2008) ‘Conflict, education and the global south: New critical directions’, International Journal of Educational Development, 28 (4), 473–88. Prunier, G. (1995) The Rwanda Crisis 1959–1994. History of a Genocide. London: Hurst and Company. —(2009) Africa’s World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rittner, C., Roth, J. K. and Whitworth, W. (eds) (2004) Genocide in Rwanda: Complicity of the Churches? St Paul, Minnesota, Aegis in association with Paragon House. Semujanga, J. (2003) Origins of the Rwandan Genocide. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books. Sidiropoulos, E. (2002) ‘Democratisation and militarisation in Rwanda: eight years after the genocide’, African Security Review, 11 (3), 77–87. Strauss, S. (2006) The Order of Genocide: Race, Power, and War in Rwanda. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Uvin, P. (1997) ‘Prejudice, crisis and Genocide in Rwanda’, African Studies Review, 40 (2), 91–115. Walker-Keleher, J. (2006) ‘Reconceptualizing the relation between conflict and education: the case of Rwanda’, Praxis: The Fletcher Journal of Human Security, 21, 35–53. Whitworth, W. (ed.) (2006) We Survived Genocide in Rwanda. Laxton, Newark (UK): Quill Press in association with The Aegis Trust.

Websites (accessed 9 July 2011) http://www.edcoco.org/ http://www.youngpeoplesgeographies.co.uk/ http://www.mineduc.gov.rw/ http://www.ncdc.gov.rw/ http://www.aegistrust.org/ http://www.kigalimemorialcentre.org/old/index.html http://holocaustcentre.net/ http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/ed_for_all/background/world_conference_jomtien.shtml http://www.genocidearchiverwanda.org.rw/index.php/Welcome_to_Genocide_Archive_Rwanda

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Education as a Context for Integration: The Case of the Roma in Hungary

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Anna Horvai

Chapter Outline Introduction The great European challenge Identifying the Roma The question of minority status (Re)defining the Roma The reality of social exclusion Case study: The Roma in Hungary The Hungarian education system and the Roma Education as a humanitarian response: meeting Roma needs Roma exclusion in education Methods for Roma integration Moving forward with Roma education Conclusion: Hungarian and European integration initiatives Further reading

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Introduction One of the major social challenges facing Europe today is the integration of the Roma community, Europe’s largest and most marginalized minority group. Centuries of discrimination have forced the Roma into a debilitating cycle of

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Education and Minorities poverty, with the education system playing a dual role in both perpetuating and reducing inequalities. The chapter first highlights the multiple identities of the Roma, with special focus on the complexity of minority status. The chapter then identifies key components of social exclusion, with particular emphasis on integration projects in the Hungarian education system. The role of education as a humanitarian response with respect to the Roma is also considered within this discussion. Ultimately, the chapter highlights future initiatives in the area of Roma integration within the framework of the European Commission’s Europe 2020 Strategy (2010–20), the Hungarian EU Presidency (January–June 2011) and the Decade of Roma Inclusion (2005–15).

The great European challenge The European Commission’s Europe 2020 Strategy is a 10-year plan founded on the principles of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Launched in March 2010 to combat the devastating effects of the global economic crisis, the strategy encompasses five targets and seven flagship initiatives intended to bolster the economy and propel the European Union (EU) into the next decade. The strategy aims to achieve higher levels of employment and education, increased funding for R&D and innovation and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions paired with an increase in energy efficiency and use of renewables. The strategy also attempts to tackle poverty and social exclusion in Europe by reducing the number of individuals ‘at risk of poverty’ (European Commission, 2010a: 3) by 20 million. This is a particularly daunting task considering that 80 million people are currently at risk of poverty, a figure that includes a striking 19 million children (European Commission, 2010a: 16). Indeed, one of the flagship initiatives is a European platform against poverty and social exclusion, which includes the following components (European Commission, 2010b): 1. Ensuring economic, social and territorial cohesion. 2. Guaranteeing respect for the fundamental rights of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, and enabling them to live in dignity and take an active part in society. 3. Mobilizing support to help people integrate in the communities where they live, get training and help to find a job and have access to social benefits.

As a result, meeting both the Europe 2020 targets and adhering to the aims of the European platform against poverty will require a newfound approach

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to one of Europe’s greatest social challenges: the integration of the 7–11 million Roma living in Europe today. This heterogeneous ethnic minority has faced widespread discrimination since migrating to the continent from India between the ninth and fourteenth centuries (Ringold et al., 2005), resulting in their social, economic and political exclusion from mainstream society. The Roma are briefly identified in the Europe 2020 Strategy document as one of many groups ‘at particular risk’ (European Commission, 2010a: 18). Indeed, the Roma are regularly denied access to quality healthcare, education, housing and jobs. They are also underrepresented in the political arena and largely neglected by the legal system, acts that further reinforce their marginalization. In a recent article, philanthropist and businessman George Soros reflected on the critical problems facing the Roma community throughout Europe: Widespread discrimination, high unemployment, segregated schools, hate crimes, and inadequate health care are all hallmarks of life for the Roma – not the kind of life you would expect in Europe today. (Soros, 2010)

This grim picture is certainly at odds with the fact that nearly all European countries have been characterized as having ‘very high’ or ‘high’ levels of human development in the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) 2010 Human Development Index (HDI). However, many of these countries have ‘pockets of great poverty’ (Vermeersch, 2006: 23) that are often populated by Roma. According to the HDI Report, it is possible for highly developed countries to be simultaneously ‘unsustainable, undemocratic and unequal’ (UNDP, 2010: 6). The report makes specific reference to the Roma community in Romania, which achieved a HDI similar to Botswana’s population despite Romania’s significantly higher ranking in the HDI. It is evident that improving the lives of the Roma is a necessary prerequisite to reaching the Europe 2020 Strategy targets and for fulfilling the ambitions of the European platform against poverty. This chapter will analyse Roma exclusion, focusing specifically on how this exclusion is manifested in the education system. In particular, the chapter will consider methods for integration, with reference to notable initiatives in the Hungarian education system. The aims of the Europe 2020 Strategy (2010–20), the Hungarian EU Presidency (January–June 2011) and the Decade of Roma Inclusion (2005–15) will provide a framework for this discussion on Roma integration.

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Identifying the Roma Who are the Roma? Throughout history, the Roma have been labelled as ‘undesirables, evil-doers and idle riff-raff’ (Liégeois, 2007: 109) or treated as convenient scapegoats. Depending on the geographical context, Roma have been characterized as either ‘ignorant and stupid, an image quite similar to that created by American anti-Black racism’ (Gheorghe and Acton, 2001: 61) or as ‘cunning fox[es]’ (2001: 61) in the vein of anti-Semitism. However, the mainstream society’s relationship to the Roma minority has always been complex: Miskovic (2009) describes Roma as ‘European untouchables, but also a romantic dark self of the European Whites’ (2009: 202). Similarly, Liégeois (2007) asserts that it is the ‘mythical’ (2007: 161) Roma who are accepted by society because they are the exotic ‘other’: the counterpoint of civilized society. Today, the term ‘Roma’ is associated with ‘dramatic images of mass unemployment, poverty, ill health, discrimination and social exclusion’ (Vermeersch, 2006: 1). Although often used synonymously with ‘Gypsy’, the term ‘Roma’ is gaining wider popularity due to the negative stereotypes associated with the ‘Gypsy’ label. Indeed, a recent attempt by a Romanian majority MP to change ‘Roma’ to ‘tigan’ (a form of ‘Gypsy’) in official documents to prevent continued association of Roma with Romania was met with widespread condemnation: not only does the term have ‘profound pejorative and racist connotations’ (Policy Center for Roma and Minorities, 2010), but also it is undoubtedly both unethical and unjust to rename a group without the consent of the group in question. However, this debate masks the true intricacy of what it means to be a Roma. Guy (2001) argues that the use of the generic term ‘Roma’ tends to ‘oversimplify the complexities of Romani identity and experience by homogenising them’ (2001: xv). ‘Roma’ is often used as an umbrella term to refer to a number of subgroups – including Sinti, Ashkali, Kale, Beash and Travellers – despite the fact that these groups possess unique cultural and linguistic identities (Liégeois, 2007). Some communities use the Romani language, derived from Sanskrit, while others communicate using the national language or other mother tongue. Furthermore, although the majority of communities are sedentary, some are nomadic or semi-nomadic. Responding to the marginalization of the Roma is complicated by a dichotomy in definition: the Roma are often referred to collectively for the purpose of targeting policies, despite the fact that ‘the Roma’, as a cohesive group, does not exist. Indeed, Gheorghe and Acton (2001) assert that the ‘unity of ethnic struggles is always illusory’ (2001: 58) and that there is a need, instead, to

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recognize the diversity among the various Roma communities that make up the ‘Gypsy archipelago’ (2001: 55).

The question of minority status An information note by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), entitled ‘Towards Developing Country Engagement Strategies on Minorities’ (2009), offers a helpful overview of definitions and practical considerations related to minority groups. According to the document, ‘There is no internationally agreed definition of which groups constitute minorities’ (2009: 2). The OHCHR document refers specifically to Special Rapporteur Francesco Capotorti’s (1977) definition of ‘minority’: A group numerically inferior to the rest of the population, in a non-dominant position, consisting of nationals of the State, possessing distinct ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics and showing a sense of solidarity aimed at preserving those characteristics. (OHCHR, 2009: 2)

However, the parameters identified in the definition above are flexible: a minority group is not always one that is ‘numerically inferior’, or one that demonstrates ‘a sense of solidarity’. In an effort to protect minority rights, the 1992 UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (the UN Minorities Declaration) identifies groups with minority status and outlines the host of rights guaranteed to these individuals: Persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities . . . have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, and to use their own language, in private and in public, freely and without interference or any form of discrimination. (UN, 1992: Article 2, Item 1)

The UN Minorities Declaration refers to specific groups – national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities – ‘for purposes of international law’ (OHCHR, 2009: 5); thus factors such as disability and sexual orientation are not defined as constituting minority group status within this declaration. The UN does, however, emphasize the prevalence of double discrimination whereby individuals belonging to the minority groups identified in the declaration are also

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Education and Minorities subjected to discrimination based ‘on the grounds of gender, disability or sexual orientation’ (2009: 5). Above all, there is recognition of the shared experiences of minorities despite their diverse trajectories: minority groups are often disadvantaged with respect to economic, social and political status. The UN Minorities Declaration also aims to protect minority identity by ‘[preventing] forced assimilation and the loss of cultures, religions and languages’ (2009: 6). The Declaration refers specifically to education when it suggests that schools could promote inclusion by ‘encourag[ing] knowledge of the history, traditions, language and culture’ (UN, 1992: Article 4, Item 4) of minority groups.

(Re)defining the Roma According to Guy (2001), the categorization of the Roma has shifted throughout history, particularly between ethnic and social differentiation. Guy (2001) focuses on three historical transition points. World War II (1939–45) saw an emphasis on ethnic inferiority that resulted in the horrific genocide of hundreds of thousands of Roma. The end of the war and the subsequent rise of Communism then redefined the Roma as a distinct social, rather than ethnic, group. This change was a result of Roma inclusion in the social hierarchy due to a need for increased labour power. This period saw a ‘strengthening [of] the social identity of Roma’ (2001: 12) that simultaneously resulted in weakening their ethnic identity as a result of assimilation processes. The political transition in the late 1980s and early 1990s caused a shift back to defining the Roma as ethnically different from the majority population. This newfound emphasis on ethnicity ‘carried few risks and . . . only minor costs’ (2001: 12), and was arguably more of a symbolic gesture than an attempt to make tangible changes. The literature presents the Roma as primarily an ethnic minority, which suggests that the Roma meet at least some of the characteristics of Capotorti’s (1977) definition and are guaranteed the rights outlined within the UN Minorities Declaration (1992). However, using the ‘ethnic minority’ category to describe the Roma oversimplifies complex issues related to self-definition and the social construction of identity. Gheorghe (1997) has argued that acquiring national minority status for the Roma has ‘carried an implicit acknowledgement of the legitimacy of claims to “ownership” of their states by ethnic majorities’ (Guy, 2001: 21). As a result, there has been an emphasis on describing the Roma as a ‘transnational or non-territorial minority’ (2001: 21) or as a ‘full nation without territory’ (2001: 22). However, this makes it

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difficult to pinpoint responsibility for the wellbeing of the Roma and subsequently raises questions related to citizenship and the protection of legal rights in the national context. The fact that the Roma are ‘a huge diaspora embracing five continents, sharing the citizenship of a multitude of states, while lacking a territory of its own’ (2001: 55) further complicates the categorization of the Roma as solely an ethnic minority. Regardless of their minority status, however, the Roma are granted protection under a number of legal frameworks, including: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity in Cultural Expressions (2007). Moreover, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) are also intended to protect the rights of all individuals.

The reality of social exclusion For centuries, Roma have been pushed to the margins of European society. Roma have faced periods of exclusion, containment, inclusion (assimilation) and indecision (Liégeois, 2007). Exclusion policies have involved banishment, torture and ethnic cleansing of Roma throughout Europe, whereas containment policies resulted in the denial of Roma culture and the subsequent ‘violent integration’ (2007: 118) of the Roma into mainstream society. Assimilation was characterized by the labelling of Roma as ‘maladjusted individuals with social and psychological problems’ (2007: 126) who were expected to change in order to fit the ‘normal’ state of being. These policies have generally been detrimental to the Roma; indeed, according to José Manuel Fresno, Adviser for Ethnic Minorities in the European Union, ‘the only effective measures have been social policies based on the guarantee of rights and responsibilities’ (Alliance, 2010: 53). However, the reality for many Roma is continued social exclusion. UNICEF’s (2007) definition of social exclusion is an accurate reflection of the experiences of many Roma children across Europe: [Excluded children are those] deemed at risk of missing out on an environment that protects them from violence, abuse and exploitation, or . . . unable to access

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Education and Minorities essential services and goods in a way that threatens their ability to participate fully in society in the future. (2007: 12)

Roma children qualify for both components of this definition: they are frequently forced into child labour in order to support their families, and they are constantly barred from accessing quality education. In fact, Ringold et al. (2005) highlight the reciprocal relationship between poverty and social exclusion: the Roma remain impoverished because they are excluded from mainstream life, while this exclusion is compounded by their social and geographical marginalization. Moreover, poverty is more than just a stigma: it provides a further reason for the rejection of the Roma, who are ‘perceived as dependent on welfare benefits and burdens on the state’ (2005: 13). According to Crowe (2008), Roma exclusion is largely maintained by these negative public attitudes: ‘The first barrier to important change is societal prejudice that runs very, very deep’ (2008: 542). Thus, the social exclusion of the Roma is a consequence of the social hierarchy and its expectations. Why is Roma exclusion a pressing issue? According to the Open Society Institute (OSI) (2009), the purposeful marginalization of the Roma ‘undermines Europe’s potential as a community of states marked by peace, tolerance, and opportunity for all its inhabitants’ (OSI, 2009: 3). Leading rights organizations have noted increasing levels of violence against the Roma throughout Europe (reports include OSI’s Decade Watch 2010 [OSI, 2010b], Minority Rights Group International 2010, Amnesty International 2010), coinciding with a resurgence of right-wing extremism. This is evident in the growing popularity of the Jobbik party in Hungary, which has actively fuelled anti-Roma sentiment and, according to Hungarian MP Ágnes Osztolykán, ‘is cause for serious concern’ (Donnelly, 2011). Moreover, the deportation of thousands of Roma from France in 2010 – leading to an international debate on human rights, ethnic targeting and freedom of movement – also underscores the tension felt towards the Roma and an uncertainty regarding definition of, and responsibility for, this group. The marginalization of the Roma undoubtedly constitutes a serious human rights issue, and also has significant economic implications for Europe. The SDC and World Bank (2009) have asserted that European countries ‘cannot afford the exclusion from productive employment of millions of their citizens’ (2009: 9). The World Bank’s (2010) policy note on Roma inclusion identifies potential annual economic gains of €3.4–9.9 billion in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Serbia as a result of Roma integration in

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the labour market. The Roma Education Fund (REF) (2010) reiterates the importance of ensuring that ‘arguments in favor of human rights and economic efficiency are closely linked’ (REF, 2010a: 5), signifying the diverse consequences of marginalization. Moving beyond practical implications, there is also a growing need to ‘[give] substance to the ideals of social justice, democratic maturity and equality before the law’ (Alliance, 2010: 55) – in short, a return to the very fundamental values of the European Union.

Guiding questions As you read the case study shown below, please consider the following key questions to help frame the major issues: z z

z

Who is responsible for the integration of the Roma community, if anyone at all? How does the issue of Roma integration relate to the experiences of minority groups worldwide? What are the potentials and limitations of making these international comparisons? Negative public attitudes are a major obstacle to Roma integration. What methods could the education system employ to help change public opinion about the Roma?

