Supplementary Schools and Ethnic

Minority Communities 1st ed. Edition

Amanda Simon
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 SUPPLEMENTARY
SCHOOLS AND ETHNIC
MINORITY COMMUNITIES
A SOCIAL POSITIONING PERSPECTIVE
Amanda Simon
 Supplementary Schools and Ethnic Minority
Communities

“This book reveals the hidden work of supplementary schools as communities,

teachers and young people work to counteract negative images, safeguard values
and transform lives through collective action. It is rich in empirical detail and is
indispensable for educators and researchers working in the fields of informal and
formal education.”
—Angela Creese, University of Birmingham, UK

“This book takes an innovative look at a mostly neglected topic in the literature.
This is an excellent contribution to the supplementary school literature, and also
to the wider literature on race and education. The discussion of acculturation
and seeing through the lens of migration also adds dimension to the work. It is
a welcome addition to the field that I will certainly include in my teaching.’’
—Kehinde Andrews, Birmingham City University, UK
 Amanda Simon

Supplementary
Schools and Ethnic
Minority
Communities
A Social Positioning Perspective
Amanda Simon
St Mary’s University
Twickenham, UK

ISBN 978-1-137-50056-4    ISBN 978-1-137-50057-1 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50057-1

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For Gloria and Stanford Simon
 Acknowledgements

This publication was in many ways a group effort, so I would like to

thank those who have supported and participated along the way.
I would like to thank all the school leaders, members of staff and
students without whom this publication would not have been possible.
I am particularly grateful for the openness of the actual participants, who
shared their experiences and perspectives, allowing me to enter into the
world of supplementary schooling and gain a vivid picture of the processes
and operations of the schools and their meanings.
I thank my PhD supervisors, Professor Angela Creese and Professor
Adrian Blackledge who have imparted invaluable knowledge and advice
and have challenged me in ways that have shaped and enriched the focal
research study and facilitated my personal and academic growth.
I would also like to give special thanks to Professor Stan Tucker who
has provided unwavering support throughout the writing process and has
offered valuable critical comments whenever needed.
My heartfelt thanks are given to my family: Gloria, Stanford,
Stephenson, Yvonne, Lydia, Amos, Cherysh, Gioia, Laetitia and Emil,
who have encouraged, hoped, believed and prayed.

vii
 Contents

Part I Setting the Scene    1

1 Introduction   3
Theoretical and Conceptual and Empirical Groundings    8
Structure of the Book  17
References  22

2 Supplementary Schools and Their Communities  25

The Idea of Supplementary Schooling   25
The Community in Context   29
Community Identity and the Acculturation Process   38
Summary  43
References  43

3 The History of Supplementary Schooling  49

The Beginnings  50
Corresponding History of Mainstream and Supplementary
Schooling  51
Summary  64
References  64

ix
x Contents

Part II Purposes and Positionings of Supplementary Schools   67

4 Survival and Safeguarding  71

Linguistic Survival and Safeguarding   72
Survival Beyond Language   81
Summary  89
References  90

5 Counteraction and Transformation  93

Portrayals of Immigrant Groups  93
The Counteraction of Negative Community Portrayals  100
Transformation111
Summary117
References 119

6 Recovery 123
Identity Recovery  123
Recovering the ‘African’ Identity  124
Recovering the Irish Identity  130
Summary 134
References 135

Part III Positioning in Practice: The case of an

African-Caribbean Supplementary School 137

7 School C and Mainstream Schooling: An Ambivalent

Positioning 143
Points of Divergence  143
Points of Convergence  155
Summary 159
References 160
 Contents
   xi

8 Everyday Classroom Discourse and the

Transformative Agenda 163
The ‘Can Do’ Ethos  163
Racially Tailored Aspects of School Life  176
Summary 182
References 184

Part IV Widening the Scope: Supplementary Schools and

Acculturation 187

9 Supplementary Schools and Acculturation Metanarratives  189

Preservation 192
Preservation and Protection  195
Preservation, Protection and Defence  197
Preservation, Protection, Defence and Regeneration
(Recovery) 200
Regeneration (Transformation)  202
Summary 204
References 205

