Education, Migration and Identities Among Relocated Montserratian Students in British Schools

Gertrude Shotte

Each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the roads which lie ahead, and those over which we have travelled, and if the future roads looms ominous or unpromising, and the road back uninviting, then we need to gather a resolve and, carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road into another direction. If the new choice is also unpalatable, without embarrassment, we must be ready to change that as well.
(Mayo Angelou)

Prologue

The main content of this paper was first presented as a background paper for the 2001 Oxford Conference. It appears in the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Pre-Oxford Conference publication - ‘Equity and Diversity in Education’. The paper explores the effects of forced migration on relocated Montserratian students’ self concept and educational aspirations, in British schools. The material is based on a summary of some of the pertinent issues that evolved from the main findings of a study that I have recently completed. The paper begins with the introduction and background that briefly describe the historical and social events that led up to relocation to England. This is followed by a discussion on how in-school and out-of-school factors have forced relocated students to assume a range of conflicting identities, and how this situation has impacted on their educational progress. The last section suggests a way forward for relocated Montserratians. It relates how the UK Montserrat community has tried to restore and sustain a pre-migration ‘sense of achievement motivation’ among relocated students.

Introduction and Background

July 18, 1995, marked a significant turning point in the history of contemporary Montserrat. After about four centuries of dormancy, the Soufriere Hills Volcano rumbled its way into the lives of Montserratian residents. This momentous event ushered in a climate of fear, uncertainty and superficial hope as volcanic activities waxed and waned at will. Subsequent ongoing eruptions carved profound psychological scars on the minds of all those who experienced the incandescent rage of the awakened Soufriere Hills giant. Life for Montserratians has never been the same since July 1995. Three phases of internal displacement (August 21 to September 7, 1995, December 2, 1995 to January 2, 1996 and April 3, 1996) within the first nine months of the volcanic crisis, proved to be a frustrating and emotionally-draining experience. Thus began the roller-coaster existence of a people whose lives were forcefully propelled on to unexpected and challenging roadways.

As volcanic activities escalated, several persons fled to neighbouring Caribbean islands, particularly Antigua, Montserrat’s international gateway. The UK government, probably in recognition of its responsibility to its Dependent Territory, introduced a voluntary evacuation scheme¹ that was effected on November 1, 1995. It was probably the June 25, 1997 destruction (seven villages demolished and nineteen presumed fatalities), that influenced the UK government to extend its initial provision to include an Assisted Passages Programme.²

With no apparent decline in volcanic activities, two thirds of the island declared uninhabited, severely disrupted social services and drastically reduced schooling facilities, relocation to ‘safer’ shores became inevitable. It was this cataclysmic situation that prompted the exodus to the UK. But a large migratory movement from Montserrat to England is not a new phenomenon.

Migratory Trends. Montserrat has been characterised as an island of out-migration since the beginning of the post emancipation era (Ebanks 1988; Foster & Evans 1978; Mckee 1966; Philpott 1973). This implies that emigrating is a regular feature in the average Montserratian’s life, and recorded history has shown that there are various, notable patterns of mobility. In an earlier work, I illustrated the patterns of mobilty from Montserrat since the post-emancipation period to 1999. I showed that there were major patterns of mobility in various directions (Shotte 1999: 17). The same representation holds true for 2002, albeit on a smaller scale in relation to Phase 6 – the ‘Post-1995 Forced Migrant Phase’.

This phase has now brought about the largest scale out-migration in the history of the island for approximately two thirds (7500) of the island’s population were forced to relocate. Islanders relocated to different territories but it was ‘Mother England’ that attracted more than half of the relocated population, as noted in Figure 1. According to the Montserrat Community Support Trust³ (MCST), in 1999 there are approximately 5000 relocated migrants living in England.

Figure 1: Departures to Specific Destinations by Montserrat Migrants – July 1995 to 1998

Derived from Montserrat Statistics Department (1998)

It is on the aforementioned sixth migratory phase that this paper focuses, not just because it has brought about the largest out-migration in the history of Montserrat, but mainly because it frames the background for the discussion.