Case study: The Roma in Hungary In 1986, the Roma were officially recognized as a cultural group in Hungary in an attempt to further differentiate between the Roma and the rest of society (Guy, 2001). The economic and social situation of this group severely worsened in the late 1980s, and it was the Roma who were deemed the ‘major losers in the economic transition’ (Argentieri, 2008: 228). The Roma experience was characterized by pandemic unemployment and destitution, verbal and physical racist attacks . . . increasing segregation in education and housing, and widespread health problems aggravated by poverty. (Guy, 2001: 13)

Indeed, the percentage of poor Roma doubled between 1991 and 2001; currently, about one-third of the Roma population in Hungary lives in extreme poverty (REF, 2010a). However, there has been some success in recognizing the needs of the Roma and developing policies that respond to the multiple facets of social exclusion. According to Ringold et al. (2005), ‘There has been a far greater proliferation of Roma policies and programs in Hungary than in other countries’

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Education and Minorities (2005: 124), which might well have to do with Hungary’s early accession to the EU in 2004. Hungary has made progress in integrating the Roma community by establishing the Office for National and Ethnic Minorities, and by passing the Minorities Act (1993) and the Hungarian Equal Treatment Act (2003). The Civil Code (1959) and the Public Education Act (1993) also form part of Hungary’s ‘anti-discrimination legal framework’ (REF 2010a: 15). Moreover, the Constitution of the Republic of Hungary (1989)1 explicitly outlaws discrimination ‘on the basis of race, color, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origins, financial situation, birth or on any other grounds whatsoever’ (Constitutional Court, 1989: Chapter XII, Article 70/A). Indeed, the Constitution makes specific reference to the protection of minority groups by ensuring their collective participation in public affairs, the fostering of their cultures, the use of their own languages, education in their own languages and the use of names in their own languages. (1989: Chapter XII, Article 68, Clause 2)

Minority political participation is also identified: further provisions guarantee minority representation and the right of minority groups to form selfgovernments. Thus, the legal framework for minority protection is in place, although it is unevenly enforced throughout the country. The OSI’s (2006) baseline study suggests that there are between 520,000 and 650,000 Roma in Hungary, making up roughly 5.85% of the population. These broad population estimates underscore the lack of reliable, disaggregated data based on ethnicity, making it difficult to fully grasp the nature and magnitude of the problems facing the Roma. Indeed, the title of the OSI’s (2010a) recent report – No Data, No Progress – suggests that data is a stepping stone to achieving lasting social change. However, the fact that the vast majority of the 12 Decade countries2 do not have current data on the Roma indicates a fundamental obstacle to progress.

1 The Hungarian Parliament approved a new constitution in April 2011 which guarantees basic rights for all nationalities living in Hungary. The constitution will enter into effect in January 2012. 2 The Decade of Roma Inclusion (2005–15), an initiative aimed at improving the lives of the Roma, is backed by 12 countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Spain) and a host of international organizations.

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The Hungarian education system and the Roma According to REF (2007), there are 20 regional governments and 3,153 municipalities in Hungary. Of these municipalities, 2,400 have educational institutions. As a result, the education system is entirely decentralized, ensuring free school choice and professional autonomy for schools. In fact, Balázs and Palotás (2006) have suggested that Hungary ‘has the third most decentralized educational system in the EU’ (Molnar and Dupcsik, 2008: 58). Responsibility for education at the national level is shared between the Ministry of Education and Culture and other relevant ministries. Although the Minister of Education has a number of overarching responsibilities, ‘he plays an extremely limited part in implementation’ (REF, 2007: 23). Therefore, the regional and local governments – responsible for the local curriculum, the appointment of headmasters and the use of finances – hold the real power. This decentralized structure, particularly as it is manifested through free school choice, has created a highly selective system in which quality is variable. By being selective in nature, the system ‘strongly disadvantages the poor, visible minorities, and special education students’ (2007: 29) by relegating these individuals to the weaker schools. According to REF (2007), a number of important changes to education legislation in the past few years have attempted to redress some of these inequalities. A ‘socially disadvantaged’ category (2007: 34) was created in 2002 to identify those eligible for social assistance. To be labelled as ‘socially disadvantaged’, an individual has to have parents who attended only elementary school, to belong to a family that receives supplementary family allowance or to be an orphan. This categorization ‘abolished a debate about the definition and registration of Roma’ (2007: 34), thereby providing Roma children with greater access to essential resources. The following year saw changes to kindergarten regulations, with the law now guaranteeing kindergarten places for disadvantaged children from the age of three. That same year, a new integration programme was introduced which offered preparatory training and further assistance to Roma students, and offered schools ‘legal and financial support for efforts to improve the integration of Roma children in public education’ (2007, 34). Notably, this programme did not force schools to integrate, but merely offered help if they chose to do so.

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Education and Minorities In 2004, it was decided that primary students can only repeat a year if they are absent from class for a significant portion of that year. Disadvantaged students are often held back due to their poor academic performance, which has led to their continued stigmatization and demoralization. In 2005, affirmative action programmes were introduced in tertiary education. Then, in 2006, the problems associated with free choice of schools were addressed. Schools can only deny entry to multiply disadvantaged students if there is a proven lack of space, and schools have to give preference to students in the given municipality. These developments signal a positive shift in attention to the limitations of the education system and their impact on disadvantaged students. They also indicate an awareness of the range of obstacles facing Roma students throughout their schooling. Thus, there has been progress in the promotion of quality education for Roma students. Indeed, REF (2007) asserts that ‘Roma children in Hungary have full access to education’ (2007: 10) and that the participation rate of Roma is relatively high. REF (2007) identifies the social support available to multiply disadvantaged students, including schoolbooks (and often additional school supplies), double family allowance to cover education-related expenses, a school meal contribution (either discounted meals or free meals), financial assistance and scholarship programmes. However, the education system is also plagued by a number of systemic weaknesses. According to the Green Book for the Renewal of Public Education in Hungary (2009), socio-economic disadvantages and the individual needs of students are not adequately recognized by the current education system (Fazekas et al., 2009). Above all, enrolment barriers, low quality of teaching, prejudice and widespread segregation hinder the educational success of Roma students.

Education as a humanitarian response: meeting Roma needs According to Brock and McCorriston (2008), education as a humanitarian response ‘seeks to provide knowledge and skills that are appropriate to the specific needs of different human groups at any given time’ (2008: 3). Although this concept is most often linked to education in emergencies and the specific experiences of marginalized groups, education as a humanitarian response is ‘more fundamentally related to the broader concept of EFA

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[Education For All], which relates to both emergency and stable situations’ (2008: 10). Thus, education as a humanitarian response is concerned with the accessibility of quality education for all children. Education is essential for meeting individual’s psychosocial needs, for developing conflict resolution and peace-building skills and for promoting personal development and active citizenship. It also has the potential to alter stereotypes and bring disparate groups together. In emergency situations, the school can be a safe haven for children to receive support and survival information. However, Buckland (2005) asserts that the ‘relationship between education and conflict is complex and multidirectional’ (2005: 2). Indeed, education can be seen as having ‘two faces’ (Bush and Saltarelli, 2000: 9) by both promoting reconciliation and amplifying inequalities. This debate is certainly relevant to the education of the Roma community. Although the education system has the potential to endorse positive social interaction and equal opportunities, it can also exacerbate social divisions as a result of structural and methodological weaknesses.

Roma exclusion in education The mainstream school system excludes Roma children in a number of ways, further reinforcing their social marginalization. Roma children are often streamed into special schools, or special classes within mainstream schools, which are intended to separate Roma from non-Roma students. The tendency to educate Roma pupils in a segregated environment reflects prejudice towards the Roma, as well as an inability (due to resources) or a reluctance (due to attitudes) to promote multicultural education. Moreover, placing Roma children into special schools or classes is also due to a misdiagnosis of behavioural problems. Indeed, an inability to distinguish between learning disabilities and socio-cultural differences often leads to the exclusion of Roma children who are thought to have special educational needs. Although some of these children may have learning disabilities many Roma children are mislabelled and unnecessarily streamed into separate schools and classes. ‘Regardless of the quality of teaching in special schools, students enrolled in these institutions are at a disadvantage’ (Ringold et al., 2005: 45). Indeed, special schools were developed for mentally and physically disabled students on a ‘socialist legacy of “defectology” ’ (2005: 45), a tendency to

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Education and Minorities attribute student differences ‘to disability rather than environmental conditions’ (2005: 45). REF (2007) asserts that the proportion of Roma children in these schools is ‘much greater than their overall proportion in the population of school-aged children’ (2007: 31). These special schools offer a ‘substandard education’ (Danova, 2004: 38) due to the segregated learning environment, low expectations and limited potential to progress into the mainstream school system – and later, into mainstream social and working life. According to Danova (2004), ‘Once a child is enrolled or transferred to a special school, the likelihood that the child will be reintegrated in regular school is close to zero’ (Danova, 2004: 35). However, these schools bolster their appeal by offering financial incentives for attendance and protection from social prejudice. Roma children are also channelled into special classes within the mainstream school system. The placement process involves entrance tests that often ignore the cultural and linguistic needs of Roma pupils. Roma children are therefore more likely to fail these tests and be channelled into classes that are entirely separate from the rest of the school population. As with the special schools, these classes are intended to prepare Roma children for mainstream provision; however, many Roma children remain in a segregated learning environment throughout their educational careers. De facto segregation in education is another means of exclusion. Many Romani ghetto schools still exist today due to residential segregation and ‘white flight’, or the tendency for non-Roma students to leave schools with high numbers of Roma students. Indeed, the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) (2007) has asserted that segregation is perpetuated when freedom of school choice is not accompanied by certain requirements for schools to maintain a balance of ethnic groups in their student bodies which is adequate to the ethnic composition in the respective territory. (ERRC, 2007: 40)

According to Amnesty International (2009), ‘de facto segregated Romaonly schools continued to exist in 170 localities’ (2009: 166) in Hungary. De facto segregation is particularly problematic due to the importance of school choice in Hungary, making it difficult to encourage greater integration. Finally, Danova (2004) identifies the ‘private student status’ (2004: 12) category as another method by which Roma pupils are nudged out of the mainstream school system. By being labelled a private student, Roma

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children are ‘exempted from all class attendance and . . . fulfil their educational obligation by taking exams at the end of each semester before an independent panel’ (National Institute of Public Education, 2003). Although parents supposedly have the choice to remove their children from the category of ‘private students’, they may feel pressured by the school to accept this categorization. Thus, the education of the pupil becomes the responsibility of the family rather than the school. The physical removal of the Roma child from the school environment has a number of developmental consequences, as well as implications for the future: social and economic success will be harder to achieve without the strong foundation of a quality education. According to REF (2010a), other key problems remain. Enrolment barriers are an issue due to the selective nature of the education system. This is evident in the lack of spaces, inadequate public transport (particularly for those living in rural areas who do not have access to good schools), and the inability for Roma parents to pay for the costs associated with schooling. Education provided for Roma pupils is often low quality, leading to class repetition and high drop-out rates at secondary level. Moreover, teachers may be unprepared to respond to the demands of multicultural classrooms. Thus, Roma students who are able to overcome many of the initial barriers to accessing quality education must then face a new set of challenges upon entering the school environment. A combination of these problems results in the unfortunately low educational attainment of Roma children. As a result, a multipronged approach must be developed to tackle these triggers of exclusion simultaneously.

Methods for Roma integration Building the foundation The Roma Education Fund (REF) supports a number of ongoing projects that address the educational needs of Roma students at various stages of their schooling. In particular, external evaluations of REF-supported projects have demonstrated ‘a direct link between attendance in pre-school and the increased enrolment rates of Romani children to mainstream primary education’ (REF, 2009: 11). A forthcoming UNICEF study ‘estimates that only one Roma child completes primary school for every four non-Roma children

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Education and Minorities in the CSEE region’ (UNICEF and European Social Observatory, 2010: 8). As a result, there has been significant emphasis on the impact of preschool education on the long-term development and educational achievement of Roma pupils. In autumn 2010, REF officially launched ‘A Good Start’, a €2 million project backed by the Directorate General for Regional Policy of the European Commission. The aim of the project is to provide ‘quality early childhood services’ (REF, 2011: 3) to both Roma and non-Roma children until the age of six, and to simultaneously provide Roma parents with access to resources and information necessary to support the early years development of their children. By focusing on both Roma and nonRoma children, the project adopts an inclusive approach that recognizes the importance of quality early childhood education services for all. The programme offers ‘home, community and centre based interventions’ (REF, 2011: 3) in four Decade countries: Hungary, Macedonia, Romania and Slovakia. Moreover, the project acknowledges the differences between countries and ensures that interventions are contextualized. A key component of ‘A Good Start’ is its robust training programmes and evaluation mechanisms, which were developed with guidance from the World Bank and the UNDP (REF, 2010b). The European Commission (2010c) cites ‘support for pupils and families, after-school tutoring and activities, and the involvement of Roma and Traveller families, particularly mothers’ (European Commission, 2010c: 42) as significant components of a quality education for Roma children. ‘A Good Start’ incorporates a number of these elements and is likely to impact ‘at least 850 Roma and non-Roma children and their families’ (REF, 2010b: 4) in Hungary, across both urban and rural areas: Nyíregyháza, Hodász, Nagyecsed, Nagydobos, Kántorjánosi, Nyírkáta (REF, 2011). The project aims to increase the preschool enrolment of Roma children from the age of three, signifying the benefits of starting preschool as early as possible. The project also promotes the role of parents in the classroom and strengthens the relationship between parents and teachers. Moving beyond early childhood education, the Hungarian project aims to engage with students in pre-service teacher training in order to impart ‘practical knowledge on educational inclusion’ (REF, 2010c: 11); thus, improving awareness of multicultural education among trainee teachers is central to promoting an inclusive classroom environment. ‘A Good Start’ has a number of other noteworthy components, including the Meséd (Your Tale) programme which offers preschool preparation for Roma

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mothers and bolsters their communication skills in order to promote reading at home. Forthcoming evaluations of ‘A Good Start’ will undoubtedly offer insight into the methods and policies that are most effective in educating Roma children.

Following a model of desegregation A number of successful integration projects have emerged in local communities in Hungary, suggesting the potential for integration on a wider scale. Hódmezővásárhely, a town in southeast Hungary, has been identified as a ‘pioneer’ (Thorpe, 2008) for developing a comprehensive integration model that resulted in the closure of a number of Roma ghetto schools. The town decided to reform the existing, segregated education system in order to offer all multiply disadvantaged students access to quality education: Our aim is to build a new educational structure that is going to withstand the test of time, and become the basis of an effective educational system . . . that meets the normative orders of the legal system concerning public education and the social integration of the Roma people. (Municipality of Hódmezővásárhely).

Called ‘Hand in Hand’, the Hódmezővásárhely model for integration includes both a restructuring of the education system and content reform. Restructuring encompassed a number of initiatives, including the reorganization of elementary schools around districts, the elimination of free school choice (to prevent the streaming of multiply disadvantaged students to the weakest schools) and the implementation of a free school bus service for rural children. Meanwhile, the content reform component of the integration model focused on offering equal educational opportunities to students in the town. The model introduced new scholarships, instated a mentoring programme with high schools, offered teacher training related to teaching multiply disadvantaged students and emphasized a competency-based education (Héjj, 2010). Furthermore, the model also introduced changes within the town as a whole. This included the implementation of an anti-segregation plan, the establishment of a Roma Council, elimination of Roma settlements and the development of a health programme and a support system for creating jobs (Héjj, 2010). This integration model is noteworthy because it addresses obstacles to integration at the school and community levels

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Education and Minorities simultaneously, thereby offering a more comprehensive approach to tackling Roma exclusion. Working with the University of Szeged, the South Great Plains Regional Social Research Association (DARTKE) and the Agora Foundation for Social Research (AGORA), REF has implemented integration projects in both Szeged and Hódmezővásárhely. Entitled ‘Moving out of segregation: Roma support programmes in primary education’, this project has been identified as an example of good practice in the Cedefop (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) Study Visits Catalogue 2011–2012. The project in Szeged and Hódmezővásárhely was developed in response to the desegregation efforts in these towns in 2007 and 2008. REF initiated the project ‘in order to prevent rigid integration of formerly segregated, mostly Roma pupils into their new academic environments’ (REF, 2010d: 1). The project focuses on mentoring, and about 12 schools from both towns take part in this scheme. Since the project was initiated in 2007, the work of the DARTKE Student Mentoring Program (DSMP) has been successful in promoting integration by training teachers on the learning needs of Roma children. The DSMP has seen a number of tangible results: the study visit document concludes that both the drop out and grade repetition rates are declining. Another study visit to Hódmezővásárhely in 2010 also identified the merits of the town’s integration programme: ‘There seemed to be a genuine commitment to providing every child with equal access to quality education’ (Thomas, 2010: 1). The visiting practitioner commented on the selection of staff – a careful process that involved determining who would best promote the desegregation process – and the use of student mentors to support the pupils. She also noted the fact that ‘teachers talked openly about the issues of segregation and about respecting other cultures’ (Thomas, 2010: 2), a constructive method for protecting cultural identity and promoting inclusion.