10 Supplementary Schools and Their Communities 207

Purposes 208
School Positioning  210
What Schools Do for Their Communities—Social Acts  213
References 215

References 217

Index 229
 Part I
Setting the Scene
 1
Introduction

From the time of their existence supplementary schools have impacted

the lives of thousands of children, been the catalyst for public debates and
have constituted a powerful form of agency for communities that can
often find themselves situated at the margins of British society. For
decades, ethnic minority communities have been schooling from the
margins, initiating and maintaining their own independently run institu-
tions beyond the confines of mainstream education; yet, this mode of
schooling has remained relatively invisible and under-researched.
Supplementary schools are community-based institutions that are typi-
cally established and run by ethnic minority community members. These
schools are both complex and diverse, teaching a plethora of academic
and non-academic subjects. The field is further complicated by the vari-
ous implicit social identity projects in operation within these schools,
which involve direct and indirect shaping, construction and promotion
of community identities. These efforts are often not immediately detect-
able but are embedded within the everyday processes of school life and
therefore can be considered part of the hidden curriculum of supplemen-
tary schooling.

© The Author(s) 2018 3

A. Simon, Supplementary Schools and Ethnic Minority Communities,
https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50057-1_1
4 A. Simon

Within this book the investigation of school purposes features as an

entering wedge, bringing to light school positionings which in turn reveal
the processes of identity construction employed within individual
schools. Beyond their role in the delivery of education, supplementary
schools act as sites of identity construction through which the commu-
nity identity is preserved, defended, renegotiated and reconstructed in
light of discourses circulating within the wider society. The various ways
in which identities are constructed within these schools are indicative of
the acculturation experiences of ethnic minority communities and the
way in which these communities negotiate residence in one country
whilst having roots in another. Altogether this book will show that far
from just being novel educational spaces, supplementary schools are in
fact complex socio-political enterprises that exist within and respond to
multiple historical, social and political discourses and that these dis-
courses are mediated through the construction of community identities.
As diversity in Britain has increased, so has the focus on the identity
of both recent and long-standing ethnic minority communities and
their positioning within British society. Racial and ethnic diversity in
Britain first arose as a major concern during the mid-1900s when immi-
grants from the commonwealth arrived in Britain in the aftermath of
World War II. It was at this time that ethnic diversity in Britain began
to shape the construction of public policy (Vertovec 2007). Since then,
both political and populist discourses, with regard to the management
of diversity, have taken various turns. Initially, the early assimilationist
approach advocated that newcomers should quickly blend into British
society (Leung and Franson 2001; Craft 1984; Jeffcoate 1984) and, as
indicated by the Commonwealth Immigrants Advisory Council (1964),
make the necessary adjustments to harmonise with established cultural
trends (Grosvenor 1997). This carried with it the idea of a cultural hier-
archy, with the traditions and values of immigrant communities being
perceived as inferior to those of the British host society.
Within the British education system, this assimilationist drive manifested
itself in various policy measures. Educational policies during the 1960s, for
instance, reflected a major drive towards the teaching of English to non-
English speakers, as the lack of English language skills was thought to be a
 Introduction 5

