Polish Pupils in London Primary Schools: a dissemination and knowledge exchange project.
Lead Research Organisation:
Middlesex University
Department Name: School of Health and Education
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
Publications
Lopez Rodriguez, M; Sales, R; D'Angelo, A; Ryan, L
(2010)
A Guide for Parents: Polish Pupils in UK Primary Schools
Lopez-Rodriguez, M; Sales, R; D'Angelo, A; Ryan, L.
(2010)
A Guide for Parents on the UK Educational System (in Polish language)
Louise Ryan (Co-Author)
(2011)
Sites of Socialisation - Polish Parents and children in London Schools'
in Studia Migracyjne - Przegl_d Polonijny
Ryan L
(2011)
Family Migration: The Role of Children and Education in Family Decision-Making Strategies of Polish Migrants in London
in International Migration
Ryan, Louise
(2010)
Newly arrived migrant and refugee children in the British educational system
| Description | The arrival of many thousands of Polish children into British schools in a relatively short period of time has created both challenges and opportunities. Schools have to balance the need to integrate children into the classroom and the curriculum with the need to develop language acquisition as quickly as possible. The research discussed in this report illustrates that schools have developed different strategies for addressing these issues. Some have developed specific programmes for induction and specialised language support. Others tend to rely on a combination of small group work supported by teaching assistants and strategies developed by teachers in the classroom. All of these strategies have implications for resources which are already overstretched between competing priorities. There was also a marked difference in the support given by local authorities. In some cases the local authority provides regular support, information and advice, while in other cases teachers were not sure where to access the necessary information and tools to support their work. Many of the interviews with both teachers and parents reinforced the stereotype of Polish children as clever, hard working and diligent. This image simplifies a far more complex reality. Not all were able to achieve as highly as their parents expectations, and we also found some evidence of special educational needs among newly arrived Polish children. Moreover, the process of language acquisition is complicated and it takes longer to achieve higher level linguistic skills than many may expect. While several parents were quite critical of the British educational system, there was nonetheless an expectation that teachers would help Polish children (who often arrived with no English at all) to achieve language fluency in a very short period. Some parents, however, were appreciative of the enormous efforts being made by the schools to welcome and facilitate new migrants. Our study suggested that there were a number of areas in which the expectations and understandings of teachers and parents conflicted and that this could lead to frustration which impacted on relationships between parents and schools All the parents we spoke to were very interested in their children's education and sought to be directly involved through helping with homework and having regular updates on their progress. Several were highly critical about the lack of regular feedback from teachers. Although most teachers we interviewed praised Polish parents for their work ethic and commitment to education, most appeared unaware of the resentment of parents at what they perceived as inadequate information about their children's progress. |
| Exploitation Route | The research raised a number of issues and concerns and suggested policy responses for various levels, from classroom teachers to national. Some of these would be good practice for any group of children and parents, whether English speaking or not, since good EAL teaching is good practice in general. While some would therefore mainly affect Polish children, in many cases we suggest they could be generalised for other groups. Moreover, the better inclusion of Polish children would improve the experience of schools for all, both teachers and parents. 1. Spreading good practice and knowledge The research identified many examples of good practice and of appropriate resources in individual authorities or schools. There was, however, a lack of awareness of these strategies and resources by many teachers. There is a need to spread this knowledge at all levels - within schools, local authorities, and at national and European Union level. Local authorities have a key role to play in disseminating information, training, resources and skills. They may also need to focus on monitoring and supporting the achievement of Polish children across the borough. This clearly has implications for resources. It requires time for teachers to spend outside the classroom, for example in visiting other schools and attending training and meetings. It is also important that the EMA coordinators for individual schools are freed up from full time classroom responsibility in order to manage this role effectively. 2. Reflecting on practice The parents' interviews raised concerns about too rigid and early streaming of children and low expectations of those considered to be 'low achievers'. These concerns need careful consideration in relation to teaching practice and classroom management as a whole. 3. Teaching Resources The availability of resources was sporadic and more could be done by schools and LEAs to promote information about available materials to support those teaching Polish children. These would include both Polish language and bi-lingual resources and material on EAL teaching and on the experience of Polish children. Polish language resources Teachers found dictionaries and bi-lingual texts useful. Particular gaps were identified in relation to the needs of children attempting to access the curriculum. This reflected the difficulty of progressing from everyday or 'playground' language to more technical language. Schools and local authorities might consider developing the following resources: ? Dictionaries which cover the topics in the school curriculum ? Dual language texts which cover curriculum related material ? Dual language stories at a higher level ? Banks of vocabulary which would allow class teachers to communicate particular technical words ? Tests available in Polish in order to speed up the process of testing children's ability and identifying special needs 4. Staffing Staff identified the need for training on language acquisition for classroom teachers, particularly to help them move children from basic to higher level. This might include a greater emphasis on grammatical structure.40 Staff also need information on the background of Polish children, and particularly the differences in the educational system. This may also be facilitated by projects such as establishing links with Polish schools through exchanges. Polish speaking staff Polish speaking staff played a vital role in all the schools in the study. Schools should consider recruiting Polish-speaking staff at all levels. There is, however, a danger of relying too heavily on teaching assistants, who are both low paid and often over-worked as well as often having limited qualifications. Training opportunities for this group are essential. 