Why England? Based on a 1997 Social Survey, education was the decisive factor that influenced families to relocate to England (Government of Montserrat 1997: 17). The Survey did not indicate which country persons relocated to, but based on the proportions shown in Figure 1, it seems reasonable to conclude that England was the most popular choice. It was a widely held belief among islanders that England’s education system was best. Besides, many persons reasoned that in such ‘troublesome times’ it was the ‘Mother’ country’s responsibility to ensure that their basic needs were met. Thus, even those Montserratians who had initially migrated to other territories, eventually relocated to England.

Unlike the post-war migrants who had come voluntarily to Britain to improve their economic status, relocated post 1995 migrants came because they had to - to seek refuge in the Motherland – a place where dreams of walking on streets of gold have now become “ a grey reality with a light drizzle of kindness” (Fergus 1998: 83).

From conversations with relocated migrants, I noted that there was a general air of discontentment and disappointment that pervades the relocated migrant community, particularly in relation to education. Follow-up formal discussions conducted with relocated students, their parents/guardians and teachers over a nine-month period, revealed that the effects of forced migration had affected relocated students’ educational aspirations in startling and inconceivable ways. I have therefore theorised that the high levels of achievement motivation⁴ that relocated students were known to have prior to relocation and up to three months in the British education system, had been greatly diminished due to several in-school and out-of-school factors. It becomes necessary therefore to take a brief look at education/schooling in Montserrat before July 1995 and during the initial two years of the volcanic crisis.

'Pre-Volcano' Education. The Montserrat government offered these free education programmes: early childhood/pre-primary (nursery), primary, secondary, technical and vocational (Ministry of Education 1996: 4). These programmes included ‘Special Education’⁵ and from the 1980s were extended to include adult and continuing education⁶ (Fergus 1994: 194). Although Montserrat remains a British Dependent Territory Overseas (BDTO), its membership in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has given it access to the Region’s development and expansion education programmes.

The volcanic crisis struck at a time when the Caribbean had embarked on an educational journey that had ‘Regionalism’ as an overarching theme. Regionalism is defined as:

A way of doing, thinking, feeling, which seeks to identify, give meaning to, acknowledge the integrity of common and unique Caribbean Communities, and also to pool these various experiences obtained from institutions and from persons in order to compel an action (CARICOM Secretariat 1993: 5).

Montserratian students participated and benefited from many of the Region’s education programmes.⁷ This point was not made to glorify these regional education programmes, but rather to highlight that they were an important source of achievement motivation for relocated students.

Schooling Amidst Volcanic Crisis. Participation in regional and national educational programmes never ceased even when major volcanic activities severely disrupted schooling. Table 1 shows how schooling was affected during the first year of the crisis:

The Ministry of Education, in acknowledging that the volcanic crisis had created untold challenges and difficulties that disrupted the ‘normal’ running of the education system, in its 1996/1997 report commented:

The teachers, students and parents must be congratulated for their continued perseverance, diligence and dedication in spite of the difficulties created by the volcanic crisis (Ministry of Education 1997: 11).

The portrayal of such “perseverance, diligence and dedication” suggests that even in the face of danger, education remained an important priority for Montserratians. This also implies that students still had a relatively high degree of achievement motivation. I advance that such high levels of achievement motivation before and during the volcanic crisis, were sustained by a robust home-school-community network. Figure 2 illustrates this collaboration:

Figure 2: Factors that Influenced Montserratian Students’ Achievement Motivation in ‘Pre-Volcano’ Times

Figure 2 is based on my experiences as a teacher and curriculum developer at the primary, secondary and tertiary⁸ levels of the Montserrat education system. Additionally, I was involved in the construction and implementation of many of the national education programmes and participated in some of the extension programmes in the Region. With reference to size, school community collaboration translated into a close working relationship among students, parents and me. It was this educational background and knowledge of students’ educational aspirations and achievements that prompted me to investigate the effects of forced migration on these relocated students’ educational progress. The rest of the discussion will focus on a summary of some my findings.

Shifting Identities

Identity should be viewed, not as an accomplished fact, but rather as a production which is never complete, always in process (Hall, cited in Woodward 1997: 51). Gilroy puts it this way:

The raw materials from which identity is produced may be inherited from the past but they are also worked on, creatively or positively, reluctantly or bitterly, in the present (Gilroy 1997: 304).