major obstacle to assimilation (Leung and Franson 2001). This was a period
focused on education for continuity as opposed to diversity or plurality, in
which immigrant students were taught how to be British (Jeffcoate 1984).
The assimilationist ideology, which was guised in various discourses, eventu-
ally gave way to the multiculturalist agenda. In contrast to assimilation,
multiculturalism advocated a greater awareness and tolerance towards a
wide range of cultures. There were and are, of course, varying degrees of this
awareness and tolerance, and what is considered to be an appropriate level
of awareness and tolerance is variable. Nevertheless, these two elements form
the basis of multiculturalism. In terms of its impact on the education sys-
tem, the multiculturalist turn during the 1980s led to an increased aware-
ness of multilingualism, the perception of bilingualism as a possible advan-
tage (Leung and Franson 2001) and the establishment of initiatives to
improve the knowledge of teachers regarding the teaching of ethnic minor-
ity groups (Tomlinson 2005a).
However, recently, multiculturalism has been declared ineffective, and
some have even proclaimed its death (Pathak 2008; Fekete 2004). This
paradigm shift has occurred amidst heightening concerns surrounding
the increasing numbers of immigrants and asylum seekers residing in
Britain, concerns and fears regarding the establishment of ethnic ghettos
and instances of social unrest in recent years, in areas such as Oldham and
Burnham and following the Bradford race riots in 2001 (Letki 2008),
coupled with the ongoing threat of global terrorism. Such events have
brought the relationship between ethnic diversity and community cohe-
sion into sharp political focus, and many have now concluded that diver-
sity, in fact, poses a threat to the building of cohesive communities.
Within this perspective, it is felt that community cohesion requires high
levels of homogeneity, which in this particular case constitutes a unifying
British culture, including shared values and objectives; in fact, the con-
cept of ‘British values’ is now widely accepted and valued within state
schools. It is thought that the levels of unification required in order to
establish community cohesion cannot be attained within communities
characterised by ethnic, cultural and religious diversity because these
dimensions of diversity reduce both the frequency of interaction between
individuals and the levels of interpersonal trust (Letki 2008).
6 A. Simon

Britain has been said to have exercised a community-based integration

model, characterised by pluralist and multiculturalist ideals and encom-
passing the recognition and accommodation for ethnic community rights
(Triandafyllidou et al. 2011). However, there is now widespread
­denunciation of this approach to diversity (Byrne 2017) and the subse-
quent revival of traditional assimilationist versions of integration. The
implementation of the ‘life in the UK’ test and the testing of applicant’s
knowledge of English, as prerequisites for citizenship in the UK, can cer-
tainly be seen to be reflective of the questioning of multiculturalism, now
prevalent across Europe (Byrne 2017). The UK citizenship assessment
process is also in line with the trend towards assimilationist integration in
that it can be viewed as a measure to reduce public anxiety by requiring
applicants to evidence their suitability for citizenship and levels of propri-
ety (Byrne 2017).
At the very base of this highly emotive debate are the issues of national
identity and the management of its preservation in light of the evermore
pressing demands of the pluralist society in which the political and social
needs of a diverse range of communities need to be accommodated. This
involves the reformulation of policies and also certain practical adjust-
ments in aspects of everyday living, such as the strict division of genders
in order to accommodate certain religious groups. Such conditions have
conjured the feeling that national identity can no longer be assumed, but
must be established, reaffirmed, exerted and even fought for. In extreme
cases, this has, of course, resulted in the establishment of far-right politi-
cal groups such as the British National Party and the National Front, and
more recently the English Defence League (EDL).
Of course, concerns with regard to identity are also held within ethnic
minority communities. Members often feel a sense of belonging to the
countries from which they originated and seek to reflect this through the
perpetuation of certain cultural traditions that are representative of life
in those countries and are therefore emblematic of their homeland iden-
tities. Current sociological literature implies that these geographic and
territorial attachments are key aspects of modern self-identity that aid in
the establishment and maintenance of ontological security (Giddens
1999) and provide the necessary components for the ordering of life
(Phillips 2002). It is indeed natural for immigrants to feel a sense of
 Introduction 7

loyalty to their home country and to express this loyalty in some way.
This often becomes particularly important for community members liv-
ing outside of the home country who may seek to enact particular aspects
of life in the homeland as a means of preserving the community identity
from the force of the dominant culture. Such enactments, which may
include the use of a community language or the practising of certain
cultural traditions, give life to the ethnic community identity which
otherwise exists as an abstract assertion (Alba 1990).
The expression of certain cultural traits also determines whether or not
an individual is classed as a group member (Bath 1969). Blommaert and
Varis (2011) speak of the use of certain emblematic resources as confir-
mation of authentic group membership. These resources include the use
or practice of certain languages or customs such as respect for elderly
members of the community. The display of such traits serves in creating
ethnic group boundaries and establishing group distinctiveness not only
in light of the dominant culture but also within the plethora of ethnic
communities existing within the multicultural society. The perpetuation
of certain cultural and linguistic practices is also a means by which the
diasporic community maintains connections with the homeland and
therefore bears much importance in this respect.
Whilst there is a widely held belief that multiculturalism is divisive and
constitutes a breeding ground for social threats, there are some writers
and theorists who perceive this view to have resulted from a rather narrow
and short-sighted interpretation of current social problems. The con-
struction of an identity through the maintenance of transnational ties
may seem to be a separatist act, but Joly argues that this is in fact an effort
to establish a place within the host society. Joly suggests that the ethnic
minority community pursues the project of self-perpetuation not as a
self-segregated entity, intentionally existing on the margins of society, but
as one fighting for a legitimate place within the society with relevant
rights, including the right to self-preservation (Joly 2004). In this sense,
ethnic community identity building can be seen to be multifaceted and
hugely important to community settlement.
In light of these current debates, it is important to understand the con-
struction of ethnic minority community identity, as it relates to the cul-
tural and psychological adjustments that take place when an immigrant
8 A. Simon