5. Engagement with parents This can be facilitated by both written and face to face communication and through written and internet resources, for example: ? A bank of resources in dual language which could be adapted for particular circumstances and available electronically and as a web resource. These could include school newsletters, school information packs, standard letters for example consent forms for school trips. Placing the text side by side could encourage parents and children to improve English skills. ? Information about the British school system and organisation and expectations of parents in relation to e.g. attendance, uniform, homework. This could be provided at induction meeting and reviewed through discussion with parents and staff. ? Meetings for Polish (and where appropriate other groups) parents on specific topics to develop more effective communication and dispel misunderstandings. One example could be the method of teaching maths in British schools ? Parents could be encouraged to become involved with the school through for example: o Helping with translation and interpretation o Involvement in wider school activities - multicultural evenings, fairs Provision of space for parents' meetings and special activities - e.g. information and advice sessions, English language classes, could be considered. 6. Improving the information available to parents considering migration Polish authorities could be encouraged to be more active in the distribution of information about the British school system in Poland to those considering migration. As part of this project we developed a Guide to the Uk Educational System for Polish parents (also translated into Polish) which included some helpful comparisons between the UK and Polish educational systems which will be useful to both Polish families and also to British schools. Thsi Guide was widely disseminated. As a result of this work we were approached by another community organisation (Action for Integration) which works with refugee families. They commissioned us to do another version of our Guide aimed at wider refugee and newly arrived migrant groups (not just Poles). This is an important impact from our original Polish study and shows how the results of our work have had wider benefits across other groups. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education |
| URL | http://sprc.info/research-projects/past-projects/polish-pupils-in-london-schools-opportunities-and-challenges/ |
| Description | As part of this project we worked closely with local authorities - e.g. Tower Hamlets, Ealing, Barnet, Lambeth, etc - to develop tools and information that could help both teachers and Polish families to prepare children for the transition to the British educational system. We were invited to give presentations to Polish community groups - working with the Polish Education Society - to Polish Saturday Schools and to teachers in mainstream schools through events run by local authorities. We were also invited to speak at events organised by the Polish Embassy in London and by Polish community groups in the Polish Cultural Centre (POSK) We developed a guide book to the British educational system in Polish which was widely disseminated through Polish organisations and through local authorities. We were interviewed on radio and for the print media in Uk and in Poland. Following on from this research we were commissioned to produce a similar guidebook for parents from other migrant and refugee backgrounds (with Action for Social Integration). This was a very useful spin off and would not have been possible without the initial work funded by the ESRC. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | 'Children, Families and the Migration Experience' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This event organised at Middlesex University (May 2010) was a two day conference organised as part of our ESRC Follow-On project - it was attended by practitioners, teachers, local policy makers, representatives from the Polish embassy, Polish community groups, Saturday Schools, also other community groups working with migrants and refugees - approximately 100 people attended and there was lively discussion. In a series of workshops people shared good practice of working with different newly arrived migrant groups - particularly in school settings. We disseminated our Guide to Parents on schools, as a result of this event we were invited to speak at several other events and we were commissioned to develop a new Guide for parents from different migrant and refugee backgrounds (see publications) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | 'Family Migration and the Implications for Children's Education' (with D'Angelo) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Conference on Children Left Behind organised by Euro-Child, EU parliament, Brussels - the event was attended by a range of policy markers and NGOs from across the EU. Our talk on Polish children and family migration to the UK sparked considerable interest. Following this presentation we were invited to participate in a funding application (unfortunately unsuccessful) evidence from this one-day conference was presented to the European Commission to inform strategies on services and provision for family mobility across the EU |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | 'Newly Arrived Migrant Children in Schools' invited paper to conference on Education held at London Borough of Ealing - Education Dept |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The research team ran a series of workshops for practitioners and local policy makers on the needs of newly arrived migrant children. There was considerable interest and very positive feedback on the workshops More requests for our guidebook to polish families on the UK educational system |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | 'Raising aspirations: supporting and strengthening BAME families' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | One day conference on 'Raising aspirations: supporting and strengthening BAME families', organised by BTEG (Black Training and Enterprise Group), London, 24 March 2011. D'Angelo and Sales presented research findings and distributed copies of the Guidebook. there was considerable interest in the guidebook. We disseminated our Guidebook and raised further awareness about our research findings on the experices of newly arrived migrant children and their families |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | 'The role of children in family migration strategies' (with Rosemary Sales) Institute of Education, London. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | There was lively interest in our talk and we were asked lots of questions we were invited to publish our paper as part of special section of the journal International Migration (published 2011) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Migrants and Ethnic Minorities in Schools |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | One day conference on Migrants and Ethnic Minorities in Schools aimed at community organisations, school staff, Supplementary schools, local authorities - addressed by Andy Love MP - and co-sponsored by Action for Social Integration (December 2010). Copies of both the Polish Guidebook and a new Guidebook for Migrant and Refugee Families were distributed to all delegates. There was lively discussion about cut backs to public spending (particularly Ethnic Minority Achievement grant) our presentation and reports informed the debate We were invited to speak at other local authorities |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Panel discussant at 'Fatherhood, Migration and transmission' Institute of Education, University of London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | There was a lively discussion about family migration particularly among intra-EU migrants and the implications for service provision, especially education Participants showed considerable interest and my presentation on the panel led to several requests for further information about the research on Polish family migration |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Polish Children in UK Schools - key note speaker at Polish Cultural centre, London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk to community organisations about the experiences of Polish children in UK schools, largely Polish audience - sparked a lot of discussion and debate in the audience several people present asked for copies of our guidebook on the UK educational system for Polish parents |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |