This Special Issue on Immigration and Education is a tribute to the diversity in the United States, to the presence and contributions of so many different ethnic communities…As a nation of immigrants, it is important to recover a sense of unity, to recognise that Muslims and Arab Americans are part of the fabric of this country. Furthermore, we hope that the United States will use this difficult time as an opportunity to reexamine its role in the global community…

(Preface by the Harvard Editorial Board Members, 2001)

The above extract is taken from a one page preface to a special issue of the Harvard Educational Review (Vol. 71, 3, 2001) which was written two days after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 1991, also known as 9/11. In the wake of this tragedy, it is well to reaffirm the pivotal role of education in fostering inter-ethnic understanding and harmony among students of diverse cultures and faiths. As the above members note: ‘At this time of pain and fear, anger and sadness, we believe that education is more important than ever, and that critical dialogue, the foundation of true democracy, is all the more necessary.’ This book hopes to make a modest contribution to this end.

Migration of people from one country to another, or within a geographical territory, dates back to antiquity. People have moved to ‘new pasture’ for a variety of reasons: to improve their standard of living, to survive droughts, to escape persecutions and to nurture their threatened faiths. Examples of this type of migration are to be found everywhere in this contemporary age of globalisation. The United States is a prime example of a land of immigrants: Census, 2000 (see Website US Census: 1) shows that, ‘as many as 13 million of the 32.7 million new residents were immigrants…More than 28.4 million US residents, or about ten percent of the population, are foreign born, a 43 percent increase from the 1990 census.’ Although the UK and other Western European countries have not experienced such a large-scale immigration, it is interesting to note Cohen’s (1991: 15) detailed comments on the substantial post-Second World War immigration:

…The mix going to individual countries was different. Greeks, Turks and Yugoslavs went out to Germany; Algerians, Portuguese, Spaniards, Italians and West African arrived in France; while the initial influx to Britain and the Netherlands tended to come from their former colonies…Belgian’s ‘foreigners’ were largely drawn from Spain, Greece, Morocco and Turkey…By the mid-1970s, when immigration restrictions were introduced in all Western countries, some 13.5 million ‘foreigners’ were officially counted as residing in Belgium, Denmark…the UK, Sweden and Switzerland.

Migration to the UK and other OECD (Organisation for Economic and Cooperation and Development) countries is likely to increase in the next twenty-five years, according to the recent Home Office White Paper (Secure Borders, Safe, Haven: 2002: 9). The paper also argues that there are considerable economic and cultural benefits of ‘managed migration’: ‘Migration brings huge benefits: increased skills, enhanced levels of economic activity, cultural diversity and global links.’

The debate on how best to integrate/assimilate immigrants has been the concern of politicians, academics, clergymen, trade unionists and of the caring professionals such as teachers, social workers, psychologists and doctors. However, ultimately, it is the politicians who form and legislate policies, lead public opinion and set the tone and agenda for discussion. Witness the recent thinking of David Blunkett, the Home Secretary of the UK, on the subject (Home Office, 2002: 29)

The Government welcomes the richness of the cultural diversity which immigrants have brought to the UK--our society is multi-cultural and is shaped by its diverse peoples. We want British citizenship positively to embrace the diversity of background, culture and faiths that is one of the hallmarks of Britain in the 21^st Century.

This is a very sound and positive message on ‘immigration’, but his subsequent remarks and contributions (Blunkett, 2002: 77) have cast some doubt on his commitment to cultural diversity and pluralism. Blunkett notes that nearly a third of the South Asian families in Britain only speak their native language at home and that (by implication; author’s insert) it is a major cause of mal-adaptation of the younger generation. He goes on to argue that: ‘However, speaking English enables parents to converse with their children in English as well as their historic mother tongue, at home and to participate in wider modern culture. It helps overcome the schizophrenia which bedevils generational relationships.’ The South Asian community in Britain were alarmed and disappointed with his stance and views. Their despondency was not so much concerned with the gist of what he was advocating but with the tone and the emotive words he used, namely ‘schizophrenia which bedevils’, to convey (some feared) to dictate his message. Above all, the tenor of his arguments appears to be suggestive of assimilation rather than the integration (pluralism) which has been advocated in the above noted White Paper (HMSO: 2002). His statements on the South Asian custom of arranged marriages has also cast some doubts on his whole-hearted commitment to cultural diversity and ‘integration’-- a policy advocated by the late Roy Jenkins, the former UK Home Minister, in the mid-1960s (Rose and Deakin, 1969: 25). Jenkin’s definition of integration is worth keeping in mind: ‘Not a flattening process of uniformity, but cultural diversity, coupled with equal opportunity, in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance.’

This book deals comprehensively with the issue of the assimilation vis- a- vis integration of immigrants in several chapters (1, 4, 5 and 6) by presenting research evidence from Australia, Britain, Western Europe and North America. Briefly, the conclusion that is drawn from discussion and analysis of field data and research is that policies and practices that encourage bilingualism and biculturalism enrich both the individuals and the receiving society.

The media coverage of adolescent boys and girls tends to portray them variously as: rebels, drug abusers, lager louts, football hooligans and involved in counter-cultures. Such negative stereotypes are common. However, a recent report by the Economics and Social Research Council, UK (ESCR, 2002: 1) suggests: ‘that this picture is inaccurate and that the majority of young people subscribe to the work/earning ethic, aim to engage in education and training, and see themselves as preparing to participate fully in society.’ Young people of South Asian origin often get their claim to fame by their noted ‘rebellion’ against arranged marriages, by escape from over-aspiring parents, and by the formation of counter-cultures and their refusal to be assimilated into the ways of their host society.

The major biological, physical and psychological changes (and higher levels of thinking and reasoning) that occur during adolescence pose different problems and challenges from those encountered earlier in childhood. These relate to the processes of forming new self-identity, of developing sexual relationships and coming to terms with their sexuality, the demand for more autonomy and independence from parents, the choice of education courses and the making of future career plans.

Although the educational, social and personal problems and concerns of second-and third-generation South Asian young people (and indeed of other young people of colour) are somewhat similar to those faced by their white counterparts, the former face additional difficulties. These are due to their experience of, and socialisation into, two different (and often conflicting) sets of values, beliefs, attitudes and practices: one of the home and the other of the school and wider society. The unique problems of growing up in multicultural societies relate to the construction of dual or multiple personal and social identities, to the learning of an ancestral language, to religion and schooling and education. South Asian girls often tend to bear an unfair share of the burden of their patriarchal family’s cultural traditions (including arranged marriages) and to shoulder the izzat (honour) of the family. The other major handicap which the South Asian young people face is that of racial discrimination and exclusion. They have to learn to employ a variety of psychological mechanisms and social strategies to cope with this disadvantage.

Although, there have been a number of studies on the predicament of South Asian young people in the UK (Anwar, 1999; Bhatti, 2000, Bhopal, 1998; Ghuman, 1995; Stopes-Roe and Cochrane, 1988, Taylor, 1975; Thompson, 1974), there have been few in other countries: notably a study in the US (Gibson, 1988), an ethnographic study of an Indian community near Coffs harbour, New South Wales, Australia (de Lepervanche, 1984) and a study in Canada by Buchignani and her colleagues (1985).

Two ethnographic studies deserve a brief comment: the first in-depth research in England with South Asian young men was carried out by Taylor (1976) who wrote up his findings in a book entitled The Half-Way Generation. One of his main conclusions was that religion is an important variable in cultural assimilation/integration and that the Muslims are much more orthodox than the Hindu and Sikhs (in his chosen sample). The majority expressed their self-identity as being Pakistani or Indian rather than British or else in a ‘hyphenated’ way. Most of the sample had white English friends and many of them dated white girls.

A major pioneering and wide-ranging study of Indian adolescents in the US by Gibson was published in 1988 under the title Accommodation without Assimilation (Gibson, 1988). The chief finding is that young people of Indian ancestry are retaining the beliefs and values of their family while at the same time learning the American way of life and are making full use of the education facilities. Common to the outcome of both researches is that young people are clamouring for some form of ‘middle-way’: a synthesis, a fusion of two cultures into which they can anchor themselves. Furthermore, young people are seeking to ‘belong’ and root themselves into a system of values, customs and practices so that they can live and work in both cultures. In this context, it is poignant to note that, in the contemporary zeitgeist of the Western world, the emphasis, once again, has shifted to assimilation of ethnic minorities (as was the case in the 1960s) rather than integration.

The research presented in this book builds on the above contributions and offers new insights into the processes of identity formation, acculturation, integration and educational matters. Its distinctive features include: comparative research data from four countries, viz: Australia, Canada, UK and the US; the addressing of gender issues and the highlighting of the positive aspects of biculturalism and bilingualism. It offers broad theoretical framework and makes recommendations for teachers, youth and health workers, educational psychologists, counsellors and the other caring professions.

The book is concerned with the lives of young people of South Asian ancestry who were either born or had their schooling in the West. It is based on extensive fieldwork in four locations and builds on the author’s research of some thirty years and those of other scholars. The methodology of research is both quantitative and qualitative. An established biculturalism scale (951 young people responded) yielded data which has been subjected to a variety of statistical techniques. The information gained from young people, teachers and parents through semi-structured interviews and detailed participant observations provides a rich source for critical analysis and discussion. These two methodologies proved to be complementary and have been invaluable in understanding and explaining the problems of young people. For example, verbatim extracts from the interviews are used in the book and provide insights and ‘meanings’ (nuances and flavour) which add to a fuller understanding of the statistical findings.

Although the book is written mainly from a psychological perspective, anthropological and sociological dimensions have been intermeshed to provide a broader framework for contextualizing the findings. Reviewed literature includes research carried out by educationalists, psychologists, anthropologists and sociologists who have employed a variety of methodologies (e.g. ethnographic, case studies, experimental and quasi-experimental) to study the concerns of ethnic minority young people.