community comes into contact with a host society, a reality referred to

throughout this book as acculturation. This book seeks to contribute to
understandings in this area through the examination of supplementary
schooling. It will be argued that, as institutions established and run by the
ethnic minority communities, supplementary schools have a great deal to
say about the acculturation processes of these communities. Indeed, the
potential of these schools to reveal the social positioning of ethnic minor-
ity communities, that is to say, where these groups see themselves to be
situated within British society, has not been fully capitalised within cur-
rent literature. This is due to the use of traditional categorisations of
schools based on ethnic or linguistic grouping and curriculum content
which effectively narrows the scope of analysis, bypassing certain lines of
exploration due to pre-established assumptions.
Within this book schools are examined from a positioning perspective,
which allows for a comprehensive view of the schools that transcends cur-
rent assumptions associated with school groupings. In particular, the fac-
tor of purpose will be foregrounded as a key indicator of positioning. This
focus on school purpose moves the school categorisation discussion from
descriptive to analytical, enabling further insights into the relationships
between schools that may not be apparent from a preliminary examina-
tion of overt factors; this includes similarities between ethnicity-based
school groupings as well as disparities within them. An analysis of supple-
mentary schools from this perspective allows for insights into immigra-
tion and settlement processes, political histories and transnationalism.
Whilst these aspects are alluded to within current supplementary school-
ing literature, positioning theory allows for a more intentional and con-
certed consideration of such issues.

 heoretical and Conceptual and Empirical

T
Groundings
The content of this book draws on empirical research carried out in
Birmingham in the West Midlands of England. Birmingham is a highly
cosmopolitan city, which made it an ideal context for a research study on
supplementary schooling. The study incorporated two phases of research,
the first of which consisted of a series of qualitative semi-structured
 Introduction 9

interviews (Kvale and Brinkmann 2009) with supplementary school

leaders from an ethnically diverse cohort of schools. Within these inter-
views, discussions were held with regard to school history and purpose,
and participants’ perceptions of their respective schools. This phase of the
research sought to locate the various positioning discourses circulating
within the realm of supplementary schooling and to essentially discover
where school leaders situated schools within British society. Within the
second phase of the study, two case studies were carried out within two of
the schools featured in the first phase. These case studies were focused on
the manifestation of these positioning discourses within classroom inter-
actions between teachers and pupils. This involved the analysis of teacher-­
student interactions, looking closely at the positioning of teachers and
students and how this related to the wider institutional positioning of the
school. This book features one of these case studies, which is explored in
Part III. Whilst the first phase gave a panoramic view of the positioning
of supplementary schools, the second examined the enactment of school
positioning within the everyday micro practices of school life—mainly
verbal interactions within the classroom.
The insights gained through the above research are explored through a
positioning theory perspective as it affords the opportunity to gain a
more developed understanding of supplementary schools by revealing
the complex and multifunctional nature of these institutions. Positioning
is concerned with the “patterns of reasoning” (Harré et al. 2009: 5) used
by individuals when interacting with others. Whilst the theory focuses
mostly on small-scale interpersonal interactions, it can be used to inter-
pret interactions on a broader scale, up to and including interactions
between nation states (Harré et al. 2009). Positioning involves the situat-
ing of individuals or groups within storylines which are in effect contex-
tual discourses, and the interpretation of actions from that vantage point.
Through this process, actions are made intelligible as relatively determi-
nate social acts (van Langenhove and Harré 1999). Positioning is there-
fore the “a way in which people dynamically produce and explain the
everyday behaviour of themselves and others” (van Langenhove and
Harré 1999: 29). Within this book, positioning will be used to analyti-
cally examine the operations of supplementary schools and thereby estab-
lish a more developed understanding of what they are and what they
mean to their communities.
10 A. Simon

