Education in a multi-heritage society: the case of Latin Americans in the UK

Briefing paper for the Education Commission for presentation to the Mayor of London 21 September 2009
=Education in a multi-heritage society: the case of Latin Americans and other Spanish & Portuguese speakers in the United Kingdom.= 
This is a collaborative document (i.e. it is open for you to edit). Please add material under the “general” heading or under a specific country (source) heading. Try to accompany observation with “accessible” evidence – i.e. documents, photos, videos which can be seen and heard online “free”. The initial stub for this paper focuses on the case of Peruvians and Bolivians in London. Please add as many other illustrations as possible – from the over 25 “root-source” (countries of outward-migration) categories which are relevant. 
==General - A feel for the issues==
The word multi-heritage is used in preference to multi-cultural. See the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust document “Combining diversity with common citizenship” http://www.jrct.org.uk which explains why “muli-culturalism” has come under increasing attack. A multi-heritage society is one – at least in one of its definitions - where all or most achieve a common citizenship and, in part, elements of a common culture(s), whilst individuals retain diverse aspects of family and group (perhaps - community) “heritages”. (It could be noted that “Britain” has always “contained” a society with multiple heritages.)
In the case of Latin Americans in London and the United Kingdom, the Runnymede Trust has reported on some of the “communities” in the United Kingdom. The report on Ecuadorians can be found at: 
http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/file/Com%20Studies%20-%20Bolivian%20%282%29.pdf
and the report on Bolivians at
http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/pdfs/EcuadorianIdentityCommunity05.pdf
See section: Runnymede on Bolivians in London.
These reports and other sources reveal several issues which challenge the viability and health of a multi-heritage society-
==Issues in multi-heritage education==
There are a range of problems which need to be / could be addressed when designing new materials and changes to learning systems and curriculums. These are itemised below:
•	There are wide educational and social divides within the community with “older” groups more privileged than newer arrivals. Class and racial barriers are to an extent imported and aggregated to indigenous (British) barriers. (Are educationally-qualified Latin Americans “helping” those who are not?)
•	Deskilling (working at a less-skilled job than you are qualified for) is a common phenomenon for émigré (migrant) labour. 
•	Low levels of self-esteem and an unevenly developed sense of identity are particular problems which educators have the opportunity to address.
•	Legalisation and education. How can materials and courses be delivered in cases where the potential student does not have citizenship or a visa. Or may be working extremely unsocial hours?
•	There are specific problems in the English school system which relatively new arrivals face and which may not have been present in their root country. (The default male anti-learning culture in some schools is often quoted in this context.) 
•	Deracination (nor referring to racism) is the process of “uprooting” which occurs – sometimes several times over – in the process of migration. Losing one’s friends, work environment, local contacts, cultural activities are examples.
•	Concept of the "history of the British". As the contemporary composition of “the British” changes, the challenge for educators will be (and is) how to include all the “histories and heritages” present in their learning group, class, or tutorial. (How can we include, for example, a relevant Latin American history for a thinly spread & dispersed population of children with Latin American roots?) 
•	The "History of Peru" project being developed for Peruvians in the UK aims to (a) combine a multi-heritage approach, (b) be adaptable to specific British - Latin American and Peruvian-British curriculums and (c) contribute to cross-cultural education. The next section outlines the project within the context of a wider programme for Latin Americans in the UK.
Additional education for Latin Americans and their families in the UK
Editorial note. Please list here the aspects of your education institution or facility, which might be of interest to those with Latin American connections / roots. Include nursery, primary, secondary, tertiary (including university and college), adult, part-time, weekend schools, workshops, online etc.
Click edit to access the joint editing page:
==Annexe: “History of Peru” for Peruvians and their families in Ireland, the UK.== 
The preface to the online materials starts off as follows:
Welcome to the History of Peru project. In a nutshell the History of Peru project aims to provide - particularly for those with Peruvian roots - a "knowledge-sharing" and "collaborative research" system and hence access to cohesive but open learning schemes on the theme of Peru. It is hoped that this resource will be of interest also to many who have no direct Peruvian connection. See section "I am". 
For those who are in schools and universities - with 20,000 or more families with some Peruvian roots spread around the country[2] this is a growing occurence - it is hoped that interest groups, schools and universities will subscribe to (click "groups" in the top of page contents) a partnership with Peruvian scholar(s) or to a collaborative research project (click "universities"). 
An idea of the contents is given by the introduction page – click Intro on the menu below 
 
==Annexe: Contents of Introduction to the History of Peru==
•	1 BEFORE YOU START 
o	1.1 Install the "Bridgebuilder" collection of software. 
	1.1.1 Example: annoyed by adverts?
	1.1.2 Example: other templates
	1.1.3 Example: to read an original source
o	1.2 The purpose of Bridgebuilder in brief
o	1.3 Downloads and base-pages
•	2 INTRODUCTION 
o	2.1 The problem of language
o	2.2 Other templates
o	2.3 Many ways of writing history 
	2.3.1 Collaborative history
	2.3.2 Reasons for this approach
	2.3.3 Historians and history
	2.3.4 Watersheds: Jorge Basadre
	2.3.5 Other milestones
	2.3.6 The Biblioteca Nacional as the central resource
o	2.4 Resources 
	2.4.1 Accessibility of documents
	2.4.2 Problems in historiography
	2.4.3 Wider fields
	2.4.4 Peru-sources in the public (collaboratively editable) domain
	2.4.5 What is a stub?
	2.4.6 Cross references: articles in the History of Peru - wikipedia
	2.4.7 The "History" wikia
	2.4.8 Further sections in preparation
o	2.5 Tutorials 
	2.5.1 Topics which are open for collaborative editing
	2.5.2 Topics which are waiting page creation
o	2.6 Footnotes
o	2.7 Further Links 
	2.7.1 History of Peru - Academic Publishing Wiki - Collaborative history
	2.7.2 Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
	2.7.3 The Incas for Stage 3 history teachers
o	2.8 End of article - just one thing about "palimpsest".
==References==
Retrieved from "http://academia.wikia.com/wiki/Template:History_masthead"
Categories: Journal of Peruvian Studies | History of Peru
http://www.zotero.org/groups/perustudies/items
http://www.zotero.org/groups/peruvia/items
Runnymede on Bolivians in London.
Category:Journal of Peruvian Studies