I deem necessary it to extend the concept of identity to include ethnic identity since identity and ethnicity are inextricably related (Gay 1999; Sheets 1999; Krulfeld & Camino 1994; Slonim 1991). Ethnicity connotes differences; and students as well as teachers attribute particular meanings to the differences around them, and react on the basis of these meanings. Ethnic difference is usually the first difference to be noticed; hence subsequent actions by observers are adjusted “in ways that take these meanings into consideration” (Ryan 1999: 72). Ryan further noted that these constructed meanings are not all positive, for some groups of students are sometimes placed at a disadvantage by students and teachers who attribute particular differences to them. In British schools, African Caribbean and refugee students fit this category, as is illustrated in the case of relocated Montserratian students.

The African Caribbean Identity. Relocated students were registered in schools as African Caribbean, not as Montserratians. The literature that I have reviewed uses the term African Caribbean to refer to black persons of Caribbean origin. In this context, the label African Caribbean does fit relocated students, but it is what this label represents in the British society that has created a problem for the relocated students. They were repeatedly stereotyped into situations with little or no consideration given to their Montserratian and/or individual identity. Research findings on African Caribbean students’ educational progress over the last four decades have shown, not only have they failed in schools, but also that they feature in disproportionate numbers in all of the negative statistics associated with education and schooling (Swann 1985; Rampton 1981; Stone 1981; Gillborn & Gipps 1996; Lyle et al. 1996). These researchers have also noted that the poor performances of African Caribbean students, are due in part, to racial discrimination, negative stereotyping, misconceptions, and low teacher-expectation.

Relocated students entered the British education system at a time when the achievement gap between African Caribbean students and other students had doubled over a ten-year period (Miles 2000: 7). Given that low teacher expectation was named as one of the factors that contributed to the poor levels of achievement among African Caribbean students, it seems a reasonable conclusion that teachers expected relocated students to perform poorly. In this respect, they were placed at a disadvantage.

When relocated students assumed the African Caribbean identity, it appears that they had automatically acquired all the stereotypes and negative perceptions that teachers have of first-wave⁹ African Caribbean students. This is one of the many situations that is noted to be responsible for the decrease in achievement motivation among relocated students. A similar occurrence appeared to have resulted when the relocated students donned, albeit reluctantly, a refugee identity.

The Refugee Identity. Legally, relocated Montserratians are not refugees because they do not have a “well-founded fear of being persecuted” (Refugee Council 1997: 1) – a requirement for refugee status according to the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol. However, in some ways¹⁰ they are like refugees, yet relocated students did benefit from the same support services, as did other refugee groups. To explain, the schools in the sample have a refugee support system in place, but relocated Montserratian students were not recipients of this service. I have identified one prevailing assumption that seems to be responsible for this - Montserratian students did not come from a war-torn country, hence their experiences prior to relocation were neither horrendous nor traumatic and therefore did not merit psychological support and counseling.

Nevertheless, because relocated Montserratians are ‘quasi’ refugees, and because they have been stereotyped as ‘typical’ refugees, they were sometimes placed in situations that did not enhance their educational progress. This can be best explained within the EAL context. Generally, refugees speak little or no English on arrival in Britain (Rutter 1994; Sergostrom 1996). But English is the official language of Montserrat. Yet, relocated students often found themselves in EAL classes, a situation that, according to one student, “is very frustrating”.

Having to bounce back and forth between the Montserratian, African Caribbean and the refugee identities, has put great psychological and emotional pressures on relocated students’ psyche, a condition that has affected their educational progress. This state of affairs was further compounded by their ‘homelessness’.

The Homeless Issue. Relocated Montserratians are homeless in two ways – in a ‘refugee’ context and in an ‘unusual’ sense. With reference to the refugee context, after four years, some relocated Montserratians are still living in temporary accommodation. To the average Montserratians, ‘home’ means more that ‘a roof over one’s head’ – home denotes permanence and a degree of stability. It was this kind of permanence and stability that helped to sustain students’ levels of achievement motivation in ‘pre-volcano’ times. From the discussions conducted with parents and students, I have concluded that homelessness has affected the students’ educational progress in different ways. While some students complained of having to move from school to school, others lamented on not having adequate space to do homework. Still others bemoaned their misfortune of having to live a ‘nomadic’ existence.