The Positioning Triad

Positioning encompasses three interrelated aspects referred to as storyline

(or narrative), positioning and social act. The storyline is the context in
which people position themselves and others (Harré and van Langenhove
1999). The position adopted or allocated to an individual is directly linked
to the storyline of an instance or event (Harré and van Langenhove 1991),
much like an actor’s role is determined by the drama in which the actor is
performing (Davies and Harré 1999). As such, the storyline is also the
contextual backdrop against which behaviour is interpreted (Harré and
van Langenhove 1999). An apt example of the relationship between the
storyline and position can be seen in the case of the Bosnian school fea-
tured within this book. This school was positioned by the school leader as
a symbol of progress; this position was allocated in the context of the
migration history of the Bosnian community who sought refuge in Britain
during and after the Bosnian war. In the light of this storyline of a ravaged
community seeking assistance from Britain, the establishment of the
school became symbolic of the advances that the community has made
from the time they first arrived in Britain in the 1990s. Without the story-
line pertaining to the migration history of the community, the positioning
of the school would make little sense. Therefore, in order to interpret the
operations of supplementary schools, it is vital to gain an understanding
of the social, political and historical context of their respective communi-
ties; this encompasses aspects such as the migration history of the com-
munity, including the reasons for migration and also the political climate
of the country of origin. Such elements are explored in further depth
within Part II of the book.
The second element of positioning is concerned with the place allo-
cated or adopted within a particular storyline—the actual position. Much
like the confines of a role, a position consists of a cluster of rights and
duties that stipulate the possibilities for action (Harré and Moghaddam
2003). Such was the case with the supplementary schools featured within
this book. For example, the positioning of African-Caribbean school B,
as a safe space, encompassed within it the duty to protect African-­
Caribbean children from attacks on their identity and the right to
 Introduction 11

c­ounteract negative portrayals of the community, challenging widely

accepted misconceptions circulating within the wider society. This was of
course set against the storyline of institutionalised racism within the
mainstream education system. Positioning also imbues a person’s acts
with meaning (Taylor et al. 2003) in that the actions of an individual are
interpreted according to the position they are seen to occupy. Similarly,
the practical everyday operations of the supplementary schools within
this book are considered to be directly connected to their various posi-
tionings; hence, considerable focus has been placed on understanding the
complexities of school positionings. It is important to note, however, that
both the storyline and positioning are fluid in that they are subject to
renegotiation and alteration (Taylor et al. 2003).
The social act, the third element of positioning, is “what is accom-
plished socially through a particular action” (Slocum and van Langenhove
2003: 225). Each social action can amount to a number of different social
acts (Slocum and van Langenhove 2003). For example, when two indi-
viduals shake hands, the literal social action is handshaking, but the social
act could be that of sealing an agreement, saying hello or saying goodbye.
This book seeks to render intelligible the social acts of supplementary
schools, looking not only at what is being done, but, more importantly,
what is being achieved with regard to the community identity projects in
which they are engaged.

Categories of Positioning

Within positioning theory there are varying categories of positioning that

can be used to further define the various manifestations of positioning.
Firstly, reflexive positioning occurs when a person or members of a group
(intentionally or unintentionally) position themselves (Tan and
Moghaddam 1995). First-order positioning refers to the initial position-
ing allocated in light of a given storyline. This initial position can, how-
ever, be challenged and overturned through second-order positioning,
which occurs when the initial position is questioned as opposed to being
taken for granted (Harré and van Langenhove 1991). Thus a position can
be allocated, but not accepted or confirmed. This was the case with many
12 A. Simon