The project explores wide-ranging topics of major significance in the field of education, bilingualism, identity-formation, dual socialisation, acculturation and inter-ethnic relations. On the basis of our findings some suggestions are made for implementation by practitioners and researchers. Attention is also drawn to emerging ideas, themes and concepts that can be further explored.

Chapter 1 sets the scene by providing a brief historical background of South Asian immigration to Australia, Canada, UK and the US since the turn of the last century. The predicament of East African Asian immigrants is discussed briefly, as they differ in some important aspects from their co-ethnics from the Indian sub-continent. There is a detailed analysis and discussion of their value systems, religions, difficulties with English, racial discrimination and treatment of women. Furthermore, an analysis is offered of their adaptation strategies which range form assimilation to separation. Thus the chapter provides a backdrop to the subsequent discussion of their offspring’s problems of dual identity formation, bilingualism, religious outlook, inter-ethnic relations and matters relating to schooling and education.

Chapter 2 briefly reviews previous research on the salient concerns of the younger generation and includes: gender equality, collective-orientation vis a vis individual-orientation, dating and arranged marriage, racial prejudice, ethnic identity formation, relevant research by Phinney from the US, Weinreich’s identity structure analysis and concepts of acculturation and biculturalism. Thus, overall, it focuses on the ‘lived in’ experiences of South Asian adolescents in the West as found by researchers and others in the field.

In Chapter 3 a list of aims and objectives is given to focus the reader’s attention and to serves as a guide through the subsequent chapters. This is followed by the details of samples and methodology used in the research: the strengths and shortcomings of the methodologies are discussed in detail, as are the important issues of the reliability and validity of the measures used. The construction and validation of the ‘Aberystwyth biculturalism scale’ is discussed because it has been used in all the four locations. This is followed by a lengthy discussion of the social and educational backgrounds of the four locations, namely New South Wales, Australia; Vancouver, Canada; Birmingham, UK and Valleyside and Freemont, California to provide a broader context within which the research findings are going to be embedded.

Chapter 4 introduces the reader to the theories of academic achievement of Ogbu and those of other scholars. It presents an analysis of parents’ and teachers’ responses to educational issues, namely: scholastic achievement, vocational aspirations, the teaching of heritage languages, religious education, school discipline and home-school links and homework. The findings are placed within existing theoretical frameworks and research.

Chapter 5 offers an analysis and discussion of parents’ and teachers’ responses to a variety of social and cultural concerns and dilemmas. These include: acculturation and identity, dating and arranged marriages, racism and equality of opportunity, inter-ethnic relations. The detailed discussion provides an important backdrop to the ‘voices’ of young people as reported in the subsequent chapters.

Chapter 6 presents detailed analyses of the data from the biculturalism scale on the important issue of integration vis a vis assimilation. Its mainly statistical findings are carried forward to interlink with the interview data in Chapter 7. Readers who feel uneasy with statistics, tables and graphs can safely omit chapter 6 without losing coherence or the thread of the argument presented in the book. The main findings of chapters 6 and 7 are that the Hindu young people in the sample express highly positive attitudes to acculturation as opposed to Muslims who are in favour of the retention of their community’s culture. The Sikh young people are ‘between’ in these two polarities. There are gender and social class differences: girls are strongly in favour of acculturation as are the young people (as a whole) from the professional classes. Regarding national differences, the Canadian sample scores the ‘highest’ on acculturation. An important finding is that the research sample as a whole in the research supports attitudes which are close to integration rather than assimilation or separation. All these findings are placed within the socio-political and educational contexts of the countries in the study. This finding is very important in view of the large-scale migration of people in the contemporary world, as noted earlier in this Chapter.

Chapter 8 is devoted entirely to a discussion of gender issues and draws upon the findings of the present research and those of other scholars. There is some unavoidable recapitulation of some notions discussed in previous chapters and I beg the reader’s indulgence in this. However, in this chapter evidence is presented from clinical and psychological research on the mental health of South Asian girls, who are under considerable tension because they face a ‘double handicap’: the preference given to boys at home, as well as the general racial prejudice of Western societies against people of colour. Their psychological coping mechanisms are explored so that sound recommendations can be made to assist them in their social adjustment.

The final Chapter revisits some of the salient concerns and issues and, along with analysis, offers resolutions and recommendations in the light both of the research outcomes and of the contribution of contemporary scholars and research.

The book is intended for teachers and others in the caring professions whose chief concern is with young people from the Indian sub-continent. It should also be of value to researchers and research students who are involved with South Asians or indeed with other ethnic minority young people.

A brief note on the terminology used in the research. In the UK, people from the Indian sub-continent are referred to as Asians and in Canada as East Indians. In the US they used to be called ‘Hindoos’. The label, South Asians, is increasingly used by researchers and other scholars (Vertovec, 1990; Bhatnagar, 1985) to describe people from the Indian sub-continent and it is this term that is used throughout the book.