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The inner city context and the generation of curricula in adult education
Feroz Khan, Leicestershire Education Authority
The aim of this paper is to examine curriculum development in the inner city for adult learners.
The inner city
Highfields is an area of multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-cultural people; with its myriad of issues, patterns of lives, rich cultural traditions with a variety of talents but economically and socially deprived[1].
It is in this context with a background of traditional adult education practices having ‘a poor record of provision’[2] that the ‘mini United Nations’ in our inner cities are making a break through in challenging for changes in alternative curricula for adults.
The post-war period not only saw the dismantling of the British Empire but also started a movement of peoples from the old colonies to ‘Mother England’ that has altered the face of British urban culture and society.
The boom years of the post war period saw the import of unskilled and semi-skilled Indians, Pakistanis, Afro-Caribbeans and Bangladeshis to take on the jobs that the white working class no longer wanted to do[3].
The result of this immigration of citizens from the New Commonwealth into the urban industrial belts of Britain has not only enriched the inner cities culturally but the lack of development and planning and in a lot of cases inappropriate planning and development has resulted in multiple deprivations and unemployment as the post-war boom declined.
In 1984, the unemployment rate in the white population was twelve per cent for males and ten per cent for females, whilst for West Indians it was twenty eight per cent and eighteen per cent and for Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis twenty two per cent for males and females respectively. Thus the figures for the non-white adults being twice that of the white population.[4]
In some inner city areas, such as parts of Yorkshire and Humberside, the unemployment rate amongst Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis was thirty per cent. [5]
For the majority of ethnic minorities finding employment has become an academic question since the decline in unskilled and semi-skilled work became total in some areas such as Yorkshire with the closure of cotton mills. However, racial discrimination became the single most important barrier for the ethnic communities in the job market. It is against this background that the lack of education and training provision for ethnic minorities took on a high profile (Rampton/Swann).
The House of Lords Select Committee on Unemployment drew attention to this issue: ‘obvious disadvantages in the labour market which first generation immigrants suffer are the low level of their educational and job qualifications, compared with whites and in the case of Asians, languages and cultural differences’[6].
In examining adult education curriculum development in the inner city, one cannot ignore achievements in pre-sixteen education. Since 1981 (Scarman Report), the failure of formal education providers in the Secondary and Primary sectors has resulted in large numbers of young ethnic minority adults leaving school with little or no qualifications (Swann). We thus have a system of formal pre-sixteen education that is geared to failure from the outset. In specific ethnic communities, the failure level at sixteen is extremely high.[7]
The Inner London Education Authority, the largest in the country, stated that in 1985, Bengali children comprised the largest single linguistic minority in Inner London - twenty two per cent of all pupils whose first language was not English. A sample of school leavers of Asian origins showed exam success between seventy six to ninety one per cent while Bangladeshi children’s rate was only twenty one per cent[8].
Similarly, the further education colleges and adult education centres have failed to provide appropriate educational curricula and opportunities for the ethnic minorities. In the main, adult education work has concentrated on community development work with white working class adults and paying little or no attention to the ethnic minorities, racism or gender issues[9]. Adult education institutions responded to this need in a very limited way by providing English as a Second Language (ESL) classes[10]. Furthermore, providers took a ‘monolithic’ view of the needs of ethnic minorities and that ‘many practitioners took a blanket approach in lieu of consulting members and representatives of the minority Communities’.[11]
Good practices in curricula generation have taken place only through consumer demand-led and negotiated with provider institutions, authorities, voluntary sector and validating agencies. Such a development took place in Leicester at Highfields Youth and Community Centre, for the ‘Foundation Certificate in Multicultural Fashion for Women’.