of the supplementary schools featured in this book, whose operations

were geared towards the rejection of negative representations of their
respective communities. The challenging of a position can occur within
the initial event of positioning, or in a separate, subsequent interaction.
For instance, a teacher may position a child as a lazy and unwilling stu-
dent because the student fails to complete the work set; this would be
first-order positioning. However, the child may refute this position, offer-
ing a perfectly reasonable explanation for the incomplete work; this
would be second-order positioning. When questioning occurs beyond
the immediate context of the original position allocation, it is termed
third-order positioning (Harré and van Langenhove 1991). For instance,
if the child in the above scenario were to go home after school and discuss
the situation with her parents who decide that that the teacher was indeed
wrong and that their daughter is actually very hard-working and consci-
entious, this would be third-order positioning because it has been carried
out outside of the original positioning instance. Many of the schools fea-
tured in this book can therefore be seen to be conducting second and
third-order positioning of their respective communities by refuting nega-
tive community discourses that are held within the wider society and
within mainstream institutions.
Whilst positioning theory is largely focused on interpersonal position-
ing between individuals and groups, it can be effectively applied to the
positioning of institutions. This I refer to as institutional positioning.
This book will explore the institutional positioning of supplementary
schools. The use of positioning theory, both as an analytical tool and as a
guiding foundational concept, has engendered an increased awareness of
the contextual discourses (storylines) in which schools operate and which
evidently have a tangible impact on their everyday operations. This par-
ticular approach also facilitates a specific focus on the covert elements of
supplementary schools—the symbolic social acts as opposed to the literal
social actions. Altogether this has resulted in the production of an intri-
cate portrayal of supplementary schooling that moves beyond existing
accounts that adopt conventional categorisations as their framework for
analysis.
 Introduction 13

Blommaert—An Approach to Discourse

Analytical discussions at the heart of this book are also grounded by the
ideas of Blommaert, particularly his concept of discourse. The following
chapters of the book present a discursive exploration of supplementary
schooling that takes account of verbal as well as ideological forms of dis-
course. In his approach, Blommaert adopts a notion of discourse which
includes objects of enquiry that could be considered as totally ‘non-lin-
guistic’ (Blommaert 2005). This is particularly appropriate for this explo-
ration of supplementary schooling in which the examination of
organisational trends and actions of individuals have been included,
alongside discussions of words spoken. Blommaert’s approach to dis-
course also marries well with the tenets of positioning theory. This section
will provide a brief overview of Blommaert’s concept of discourse and his
approach towards its analysis, highlighting in particular the aspects that
are most relevant to the context of supplementary school positioning.
Blommaert’s notion of discourse fits comfortably into contemporary
streams of thought, where discourse is viewed as being akin to ‘modes of
thought’. This conceptualisation of discourse emphasises the notion that
discourses are representative of a certain organisation of experiences or
way of viewing the world. In this way, “discourses constitute the world
and our experiences of it” [emphasis added] (Hughes and Sharrock 2007:
328). Within this perspective, discourses are viewed as the means through
which it becomes possible to experience and speak about the world, and
language is considered to be the principal element in the very constitu-
tion of reality (Hughes and Sharrock 2007). Blommaert similarly advo-
cates that discourse is the means through which every aspect of the social
and cultural and political environment is endowed with meaning
(Blommaert 2005). Blommaert cautions, however, that this type of
meaning construction takes place within the confines of particular lin-
guistic and socio-cultural conditions according to the social circum-
stances of the individual/s engaged in the construction (Blommaert
2005). The key tenets of positioning connect to this concept of discourse,
in that the positioning of individuals and institutions is in effect a means
by which they are constituted. More specifically, the discursive storylines
in which people and institutions are positioned are in fact discourses
through which the world is spoken about and interpreted. Furthermore,
14 A. Simon

the positioning process is highly subjective and is shaped by the perspec-

tives and reflexive positionings of those allocating the position.
The centralisation of discourse in meaning-making is a key component
of the discussions within this book. The thoroughgoing assumption is
that both the schools as institutions and the classrooms as learning spaces
are discursively constructed. Blommaert also emphasises the meanings of
discursive episodes to the actual participants involved (Blommaert 2005),
centralising participants’ subjective accounts. Again, this principle is
reflected in the angling of discussions towards the participants’ view-
points, in the following chapters of the book.