The unique way in which I maintain that relocated students are homeless relates to their point of reference for home - a particular village community in Montserrat. This ‘home’ no longer exists for many of them since two thirds of the island have been made uninhabitable due to the devastation caused by volcanic activities. Some villages have disappeared while others are inaccessible. One distraught parent commented on homelessness in this way: “It is a sin to be homeless. Montserratians have lost their identity”. This statement is open to debate, but homelessness has forced some relocated students to assume different roles and with this came the constructing of new identities.

I refer to Hall, Powney & Davidson’s findings to explain my claim. Hall et al (2000: 11) associate homelessness with loss of friends and parents and a decline in educational progress. The loss or absence of family heads and older relatives have forced some relocated students to assume ‘responsible’ roles,¹¹ a situation that undoubtedly gave the students concerned ‘a plural self’. Additionally, Hall et al’s findings from their investigation into the impact of homelessness on the health and education of children living in East Lothian, did not include loss of a homeland. However, I have reasoned that a loss of such magnitude would have a similar, or perhaps more profound effect on students’ self-definition, aspiration and ultimately educational progress. Such a situation prompts this question: can living in temporary accommodation, that is a ‘nomadic’ existence produce a similar effect? Power, Whitty & Youdell report the following about students who are unsettled because of moving from school to school:

The disruption to the continuity of their education leaves gaps in their learning and, no matter how intelligent, it is difficult for them to catch up (Power et al 1995: 50).

‘Broken Rings of Security’. Prior to relocation, it was generally thought among the Montserratian community that relocation to England would help to fill the ‘gaps in learning’, which were created by the disruption in schooling due to increased volcanic activities. From all appearances, this dream has not yet become a reality partly because of the many in-school and out-of-school factors that are obvious hindrances to relocated students’ achievement motivation and educational progress. I contend that the ‘scattering’ of the relocated Montserrat community throughout Britain is a principal out-of-school factor that adversely affect relocated students’ achievement motivation, and in time, educational progress. Figure 3 shows the resulting effect of combined in-school and out-of-school factors on relocated students’ achievement motivation.

Figure 3: Effects of Forced Migration on Relocated Students’ Achievement Motivation

When compared to Figure 2, Figure 3 does portray a grim situation. However, this does not mean that the circumstances are irremediable. The next section will discuss how the UK Montserrat community¹² has tried to devise strategies to help relocated students to ‘fight the odds’ and yet make notable educational advances.

The Way Forward

The plight of the relocated students has caused much anguish among the UK Montserrat community and other concerned citizens. Consequently, UK-based Montserrat organisations and church groups¹³ united to draw up contingency plans to deal with the situation. It was generally agreed that rethinking ‘a sense of place’ was a vital requirement if relocated migrants were to make a positive way forward.

Rethinking ‘a Sense of Place’. A sense of place is an integral part of ethnic identity (Rampton 1995: 297). For Montserratians, a sense of place is extended to include a strong attachment to the land. So evident was this attachment that the devastation caused by volcanic activities was noted to be “the literal destruction of their sense of place” (Skinner 1999: 1). Formal and informal discussions with parents and students, revealed that it is within this strong attachment to land that relocated migrants define, analyse and interpret their feelings about a Montserrat cultural identity. Repeated expressions of regret punctuated the acknowledgements persons made regarding the necessity and inevitability of relocation. This suggested that Montserrat was still the reference point for individual and group identities.

Admittedly, forced migration has not erased the strong emotional attachment that relocated Montserratians have to their homeland, but it has thrust upon them new concepts of place, space and time. Thus, they cannot totally ignore the cultural shifts, no matter how small, that are developing with their new lifestyle. The social pressures that they face are numerous, and one school of thought suggests that in shaping new identities, “these pressures leave no room for any effective choice to become one sort of person rather than another” (Glover 1988: 17). This does not mean however, that new identities cannot be created in the light of Montserratian values, for in merging the ‘traditional’ and the ‘new’, value boundaries remain important.