Planning for the future The European Commission (2010c) has identified scholarship programmes and mentoring as central to promoting entry and retention of Roma students at university level. Indeed, one of the programmes that REF sponsors – the Romaversitas Programme – is aimed at increasing the number of Roma students who reach tertiary education. Shortlisted in 2011 for the ERSTE

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Foundation Award for Social Integration, the programme offers an impressive combination of funding, mentorship, skills training and language education to provide students with the essential resources and skills to achieve in the university environment. Indeed, according to REF (2007), the Romaversitas Programme ‘also helps students preserve their Roma identity, interact among themselves, acquire skills not taught in university, and find employment after graduation’ (REF, 2007: 54). A recent project summary evaluation of the Romaversitas Programme found that the graduation rate was over 90% in the previous year, and 60% of alumni found jobs within six months of graduating (REF, 2010e: 1). These statistics indicate the potential effectiveness of the programme with regard to both academic achievement and long-term employment. Thus, the programme has implications beyond academic success at university: it recognizes the importance of preparing Roma students for entry into the labour market.

Moving forward with Roma education Encouraging Roma children to join an education system that is socially divisive is counterproductive. Instead, the system itself requires transformation – in structure, ideology and methodology – to ensure that all children are receiving high quality education regardless of socioeconomic background or ethnicity. A significant body of research exists which has identified major priority areas for improving the education system, particularly with regard to the educational needs of Roma students. A recent REF position paper (2010a) outlines policies that have proven successful as a result of work done by the Council of Europe, the OSI, the World Bank, UNDP, REF and a host of universities: 1. Desegregated education is more effective than segregated education when it comes to ‘improving the performance of Roma children in school’ (2010a: 8). 2. Scholarships for secondary and tertiary education are central to Roma participation, but should also be paired with mentoring and advisory services. 3. One year of preschool enrolment ‘is probably the most effective investment for helping children to succeed in primary school and even beyond’ (2010a: 8).

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Education and Minorities 4. Appreciation and respect for Roma culture and language encourages integration. 5. Parent and community involvement is key to improving enrolment rates and performance. 6. The use of special schools and classes as a depository for Roma children ‘should be abolished without delay’ (2010a: 8). 7. The public is generally receptive to the idea of public funding for Roma education. 8. Countries that implement ‘comprehensive policies with good incentive systems’ (2010a: 8) are making more progress than those that do not. 9. More information is needed regarding the influence of Roma mediators, the impact of multicultural education training on teachers, and the methods for establishing an incentive system for desegregation. 10. Scaling up is the next priority.

These lessons offer an effective overview of the progress that has been made in the area of Roma education, as well as the goals to be achieved. The final point – the importance of scaling up – is particularly pertinent considering the host of successful, yet isolated, integration projects that have the potential to make a significant impact if translated to the national level. Paired with the necessary dissemination of evidence-based policies, scaling up individual projects would ensure that effective methods and programmes are propagated. This chapter has offered a snapshot of Roma education within one European country, but many of the issues outlined here are relevant to countries across Europe. It remains to be seen whether the Hungarian EU Presidency will have a lasting impact on shaping European policies towards the Roma community. Indeed, it is hoped that developments in this area at the European level will be well informed by the existing myriad of research on the Roma, as well as by the Roma community itself.

Conclusion: Hungarian and European integration initiatives The year 2010–11 saw increasing emphasis on the issue of Roma integration. In April 2010, the European Commission adopted the ‘Communication on Roma in Europe’, the first policy document related

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specifically to the Roma. The document presents a programme for developing inclusive policies paired with a clearly defined list of challenges. The Commission then established the ‘Roma Task Force’ in September 2010 in order to analyse countries’ responses to this landmark policy document, and to assess member countries’ use of EU funds for the purpose of Roma integration. In February 2011, the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee approved Hungarian Roma MEP Lívia Járóka’s strategy on Roma integration, with an overwhelming majority in favour. The priorities outlined in the initiative are meant to reflect the aims of the Hungarian EU Presidency, and to be guiding points for the work of the European Commission: According to the initiative, the EU must enforce the principle of equality in employment and education for the Roma, their basic rights must be protected, the efficiency of EU resources improved and Roma women must be involved in developing the policy for social inclusion. (MTI, 2011)

Járóka also reiterated the importance of defining the strategy’s target group by economic attributes as opposed to ethnicity, and the need to identify those areas where social exclusion is the most severe. This strategy may well supplement the EU Platform for Roma Inclusion’s ‘The Ten Common Basic Principles on Roma Inclusion’,3 adopted by the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council in June 2010, which are intended to help countries and the EU in developing Roma inclusion policies and initiatives. At the time of writing this chapter, the fifth meeting of the EU Roma Platform was due to take place in April 2011, and the Hungarian EU Presidency had reached its midpoint. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán identified Roma integration as a priority during the Presidency by supporting the development of a EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies. If adopted, the Framework Strategy would provide the foundation for both

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1. Constructive, pragmatic and non-discriminatory policies; 2. Explicit but not exclusive targeting; 3. Inter-cultural approach; 4. Aiming for the mainstream; 5. Awareness of the gender dimension; 6. Transfer of evidence-based policies; 7. Use of Community instruments; 8. Involvement of regional and local authorities; 9. Involvement of civil society; 10. Active participation of the Roma.

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Education and Minorities national Roma integration reform programmes and a European Roma Policy. Moreover, the Hungarian Presidency aimed to respond to the social dimension of the Europe 2020 Strategy by pursuing a ‘horizontal approach’ (Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, 2011) that would make Roma integration a key objective across sectors. Overall, the Presidency committed to the concept of explicit but not exclusive targeting, thereby recognizing the pressing needs of all individuals living under conditions similar to those of the Roma population. The meetings and initiatives cited above are just a few examples of ongoing dialogue on the topic of Roma integration. Indeed, it remains to be seen whether the Hungarian EU Presidency, the Europe 2020 Strategy and the imminent Decade of Roma Inclusion deadline (2015) can transform discussion into focused, concerted action in the coming months, both within Hungary and across the EU.

Further reading The following books offer a helpful overview of the problems facing the Roma community throughout Europe. These texts provide a good foundation from which students can then identify particular topics to read about, or research, in greater detail. Reports, studies and evaluations produced by leading NGOs focusing on Roma rights are also a very valuable source of information and should be used to supplement the books and journal articles on this topic. Liégeois, J. (2007) Roma in Europe. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Ringold, D., Orenstein, M. and Wilkens, E. (2005) Roma in an Expanding Europe: Breaking the Poverty Cycle. Washington, DC: World Bank.

References Alliance Magazine (2010) ‘The Roma in Europe: no social justice possible without Roma inclusion’, 15 (4), 53–6. http://www.romadecade.org/files/downloads/News/53-56%20Fresno%20Roma%20 article.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011). Amnesty International (2009) The State of the World’s Human Rights. London: Amnesty International Publications. —(2010) The State of the World’s Human Rights. London: Amnesty International Publications. Argentieri, F. (2008) ‘Hungary: dealing with the past and moving into the present’, in S. Wolchik and J. Curry (eds) Central and East European Politics: From Communism to Democracy. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, pp. 215–31.

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Brock, C. and McCorriston, M. (2008) Towards the Concept of Education as a Humanitarian Response in the Context of a UNESCO chair/UNITWIN network. London: UK National Commission for UNESCO. Buckland, P. (2005) Reshaping the Future: Education and Postconflict Reconstruction. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications. Bush, K. and Saltarelli, D. (2000) The Two Faces of Education in Ethnic Conflict: Towards a Peacebuilding Education for Children. Florence: UNICEF. Cedefop (2011) Study Visits Catalogue 2011/2012. http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/Files/4097_ multi.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011). Constitutional Court (1989) Constitution of the Republic of Hungary. http://www.mkab.hu/index. php?id=constitution Crowe, D. (2008) ‘The Roma in post-Communist Eastern Europe: questions of ethnic conflict and ethnic peace’, Nationalities Papers, 36 (3), 521–52. Danova, S. (2004) Stigmata: Segregated Schooling of Roma in Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest: European Roma Rights Centre. Donnelly, C. (2011) ‘Roma in Hungary face loss of identity’, 13 February. New Europe. http://www. neurope.eu/articles/104768.php (accessed 9 July 2011). European Commission (2010a) ‘Europe 2020: a European strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’. Communication from the Commission, 3 March. http://eunec.vlor.be/detail_bestanden/ doc014%20Europe%202020.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011). —(2010b) Europe 2020. http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm (accessed 9 July 2011). —(2010c) ‘Improving the tools for the social inclusion and non-discrimination of Roma in the EU’. http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=423&langId=en&pubId=613&type=2&furtherPubs=yes (accessed 9 July 2011). European Platform for Roma Inclusion (2009) ‘The ten common basic principles on Roma inclusion’. http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=761&langId=en (accessed 9 July 2011). European Roma Rights Centre (2007) The Impact of Legislation and Policies on School Segregation of Romani Children: A Study of Anti-discrimination Law and Government Measures to Eliminate Segregation in Education in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. Budapest: ERRC. —(2010) ‘UN bodies urge Hungary to act against Roma rights abuses’, 11 November. http://www.errc. org/cikk.php?cikk=3791 Fazekas, K., Köllő, J. and Varga, J. (eds) (2009) Green Book for the Renewal of Public Education in Hungary. Budapest: Ecostat. Gheorghe, N. and Acton, T. (2001) ‘Citizens of the world and nowhere: minority, ethnic and human rights for Roma during the last hurrah of the nation-state’, in W. Guy (ed.) Between Past and Future: The Roma of Central and Eastern Europe. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press. Guy, W. (ed.) (2001) Between Past and Future: The Roma of Central and Eastern Europe. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press.

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Education and Minorities Héjj, D. (2010) ‘Hand in Hand’ – Model of Hódmezővásárhely, 26 February, Rome. http://www. euromanet.eu/newsroom/archive/italy_hosted_euroma_transnational_seminar___structural_ funds__investing_in_roma_inclusion_at_the_local_and_regional_level_.html (accessed 9 July 2011). Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (2011) ‘Creating a European Roma Policy’. http://www.eu2011.hu/developing-european-roma-policy (accessed 9 July 2011). Liégeois, J. (2007) Roma in Europe. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Minority Rights Group International (2010) State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples: Events of 2009. London: Minority Rights Group International. Miskovic, M. (2009) ‘Roma education in Europe: in support of the discourse of race’, Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 17 (2), 201–20. Molnar, E. and Dupcsik, C. (2008) ‘Country Report on Education: Hungary’ (EDUMIGROM Background Papers), Central European University. http://www.edumigrom.eu/sites/default/files/ field_attachment/page/node-1817/edumigrombackgroundpaperhungaryeducation.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011). MTI (2011) ‘EP committee approves Hungarian proposal on Roma inclusion’, 16 February. http://www. politics.hu/20110216/ep-committee-approves-hungarian-proposal-on-roma-inclusion (accessed 9 July 2011). Municipality of Hódmezővásárhely. ‘Issues concerning integration and de-segregation educational reform in the Municipality of Hódmezővásárhely. European network on social inclusion and Roma under the Structural Funds’. http://www.euromanet.eu/resource_center/archive/49278.html (accessed 9 July 2011). National Institute of Public Education (2003) ‘Hungarian Roma Education Policy Note’. http://www. oki.hu/oldal.php?tipus=kiadvany&kod=integration (accessed 9 July 2011). OHCHR (1992) ‘UN declaration on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities’. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/minorities.htm (accessed 9 July 2011). —(2009) ‘Towards developing country engagement strategies on minorities: an information note for OHCHR staff and other practitioners’. http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Strategies_ on_minoritiesEN.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011). OSI (2006) Monitoring Education for Roma: A Statistical Baseline for Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe. New York: Open Society Institute. —(2009) 10 Goals for Improving Access to Education for Roma. Budapest: Open Society Institute. —(2010a) No Data, No Progress: Data Collection in Countries Participating in the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015. New York: Open Society Institute. —(2010b) Decade Watch Report: Results of the 2009 Survey. Budapest: Open Society Institute. Policy Center for Roma and Minorities (2010) ‘Official designation of Roma in Romania: open letter to Jose Manuel Barroso and Viviane Reding’, 10 December. http://www.policycenter.eu/officialdesignation-of-roma-in-romania (accessed 9 July 2011).

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Ringold, D., Orenstein, M. and Wilkens, E. (2005) Roma in an Expanding Europe: Breaking the Poverty Cycle. Washington, DC: World Bank. Roma Education Fund (2007) Advancing Education of Roma in Hungary: Country Assessment and the Roma Education Fund’s Strategic Directions. Budapest: Komáromi Nyomda és Kiadó Kft. —(2009) Roma Education Fund: Strategy 2010–2015. Budapest: REF. —(2010a) ‘Roma inclusion in education: position paper of the Roma Education Fund for the High Level Meeting on Roma and travellers organized by the Council of Europe in close association with the European Union’, 20 October. http://www.romaeducationfund.hu/sites/ default/files/publications/roma_inclusion_in_education_position_paper.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011). —(2010b) ‘Quarterly Newsletter’, Issue 2, October 2010. http://www.romaeducationfund.hu/sites/ default/files/documents/newsletter_oct2010_nyomda.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011). —(2010c) ‘A good start’. http://www.romaeducationfund.hu/sites/default/files/documents/a_good_ start_booklet.2001.pdf —(2010d) ‘Moving out of segregation: Roma support program study visit’, 4–8 October 2010. —(2010e) REF Project Summary Evaluation: Romaversitas Foundation. —(2011) ‘Quarterly Newsletter’, Issue 3, February 2011. http://www.romaeducationfund.hu/sites/ default/files/publications/quarterly_newsletter_issue_3.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011). SDC and World Bank (2009) Roma Realities: Decade 2005–2015. Le Mont-sur-Lausanne: Genoud. Soros, G. (2010) ‘Europe needs better Roma policies, 19 November. Open Society Foundations. http:// blog.soros.org/2010/11/europe-needs-better-roma-policies/ (accessed 9 July 2011). Thomas, E. (2010) Study Visit Report. ‘Visit attended: moving out of segregation: Roma support programmes in primary education’, 4–8 October. http://www.cyfanfyd.org.uk/resources/pdf/ Hungary-Study-Visit-Report-LT.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011). Thorpe, N. (2008) ‘Roma poverty a major issue for EU’, 16 September. BBC News. http://news.bbc. co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7618399.stm (accessed 9 July 2011). UN (1992) ‘Declaration on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/minorities.htm (accessed 9 July 2011). UNDP (2010) ‘The real wealth of nations: pathways to human development’, Human Development Report 2010. http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2010/ (accessed 9 July 2011). UNICEF (2007) Breaking the Cycle of Exclusion: Roma Children in South East Europe. Belgrade: Publikum. UNICEF and the European Social Observatory (2010) ‘Preventing social exclusion through the Europe 2020 Strategy: early childhood development and the inclusion of Roma families’. http://www. ecdgroup.com/pdfs/Preventing-Social-Exclusion.pdf (accessed 9 July 2011). Vermeersch, P. (2006) The Romani Movement: Minority Politics and Ethnic Mobilization in Contemporary Central Europe. New York: Berghahn Books.

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Education and Minorities Wolchik, S. and Curry, J. (eds) (2008) Central and East European Politics: From Communism to Democracy. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. World Bank (2010) ‘Roma inclusion: an economic opportunity for Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania and Serbia’, Policy Note, 30 September. http://www.romadecade.org/roma_inclusion_ an_economic_opportunity_for_bulgaria_czech_republic_romania_and_serbia_2010_ (accessed 9 July 2011).

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Teaching Cultural Identity or National Unity? Education of Tibetans in China

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Wendy Bignold

Chapter Outline Introduction Historical background Case study: cultural background The education system The curriculum Teacher education Conclusion Further reading

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Introduction Now part of the People’s Republic of China, Tibet has throughout much of its history been an independent Buddhist kingdom. Tibet covers approximately 12.5% of China’s land but Tibetans account for only 0.002% of its population, a minority population of 2.3 million (Zhang, 1995). While Tibetans are a majority in the region they live, they are recognized by the Chinese government as a minority nationality. Further groups of Tibetans, approximately 100,000 in total, have settled outside of China, elsewhere in Asia, with sizeable communities across India, Europe and America. ‘Tibet’ now refers to the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. This includes Lhasa City, once the capital of the independent

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Education and Minorities kingdom, and six counties or provinces around it. Outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region, nine autonomous counties with significantly sized Tibetan communities have been established by the Chinese government in the surrounding regions. ‘Autonomous’ in the context of Chinese autonomous regions means increased local autonomy, but in reality national government maintains a strong control. Outside of Lhasa, Tibet has a largely rural population. Tibet has been described as ‘the most ethnically homogenous, intensely religious, geographically remote from Beijing, and economically poor of China’s five nationality autonomous regions’ (Postiglione et al., 2006: 318). These four characteristics all impact on the education of Tibetans as this chapter will discuss. Many of the issues explored here are not specific to Tibetan pupils and teachers, but apply to the education of other minority nationality groups in China who tend to be largely rural populations too and as such are often disadvantaged by the education system: Educational development in China, however, has also been correspondingly characterized by regional imbalance and rural–urban disparity. In terms of both equality and quality of education, schools and children in rural China are in positions that are much more disadvantaged. (UNICEF, 2009: 6)

Tibet continues to have one of the lowest literacy rates of all regions in China. While the overall literacy rate for China was 93.3% in 2009, it was only 62.3% in Tibet, the lowest of all administrative regions (Human Development Report, 2009).

