Swann (1985)

Notes on the text
Preliminary pages Membership, Contents, Introduction

Part I: Setting the scene
Chapter 1 The nature of society
Chapter 2 Racism: theory and practice
Chapter 3 Achievement and underachievement
Chapter 3 continued

Part II: Education for all
Chapter 4 Ethnic minorities and education: historical perspective
Chapter 5 Multicultural education: further studies
Chapter 5 continued
Chapter 6 'Education for all': a new approach

Part III: Major areas of concern
Chapter 7 Language and language education
Chapter 8 Religion and the role of the school
Chapter 9 Teacher education; employment of ethnic minority teachers
Chapter 9 continued

Part IV: 'Other' ethnic minority groups
Introduction
Chapter 10 Chinese children
Chapter 11 Cypriot children
Chapter 12 Italian children
Chapter 13 Ukranian children
Chapter 14 Vietnamese children
Chapter 15 'Liverpool Blacks'
Chapter 16 Travellers' children
Reflections and conclusions

Part V:
Main conclusions and recommendations

Appendices

Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Children from Ethnic Minority Groups

Chairman: Lord Swann

Cmnd. 9453

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1985
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Chapter 13 The educational needs of children of Ukrainian origin
[pages 711 - 717]

1. When determining which ethnic minority groups, other than Asians and West Indians, we should consider in this report, we decided that it would be helpful to look briefly at the situation of one of the Eastern European communities which became established in this country at the time of the Second World War. The most obvious such community for us to consider might be thought to be the Polish community. In the absence of much direct evidence from this community, and also in order to put forward a rather different perspective than that which has been the subject of some of the studies which have already been made of the Polish situation, we decided instead to consider the needs of the Ukrainian community, from whom we had received some particularly interesting evidence.

Background

Size and settlement of the community

2. Estimates of the size of the Ukrainian community in Britain range between 20-30,000, including descendants of 'mixed' marriages. Whilst there are no accurate statistics, it is estimated that probably about one third of the community have been born in this country. The majority of the community is to be found in London, the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Lancashire, with the remainder very widely dispersed around the country.

3. The great majority of the original Ukrainian immigrants came to this country at the end of the 1940s having found themselves in Western Europe at the end of the war and being unwilling to be repatriated to the Soviet Union. The bulk of these Ukrainians being from Western Ukraine which was incorporated into the USSR during the Second World War. Many of the Ukrainians who initially came to this country however subsequently migrated further to the USA and especially to Canada, where there is a sizeable Ukrainian community in the Prairie Provinces. Most of the immigrants to this country were male and the shortage of Ukrainian women led to a significant number of mixed marriages - the wives tending to be other immigrants such as Poles or Italians rather than native British.

Religious and linguistic background

4. The religion of the majority of Ukrainians originating from the Western Ukraine is Ukrainian Catholic whilst those from other areas of the Ukraine may be Ukrainian Orthodox. Currently only the Orthodox religion is recognised in the USSR so that the Ukrainian Catholic Church is 'underground', with the patriarch now residing in Rome. The Ukrainian language has a Slavonic root and may be understood 'with difficulty' by Poles and Russians. There is a distinct Ukrainian literature and the Ukrainian language is still spoken in the Ukraine.

Ukrainian Identity

5. As with the other ethnic minority communities we have considered, the Ukrainian community has maintained a very clear sense of its own 'ethnic identity' even into the second and third generations. One British-born Ukrainian we met appeared to speak for his community when he remarked:

'I feel both British and Ukrainian - but 99 per cent Ukrainian.'

'The Ukrainian community seeks to preserve its identity by passing on to new generations the Ukrainian language, knowledge about Ukraine and its history, and Ukrainian cultural and religious tradition. The objective is to minimise the extent to which people of Ukrainian origin lose their Ukrainian identity through assimilation with the society at large, at the same time encouraging them to be successful members of British society. Assimilation cannot be totally avoided, but it is likely that the community will exist in this country as a distinct entity for the foreseeable future.'

