An injection of immigrant capital

“Even in times of recession the political debate around migration should be more positive”, so said Helen Clark in a recent article. She is the head of the UN Development Programme and former Prime Minister of New Zealand. We know that, whether it was a sense of adventure or desperation which caused them to uproot themselves, migrants often have a desire to better themselves. Often coming from places which lack opportunities, on arrival they take full advantage of whatever facilities surround them. This can be true of both adults and children. Is it time in education we also reconsidered our perspectives in this respect?

Looking at the recent figures from Birmingham City Council, over 62% of children in our schools are non-white. If we assume all of them are of ‘migrant-heritage’, that is a lot of young people in a large community such as ours. What difference does their presence make? Is it always negative as ‘host’ parents tend to assume?

Although, many of our schools find their immigrant heritage students work harder and are more motivated than the rest, sadly, the discussion tends to focus on the negatives. We are used to talk of what immigrant children lack or what a drain they are on the system.

What is often forgotten is the good that can result from the arrival of these students, each of whom bring with them a new outlook. Their arrival can lead to improved behaviour in the school as well as raised standards. In a world used to taking a deficit view of immigrants it is very easy to over look their assets and strengths. To help us understand this a little better, we could do worse than take a look at the case study provided by Martha Bigelow of an immigrant girl.

The oldest of 10 children, Fadumo, is of Somali background. When she was 6, her family fled Somalia due to the civil war in the late 90s. They spent the next 8 years in a refugee camp in Kenya before ending up in the US. She was now, at age 14 years, to have her first exposure to formal schooling.

Fadumo had a supportive family. She saw her mother as a strong role model. The expectation in her family was that she and all her siblings would study and one day obtain good jobs.

Her mother closely monitored who her daughter’s friends were. She believed that it was better not to have friends at all if they were not ‘good’. This was internalised by Fadumo. She resisted making friends, thinking they might distract her from her study.

At school, she was able to show her teachers that she cared about her studies. She had a flawless attendance record and always did her homework.  She made the best use of the world that surrounded her and all the facilities it had available. If she needed a quiet place to study, she would go to her local library. If she needed help with her school work, she would hop on a bus to another neighbourhood where there was a homework club.

I was a Somali girl!

Reading about Fadumo, made me realise that I was also a ‘Somali Girl’ and continue to be so, given my love for lifelong learning. I also had the benefit of high parental expectations. My father, especially, was very influential in my success. Given that he lived in Pakistan while I was in the UK, he would encourage me to work hard in my education through his letters. I took his advice very seriously. I was a keen user of my local library and even enrolled at evening classes while still at school, quite likely the first pupil to do so from our school. Because I was not an adult, who these classes were aimed at, I had to get a letter of permission from my Headteacher.

My father would ask me how I was getting on at school. Was I working hard, doing what I was asked to do by the teachers? He would remind me that in our culture, teachers are our spiritual parents and should be respected accordingly.

Dad would ask me how I spent my time after school. Did I associate with the right kind of friends?  I was able to tell him that I had little time left to spend with friends, good or bad. In any case, I was of the view that my friends were a distraction to be avoided given few of them seemed to value education. Like Fadumo, I was often amongst the minority of children who paid attention to the teachers and did, as asked, the simple things of not talking or doing my homework. I also attended everyday without fail. Why shouldn’t I given my school was much more interesting than being at home.

Arrival of immigrant children does not just result from newcomers arriving from other countries but can also come about as a result of within-country people movement. In my role as an Independent Education Adviser, I occasionally come across schools telling me that the arrival of ‘immigrants’ is causing consternation amongst white parents who worry that their own children will be held back. Someone needs to tell these parents that these visible minorities- with their headscarves and prayer requests- are not immigrants but second or third generation British citizens. The parents also could do with being informed that the demographic change may help to improve behaviour in the school and possible raise standards. Mind you, some of the teachers in these schools have also given me the clear impression that they wish things were like in the good old days ie with a different colour of pupils.

Research[1] by Steve Strand and Joe Winston at Warwick University has pointed out that ‘immigrant’ pupils can often have higher aspirations than their peers from white communities. They found that the white teenagers showed the lowest aspirations. All of them had come from families who had lived the longest in the neighbourhood.

I hope, next time you are told that your school is to have migrant heritage pupils, you and your parents may think a little differently. Mind you, you may already have a few ‘Somali Girls’ including those who actually are from that country. Like Bigelow, you may have your own stories of newcomers who are model students.