Historical background Tibet’s history has been entwined with China’s for centuries. As geographical neighbours there have been changes in the power balance between Tibetans and other neighbouring ethnic groups since 700 ad, with borders and dominant groups frequently shifting and subsequent dependence and independence moving backwards and forwards. Tibet enjoyed a period of relatively stable independence from China from 1912 to 1956. During this time, Tibet looked increasingly to the West to help it begin to modernize from a highly traditional and stratified, feudal social system. Since the mid1400s Tibet had been ruled as a theocracy, a country based on a theological government, with monks and religious leaders having a very high degree

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of influence in the Tibetan government (Mayhew et al., 2008). The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, a reincarnated figure, had been the head of state since the late 1500s. As such, the principal focus of the government was the maintenance of the religious state. Attempts to modernize were seen by some as obstructive to this and met with growing opposition from the highly powerful communities of monks and there was even conflict between key Buddhist leaders, as some recognized the need for modernization in order to remain independent, while others focused on their religious traditions. With society being structured around Buddhism the predominant form of education had, for many years, been monastic education, an early form of formal education in Tibet. Families with more than one son were expected, according to Tibetan tradition, to send one of them to a monastery to become a monk (Lin, 1997). These monastic schools taught basic literacy in the Tibetan language and the teaching and values of Buddhism. There were advanced ‘academies’ attached to some monasteries which provided in-depth study of Buddhism, traditional medicine and astronomy (Aiming, 2004). Alongside this provision, private schools had been set up since the eighteenth century (Sangay, 1998). Monks and retired government officials often set up small schools in their homes open to all local children, as it was regarded that passing on knowledge was good for the community. School fees were not required but pupils generally gave gifts to the teacher at key festival times. Neighbouring China had become a communist country in 1949 and the new Communist government, under the leadership of Chairman Mao Zedong, was keen to take over Tibet. (It had previously been part of China under the Manchu and Mongolian empires.) The Communists, with their political ideology of equality for all and disdain for organized religion, saw this as an opportunity to ‘liberate’ Tibetans from the ‘oppressive rule’ of Buddhist leaders who had maintained the status quo of society, keeping themselves in power while leaving the majority of the population to a demanding lifestyle of hard agricultural labour. Communist Chinese troops invaded Tibet in 1950 and for the next 5 years the Chinese government sought to establish control in this rural, mountainous region. While a onecountry, two-system structure was promised, which would mean that the Tibetan education system would be allowed to develop and modernize unrestricted by the dominant Han education provision of the time, there were few guarantees that this would actually be the case (Mayhew et al., 2008). In 1956 the Preparatory Committee for the Autonomous Region of Tibet was

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Education and Minorities established with the Dalai Lama as its official head but with actual power belonging to the Communist government in Beijing. During this time the Chinese opened schools for Tibetans to spread the Communist ideology and thereby strengthen their power base (Sangay, 1998). Tibet youth were paid to join the Communist Party and attend school. There then followed a period of revolt and uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule as the large numbers of Chinese troops now placed in Tibet caused a rapid decrease of food stocks leading to major financial inflation and there were increasing instances of political indoctrination promoting communist ideology and renouncing Buddhist beliefs. The Chinese government responded by increasing their control of Tibet and Tibetans, suppressing opposition, often in a violent manner, particularly with regard to religious symbols of Tibetan independence (Goodman, 1986). As a result of this the Dalai Lama left Tibet in 1959, taking his national government into exile in India. The Cultural Revolution took hold across China a few years later, a period of radical Communist rule which is now recognized by many historians, Chinese and others, as a period of suffering for many across China, and particularly in Tibet (Mayhew et al., 2008), where in an attempt to break the religious belief and commitment of Tibetans, people were forced to denounce the Dalai Lama as a traitor of his people. At the same time Tibetan farmers were forced to change what they grew and how they grew it, resulting in failed harvests and increasing malnutrition and food shortages; these further fuelled anti-Chinese feeling. Within this relatively recent historical context the Chinese have used education as a means of providing basic education for all people, while promoting a common set of values and beliefs in order to promote its national identity. While basic education for all contributes significantly to the development of individuals, families and communities (UNESCO, 2003), such an approach to it can be seen as being critical to ethnic minority cultures, values and beliefs: The Chinese Communist project of the last five decades has essentially been presented as a moral project, one of remoulding the cultures of its nationalities into a unitary modern socialist culture, based on Han Chinese culture. Adopting the Marxist theory that ethnic culture and nationalism was a transitory phenomenon that would ultimately give way to a unified proletarian culture, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) saw its main moral task as opening people’s minds to deficiencies of their existing cultures while, at the same time, presenting them with a new set of values and beliefs. (Bass, 2005: 433)

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The recent episode in Tibet’s political history described above is of significance to anyone studying education in the region, as Chinese education in Tibet is underpinned by political education or re-education as China continues to put down opposition in Tibet and bring the Tibetans into Chinese society in a calm and productive manner, as illustrated by Bass above. Ongoing ethnic tension in minority regions of China, including Tibet, has resulted in varying degrees of political instability and has ensured that governmental policies, including educational policies, continue to focus on developing national unity and a national identity (Lin, 1997).

Guiding questions As you read the remainder of the chapter and consider the education systems and structures in China (Tibet in particular) please consider the following key questions: z

z

What is the purpose of education in a country such as China with a huge population and many different ethnic groups? Should the purpose and opportunities be the same for all groups? Why? What is the most significant issue for Tibetans in relation to their education? Is it the maintenance and continuation of their culture, religion and language or is it to modernize their society and people which means learning Chinese and Western competencies and technologies? Can the two alternatives go together?

Case study: cultural background Tibetan culture is dominated by a regional form of Buddhism which has permeated all aspects of life in Tibet for the last 1,000 years and continues to do so. This is evident to anyone spending time in Tibet. It is so all encompassing that it does ‘spill out into every street’; Wrapped in an aura of mysticism, of devotions, of tinkling bells and fluttering prayer flags, its religious life spilled out into every street – pilgrims spinning their prayer wheel, chanting monks, the panoply and colour of each new procession with its clashing cymbals and gigantic drums. (Barber, 1997: 19)

Buddhism is a system of education, a process of discovery, of evolution, that removes someone from the mundane world of ignorance, unconsciousness and suffering to one of spiritual enlightenment and ultimate freedom of the

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Education and Minorities mind and body (Thurman, 1995). In Buddhism salvation is achieved through direct knowledge of one’s own ‘reality and the true nature of the world’ (p. 1). The very nature of Tibetan Buddhism means that it underpins all aspects of daily life: Tibetan Buddhists tend to be very intent on using their human lifetimes to move toward enlightenment, and their society is structured to allow the maximum number of people to spend the maximum energy in that direction. They believe that if a hard-won human lifetime is thoughtlessly wasted in mere survival activities, then it will be a very long time before another such well-endowed human life will be achieved again. (Thurman, 1995: 2)

This has had a significant impact on Tibetan culture, arts and values, as Buddhism was the dominant philosophy in Tibet for hundreds of years and as already described above, provided the structure and government for Tibetan society until the 1950s. Tibetan arts are inspired by Buddhism, but contain a synthesis of Indian, Nepalese and Chinese influences. Architecture, paintings, literature and dance remain important forms of art for Tibetans. Until the 1950s Tibetan society constituted three main groups – farmers, nomads and monks. While these groups had quite different lifestyles they all shared a deep faith in Buddhism which provided a common culture and identity, despite different customs. Tibetan culture differs greatly from Chinese (Han) culture because of its religious foundation; The sheer religiosity of the Tibetan people makes for vast differences between the culture of Tibet and China. . . . Although influenced by the cultures of its neighbours, Tibetan culture is markedly different to them. (Taylor, 1995: 37).

Chinese culture is rooted in family orientation and social obligations, with a greater focus on the present compared to the Tibetan focus on the future. The differences in culture cannot be underestimated when looking at educational provision, as culture, like language, is deeply entwined with identity and with aspirations of individuals, families and communities. The Tibetan language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family of languages and is significantly different from Chinese; while there are different dialects, it has one written form. It has a different written language, a different grammatical structure and is non-tonal, unlike Chinese. The dominant and

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official language of China is Mandarin, although there are other widely spoken languages belonging to the Chinese family, such as Cantonese, spoken in the South. Within the education system of any minority group the language of instruction takes on great significance, as language is very much tied up with identity.

The education system The purpose of education according to the Chinese government, is to improve the economy, raise the standard of living of its citizens and to ensure the continued existence of the communist state (Johnson and Chhetri, 2002). China’s education system consists of primary education (normally for 6 years), lower secondary education (3 years of junior high school), upper secondary education (3 years of senior high school or vocational-technical school) and higher education (UNICEF, 2009). In Central China, every child is guaranteed 9 years of schooling (primary and junior high). All minority children are expected to complete at least 3 years of primary schooling. How much longer they attend formal education then depends on where they live and on their academic capabilities. Those in pastoral areas of Tibet, for example, children of nomadic families, are only required to complete 3 years in total. Children living in rural, agricultural areas should attend 6 years of compulsory schooling, while children in urban areas are expected to complete 9 years. In order to progress from primary school to junior high school, however, pupils are expected to pass an examination. At age 16, a second exam identifies those pupils who may go on to senior high school. Students wishing to progress on to university must pass a third and final examination at the age of 18. Thus the education system in China is underpinned by the notion of achievement, as something which can be measured by examinations, which have relied heavily on memorization and recitation. Historically, an increasing proportion of each of the exams has had to be completed in Chinese (Mandarin) which could be seen to disadvantage minority pupils, including Tibetans (Johnson and Chhetri, 2002). To combat this, minority pupils now have the right to take examinations in their native languages, but research indicates that this rarely happens in practice (Sangay, 1998). State-provided primary and high school education is free in China in that there are no school fees. Inevitably, however, sending a child to school does have costs for the family and these can often be prohibitive for those living in

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Education and Minorities poverty. The Chinese government has sought to reduce these costs for rural Tibetan families by providing school clothes, a hot drink for those living more than 2 kilometres from their school and a meal for those living further away (Postiglione et al., 2006). For many minority pupils, including Tibetans, attendance at junior and senior high school requires them to board, as many of them live in rural areas with limited local high school opportunities. A formal boarding school system has been established for minority pupils (Wang and Zhou, 2003). Some boarding high schools have been opened in Central China specifically for Tibetan pupils, such as the Beijing Tibet High School, where the Tibetan language is part of the curriculum and the family’s costs are partly subsidized. Alternatively some high schools across China are allowed to accept Tibetan students, but not all schools can. This raises the question as to whether it would be preferable for Tibetan pupils to attend high school in Tibet or Beijing, for example. Some may argue that by attending school in Beijing, Tibetans have access to all the modern facilities and opportunities a capital city provides at a subsidized rate. However, according to Johnson and Chhetri (2002), many parents in Tibet see this as an attempt to ‘forcibly assimilate’ their children into Chinese culture. They regard this policy of boarding schools as a negative one: This practice diminishes the constitutional rights of minorities to maintain and preserve their culture and leads to children who feel excluded from both Chinese and Tibetan society. (Johnson and Chhetri, 2002: 149)

These two different perspectives on boarding schools for minority pupils illustrate a key dilemma in minority education, in ensuring an appropriate balance between maintaining ethnic identity and promoting national unity. Since the 1980s, over a third of Tibetans progressing to high school have attended boarding school in Central China (Bass, 2005). Moving towards a new millennium the Chinese government committed itself to raising educational standards across the country as it saw this as a major means of modernization generally. Interestingly the language used continues to imply an ideological and cultural hierarchy. Development of education should take priority and the ideological and ethical standards and scientific and cultural level of the whole nation should be

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improved. This is a fundamental approach to realize modernization of our country. (Communist Party of China, 1992)

Particular attention was given to autonomous minority regions, where standards where particularly low, as in Tibet, where there were limited numbers of elementary schools, prohibiting the opportunity for all Tibetans to receive basic education. The Government set out bold goals in this regard: By the end of the century each county should have a primary and a high school, and the proportion of school-aged children entering schools should reach 80% and above. (Autonomous Regional People’s Congress, 1993)

By the end of the last century 78.2% of school-aged children in Tibet were entering primary school, according to government statistics (Aiming, 2004). During this period, 143 new primary schools and 4 junior high schools had been built. However research by Bass (2008) found that less than 25% of Tibetan children went on to high school. She confirmed that in rural areas, where 80% of the population lives, the majority of primary schools continue to offer only 3 years of schooling. Thus while Government statistics look encouraging, the reality is that limited opportunities remain for Tibetans to progress through the formal education system. Alongside this formal schooling system non-formal monastery education remains popular with Tibetan families. Monasteries continue to have a strong influence over daily life in Tibet and the Chinese government allows them to operate still as important educational institutions. However, they are now tightly controlled by the government, especially in relation to size, financial income and religious freedom. Despite this, research with rural communities shows that it is still common for Tibetan families to choose to send one of their children to a monastery for education (Postiglione et al., 2006). Interestingly a similar number of parents would wish their children to have a monastery education as to go on to university. There has been a significant vocational education programme in Tibet since 1996. Some of this provision has been at the level of further education for those students completing high school, but much of it has been at a more basic level and not accredited. It has provided training in areas such as agriculture and animal husbandry, driving, technology, sewing, accounting and woodwork and is part of the government’s drive to increase the

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Education and Minorities skills base of its workforce and to raise standards of living. According to the Government The all-round and large scale vocational and technical training programme played an important role in improving the morality and the qualifications of labourers, and helped farmers and herdsmen to shed the yoke of poverty. (Aiming, 2004: 124)

Aiming writes on behalf of the Chinese government, describing Tibetan Education in a book published by the Government Press. In the above quote from her the importance of education as a means of moral development, or ideology, can be seen. This further illustrates the way in which China uses its education system to promote particular morals and ideology, not just to pupils but also to adults. In 2004 only 1.3% of the total population of Tibetans in Tibet had gone on to tertiary education (Aiming, 2004), a very low percentage. There have been preferential policies to promote the enrolment of minorities in higher education, however, there has been a history of these being used by Han Chinese outside of Central China who have reclassified themselves as minorities in their areas of residence (Sangay, 1998). There are four higher education institutions in Tibet. The largest of these is the Tibet University in Lhasa which has a relatively broad curriculum, including Tibetan, Chinese and English languages, politics, history, chemistry, physics, biology, tourism, education, music and fine arts. The other three institutes focus on medicine, agriculture and engineering and all four are generally regarded as being of lower quality than similar institutions in Central China (Johnson and Chhetri, 2002). In higher education, as at other levels, there is strong government control of the curriculum and teaching methods. Given the lack of quality and quantity, many Tibetans who want to go on to further studies have to go to Central China, but only a few choose to do so and so Tibetans are generally excluded from being integrated into the social and economic mainstream of Chinese society, which higher education can provide.

