Thanks for sharing this Phillippa. Here's more on exploitation issues of migrant social care workers: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article7081849.ece
Sondra
-----Original Message-----
From: ESOL-Research discussion forum and message board on behalf of Philippa Grimes
Sent: Wed 3/31/2010 07:20
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: ESRC research brief
This is an interesting and sad one. When I went to Pakistan, I realised
that so many of the migrants in Birmingham were from the "higher echelons of
society", whilst working as bus drivers and taxi drivers in the UK, and
hugely looked down on. At the time, I was doing research for the health
service on ESOL and health and had an argument with my boss about social
class classifications, but got dismissed out of hand as talking nonsense. A
lecturer at the Institute of Education said to me that it is a truism that
the taxi drivers in New York are the best qualified people in the city.
Philippa
On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 8:26 AM, Cuban, Sondra <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> As part of the remit of my ESRC research, which ends on 31.3.10, I said I
> would disseminate findings on various discussion boards, so here goes:
>
> My study focused on professional migrants who were being deskilled in jobs
> for which they were overqualified for-- in this case, as social care
> workers. I wanted to learn what the role of education, literacy, and
> learning were in their opportunities to advance and their strategies for
> moving ahead professionally. Many of the participants were former health
> care professionals (nurses, midwifes, occupation therapists). Currently,
> migrants (both European and non-European) comprise about 19% of the
> population in this sector, which is expected to grow in the future, because
> of the fastly ageing population. This group was found to have few
> opportunities to improve their situations, the opposite of why they
> initially migrated. Many of them initially believed, and were often told by
> recruiters, that the social care sector was a stepping stone in to the
> health professions and other careers, rather than an occupational dustbin.
>
> I'll briefly summarise some findings that may be of interest and if you
> want to learn more about the study, please see the website under findings:
> http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/homework/index.htm :
>
> . Employers in the social care sector confused accents with "language
> problems" and many workers internalized these beliefs, especially when they
> were new to a company, thinking they were poor communicators
> . This group desired advanced level ESOL, focusing on grammar, and
> business English, medical and technical English courses, as well as
> International English Language Test System (IELTS) courses, most of which
> were unavailable in their communities
> . Workplace ESOL courses were regarded primarily as sites of social
> bonding amongst learners as many already possessed the skills that were
> being taught
> . The Englishes this group appeared to need related to legal and
> bureaucratic literacies around employment laws, immigration, and housing, so
> they could better know and assert their rights.
> . Newcomer migrant carers often picked up colloquial accents and
> regional idiomatic expressions with ease and over a short period of
> time---communicating well with clients once regular contact was established
> and there were opportunities to practice
> . Attendance at FE ESOL courses was episodic due to problems students
> had with their work schedules and being short-staffed, although they
> persisted to learn, and studied independently too
> . This group appeared to handle workplace paperwork with ease, and
> even helped their British-born colleagues with spelling issues
>
> This group, highly skilled migrants (those with tertiary education and
> professionals in their former countries), are often not acknowledged as
> such, and has been excluded from current policy discourses, especially with
> regard to deskilling and brain waste. While the LSC reports that this group
> is desperate enough to take on any kind of work while they "improve their
> English language levels" this state leaves them vulnerable to workplace
> exploitation and with little chance to move ahead.
>
> For more on practice, research, and policy implications/recommendations,
> please see website above. For further enquiries, please contact: Sondra
> Cuban, [log in to unmask]
>
> Thanks, Sondra
>
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ESOL-Research is a forum for researchers and practitioners with an interest in research into teaching and learning ESOL. ESOL-Research is managed by James Simpson at the Centre for Language Education Research, School of Education, University of Leeds.
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