One may ask the question why is this course not taking place in a further education college since that is the type of institution specifically set up for vocational training and qualifications? In the first place, the local FE colleges are not located within the communities. In this instance, research has shown that existing FE provision in Fashion and Design is based on an old system of entry requirements, tutors were all white, the ambience of the college was not suitable to the local communities, students needed to catch two buses to reach the college from the area where consumers reside, and costs for existing courses were too high. The syllabus of the course in question was inappropriate to consumer needs and requirements, there was no crèche provision and the timing of the course was found to be inappropriate. There was no ESL provision at the college or on the course. Since a large proportion of the women were unemployed mothers (and in some case the husbands were also unemployed), they needed to go to local schools to collect their children or take them there. Therefore, they could not take a course on a full time basis or on a full day or two.
Appropriate access to education and learning became a primary question for the tutors on the above course which the Government also identified as a priority in the work of the Manpower Services Commission and in the DES White Paper on Higher Education[12].
In developing curricula in the inner city, a major distinction is the need for flexibility such as the entry requirements which must be negotiated with each student and which allows for their previous social and life experiences to be credited[13].
The negotiation of times and days when the course takes place is another major distinction from formal and traditional courses for adults. In the fashion course, classes take place at four different times of the working week and students have to attend for three and half hours per week out of a total of eight hours. The students can work at their own pace or spend more time on a particular module. This timing arrangement also allows provision for illness, and holidays and religious occasions like Ramadan (Islamic fasting period). In most inner city, areas one finds families who take leave to visit relations in places such as South Asia. There is a tendency to stay longer than intended because of the costs of such visits are so high and that families can only afford to go on such visits once in approximately ten years.
In developing the curriculum, the staffing for this course became a crucial issue. The consumers are mainly Asian and Afro-Caribbean and in most cases their own ability to communicate in English is limited. The course finally developed with the appointment of an Asian tutor who speaks two appropriate languages, one white tutor who has been teaching in the area for a long time and additionally an Afro-Caribbean tutor. Similarly other tutors were taken on for particular topics such as embroidery and batik printing.
The fashion course is accredited by the East Midlands Further Educational Council and the external assessor was also negotiated from another county. In the assessment of the students’ work, there are no examinations. Assessment is continuous and is based on production of set pieces of work, attendance, motivation, originality and marketability.
In writing up their work, students on the fashion course are given the choice of either using English or their mother tongue and provision has been made for the appropriate language examiner to undertake the necessary assessment.
One major advantage of this course is that there are two avenues for progression. These are industry and further/higher education. This is an essential element to any successful development, particularly within the inner city context. The last decade has evidenced a plethora of projects (funded mainly through the Inner Area Partnership programme), all striving to put on provisions of various kinds for adults in the community. The reality, however, has been one of under-funded, understaffed, under-equipped, ad hoc provisions engaged in doing something for the sake of doing something. To break out of this vicious cycle, it is essential that course participants have set before them very clear aims and objectives and routes for moving on in their own personal, educational and career developments. The multi-cultural fashion course was set up with these clear aims and objectives and offers students the very real possibility of moving on to either the BTEC Fashion course or the Polytechnic Foundation course. It also offers the students an opportunity to gain employment in the fashion industry.
In the field of alternative curricula developments and learning, if appropriate negotiations are not continuous from the outset of the course, serious problems could arise at any one of several points in its development (Nottingham Access Forum).
In the absence of appropriate curricula developments within the mainstream FE provision, it has befallen on us to initiate and develop this course. This does not absolve mainstream providers from engaging in this area of work. Indeed, we have been able to identify specific FE college specialists who have been supportive in a consultancy role. The task is to extend this contact into a more fully-fledged and ongoing partnership[14].
In conclusion, setting new curricula may be considered as the initial breakthrough. The continuation of practices as identified above will be an essential part of the process. Critically, however, the most important ingredient will be a regular monitoring and evaluation of such provision which involves the students and providers.
[1] F. Khan (1987), Education and training for all
[2] Further Education Unit, March 1984
[3] Gilroy, P. Empire Strikes Back
[4] MSC, Labour Quarterly, Septemb