The curriculum Given the structure of society and education provision within China, the Chinese Communist Party controls the curriculum and the textbooks used. Even when authority and responsibility are devolved to autonomous regions,

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and further still to local authorities, all aspects of life are overseen by local officials and, as China is a one-party country, all officials, even at a local level belong to the Communist party. Inevitably, therefore, lessons and resources are highly influenced by communist ideology and in particular MarxistLeninist-Maoist philosophy (Bass, 2008). The curriculum for rural primary schools in Tibet consists of three elements, moral education (the expressed thoughts of political leaders), Tibetan language and mathematics. The longer period of schooling in urban areas has additional curriculum elements of Chinese (Mandarin), English, art, sport and social science. Interestingly the Chinese government recognizes that Tibetan pupils entering high school are significantly behind their Chinese peers in Chinese language, mathematics and general knowledge (Aiming, 2004). While this might be expected in Chinese and indeed in general knowledge, given that it will be ‘Chinese general knowledge’, rather than Tibetan cultural knowledge and perspectives, limited mathematical development suggests a poorer quality of maths education in Tibet than Central China. In this tightly managed state education system, the curriculum, lessons taught, textbooks and other teaching resources used would be familiar to school children across China (Postiglione et al., 2006). Tibetan language textbooks sometimes have a greater emphasis on local culture and life than other subject materials, although not as much and not as accurate as Tibetans would wish (Upton, 1999). A recent analysis of current editions of Tibetan language textbooks for primary schools (Bass, 2008) shows that, in contrast to reforms of textbooks in Han, these text books portray majority areas of China introducing ideas of market economic values. Thus, a narrow political view continues to be promoted to children in Tibet. Bass argues that The persistence to the old ideology has divorced learning in the TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region) from educational trends in Central China and from what Tibetan children experience at home and in contemporary society. (Bass, 2008: 41)

Indeed the most recent edition of textbooks have removed almost all of the references to Tibetan culture, lifestyle and Buddhism which Upton had reported favourably on and which were used in the 1990s. As Postiglione (1999) points out generally, and with particular regard to minority education in China, when pupils cannot identify with the images and content of the materials they see in school, when there are no references to their own culture

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Education and Minorities or history, instead of developing a sense of pride in their own nationality, they loose self-esteem and interest in schooling. This may lead to drop-out. Postiglione does recognize that school architecture and decoration in Tibet does provide representations of Tibetan culture in the form of building styles, sculptures and wall paintings, for example (Postiglione et al., 2004). However these are selected by national and local government according to its interpretations of national unity, patriotism and Tibetan traditions. Interestingly, similar curriculum trends have been noted with regard to the education of the Mongolian minority in China (Borchigud, 1994). A key component of any curriculum, both implicit and explicit, is the language of schooling. There are three types of bilingual education in schools in China (Zhou, 2001); regular bilingual education with both languages being equal in status and teaching time; occasional bilingual education with the minority language receiving significantly less attention and no bilingual education. In the third category, minority pupils can be disadvantaged if their own language is not taught as this impedes their general language development; alternatively if they are only taught in their own language, but they need to be proficient in the national language in order to take up future opportunities, this also disadvantages them. Therefore in China, Zhou concludes, regular bilingual education is essential in order for pupils to make progress beyond primary education. While this is the official policy in Tibetan schools, the reality is very much dependent on individual teachers’ language competencies.

Teacher education The quality of education is dependent on the quality of teachers. Teachers in Tibet come from two sources, Tibetans who were educated and then trained in Tibet and teachers from other parts of China who are assigned to Tibet for a period of 3 to 5 years. Jobs in minority areas, such as Tibet, are regarded as ‘hardships posts’ by many Chinese teachers and so are significantly incentivized by the government. A commonly held view in China, according to Johnson and Chhetri (2002) is that living at high altitude for a prolonged period of time causes a deterioration in health. This makes teaching in Tibet particularly unpopular for many teachers from Central China, even with its incentives; so it is common to find in schools in Tibet teachers who could not find jobs in their home area, thus potentially impacting on the quality of

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education in Tibet. Added to this, teaching remains a relatively low-status profession in China, failing to attract top-quality students as Wang confirms: As has been the case for a long time, teaching remains a relatively unattractive profession for the most academically qualified and ambitious young people. Salaries are relatively low, and the professional standing of education faculties within universities tends to be lower than that of professions such as engineering, medicine and law. (Wang, 2008: 9)

If this is an issue in Central China, then it is likely to be exasperated in Tibet for assigned teachers from other parts of China. In order to train as a primary school teacher a student must have completed junior high school and then undertaken a 3-year course leading to a Certificate of Teacher Training. Those wishing to teach in high schools must have completed secondary high school themselves and undertaken a 3-year course leading to a Bachelor diploma for junior high school and a Certificate of Teacher Training. Since 2005, all new secondary high school teachers are required to have a Bachelors degree. The teacher training curriculum includes compulsory subject and methodology or pedagogy courses, optional courses to support local development needs (for Tibetan teachers this would include ideology and moral education as specified by central government), schoolbased experience and extra-curricular activities (Wang, 2008). Since the early 1990s the demand for primary and junior high school teachers in Tibet has been increasingly met by Tibetans, although until relatively recently, many of them had only completed junior high school themselves. High school teachers and tertiary teachers continue to be assigned to Tibet from Central China in significant numbers. This has implications for schooling, since Chinese and Tibetans teachers, despite having received the same teacher training programme, may well have different personal attitudes towards the role of education and different language competencies. Given the very low percentage of Tibetans progressing to higher education the need for teachers from Central China will continue, particularly at senior school level. Carney (2008) suggests that current teacher training policy in China aims to put pupils at the centre of the teaching process, suggesting an increased recognition of the importance of individual identity in China. Research by him suggests that Chinese teachers and teacher educators are ‘ambivalent’ to this and see their role as assisting pupils to successfully gain entrance to

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Education and Minorities Chinese universities and society more generally, suggesting a favouring of the ‘motherland’, and continue to use traditional methods of teaching which focus on memorization and recitation. In contrast, Tibetan teachers predominantly view changes in educational policy as a positive development in making formal education more meaningful to their communities and are keen to try out new pedagogies. Carney’s research illustrates how Tibetan and Chinese teachers trained by the same system can hold different educational philosophies. Many international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and indeed government organizations, such as UNESCO and UNICEF, operate educational programmes in Tibet. ‘Save the Children’, for example, have been involved in teacher training programmes in the Lhasa region since 1992. The aim of these has been to help teachers make their lessons enjoyable and stimulating for all students (Save the Children, 2009). This project has now been extended outside of the valley to nomadic groups. Any external organization working in Tibet, as in other minority areas of China, is required to work closely with the government, so that it can maintain control of their activities. While ‘Save the Children’ are working to improve teaching methods for Tibetan teachers and pupils, they are not allowed to discuss curriculum content with teachers. They do provide health education, but this is of a very factual nature and is not linked to culture or ideology. UNICEF, similarly are working with teachers to develop new pedagogies in Tibetan schools and in other minority regions of China. Their programme, ‘Child Friendly Schools’, has five broad dimensions: inclusiveness; effectiveness; health, safety and protection; gender friendliness; and the involvement of students, families and communities. While these dimensions do not address issues around cultural identity or national unity, they do seek to raise the quality of education that minorities receive.

Conclusion Schools in China have, for many years now, been the main focus of cultural reform. Bass (2005) suggests that that there has always been a two-tiered education system in China since it became a Communist state. There has been ‘regular education’ for the Han majority aimed at providing technical personnel for the economic development of China. Alongside this there has been ‘minority education’ aimed at fostering allegiance towards China and ensuring stability

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in the border areas. This chapter has provided an overview of education provision for Tibetans and has sought to make explicit the interplay between political ideology, culture, curriculum and the language of schooling. According to UNESCO (2003), China has been more successful than many countries in making basic education available to all. The government system in China is changing slowly as a market economy is introduced, albeit in a very controlled way. China is decentralizing in line with many other countries and the potential of these changes to positively impact on the education of minorities should not be underestimated. There is clearly progress in education in Tibet, for example by 2006 the enrolment rate of Tibetan schoolaged children had reached 96.5% (UNICEF, 2009). However the enrolment rate for primary schooling does not illustrate engagement or achievement of pupils. Contrasting data shows that many school drop-outs are learning Tibetan language with their parents at home in preparation for taking entrance exams to monasteries. This shows that Tibetan children are willing to study but not to learn things in which they have no interest. (Baden, 1997: 21)

This is a trend which was confirmed by Bass in 2005 (Bass, 2005). The Chinese government has passed legislation protecting the linguistic rights of minority nationalities and has a multilingual education system for minorities. However research continues to suggest that this is not being effectively implemented for Tibetans. While Tibetan schools remain reliant on teachers from Central and other parts of China, Chinese will continue to be the dominant language of schooling. While Tibetan pupils are examined by a system which favours examinations taken in Mandarin, Chinese will continue to be the dominant language of schooling. The education of minority groups can be a difficult issue for national governments, as there are inevitable cultural, social and linguistic complexities, and in some contexts, political and religious complexities, as in the case of Tibetan education in China. While the Chinese government publishes a commitment to the teaching of Tibetan language, culture and religion, at all levels of education in Tibet (Aiming, 2004), research by Bass (2008), Postiglione et al. (2006), Wang and Zhou (2003) and others which this chapter has drawn on significantly all argue on an opposite trend in education for Tibetans with a continuing lack of cultural sensitivity.

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Further reading Bass, C. (2008) ‘Tibetan primary curriculum and its role in nation building’, Educational Review, 60 (1), 39–50. This article examines how Tibetan identity is portrayed in teaching resources used with Tibetan pupils. It looks at how shifting political emphasis is reflected in the curriculum and argues that while the curriculum in central China reflects a growing modernization in the country, the Tibetan curriculum continues to present a narrow political ideology. Postiglione, G., Jiao, B. and Gyatso, S. (2005) ‘Education in rural Tibet: development, problems and adaptations’, China: An International Journal, 3 (1), 1–25. The above journal article considers the ongoing drop out of rural Tibetan pupils from school and the reasons for this. It considers educational policies and practices and the practical needs of rural families and communities. Tsung, L. (2009) Languages, Education and Communities in China (Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Tsung’s book explores a range of educational and linguistic issues for minority communities in China today, including Tibetans. Within these it discusses language policy in Tibetan education, parental and student attitudes to education and the educational outcomes of Tibetan pupils.

References Aiming, Z. (2004) Tibetan Education. Beijing: China Intercontinental Press. Autonomous Regional People’s Congress (1993) ‘The sixth Autonomous Regional People’s Congress’, 23rd January 1993. Beijing: Communist Party of China. Baden, N. (1997) ‘The way out of Tibetan education’, Chinese Education and Society, 30 (4), 7–21. Barber, N. (1997) From the Land of Lost Continent: The Dalai Lama’s Fight for Tibet. London: Hodder and Stroughton. Bass, C. (2005) ‘Learning to love the motherland: educating Tibetans in China’, Journal of Moral Education, 34 (4), 433–49. —(2008) ‘Tibetan primary curriculum and its role in nation building’, Educational Review, 60 (1), 2008, 39–50. Borchigud, W. (1994) ‘The impact of urban ethnic education on modern Mongolian ethnicity, 1949– 1966’, in S. Harrell (ed.) Cultural Encounters on China’s Ethnic Frontiers. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, pp. 278–300. Carney, S. (2008) ‘Learner-centred pedagogy in Tibet: international education reform in a local context’, Comparative Education, 44 (1), 39–55. Communist Party of China (1992) ‘The fourteenth Communist Party of China National Conference’, 12th October 1992. Beijing: Communist Party of China. Goodman, M. (1986) The Last Dalai Lama. Calcutta: Rupa and Co.

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Human Development Report (2009) ‘Overcoming barriers: human mobility and development’. Basingstoke: Palgrave McMillan. Johnson, B. and Chhetri, N. (2002) ‘Exclusionary policies and practices in Chinese minority education: the case of Tibetan education’, Current Issues in Comparative Education, 2 (2), 142–53. Lin, J. (1997) ‘Brief summary of the history of evolution of school education in the Ganzi Tibet region’, Chinese Education and Society, 30 (5), 7–25. Mayhew, B., Kelly, R. and Bellezza, J. (2008) Tibet. Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet. Postiglione, G. (1999) China’s National Minority Education: Culture, Schooling and Development. New York: Falmer Press. Postiglione, G., Jiao, B. and Gyatso, S. (2006) ‘Household perspectives on school attendance in rural Tibet’, Educational Review, 58 (3), 317–37. Postiglione, G., Zhiyong, Z. and Jiao, B. (2004) ‘From ethnic segregation to impact integration: state schooling and identity construction for rural Tibetans’, Asian Ethnicity, 5 (2), 195–217. Sangay, L. (1998) ‘Education rights for Tibetans in Tibet and India’, in J. D. Montgomery (ed.), Human Rights: Positive Policies in Asia and the Pacific Rim. Hollis, NH: Hollis Publishing Company, pp. 77–84. Save the Children (2009) Country Reports: What We Do in China 2009/10. London: Save the Children. Taylor, R. (1995) (2008) Tibet. Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet. Thurman, R. (1995) Essential Tibetan Buddhism. New York: Harper Collins. UNESCO (2003) Global Education Digest 2003: Comparing Education Statistics across the World. Montreal: UNESCO. UNICEF (2009) Child Friendly Schools Case Study: China. UNICEF. Upton, J. (1999) ‘The development of modern school based Tibetan language education in the PRC’, in Postiglione (ed.), China’s National Minority Education, pp. 281–340. Wang, C. and Zhou, Q. (2003) ‘Minority education in China: from State’s preferential policies to dislocated Tibetan schools’, Educational Studies, 29 (1), 85–104. Wang, Y. (2008) ‘Mathematics Teacher Training in China’, in D. Burghes (ed.), International Comparative Study in Mathematics Teacher Training. Reading: CfBT Education Trust, pp. 7–9. Zhang (1995) Population Development in Tibet and Related Issues. Beijing: Beijing Foreign Language Press. Zhou, M. (2001) ‘The politics of bilingual education and educational levels in ethnic minority communities in China’, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 4 (2), 125–49.

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Family Literacy Programme in Rural South Africa Joan Walton and Snoeks Desmond

Chapter Outline Introduction The rights to education in South Africa within an international context The literacy needs of rural black children in South Africa Case study: Family Literacy Project Evaluating the Family Literacy Programme Changes in reading habits Conclusion Further reading

150 151 153 155 162 166 169 169

Introduction There is some sensitivity to the concept of ‘minority’ in South Africa, particularly since the formal ending of apartheid in 1994. The lack of consensus as to what defines a minority at an international level presents a particular problem in a country where under apartheid, black South Africans were seen to have minority status although numerically far greater than Caucasian-South Africans. This challenges the Oxford English Reference Dictionary (1996: 921) definition of minority as ‘a smaller number or part, esp. within a political party or structure; a relatively small group of people differing from others in the society of which they are a part in race, religion, language, political persuasion, etc.’

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Alternative definitions place a varying emphasis on different elements. For example, Lerner (1993:79) avoids the term race, but retains the significance of number: A minority is a group that is numerically inferior to the rest of the population of a state and, therefore, in a non-dominant position. Its members possess characteristics differing from those of the rest of the population.

However, Watson (1985: 72) avoids the numerical dimension, and specifically maintains that the terms ‘majority’ and ‘minority’ should not necessarily refer to numbers in a given society, but rather can refer to their relative political, economic and cultural position. It is within this latter understanding that the term ‘minority’ is used in this chapter.

The rights to education in South Africa within an international context The right of all children to education, whatever social grouping they belong to, is constituted within a number of international contexts. For example the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948 had as its aim the setting of basic minimum international standards for the protection of the rights and freedom of the individual. Article 26 focuses on the rights to education, and gives parents an entitlement to choose the kind of education they consider appropriate for their children (Wallace, 1997: 166). The 1960 UNESCO Convention of Recommendation against Discrimination in Education provided for the special protection for the education of minorities. Articles 2(b) and 5(1)(c) of the Convention relate specifically to the right of minorities to be responsible for their own educational activities, including the opportunity to receive education in their own language (English and Stapleton, 1997: 64). The International Covenant on Economic and Social and Cultural Rights 1966 also included the right of any minority cultural group to determine their own educational requirements. Capotorti (1991: 60) states that there can be no development of a culture within a group if its members do not have the right to be educated, or are treated in a discriminatory way in the field of education.

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Education and Minorities In South Africa during the years of apartheid (1948–94), the divisions between different groups were mainly based on colour, with different laws governing the education of whites and blacks; for example the 1953 Bantu Education Act No. 47, and the 1963 Coloured Persons Education Act No. 47. Ten areas were designated as ‘homelands’ for the country’s black African population; these were constructed not only on colour but included culture, language and other specific characteristics, which were used to define minority groups. However the education of Africans was largely the responsibility of the national rather than homeland government, with the latter having only limited powers of control over educational provision. Following the end of apartheid and the 1994 elections, and the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa in 1996, greater attention was paid to the religions, languages and education of different cultural groups. The term ‘minority’ does not appear in the Constitution, referring instead to ‘communities’; but in the main these communities could be seen as comprising minorities. According to Mothata and Lemmer (2002: 107), several minority groups who had been historically marginalized, such as the San, Nama and Khoi, were intent on ensuring that their right to be educated in their own language was recognized. The determination of such groups to gain some form of protection influenced the forming of the Constitution. The Constitution does not in itself provide specifically for the education of minorities. However it does include the right of each person to education; the right for communities to create their own educational establishments; and the right for their own language to be used where practically possible. In a research inquiry undertaken to obtain the informants’ perceptions about the provision of education to minorities, Mothata and Lemmer (2002) found that to present an acceptable definition of ‘minority’ or ‘community’ was not easy to do in a South African context. There was a view stated that some communities such as the Nama refused to be classified as a minority. Rather, they preferred to be seen as part of a big ‘rainbow nation’. There was a view that ‘minorities or communities should declare and define themselves. If such minorities refrain from this, it is impossible to classify and define them as minorities or communities’ (2002: 109). Mochwanaesi et al. (2005: 290) asked the question as to how the education system could be made more responsive to the history, traditions and cultural values of minority groups while still acknowledging the essential human

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rights contained in a Bill of Human Rights. They identified three different possibilities: z

z

z

The Government could allow members of minority groups to have their own schools and to fund them with public money. However, this would be unlikely to happen given the Constitutional dispensation in South Africa. Minority groups could become part of a non-racial South African civil society; however this would in effect mean the disappearance of minority groups. Because there is a global recognition of the rights of minorities, including their right to education in their own language, minority groups could be allowed to follow their own culture and languages. They could also create their own learning environments provided that they were responsive to the children and parents’ right to non-discrimination and freedom of association, and that proper educational standards were upheld.

