By
Renata Mancuso
The presence of women immigrants and the modalities for organizing a project to introduce them into the host society, confirms the artifices, within them, of a culturally changing process which is both subjective and collective. With the ability to interact in their roles as mothers, with regard to culture and the local institutions, above all, with their children’s school, the consequences on a collective level regard the choice to maintain or change their own cultural patterns. In this perspective such behavior can be shaped according to 3 different modalities: one-sided conforming, pluralized integration and cultural exchange. Some nursery, primary and secondary schools in Palermo are conducting a verification on the type of adaptation/ conforming of children of immigrant mothers. 12 classes have been identified from a didactic circle that includes both nursery and primary school students in which there are numerous pupils from Sri Lanka, Morocco, the Philippines, Mauritius, Bangladesh; the most outstanding in number of foreign groups that live in Palermo for some time. Through investigation, using narrative measures, as well as through conversation and questionnaires directed at teachers and mothers, we have tried to understand the motivations and expectations of their migratory plan and their abilities to adapt. To establish an incidence regarding the feminine role with respect to the children, compared to the local culture proposed by the school, we have compared answers between the 2 principle subjects of the educational mediation.
Empirical Verification
We have tried contacting within the school context both the psyco-pedagogist and the teachers, besides realizing explorative conversations with mothers, utilizing partially free questionnaires. From the analysis of those directed at teachers, we find that:
- contact between school and families is not frequent nor significant, even if children are accompanied by parents daily;
- planning of teaching activities is deduced by the respective circulars (205, 301), without creating collaboration for extra school activities;
- telling stories is a very widespread means in expressive-linguistic activities, followed by drawing used both individually and collectively;
- in inter-cultural education they use dramatizing instruments, interactive games and anthropological aspects like language to improve reciprocal knowledge of the different components of the school population.
From the questionnaires proposed to immigrant mothers, it is evident that:
- they are residents of Palermo mostly coming from the Philippines and Sri Lanka, and only a small group from Bangladesh; all of them having left their home countries for over ten years;
- most women have a secondary school certificate while the rest have a university degree, aged between 30 and 55 years old;
- the family nucleus, made up of 3-6 people, includes brothers or sisters of either side;
- they work in family households and as baby-sitters staying away from home 4-6 hours daily, with a minority staying away 6-8 hours daily. This seems to be related to the need to help their children with school work, a commitment delegated only to the elder children;
- regarding the woman’s role in making family decisions, three modalities have been identified:
v women who decide in first person, minority;
v women who share decisions with husband and entire family;
v women who delegate this task to their husbands, as breadwinner.
- also with regard to language used within the family, the interviewees are divided into 3 different ways:
1. those who speak only their native language;
2. those who use both languages;
3. those who opt for Italian.
Their children’s ability to master Italian becomes a very significant mediation in the communication between them and the host society.
- regarding the modalities to organize free time, most of them prefer meeting relatives or people from their own community, exchanging news about their home countries where they have not been back for more than 5 years; demonstrating in this case that they have lost ties with mother country , while they seem to privilege local communities for welfare and cultural reference.
Conclusion
From these data relating to only one school, we can anticipate that:
women immigrants, though getting over a few difficulties of adaptation regarding language and different traditions from those of own country, are protagonists of a certain cultural in Palermo where they feel well received, not only individually but also collectively. Their high level of education seems to be an element in their children’s scholastic success, who seem to be motivated as well as integrated in a class context. On the whole, the teachers consulted stated that listening is necessary in order to assume/compare methodological contents which promote interaction between subjects of different ages. Presently we have a very cohesive group in which there is a strong attachment to traditions, even if interacting with host society, demonstrating to be rather active citizens in group activities and in laic or religious associations. For this reason women are much more active than the feminine local component, of which only the elite takes part in associations. Finally, it is clear that the ability to interact in a local context is mostly present in second generation immigrants, that is to say among those children who, thanks to their mothers’ mediation, are participants in 2 cultures and therefore capable of living in a world without borders and particular prejudices.
As checked, even by the recent poll conducted by La REPUBBLICA (30/8/2000) among a group of over 1,000 immigrants interviewed in Italy, the overall feeling is they are accepted by the local people; even though attributing, in a few cases, intolerant and racist behavior to ignorance, they are willing to accept the Italian values while maintaining their religion and traditions.