Achievement

6. Most of the Ukrainians who settled in Britain after the war had modest educational achievements, having been denied access to educational opportunities in the Ukraine. They often had few resources and took menial jobs despite being capable of better things. Today, after some 40 years, the community feels it has established itself and its youngsters are now 'succeeding', despite still being regarded rather as 'oddities' by the host community. As one community organisation put it to us:

'If the level of success of Ukrainian children in the British education system is measured in terms of academic performance, then there is no evidence of general underachievement. It is sometimes suggested, in fact. that the proportions of Ukrainian children who gain academic success at the various educational levels are greater than the national averages. This is most likely to be the result of generally strong family life within the Ukrainian community and the particularly keen efforts made by parents to motivate their children to obtain the education which was not available to many of themselves.'

Educational concerns

7. Despite the apparent achievement of Ukrainian youngsters, there was a major concern amongst the community representatives whom we met that, in their words:

'... the educational environment is not conducive to the development of the children's Ukrainian identity.'

English teaching (E2L)

Since many Ukrainian parents are anxious for their children to learn Ukrainian during their early years (see paragraph 8 below), some children may enter school with limited English. Concern was expressed to us about the common practice of schools, in this situation, to withdraw these children into special language classes which it was felt might in fact hinder rather than aid their progress. It was suggested in evidence to us that Ukrainian children with very little knowledge of English had in fact usually been able to master the basics of the language to a satisfactory level within 3-4 months and did not suffer any subsequent disadvantage vis-à-vis their 'English' peers. There was unease amongst the community representatives whom we met that some teachers automatically assumed that a lack of fluency in English on the part of a child could be taken as signifying a general lack of ability which was again a cause for considerable concern if the need for separate E2L provision might confirm this view of the children as in some way 'remedial'.

Teachers' background knowledge

Ukrainian representatives expressed great concern to us about what they regarded as the 'appalling ignorance' of the great majority of teachers about their community and thus about their children's background. It was pointed out for example that teachers often confused the concept of 'Ukrainian' with being either Russian or Polish, which the community considered to be insulting as well as a denial of their particular ethnic identity. This tendency was displayed both in informal contacts with children as well as in the formal curriculum - for example in a geography lesson the Ukraine might be referred to, incorrectly, as part of Russia rather than as part of the USSR, traditional Ukrainian decorated Easter eggs were often called 'Russian eggs', and the Ukrainian Orthodox faith was generally assumed to be synonymous with Russian Orthodox. Another aspect of teachers' tendency to, in a sense, seek to deny the community's identity, which was frequently referred to, was the mispronunciation or the 'simplification' of children's names. Whilst it was admitted that some Ukrainian names might be difficult for teachers to pronounce, it was felt that they should make the effort to pronounce them correctly since a child's name was clearly an important and integral aspect of his or her whole identity and personality. In addition to these specific points, there was a general feeling that, in relation to all ethnic minority groups, schools should do far more to 'recognise' and reflect, in whatever ways were possible, the range of backgrounds from which their pupils now come. The following extract from our evidence expands on this view:

'It is widely accepted that the school plays an important part in many children's development due to its prestige in their eyes. Consequently, if a teacher expresses a sincere interest in the affairs of a child's country of origin, this serves to strengthen the child's positive identification with the country of its parents or ancestors. Conversely, if no interest is shown, a negative altitude could be fostered, and this may even give rise to the development of an inferiority complex vis-à-vis the child's country of origin. The development of a national identity is an important element of the development of a child's personality, and it is therefore desirable that this should be borne in mind in schools with children from national minorities. As well as showing an interest and initiating discussions about pupils' countries of origin, it is important that teachers should make an effort to become familiar with basic facts about the relevant countries and about the reasons why and circumstances in which people from those countries found themselves in Britain. The most appropriate course of action would be to ensure that teacher training courses make teachers aware of the importance of this matter.'