Within the current Constitutional dispensation, this was seen to be the most feasible option, as it was not only consistent with the South African constitution and the legal framework, but also enabled minorities to engage with and sustain their traditional cultures, language, customs and religion.

The literacy needs of rural black children in South Africa Literacy among both adults and children is a problematic issue in South Africa. Rule (2003) identifies that 7.5 million children and adults have a need for basic adult education, and although they have a constitutional right to receive it, this right does not seem to be translated into sufficiently adequate action. There is also an issue about how best to help children develop early literacy skills. The national Department of Education found that over a 3-year period (1997–2000), overall literacy scores of preschool children did not improve even in circumstances where preschool teachers received training in early childhood development (Khulisa Management Services, 2000). In addition to this, many of these families lived in rural areas, under conditions of severe poverty. In South Africa in 2001, 42% of the total population were in rural areas (World Bank, 2003); and the majority (65%) of the poor were found in rural areas, with 78% of those likely to be chronically poor (Woolard and Leibbrandt cited in FAO, 2004). Thus in terms of

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Education and Minorities linguistic and economic status, illiterate rural black children and adults can be viewed as belonging to a social and cultural minority in terms of their lack of political power and status. If such children and adults are to gain greater political power and status, and the opportunity to have the choice of gainful employment to address their economic needs, then a primary requirement needs to be achieving literacy skills. One way of achieving this is through the medium of family literacy programmes developed initially in the United States and the United Kingdom. Hannon and Weinberger (2003) suggested that the concept of family literacy originated in the United States. Between 1983 and 1993 Nickse (1993) estimated that there were more than 500 family literacy projects in operation in the United States. An early model of family literacy in the United Kingdom was established in 1995 by the Basic Skills Agency (BSA), focusing on the development of literacy, language and numeracy activities within the home. They defined a family literacy programme as Work with parents and their children to improve the literacy skills of both. On occasions other family members, such as grandparents, brothers and sisters, may be involved, but this is relatively rare in the more intensive programmes. (ALBSU, 1993: 9)

The Literacy Trust focused more on the role of parents, stating that a Family Literacy programme was Any initiative which aims to work through parents to improve the reading and writing of their children, as well as those which have the improvement of the parent’s literacy as an aim. (Hannon and Bird, 2004: 31)

The dual need to help adults improve their own literacy, and to help children to improve theirs, informed by the experience gained in the United States and United Kingdom, led to the establishment in 2000 of the Family Literacy Project (FLP) in KwaZulu Natal, southern Drakensberg. The following case study tells the story of how a project, whose initial focus was on children’s literacy, soon expanded to include significant adults in the child’s life, who could then themselves encourage children’s literacy within the home. This case study describes the nature of the intervention; and also presents findings from the project evaluations to gauge how they affected parent–child interactions around literacy activities.

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Guiding questions As you read the Family Literacy Project as a case study consider the key questions outlined below: z

z z

z

z

What should the purpose of education be in ‘rural’ South Africa (in contrast to urban South Africa)? What are strengths and weaknesses of the whole family approach to education? Is Watson’s (1985) description of minority, linking access to, and the ability to navigate services, helpful? What would you include in your definition of minority and how would you justify your position? Is poor literacy a consequence of poverty or an indicator of poverty?

I hope you enjoy reading the case study set in rural South Africa and as you consider the questions shown above it helps develop your thinking in this important area of policy.

Case study: Family Literacy Project Geographical area The Family Literacy Project (FLP) was established in 2000 in three rural areas in the KwaZulu Natal, Southern Drakensberg. This is a World Heritage Site visited by many tourists but the people who live there face severe difficulties, including poor roads, and many homes made of mud and thatch with no electricity and running water. Many younger people leave in search of work to the cities as there are few job opportunities in the area. The three original FLP sites were located in Stepmore, Lotheni and Mpumlwane. Within a short time more sites were established, but all were in the same geographic area.

Starting out In the first year six workshops were run for each group. The group’s initial focus was predominantly on how adults could support the development of their children’s early literacy skills rather than improve their own. The workshops were designed in such a way that adults could also benefit, but the focus was always on the children, and adult literacy was not a priority. These first

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Education and Minorities workshops were designed to encourage adults, mainly mothers and grandmothers, to think about ways in which they had already supported the development of early literacy skills in their children and how they could build on this. The sessions included time for the women to engage in a play activity they could do at home with their children, and in so doing help them improve early literacy skills. Although the adults were never asked whether they could read or write, it became apparent that they struggled with even simple texts. The activities, although meant for children, took into account the difficulties of the adults and included simple games of letter recognition, matching, sequencing and having conversations about pictures. In one session the parents made books with pictures cut from magazines. They talked about these with each other, modelling ways of engaging children in conversations and using open-ended questions. They were delighted to see that the preschool teachers did the same activity with the children, and as a consequence they built up a stock of homemade books for homes and preschools with very few printed materials. The adults became engaged in the activities, and were always interested to hear how the games and use of picture books supported the development of early literacy skills in young children. The adults already spent a lot of time with their children, and connections were made between what they were already doing and early literacy development. For example, how a child develops eye– hand coordination when sweeping a floor; and how vocabulary is extended if a mother talks to her child when walking to the river or stand pipe to fetch water. Household events could be turned into stories and re-told later in the day, thus providing opportunities for sequencing, recalling, repetition and the acquisition of new words. Two of the first groups were at Stepmore and Lotheni and were established alongside underresourced but imaginatively run preschool classes. During the workshops the adults spent time watching the teacher and children. At Lotheni the adults became so interested in the storytelling session that they started arriving early for the workshops so that they could listen with the children. They learned about the portfolios that the teachers were keeping on each of the children; and one day after the children had left the preschool, they ‘played’ in the different areas in the room. For many this was the first time they had ventured right into the preschool and they were delighted by what they found there. The teachers too were happy as they had not previously felt sufficiently confident to invite the adults into the preschools, and in this way a working relationship was established between the families and the

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preschool. The adults became so engaged in the process that they insisted on their own work being displayed on the walls of the preschool, alongside that of their children. In the early days, the third group at Mpumlwane was an already-established adult literacy group run by a development organization based in the area. The organization and the group agreed to work with the FLP to see how family literacy could be included in the twice-weekly sessions. There was a crèche close to the church where the adults met, which provided a safe but not very stimulating environment for the children. The crèche workers were initially untrained, though over the years they did receive training, funded by the FLP. At that outset, however, 60 children were crowded into a rondavel, which was dark and so cramped that even if there was any equipment, there would have been no space in which to lay it out. This group followed the same programme as the other two groups and the crèche workers often sat in on the sessions. In the first few months, attendance at the Stepmore and Lotheni groups varied. There were always people present, but some came ‘representing’ a family member who had attended an earlier workshop. Others missed the workshop because it clashed with a day on which grandmothers collected their pensions, or because casual work was available in the area. Apologies were always sent and people did come when they could. Attendance was more consistent at the established adult literacy group in Mpumlwane. The members had been meeting for several years and a pattern had been set. As a result of the learning from this, an adult literacy component was introduced to the other two groups to encourage more regular attendance. This did not, however, happen until the second year of the project. What remained a priority was the focus on adult support for children developing early literacy skills. To evaluate the first few months of the project and to explore the level of interest of adults in attending sessions that would include more formal adult literacy work, the FLP requested and was granted funds to pay for a consultant to conduct a participatory rural appraisal (PRA). Each of the three groups selected a local woman whom they thought would make a good facilitator. The FLP requirements were that this woman should be unemployed, have a school leaving certificate, and speak English as well as her mother tongue of Zulu. At the same time, two other communities in the area approached FLP and asked if they could become part of the project. To enable an appraisal to be undertaken in the established and the new areas, five women were trained as fieldworkers, and then helped to conduct the PRA. This allowed

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Education and Minorities FLP to assess their capabilities, and for the women to learn how to assess the needs of their communities and work in a participatory and respectful way with the women in the groups. The enthusiasm and excitement generated by the participatory rural appraisal formed the basis for the changes in the FLP programme. By March 2001 these five women had attended 4 weeks of adult literacy teacher training at Operation Upgrade, a Durban-based nongovernmental agency specializing in adult literacy. They undertook to establish adult literacy groups at the two sites where the initial workshops had been to strengthen the existing adult literacy class and to work with the newly established groups. In addition to training as adult literacy facilitators, the five women were also trained in the use of early literacy and Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques (Reflect) – a participatory method of group work influenced by the Brazilian educationalist Paulo Freire. During the Reflect-based PRA, the women were asked to think about why they needed to be literate. Taking into consideration the women’s own levels of literacy, the Reflect tool used was a ‘tree’. Depending on their ability, the women placed drawings, words or short phrases on cards, which became the leaves of the tree, showing what happened when one could not read well. They were then asked to use the same method to show the ‘roots’ of their problems. This graphic representation was discussed and some of the points that emerged, as noted in the PRA report by Labuschagne (2000), are presented below: The adults have problems following the signs in clinics and hospitals. In addition the information on clinic cards is not clearly understood. The result is that time is wasted sitting in the wrong queues or missing appointments. More serious is that the correct medicinal dosage is not always taken. Reading and completing forms is a major problem, with the result that there are delays in receiving grants and pensions or enrolling children at school. Women have a fear of being cheated at shop tills and taxis. Parents are embarrassed in front of their children as they are not able to help with homework tasks or read letters from the school. There is a danger when visiting towns and cities as road signs and traffic lights are not understood. The women wished to read hymns and the Bible when in church. One of the main reasons the women gave for not attending or completing primary school was poverty. A further reason was that parents did not see the need for education, especially for girls.

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Not all the above information was highlighted equally in all the groups, but the importance of functional needs such as form-filling and reading signs was a shared theme. However it was significant to note that not one person mentioned reading for enjoyment or relaxation.

Becoming established Following the participatory rural appraisal, the FLP changed from workshops focused on the parental role in early literacy development, to twice-weekly sessions with a consistent membership. The FLP team, consisting of the coordinator and the five family literacy facilitators, worked with other experts to develop what was called a unit and consisted of six or seven workshop sessions developed around topics of interest and use to the women. Topics included issues around poverty, water, HIV/Aids, early childhood development and child protection. The approach used was participatory, but at the same time people were supported along a clear developmental path towards becoming literate or more literate (see Figure 8.1). To firmly establish the family literacy approach, each unit included a session on early literacy and how adults could prepare children for reading and writing.

Finding something to read As group members learned how to read and write, a problem emerged – that of a lack of reading material. The project team searched for information or stories for rural women to read or look at and found nothing suitable. Team members then set about developing simple texts or adapting existing material to reflect rural life. The first draft of each booklet was translated into Zulu and given to the more able readers in the groups. These women underlined the words they found difficult to understand, and the text was changed so that only plain language was used. Illustrations were commissioned from an artist able to depict the lives of the group members and FLP booklets became known for being accessible, interesting and appropriate for rural families. The intention was that the women would have texts to read and discuss as part of the units, and be reminded and informed of ways in which they could play a vital role in their children’s development. The importance of this literature in a print-poor environment was evident in the behaviour of the women who took great care of their books, in many cases the first they had ever owned. The books mainly related to how adults could support

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Education and Minorities

Planning and action: The group decides what action to take to address the issue.

Speaker: A visitor who will speak on an aspect of the issue eg clinic sister.

Supplementary materials: Use of leaflets, books, postersrelated to the issue.

Participatory tools: Maps, Venn diagrams, trees, time lines. Used to encourage the group to look closely at the issue and write or draw their concerns.

Issue Something relevant to the group. Could be identified by drawing a map, asking questions, discussions.

Numeracy: Opportunities will arise throughout the unit for activities that will build numeracy skills.

Analysis and discussion: Questioning at this point is very important.

Adult literacy: Opportunities for this can and must be created during any of the steps.

Early literacy: One session must be spent on an activity parents can do at home with their young children. This should promote development of early literacy skills and should be linked to the issue.

Figure 8.1 Unit diagram

young children, for example, Prepare Your Child to Read, Parents and Young Children, and You and Your Child. Three story books for young children were written, and read-aloud recordings to the backing of traditional music were made. To address the ever-present threat of HIV and AIDS, a book Staying Healthy was created and used in a unit of the same name. Help Children to be Strong focused on building resilience in young children, as an attempt to support those infected and affected by HIV, violence and poverty.

Libraries Preschools in the area had received donations of books from FLP in the hope that the children would be encouraged to take these home to read with their

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families. This did not happen and FLP staff introduced the idea of book boxes. Each FLP received a box of books of adult and children’s books written in Zulu. The women in the groups began borrowing the children’s books to read to, or to look at with their own children, as many of them could only look at the pictures or read the simple text, rather than reading books written for adults. As the women became more confident about writing, they helped the facilitator to record the book loans. A few months after the book boxes had been introduced, one facilitator complained that her group would not settle easily into the sessions as they were too busy discussing the books they had read. This marked the beginning of book clubs, which then began to operate once a week in all groups. In book club sessions, group members took turns to discuss a book and encouraged others to borrow it. From there the next step was the establishment of community libraries. The first was a small purpose-built room that served both as a library and a meeting room. This was built with prize money the FLP won in a national adult literacy competition. The next library was a container donated to the community, and the third a much larger building with two rooms, which was a donation by a major bookshop chain. These were run by FLP group members, supported by FLP staff who used a booklet providing simple strategies for handling lending, shelving and recording, as well as creating activities for the local children. All libraries were open to the wider community. The libraries had reference books to help children with school projects, but the main focus in this context was on reading for pleasure.

Journal writing Early on, the practice of keeping journals with children was introduced, and continued to be an important activity. The journals were known as Umzali Nengane (Parent and Child). The parent or child chose a magazine picture, or took one provided by the project. This was pasted into an exercise book and discussed by the adult and child. The adult wrote down as much as she could of the discussion, depending on her level of literacy. To extend this activity the FLP provided encouragement and guidance on how to talk and listen to young children, highlighting the fact that a child enjoyed it when an adult took time to talk and listen to her. We encouraged people to talk about everyday things such as washing, eating and fetching water, as well as about special events, such as travelling to town or going to a wedding. We suggested that people tried to ask questions to make children think, and stressed the

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Education and Minorities importance of listening to children when they talked. We gave some ideas for starting a conversation with a child such as by saying ‘Look at this . . .’ to get their attention; or asking questions to stretch the imagination, such as ‘What if . . . ?’, and ‘Can you imagine if . . . ?’ These guidelines were translated into Zulu and formed part of the literacy activities, as well as reinforcing adult support for early literacy development.

Post-literacy activities Group members were encouraged to read and write wherever possible, but opportunities in these rural areas were limited. The FLP introduced the following to bring reading and writing into the communities and underline the possibility of literacy skills being used to inform and entertain. Each group had a community notice board with small posters providing information for those not attending the group. For example, there was a poster on how to use a condom, and one on the importance of boiling water from the river. Every adult wrote to someone in another group. These letters to penfriends provided an opportunity to practise writing addresses as well as to exchange information. One of the FLP facilitators was responsible for producing a monthly newsletter and ‘letters to the editor’ were sent to her each month from the groups. A series of storytelling workshops were held. The stories collected were then translated into English, and a small book was produced. One of the women commented that she had to think carefully every time she wrote something, because ‘I never know when I will be published’. This book was a huge encouragement to the women who were delighted that their stories and drawings were reaching a wider audience. The intention of this particular activity had been to collect stories of childhood that could be shared with children. However so many of the stories contained difficult and painful experiences, that it was decided that the book should be for adults.

Evaluating the Family Literacy Programme The Family Literacy Programme is, at the time of writing this chapter, ongoing. Each year since 2001 an external evaluation has been conducted

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on the work of the FLP. This section focuses on evaluations undertaken in 2002 and 2006.

Evaluation in 2002 The evaluation in 2002 was conducted by Sonja Labuschagne who drew on her experience as a Reflect trainer and practitioner. I attended all the sessions during which the evaluation activities took place. I was observing the evaluation and did not take part in any of the activities in the FLP groups. In the evaluation of the project in 2002, there were four main aims: z

z

z z

To determine the outcomes of the family literacy groups in terms of the use of literacy skills by group members, their attitude towards early literacy, the activities they engaged in to support the development of early literacy and their interest in learning English. To determine the level of interest and participation in developmental or income generating projects. To determine the potential for the above outcomes to be sustained. To explore indications of where the family literacy groups should be going in the following year.

The techniques were participatory and included questionnaires and semistructured interviews with groups and individuals. The FLP group members responded with enthusiasm to the evaluation, as many of them were already familiar with Sonja Labuschagne who had conducted the participatory rural appraisal in October 2000. The findings of the participatory rural appraisal had led to the family literacy groups continuing and growing, and they were hopeful that this evaluation would lead to a further development of the programme. The evaluation included gathering information on future directions of the FLP, in order that the programme could continue to integrate new ideas, and keep it relevant to ensure that an increasing range of needs of the FLP group members and their community could be met. Two main activities were included in the evaluation: the daily activity chart; and a brainstorm and clustering exercise. The purpose of the daily activity chart was to list daily activities and link to these the literacy and numeracy skills that people had, or wanted to acquire. Questions were asked about each of the activities to find out if, when and where FLP group members

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Education and Minorities read. More information was sought on what was read and if the FLP group members were reading with their children, given that this was the major objective of the project in that year. FLP group members were asked what other activities they engaged in with their children, and if and how any of these were of benefit to the children as they developed early literacy skills. The evaluation sessions were conducted in a relaxed atmosphere, as the FLP group members were already familiar with the chart. The information gathered and the questions asked were new, but the method was familiar and the FLP group members became interested and involved in their responses. In the second activity, the FLP group members worked in small groups, and wrote or drew on cards to show all the benefits they were receiving from being members of the FLP. They then pooled their cards, and clustered these under different headings. This exercise also provided an opportunity for testing the veracity of some of the answers in the daily chart activity. The evaluation session in each of the FLP groups ended with a focused group discussion where Sonja Labuschagne asked probing questions to explore the benefits the women had mentioned and seeking more details of these. The FLP group members were also asked if and how they shared knowledge and skills gained in project sessions with others in their families or in the wider community. Finally they were asked for their ideas on the future direction of the project.

Summary of evaluation findings There was substantial evidence of an improvement in literacy skills of FLP participants. These are summarized in Figure 8.2, according to geographical area (Labuschagne, 2002: 10). It was noted in the evaluation that the excitement was obvious when group members were asked to talk about themselves and their young children. The evaluator noted that the link with early literacy seemed to work well in literacy classes. Not only had the women carried out various activities with their children, but also their own literacy skills and use for the skills had been stimulated through the activities they had done with their children. The evaluator also summarized the benefits of early literacy given by the groups in 2002 and noted by the evaluator (Labuschagne 2002: 16). See Figure 8.3 for the summary of benefits.

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Family Literacy Programme in Rural South Africa Mpumlwane & Ndodeni

Malunga & Siyamukela

Reichenau

Stepmore & Mangozi

We can count money at

We can make telephone

We can count how

We can distinguish

the burial society

calls

many litres of milk

between the signs

each cow gives

for male and female

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public toilets We can fill in forms at the

We can write notes and

bank

We can sign cheques

I can sign at the

and withdraw money

send messages with

Department of Home Affairs for my child’s

children

birth certificate We know where to go at

We can read the names

the clinic (I can find my

of different wards in the

way)

hospital

We can count the

We can read posters with

number of calves

different information at the doctor’s and at the clinic

We can keep records

We can keep records of

We can count our cattle

small-scale farming

and see when some

when selling seeds, to

are lost

whom and how many

We can keep minutes at

We can write our names

church

We can write minutes

in society meetings

We can now read and write in Zulu We can take minutes at crèche meetings

during our permaculture meetings

When going to unfamiliar

When travelling, we can

When catering for

At the taxi rank we

places, we can read the

read where different

workshops, we can

can read where the

street names

taxis go at the taxi rank

calculate how much

different taxis are going

food is needed We can read the road signs We can direct people

I can write down

We can see where

messages and

we are going when

telephone numbers

travelling to town

We can help the children We can read letters that

We can do homework with our children

who are still in the

other people send

crèche with counting

to us

Figure 8.2 Uses of literacy

Categories of

Mpumlwane

benefits

and Ndodeni

Early literacy,

Learning as a family

Lotheni

Reichenau

Stepmore

Teaching the

Working with my child

Protecting

family and

Caring for children

children what

child-related

How to teach and

is wrong, right

help a preschool

and dangerous

issues

child Child abuse Making books with newspapers

How to talk with children Caring for children Respecting our families

Communicating with parents Working together as a family How to talk nicely with a child, not to be rude Teaching my child I can communicate with my parents (as an adult)

children from abuse Children’s rights Teaching my children Teaching a child before crèche

Figure 8.3 Summary of benefits

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Education and Minorities

Changes in reading habits By October 2001 women were talking about the books they had read from the FLP library boxes, mentioning titles and relating the stories. Most of the women were borrowing books for themselves and their children. By the end of 2002 women were talking with confidence about the books they had read from the FLP library, mentioning a wide collection of titles and relating the stories. The evaluator noted that the ‘[t]he FLP definitely started a culture of reading amongst the participants’. Most of the participants read on a regular basis (upto three times a week or more), sometimes in the evenings or late afternoon, but mostly over the weekends when they had more time available for themselves. One woman mentioned that she had bought a book for herself, which was significant as her income was mainly from welfare grants. Women said they often read alone, but sometimes also read for their children and to older family members. Some stated that when they read to their own children they were joined by others from the neighbourhood. There were a varied range of reasons given for reading which included: z z z z z z z

to get information to learn from books wanting to know what is happening in the world to prevent loneliness for relaxation to improve their English to be better parents.

2006 evaluations Two evaluations were conducted in 2006 (Frow, 2006; Kerry, 2007). Frow used a photographic technique to focus on reading patterns, and in particular to identify whether there were changes in reading patterns among the members, their families and the wider communities. She also investigated whether there were signs that reading was becoming a pleasurable activity. This was linked to an FLP aim of ‘making literacy a shared pleasure and valuable skill’. The steps in this evaluation which took place between May 2006 and November 2006 included the following: z

The FLP facilitators were introduced to the photographic technique and given lessons on how to use cameras. The question that they were to ask themselves before

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z

z

z

167

taking each photograph was how it would show that people were beginning to read and that they were enjoying that. The first photographs were taken and displayed at an FLP team (staff) meeting where the FLP facilitators recorded their comments onto audio-tape. After Frow met with each FLP facilitator individually to talk more about the photographs, the FLP facilitators took the next spool of photographs. Frow displayed all the photos and story captions and took the displays to each of the five sites. FLP group members were encouraged to talk about the photographs and choose the ones they thought were the best reflection of reading in their community. A written evaluation of the process was completed by each FLP facilitator.

The intention throughout the evaluation was to z

z

z

Promote a sense of ownership among FLP facilitators and FLP group members of the monitoring and evaluation process, rather than feeling that the evaluation was being ‘done on’ them. Promote observation and reflection in the FLP facilitators, skills that were considered necessary for greater development in the facilitators. Motivate the FLP facilitators to bring about visible changes in reading patterns in their FLP groups and the wider community. This approach made it explicit that change was expected and the FLP facilitators were aware that they had a responsibility to make this happen.

These intentions were realized, and the FLP facilitators and group members were enthusiastic about the whole process. The FLP facilitators took some good photographs, demonstrating what they had thought about the question and how to answer it through the medium of the photographs. In one FLP group the members refused to let the FLP facilitator take their photographs. This was because of an earlier incident where someone, not connected to FLP in any way, had taken photographs and promised to pay for them. As they had not received any money they had taken a decision to never let anyone take their photographs again. The FLP facilitator, Phumy Ngubo, responsible for this group decided to take photographs of her own family reading or looking at books. Frow decided that these were significant enough to be grouped together and created a category for FLP facilitator’s family photographs. The FLP facilitators said that they enjoyed learning how to take photographs and some of them began to experiment by taking them from different angles. One facilitator also talked about how useful she found the photos when starting a discussion with her group.

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Education and Minorities This evaluation provided a glimpse into the lives of the people who made up the FLP. The photographs showed unguarded and informal moments that reflected what was happening around books and reading in communities. A focus of Kerry’s evaluation was to assess the impact of a home-visiting programme that had been introduced into the FLP in 2004. She gathered information on different aspects of the home-visiting programme, for example: z

z z

z z

Monthly reports by the FLP facilitators and the child health specialists were reviewed and comments on the home visits extracted. Evaluative interviews were undertaken with different members of the FLP. Meetings were held where FLP facilitators reported on progress in the home visits. There were discussions with FLP group members at three of the sites. There was a review of the home-visit books in which the FLP group members recorded details of their visits to neighbouring homes.

The information Kerry gathered included the frequency and duration of the home visits, as well as who was present – only adults or children, or both adults and children. She was able to find out what the home visitors understood the purpose of the visits to be, and how the households visited received them. In the group discussion and the review of the home-visit books, the level of understanding the FLP group members had of the health messages they were meant to pass on became clear. Some key messages were not shared, and some were preferred over others. For example, the participation of men in the care of young children was hardly ever mentioned. In the discussions and from the home-visit books, it was evident that messages about the transmission of the HI virus were not always easy to discuss, which was mainly due to cultural norms in force that meant some things could not be referred to directly. The home visitors were asked to record changes they observed in the homes they visited. The FLP facilitators reported that most home visitors did not find this easy and it was only during group discussions that Kerry was able to help people identify changes. One of the home visitors had gone through her records and noted change, but this was an exception. Written words are important in both of the 2006 evaluations: for example, story captions were written and then read with group members, and the FLP group members wrote down information about their visits. This provided

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opportunities to use the newly developing literacy skills and was an easy way to encourage FLP group members to practise reading and writing. They appeared to find this enjoyable and interesting as well as having a purpose, especially in the case of recording information on their visits to the homes of their neighbours.

Conclusion Illiteracy or low levels of literacy may not be the cause of poverty, but many people who are poor have problems with literacy. If Watson’s (1985: 72) contention is accepted that being part of a minority can refer to the relative political, economic and cultural position of any group within a national context, then those who are both poor and illiterate can clearly be argued to have minority status. The South African Constitution includes the right of each person to education; the right for communities to create their own educational establishments; and the right for their own language to be used where practically possible. However, in rural areas where illiteracy is a major issue, and where the emphasis is on physical survival, there is neither the means nor the will to create such appropriate educational establishments. The primary need is to equip people with the literacy skills and the desire to engage in a learning process. The Family Literacy project, the first of its kind in South Africa, demonstrates how acquirement of literacy skills can be encouraged through working with the whole family, and basing the acquisition of skills on tasks and activities that the families engage in on a day-to-day basis. By focusing on such skills, and engaging the enthusiasm of children and adults in not just reading, but continuing this into a wider range of activities that help improve the quality of their day-to-day lives, there is hope that a solid foundation is being laid on which, in the course of time, can be built more developed educational processes.

Further reading Desmond, A. (2010) A Journey in Family Literacy: Investigation into Influences on the Development of an Approach to Family Literacy. Durban University of Technology: Department of Education. The doctoral study that provides further details of the case study described in this chapter. Hannon, P. and Bird, V. (2004), ‘Family literacy in England: theory, practice, research and policy’, in B. Wasik (ed.), Handbook of Family Literacy. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.

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Education and Minorities Provides contextual information about the development of family literacy programmes in England which informed the development of the work undertaken in Desmond’s family literacy programme. Mochwanaesi, D., Steyn, H. and van der Walt, J. (2005) ‘Education for minority groups: a case study’, South African Journal of Education, 25, 287–91. An article which investigates how the educational needs of a minority group could be met, by focusing on the characteristics and the educational needs of the Griqua community in South Africa. Mothata, M. S. and Lemmer, E. M. (2002) ‘The provision of education for minorities in South Africa’, South African Journal of Education, 22 (2), 106–12. An article which explores the issue of minority rights in South Africa, claiming that there is little consensus as to the definition of the concept of minority. Based on an analysis of written documentation and qualitative data emerging from interviews, they conclude that the provision of education for minorities remains a sensitive political issue that will require a paradigm shift, especially by communities who were formerly oppressed by the apartheid system.

References Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit (ALBSU) (1993) Parents and Their Children: The Intergenerational Effect of Poor Basic Skills. London: Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit. Capotorti, F. (1991) Study on the Rights of Persons Belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. New York: United Nations. Desmond, A. (2010) A Journey in Family Literacy: Investigation into Influences on the Development of an Approach to Family Literacy. Durban University of Technology: Department of Education. English, K. and Stapleton, A. (1997) The Human Rights Handbook. Cape Town: Juta. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (2004) ‘Socio-economic analysis and policy implications of the roles of agriculture in developing countries. Summary report. Roles of Agriculture Project, FAO, Rome, Italy. Frow, J. (2006) Evaluation 2006. ‘Durban: Family Literacy Project’. www.familyliteracyproject.co.za (accessed 9 July 2011). Hannon, P. and Bird, V. (2004), ‘Family literacy in England: theory, practice, research and policy’, in B. Wasik (ed.), Handbook of Family Literacy. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc., pp. 23–39. Hannon, P. and Weinberger, J. (2003) Family Literacy. Unit 7 of Literacy in a Wider Context. Department of Educational Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield. Kerry, C. (2007) ‘Intervention evaluation: home visits’ (Dissemination of health messages). Durban: Family Literacy Project. Khulisa Management Services (2000) ‘National Early Childhood Development Pilot Project: Phase Three Research Report’. Johannesburg: Khulisa Management Services.

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Labuschagne, S. (2000) ‘Conducting a participatory rural appraisal in three sites in Kwa Zulu Natal’. Durban, South Africa: Family Literacy Project. —(2002) ‘Family Literacy Project evaluation October 2002’. Durban, South Africa: Family Literacy Project. Lerner, N. (1993) ‘The evolution of minority rights in international law’, in C. Brolman, R. Lefeber and M. Zieck (eds), Peoples and Minorities in International Law. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff, pp. 77–101. Mochwanaesi, D., Steyn, H. and van der Walt, J. (2005) ‘Education for minority groups: a case study’, South African Journal of Education, 25, 287–91. Mothata, M. S. and Lemmer, E. M. (2002) ‘The provision of education for minorities in South Africa’, South African Journal of Education, 22 (2), 106–12. Nickse, R. (1993) ‘A typology of family and intergenerational literacy programmes: implications for evaluation’. Viewpoints 15: Family Literacy. London: ALBSU. The Oxford English Reference Dictionary (1996), 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rule, P. (2003) ‘ “The time is burning”: the right of adults to basic education in South Africa’, in A. Desmond (ed.), A Journey in Family Literacy: Investigation into Influences on the Development of an Approach to Family Literacy. Durban University of Technology: Department of Education, p. 14. Wallace, R. (1997) International Human Rights Text and Materials. London: Sweet & Maxwell. Watson, K. (1985) ‘Educational policy and provision for a multi-cultural society’, in K. Watson (ed.), Key Issues in Education: Comparative Perspectives. London: Croon Helm, pp. 64–86. World Bank (2003) World Development Indicators. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

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9

Conclusions What’s very clear from the case studies shown in the preceding chapters is that education (in all its forms and contexts) is never socially or politically neutral (Thompson, 1980: 26). In the case studies, education has both the potential to be a positive agent for change, enhancing life chances or dislocating individuals from their families and communities. In all of the examples highlighted, education is used as a policy response to issues of integration, underachievement in schools by minority children,1 perceived and real historical and current injustices and as a tool of national economic strategy. Many of these issues manifest themselves in education through the decisions authorities take about the nature of the curriculum and those it serves. The issue of whom education serves is an interesting issue which has been considered by many scholars. In the 1970s Peter Willis (1977) considered the role of schools in the east end of London in serving the needs of large local employers. In the book, Willis questions the role of local schools and how they have themselves adopted a ‘shop floor culture’ reflecting the industrial context of the local heavy engineering industries, many of the children will work in after school. What seems to be at the heart of the case studies is education as a literacy of power, a means of improving the lives of the individual, their families and communities. In all of the case studies the most significant debilitating issue for minorities is access to and an understanding of literacies of power, in the sense of how minorities access services and ultimately influence the shape of these services. This interpretation of education has the promotion of civil society at its core. This role of education in promoting civil society also relies heavily on minorities having the ability to engage with decision and policy makers to ensure that their views are heard and valued in policy formation. 1 It’s important to say that not all ethnic minorities do badly in education, for example Indian pupils do very well in British schools getting very good exam results.

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I suggest that one of the key roles for education in the coming century will be to ensure all in society (not least minority communities) are familiar and comfortable with literacies of power. This literacy – often urban – is ‘evidence based’ and linked to an economic model of cost benefit analysis within the particular context. Localized minority literacies may have little impact (indeed may not be understood, or worse still misinterpreted by those in positions of power) beyond their ‘community of practice’ (Wenger, 1998; Barton and Tusting, 2005). I offer an example to illustrate the point of ‘text’ literacy, which unfamiliar to many is now becoming a literacy of power among young and old. Message from eldest son: Emailin quic doz before school cos I need 2 tell u bout the newco game, good 2 – 2 draw as we wer down 2 – 0 by the 45 minute mark but 1 goal 1 minute before and another 1 minute after the restart gave us hope, Amus has been txtin me about how toto deserved 2 win but I felt newco did gotta go 2 school now cu nw.