Clearly, the relocated Montserratians’ sense of place is grounded in a strong island identity. Such an affiliation to land, although necessary, should not be allowed to make indistinct, the opportunities that new social identities have offered. It is in this light that I contend that rethinking a sense of place is critical to the way forward since repatriation is impractical, at least for the immediate future.

The Repatriation Dilemma. The ongoing volcanic ‘crisis’ has forced relocated migrants to retract on immediate plans to return to Montserrat. Nevertheless, repatriation remains an important issue on relocated migrants’ agenda, albeit in a lower position. Education played an important role in families’ decisions to relocate and it continues to influence decisions on repatriation. Elsewhere I explained that the parents who had taken a decisive stance on no immediate repatriation, had done so because of their children’s education (Shotte 1999: 21). Ironically, some parents have repatriated because they thought that the British education system had ‘failed’ their children. Others had their children returned because they could neither ‘understand’ nor ‘handle’ the exclusion issues. But was repatriation because of the latter a way forward?

According to unofficial reports, these returnees were generally perceived as ‘misfits’, since they had ‘gone to England and disgraced Montserrat’. Undoubtedly, the psychological ravages on returnees' psyches are great. This opens up several issues for researchers to investigate, but it was mentioned here to show that with regards to relocated students, repatriation is not necessarily the remedy for educational problems that, to a large extent, are products stereotyping, teacher-expectation, culture clashes and resulting identity changes. So how have remaining relocated migrants dealt with similar and other issues? The next subheading gives a brief account of how social networking have helped in this regard.

Social Networking. The Montserrat organisations and church groups have put in motion, various operations with a view to restoring relocated students’ achievement motivation. The principal collective objective of these groups is to recreate the positive environment that is shown in Figure 2. The first step therefore was to plan programmes¹⁴ that would not only get relatives together, but would also gather large Montserrat community groups as one big family. The following sentiment is a typical response to these gathering:

They came in their hundreds, braving the ‘cold front’ that had dumped almost a foot of snow on the ground. They came to celebrate, as only Montserratians can… While the activities in some way mirrored those on the Emerald Isle [Montserrat], the joy and fellowship of the dispersed could not be duplicated. The level of patronage of these activities is proof of their value (MCST 2001: 1)

The above is not an overstatement of the value of these activities for parents and students alike have pledged their continued support to these programmes. This is not surprising since education remains an important feature in relocated migrants’ plans. I wish to make special mention of the church groups that have continued to give psychological and physical support to relocated Montserratians. This was perhaps made possible because some of the Pentecostal churches have as pastors, relocated Montserratian who understand and share the ‘pain’ of the relocated community and who are equally keen to retain ‘a sense of Montserratness’ in a foreign environment.

Redefining ‘Montserratness’. The concept of Montserratness is intrinsically tied to ‘possessing’ the Montserrat culture. I must hasten to add that this culture is not ‘pure’, but one that is enlaced with African, Irish, British and Caribbean influences and yet has paradoxically evolved as quintessentially Montserratian. However, resettlement in a diverse cultural environment has necessitated the redefining of ‘Montserratness’. I am not here advocating that on becoming forced migrants, Montserratians should shed the ‘traditional’ and don the ‘new’, for the redefinition of Montserratness is a process of emergence. Moreover, there is no strict dichotomy between the ‘traditional’ and the ‘new’, but rather a dynamic process of development, which includes a shift in what constitutes ‘local’.

Relocated Montserratians’ new concepts of time, space and distance were framed within an ‘expanded’ British environment where rules and restrictions are ‘written in stone’, where bureaucratic practices demand ‘excessive paper work’, and where their ethnic identity exposes them to racial discrimination. Against this backdrop, redefinition of self and identity is not only inevitable, but also crucial for the way forward. This of course would not denigrate or dilute the culture that the renowned calypsonian, Montserratian-born Alphonsus ‘Arrow’ Cassel encouraged Montserratians to be “proud of forever”. For example, the Montserrat dialect is an integral part of the Montserrat identity, and that remains. I therefore argue that redefining Montserratness in a wider geographic and philosophical environment, is the way forward for relocated students to regain their achievement motivation and make significant strides in educational attainment.

Conclusion

Forced migration has impacted on relocated Montserratians’ lives in ways that have put extraordinary strain on their psyche. In addition to losing their ‘literal’ sense of place, relocated students’ pre-migration levels of achievement motivation have been decreased due to a combination of in-school and out-of-school factors. The ‘rings of security’ that had helped to sustain high levels of achievement motivation then, have been ‘broken’ primarily because the relocated Montserrat community has been dispersed across the regions of the UK.

Relocated students are positioned within many institutions – home, school, church, peer groups and a wider community group. It was participation in these institutions that had inspired and influenced identity changes that were sometimes highly conflicting. Relocated parents depended on the schools to heal the educational ‘wounds’ of their children. But it was these very institutions that were most culpable with regards to the deflation of the students’ pre-migration achievement motivation ‘bubbles’.

Among the many lessons that relocated migrants should have learned is the truth that a sense of identity is not only shaped by the mores of the Montserrat ‘clan’, but also by self-definition and self-expression via interactive relationships with persons at work and/or school. Admittedly, it has been a struggle to be heard and recognised in a society where racial discrimination is endemic. Nonetheless, a ‘recreation’ of self and a redefinition of ‘Montserratness’, are vital ingredients in the recipe for the way forward, and for the survival of a relocated ‘clan’, whose pre-relocation sense of being ‘British’ has now been redefined and re-interpreted by their unimaginable experiences of living in host country Britain.

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Endnotes

1 Under the terms of the scheme, Montserratians were to be granted Two Years Exceptional Leave to Remain in Britain. This means that whilst Montserratians are resident in Britain, they are entitled to appropriate housing, social security benefits, permit-free employment, healthcare and education for their children (The Montserrat Project 1998).

2 This programme was introduced in August 1997. It provided financial assistance for islanders to relocate to Britain.

3 Formerly called The Montserrat Project, MCST, now a registered charity, focuses on “consolidation, education and community development, training and employment”. The Montserrat Project, a sub-organisation of Refugee Action, was established in January 1998. Its main aim was to assist relocated migrants settle in the United Kingdom with minimum difficulty.

4 By this I mean an enthusiastic desire to participate, succeed and excel in various educational activities, at all levels of the education system.

5 This includes the education of children and adults who have learning difficulties (Ministry of Education 1996: 15).

6 The University of the West Indies (UWI) School of Continuing Studies is the major purveyor of adult and continuing education. A landmark in UWI adult education was reached in 1979 with the introduction of ‘Challenge’ or external studies, which enabled students to study for UWI certificates at home and complete the first year of the degree programme in a number of faculties (Fergus 1994: 194).

7 For example the annual events: - The Conde Nast Essay Contest, The Leeward Islands Debating Competition and The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Science Camp.

8 This includes teacher education, further education and adult education – a life-long learning concept.

9 This term is used to describe the post-war Montserratian migrants in Britain.

10 The Refugee Council (1997: 2&3) has identified particular characteristics of refugee students. The following relate to relocated Montserratian students:

• Have an interrupted education in their country of origin;
• Have suffered overwhelming trauma in their home country;
• Have suffered a drop in their standard of living and other major changes in their lives;
• May be receiving reduced welfare benefits in Britain;
• Are living in temporary accommodation in Britain and as a result have attended many schools; and
• Suffer bullying or isolation in school.

11 The nature of the volcanic crisis demanded that a strong male workforce (Police, Defense Force, Port Authority workers etc.), hence the majority of the male population remained in Montserrat while the females and children relocated. This often means that many of the older children had to take on larger responsibilities than they would normally have.

12 The UK Montserrat community refers to all Montserratians living in the UK – relocated migrants as well as first-wave migrants.

13 These include Montserrat London Forum, The Montserrat Community Support Trust (MCST), Hackney Montserrat Association, Keep Montserrat Alive, Montserrat Action Community 89 (MAC89), Montserrat Overseas Progressive People’s Alliance (MOPPA), Haringey Parental Outreach Team and various church groups.

14 These include social gatherings, culture activities, education workshops, youth forum, day conferences, open days and ecumenical worship.

© Gertrude Shotte, 2003.

HTML last revised 21 February, 2003.

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