8. As we have already mentioned above, the learning of the Ukrainian language, especially amongst those children who have been born in this country, is considered to be an essential factor in the maintenance of their Ukrainian identity. In common with the other groups whom we have considered, the Ukrainian community itself has therefore taken steps to organise its own classes to maintain and teach the language and culture. The following extract from evidence from the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain describes the scale, nature and organisation of this community-based provision:

'Since the 1950s the Ukrainian community has organised kindergartens and Ukrainian Saturday schools for its children. It also encourages sixth-formers and students to attend courses in Ukrainian studies held in various countries at various times. Many children and young people are members of one of two Ukrainian youth organisations, where they participate in choirs, folk dancing groups, summer camps, etc. The Educational Affairs Council of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain maintains a constant review of the supplementary provision and takes steps to improve or extend it as appropriate. All the work of the Council and the local organisers is voluntary and there are no paid officials. The kindergarten and Saturday school teachers usually receive a small remuneration.

In recent years very few kindergartens have been operational because of the small number of children in the appropriate age group. The number of third generation births is steadily increasing now and renewed effort is being put into planning and organising playgroups and kindergartens. Children attend for two or three hours per week, usually on Saturdays or Sundays. Emphasis is placed on the usual aspects of children's pre-school development, as well as a gradual acquaintance with Ukrainian culture. The language used by teachers and children is Ukrainian.

The number of Saturday schools has also declined in recent years, primarily due to the gap between the second and third generations. There are currently about 20 schools around the country, with between 5 and 70 pupils per school. Children attend the schools from the age of six or seven. The number of classes in each school depends on the available resources, the maximum number of classes being 10. The subjects taught include the Ukrainian language and literature, geography and history of Ukraine, and the history of Ukrainian culture. The practise of Ukrainian folk traditions is greatly encouraged. In some schools additional classes are held specifically to prepare candidates for the GCE Ordinary level examination in Ukrainian. Many of the present teachers, some of whom are also teachers by profession, are second generation Ukrainians.'

9. The Ukrainian representatives whom we met emphasised that their aim was to preserve the Ukrainian language and culture by youngsters having an understanding of the circumstances in which Ukrainian should be used, for example at home and in cultural/social settings when Ukrainians were together. Second generation British-born Ukrainians were having to make a determined effort to speak to each other in Ukrainian in order for their children to experience a consistent language environment at home. There was a danger that parents whilst speaking Ukrainian to their children would speak English to each other - the risk being that children, seeing this 'double standard', would then speak English to each other especially when their parents were not present. It was recognised and accepted that outside the home, children would speak together mainly in English. The purpose of the Saturday schools was however to reinforce the home practices. There was no suggestion that the Saturday schools aimed to supplement the normal work of maintained schools.

Possible LEA support

10. In response to questions from Committee members, the Ukrainian representatives took the view that, because of the relatively small size of their community, and its dispersed nature, it was neither practical nor feasible for them to expect LEAs to provide for teaching the Ukrainian language within the normal school curriculum. They emphasised however that they would very much welcome some grant support from LEAs towards the running of the classes - along the lines we have recommended in our Language Chapter - and felt that if this required some form of monitoring of the standard of teaching, this could only be a stimulus to improved provision. They also indicated that the voluntary teachers working in their schools would be glad of the opportunity to take part in LEA in-service programmes to assist them with their teaching skills. The community representatives also observed that teachers in mainstream schools might 'support' community-based 'mother tongue' provision indirectly by encouraging the children and stressing that it was a desirable asset to be able to speak more than one language.

Conclusion

11. A number of interesting points arise from this brief consideration of the educational needs of the Ukrainian community, which in our view serve to reinforce further the conclusions we have reached in the main body of this report. The sense of 'ethnic identity' is clearly very strong within the Ukrainian community and community-based provision for continuing language and cultural maintenance is considered to be an important element in this. Once again concern was expressed by community representatives about the 'withdrawal' approach to E2L teaching and about the negative connotations in the minds of some teachers of a child lacking fluency in English - both of course points which we took up in our Language Chapter. The comments which were made to us about the need for schools to do more to recognise and reflect the range of ethnic groups which are now a part of this society also lend further weight to the case which we have put forward for the development of a broader and more responsive approach to the educational needs of all children.