The example above describing a football match between two English premiership sides has much in common with my broader point about literacies of power. To many the text message seems impenetrable and of little reference to their everyday literacy context but for many young people (I’m generalizing of course) the text literacy is central to their social interaction with peers. Like the literacy of power I have referred to in an abstract form it clearly excludes those who don’t share its specificity. The literacy has its own structure (little) and set of assumptions (meaning is all) with little attention paid to traditional norms of grammar; indeed ‘errors’ don’t seem to matter at all. This is precisely the point that education must address in its curriculum offer for minorities in the twenty-first century. If all members of society are to engage with the issues of the day and make a meaningful contribution to the political decision-making process, then the mass of society (in particular minority groups) must understand the literacy of power and influence. Literacy for personal empowerment does however have the potential to disrupt cultural norms and expectations of community and family roles, for example of changing the power balance in relationships between men and women, with the latter perhaps gaining new skills and opportunities outside the home and family (Hartley and Horne, 2006: 10). Education also has the potential to change the relationship between employers and employees. The case study in rural England provides an example of this in the nature of

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Education and Minorities education and training available to minority agricultural workers. In this example provision is often linked to their general wellbeing (e.g. language courses) and performance in the workplace (e.g. the operation of machinery). The emphasis on ‘useful skills’ is part of a broader policy drift over the last decade into functional skills (including functional literacy), especially in the context of the workplace and work-based skills, which has been explored by Atkin (2007) and others (Comrie and Murray, 2009; Comings et al., 1999). Part of the reason for the emphasis on the workplace and functionality has been the link between literacy and employment (and productivity), which has provided a very specific set of measures to judge success and sustainability. Many of these measures sit uncomfortably with education for minority groups where the need for education may be much broader than employment. How do we achieve these broader policy aims? In part by following the great Canadian adult educator James Draper’s (1988) suggestion to ‘value what we do as practitioners’. For those of us working in the education field we must support local practitioners to turn observational and experiential data into ‘legitimate’ research evidence that can be used to support local and regional responses to federal policy. I would like to highlight a 2-year research programme I worked on with colleagues (Drs Convery and O’Grady) in eastern England in which educators were supported to conduct a series of smallscale research projects (including work with ESOL learners and migrant land workers) to inform local policy makers about practice in the field. The aim of the project was to support the Learning and Skills Council (responsible for funding post-compulsory education and training at the time – except higher education) in developing local policy responses to the learning needs of the local population based on well grounded, focused and contextualized research. A format which represents a literacy of power in that it conforms to certain established pseudo ‘scientific’ norms of data presentation and – to some extent – data analysis. The project above all else gave a ‘voice’ to experienced teachers and trainers who felt able to make a contribution to the local knowledge base through a structured research project grounded in the practitioners’ experience, but evidence based. This practitioner research is a methodological approach used in the case study from South Africa and an important response to supporting minority groups in society. I wouldn’t suggest that such projects are a panacea for the difficulties of minority communities disenfranchised from those in positions of power. What I would suggest is that it is one practical way to support the massification

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of literacies of power beyond those at the heart of federal, regional and local government and ensure that minority groups have the opportunity to engage with those who have a direct influence on their lives as equals and not as neoliterates. In short, to provide programmes for minorities that develop human, social and, very importantly, identity capital. To support this aspiration those responsible for educational provision for minorities should take the opportunity to reinvent themselves based on the core areas of study originally underpinning the early university curricula. An education in the twenty-first century should have at its core a modern interpretation of the trivium and quadrivium.

Trivium

Quadrivium

Early curricula

Proposed core curricula for minorities?

grammar

literacy

logic

epistemology of world views

rhetoric

social action

arithmetic

mathematics

geometry

financial literacy

music

aesthetics

astronomy

environmental anthropology

The nature of the proposed curricula for the twenty-first century is both a reflection of the modern, and a memory of the timeless intellectual skills required to position the individual in society. To paraphrase Raymond Williams, education has three purposes: (1) to allow the individual to understand social change; (2) to allow the individual to contextualize social change and (3) most ambitiously to allow the individual to become the author of social change. The proposed curriculum sets out to address the cultural imbalances implicit in the schooling structures and systems described by Bourdieu and Passeron (1990) in their analysis of pedagogic authority and symbolic violence in schooling systems. The proposed curriculum for minorities has at its heart literacy (at a range of levels including initial English language skills), an epistemology of world views designed to promote understanding, tolerance and inclusion, literacies of power which will allow members of the minority groups to access services and opportunities, and finally environmental anthropology which will position individual members of society within the landscape. In the original Quadrivium the curriculum forced learners to look beyond our world to consider the macro through subjects like astronomy and rhetoric. While recognizing the importance of the macro, I suggest the

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Education and Minorities case studies show how important it is for minority groups to understand the micro, and in particular, their position within the culture they are part of. Each of the case studies explores this to some extent and highlights the localized nature of education and minorities. Draper (1988: 256) citing Coady (1939) expressed ‘a profound faith that learning brings empowerment, increasing the control that people have and feel over their lives’. As members of a global society, our job is to ensure minority groups have the opportunity to access education and training commensurate with their needs and desires. Education policy makers and practitioners need to be aware and mindful of the contradictions within education, evident in all the case studies and referred to earlier – education as a means of social reproduction, concerned with the maintenance of existing social structures (e.g. Bourdieu and Passeron, 1990), and education as a vehicle for empowerment (a literacy of power; see Freire, 1972). This brings me to a final thought. The policies in place around the world to support the education of minorities are often articulated in government documentation, designed to provide a clear framework for service providers. The temptation is to believe that everything then flows from this in a clean and orderly fashion; well it doesn’t. Education for minorities is messy and complicated by a plethora of contextual features. The case studies shown in this book highlight the political, cultural and practical problems policy makers and practitioners have in providing education for minority groups. In fact, I would like to conclude by making the point that often the systems (such as they are) only work through the dedication of individual teachers and others who support the learning aspirations of minority groups wherever they are in our world. I hope you have found the book interesting and thought provoking and consider the American Anthropologist Margaret Mead’s words below which reinforce the importance of the individual in our world and our potential to make a difference to people’s lives through our actions: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. (Margaret Mead)

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References Atkin, C. and Rose, A. (2007) ‘Family literacy in Europe: separate agendas?’, Compare, 37 (5), 601–15. Barton, D. and Tusting, K. (2005) Beyond Communities of Practice: Language, Power, and Social Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bourdieu, P. and Passeron, J.-C. (1990) Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture (2nd edn). London: Sage. Coady, M. (1939) Masters of Their Own Destiny. New York: Harper & Brothers. Comings, J. P., Parrella, A. and Lisa Soricone, L. (1999) Persistence among Adult Basic Education Students in Pre-GED Classes, NCSALL Reports No. 12, The National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Education. Comrie, M. and Murray, N. (2009) ‘Life-skills and literacy: employers’ perspectives on staff learning needs’, The International Journal of Learning, 16 (9), 387–400. Draper, J. (1988) ‘Valuing what we do as practitioners’, in T. Barer-Stein and J. Draper (eds), The Craft of Teaching Adults. Toronto, Canada: Culture Concepts, Ch. 3, pp. 57–68. Freire, P. (1972) Cultural Action for Freedom. London: Penguin. Hartley, R. and Horne, J. (2006) ‘Researching literacy and numeracy costs and benefits: what is possible’, Literacy and Numeracy Studies, 15 (1), 5–22. Thompson, J. (1980) Adult Education for a Change. London: Hutchinson. Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Willis, P. (1977) Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. Aldershot, Hampshire: Gower.

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Index Page numbers in bold denote figures/tables. Acton, T. 110 Agricola, M. 37–8 Aiming, Z. 135, 141, 142, 147 Andersson, H. 46 apartheid 6, 10, 150, 152 Argentieri, F. 115 Arvidsson, A. I. 38 Atkin, C. 4, 53, 57, 60, 61, 174 Attachment Theory 14 Aud, S. 8 Bacon, W. 35, 36, 37 Baden, N. 147 Balázs, E. 117 Bantu Education Act (South Africa 1953) 152 Barber, N. 137 Barton, D. 173 Bass, C. 136, 140, 141, 143, 146, 147 Becker, G. 2, 15 Beteille, A. 85 Bignold, W. 5 Borchigud, W. 144 Bourdieu, P. 4, 6, 15, 16, 57, 58, 175, 176 Bowles, S. 14 Bowser, R. 55 Brock, C. 118 Buber, M. 2 Buckland, P. 119 Buckley-Zistel, S. 93, 97, 98 Buddhism 137–8 Burnet, J. E. 100 Burtonwood, N. 5

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Bush, K. 119 Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) 52 Capotorti, F. 112, 151 Carney, S. 145, 146 Chhetri, N. 139, 140, 142, 144 ‘Child Friendly Schools’ (China) 146 Chislett, W. 35, 36, 40, 42 Chung, J. 4, 46, 47 Civil Code (Hungary 1959) 116 Civil Rights Act (US 1964) 11 Civil Rights Movement 11 Coady, M. 176 Coleman, J. 14, 16 Coloured Persons Education Act (South Africa 1963) 152 Comings, J. P. 174 Comrie, M. 174 Constitution of the Republic of Hungary (1989) 116 Convery, 174 Critical Theory, Segregation and School Effects 14 Crowe, D. 114 Dakar Framework for Action (India) 71 Dalai Lama, the 135, 136 Dallaire, R. 92 Danova, S. 120 Davies, L. 93 De Lima, P. 53 Desmond, A. 1, 6 Dey, E. L. 19, 31

12/6/2000 11:31:43 AM

Index Di Maggio, P. 16 District Primary Education Project (DPEP) (India) 73 Donnelly, C. 114 Draper, J. 174, 176 Dreze, J. 77, 79, 81, 83 Dupcsik, C. 117 Dynamic Assessment Process (DAP) 18 Eastern England migrant agricultural workers, education of 51–67 in Lincolnshire 52–5 schooling (in Lincolnshire) 55–7 starting school (in South Lincolnshire) 59–67 theoretical framework to consider 57–9 population trends (in England and Lincolnshire) 53 education 172–6 three purposes of 175 Eltringham, N. 91 English, K. 151 Erikson, E. 19 ethnic diversity and educational outcomes 19–21 Fagerholm, K. A. 39 Family Literacy Project (FLP) (South Africa) 155–69 evaluation of 162–9 in 2002 163–6 in 2006 166–9 journal writing 161–2 libraries 160–1 post-literacy activities 162 Finland bilingual education in 47 Finnish language 36–8

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Nordic council, membership in the 39–42 Saame, the 48 and Sweden 35–6 Swedish language in 38–9 Swedish-speaking Finns 42–7 education for 42–4 in PISA 44–6 reasons for lower achievement 46–7 Fox, F. 36 Freire, P. 176 Frow, J. 166, 167 Gandhi, Mahatma 82, 83 Gazdar, H. 81 Gheorghe, N. 110, 112 Gilmour, K. 38, 39 Gintis, H. 14 Goodman, M. 136 great European challenge, the 108–9 Green, A. 53, 60 Gundara, J. 79 Gurin, G. 19, 20 Gurin, P. 19, 20 Guy, W. 112, 115 Hall, W. 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Halliman, M. T. 14 Hannon, P. 154 Hanusek, E. 16 Haque, R. 54 Harris, L. 11, 12, 17 Hartley, R. 173 Héjj, D. 123 Herberts, K. 46 Horne, J. 173 Horvai, A. 5 Hungarian Equal Treatment Act (2003) 116 Hurtado, S. 19

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Index Hymel, S. 64 Illich, I. 2 India education of youth in 74–9 high literacy rates, achieving 80–1 policy interventions for 74–5 situational analysis, a 75–9 youth empowerment in 71–3 Gandhian movement, impact of 81–4 measuring 84–6 role of education in, the 72 Jenkins, R. 58 Jesson, J. 2 Johnson, B. 93, 139, 140, 142, 144 Johnson, L. 11 Justiz, M. J. 10 Kagame, P. 92 Kerry, C. 166, 168 Kingdon, G. G. 80, 81 Kroslak, D. 92 Labuschagne, S. 158, 163, 165 Latina Summer Academy, The 22–30 activities 25–6 evaluation methods 27–30 goal 24 objectives of 24–5 outputs 26–7 project manager qualifications 26 purpose and description 23–4 setting 23 Lemmer, E. M. 152 Lerner, N. 151 Liégeois, J. 110, 113 Lin, J. 135, 137 Lopes Cardozo, M. T. A. 93 Louhivouri, J. 38

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McCorriston, M. 118 McKay, S. 54, 55 Maeroff, G. 10 Mahar, C. 58 Manjrekar, N. 77 Mao Zedong 135 Massey, D. S. 3, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 Mayhew, B. 135, 136 Mead, M. 176 Megivern, D. 85 Melvern, L. 92 Millar, J. 52, 53 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 84–5 Miller, S. L. 16 minorities barriers for deserving university education 11–12 models of success for 16–19 ‘Call me Mister’ 17 English Language Learners (ELL) 18–19 Models of Success Institutions (MSI) 17 The Posse Foundation 17–18 TRIO 18 Miskovic, M. 110 Mochwanaesi, D. 152 Models of Success Institutions (MSI) 17 Molnar, E. 117 Mothata, M. S. 152 Murray, N. 174 National Council of Research Education and Training (NCERT) 74 National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) 22 National Policy on Education (NPE 1986, 1992) 74, 77

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Index National Student Success and Engagement (NSSE) 14 National Youth Policy (India 2001) 74 National Youth Policy (India 2003) 72, 75 Newman, M. 2 Nickse, R. 154 Niiniluoto, Y. 35 Nordenskiöld, E. 43, 44 Novelli, M. 93 Ogbu, J. 13 O’Grady, A. 174 Oplatková, P. 59 Orbán, V. 126 Ostrower, F. 16 Osztolykán, A. 114 Palotás, Z. 117 Passeron, J.-C. 4, 6, 175, 176 Paulston, R. G. 42–44 Pearson, R. 53 Philipp, J. 3 Piaget, J. 19 Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment (PAYE India) 72, 83 Postiglione, G. 134, 140, 141, 143, 144, 147 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 4, 44–6 Finland in 45–6 Prunier, G. 92 Public Education Act (1993 Hungary) 116 Rabušicová, M. 59 Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Youth Development (RGNIYD) (India) 84 Ramachandran, V. K. 80 Reindl, T. 22 The Right of Children to Free and

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Compulsory Education Act (India 2009) 72 Ringold, D. 109, 114, 116, 119 Rittner, C. 92, 93 Roma Education as a humanitarian response 118–19 exclusion in education 119–21 future of 124–5 Hungarian education system and 117–18 in Hungary 115–16 identifying 110–12 integration, methods for 121–4 redefining the 112–13 Roma education 125–6 social exclusion of 113–15 Rose, A. 57 Rwanda education in 91–8 Education for Community Cohesion (EDCOCO) 101–4 Genocide education 98–101 historical background 91–2 post-1994 education 94–8 pre-1994 education 92–4 Rwandanness 90, 98 Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) 92 Ryu, M. 11 Saari, J. 37, 38 Said, E. 5 Salt, J. 52, 53 Saltarelli, D. 119 Sangay, L. 135, 136, 139, 142 Santiago, D. A. 22 Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan (India) 73, 74 ‘Save the Children’ (Tibet) 146 Schlutz, T. 15 Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Scheme (SAWS) (UK) 52

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Index Semujanga, J. 92 Sen, A. 77, 79, 83 Sharma, N. 2, 4, 79, 81, 82 Sidiropoulos, E. 97 Snellman, J. V. 38 Somerville, P. 53, 55, 61 Soros, G. 109 South Africa Family Literacy Project (FLP) 155–69 see also under individual entries literacy needs of rural black children in 153–5 rights to education in 151–3 Stapleton, A. 151 Steele, C. 14 Stewart, F. 93 Strauss, S. 92 Swail-Watson, S. 22 Swaraj (self-rule) 83 Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai, India) 84 Taylor, R. 138 Theory of Capital Deficiency (TCD) 14–16 Theory of Oppositional Culture 13–14 Theory of Peer Influence 14 Theory of Stereotype Threat 14 Thomas, E. 124 Thompson, J. 172 Thorpe, N. 123 Thurman, R. 138 Tibet cultural background 137–9 education system 139–42 curriculum 142–4 teacher education 144–6 historical background of 134–7

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Tinto, V. 14 Tirzite, A. 53 treaty of Uusikaupunki, the (SwedenRussia) 36 Tusting, K. 173 Upton, J. 143 Uvin, P. 91 Välijärvi, J. 41 Vermeersch, P. 109, 110 Wacquant, L. 15 Walker-Keleher, J. 93 Wallace, R. 151 Walton, J. 1, 6 Wang, C. 140, 147 Wang, Y. 145 Watson, K. 1, 6, 151, 169 Weinberger, J. 154 Wenger, E. 173 Whitworth, W. 92 Williams, R. 175 Williamson, H. 128 Willis, P. 172 Winkelmann-Gleed, A. 54, 55 World Development Report (2007) 76 World Youth Report (2003) 76 Xaxa, V. 79 Youth Development Index (YDI India) 84, 85, 86 Youth Policy (India,1986) 74 Zaronaite, D. 53 Zhou, M. 144 Zhou, Q. 140, 147

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