Micro-macro Dichotomy

An additional key aspect of Blommaert’s approach is his interpretation of

the micro-macro dichotomy. Within Blommaert’s viewpoint, discourse is
portrayed as creative at the micro level whilst also being somewhat deter-
mined at higher levels (Blommaert 2005). Here a reasonable balance has
been struck between the recognition of the power of agency and the
influence of structure. Blommaert argues that whilst a large proportion of
human communication is constrained by normativities prescribed by
patterns of inequality, this does not mean that the elements of choice,
creativity or freedom are eradicated from the discursive process; instead,
it indicates that people do exercise creativity in selecting different forms
of discourse but that there are limits to the choices and freedom afforded.
According to Blommaert, it is the interplay between the creativity at the
micro level and determinism at the macro level that accounts for the
social, cultural, historical and political elements of a communicative
event. In this sense, Blommaert sees macro and micro level discourses as
two mutually dependent discursive levels (Blommaert 2005). Within the
analytical discussions featured in this book, the exploration of micro-­
level discourses also incorporates recognition of the powerful influence of
wider overarching social and historical discourses; thus, this approach to
the macro-micro dichotomy bears particular relevance here.
 Introduction 15

A Notion of Context

In his summarising of context, Blommaert states that “it addresses the

way in which linguistic forms—‘text’—become part of, get integrated in,
or become constitutive of larger activities in the social world” (Blommaert
2005: 39). Blommaert advocates that discourse carries with it a structural
and historical context which must be considered in its analysis, advocat-
ing that context is central to meaning-making in that it is the fitting of
language within a particular context that creates meaning (Blommaert
2005). Meaning here refers to “the understanding of something because
it makes sense within a particular context” (Blommaert 2005: 43).
According to Blommaert, there are many varying types of contexts
which operate at various levels and scales. On a smaller scale, for instance,
the very sentences produced by individuals reside within the context of
the other surrounding sentences from which they gain part of their mean-
ing. On the other hand, a larger-scale context may be that of human
social divisions such as women, men and young people (Blommaert
2005).
Within his account of context, Blommaert adopts the essences of
Gumperz’s notion of contextualisation which was developed with refer-
ence to the various ways in which individuals make sense in interactions.
Gumperz claims that:

All understanding is framed understanding,… it ultimately rests on con-

tingent inferences made with respect to presuppositions concerning the
nature of the situation, what is to be accomplished and how it is to be
accomplished. (Gumperz 1992: 43–44)

Gumperz is emphasising here that the process of comprehending

utterances made during an interactive instance is not spontaneous but is
in fact conducted within a certain presupposed frame of reference.
Blommaert further states that these frames are linguistic, cognitive, social
and cultural, and that they are perduring, conventional and normative in
character (Blommaert 2005).
16 A. Simon

Another principle highlighted by Blommaert is that context and con-

textualisation are dialogical, meaning that within any one interactive
instance context is generated by both the speaker and the other parties
involved. In this sense, meaning results from the intersection of two or
more minds and consciousnesses (Blommaert 2005). According to
Blommaert:

People have contextualisation universes: complexes of linguistic, cognitive,

social, cultural, institutional, etc. skills and knowledge which they use for
contextualising statements, and interaction involves the meeting of such
universes. (Blommaert 2005: 44)

Through his account of this principle, Blommaert presents context not

as something that can be attached to text but as text, in so much as it
dictates the meanings of the text and the conditions of its use (Blommaert
2005).
Blommaert’s notion of context is of particular importance to the
understanding of the positioning of supplementary schools which
requires the contextualisation of the existence of the schools as social
institutions and also the operations and processes of everyday school life.
The process of institutional positioning in particular involves the investi-
gation not only of what the schools are but also why and how they are
what they are.
In addition to these comments, Blommaert also states that context
may span beyond the specific discursive time and space, and that words,
actions and perspectives may constitute recontextualisations of earlier
texts. These are texts that have been produced via a different contextuali-
sation process involving different people, purposes and a different histori-
cal moment. Such texts may be reused and their meanings added to or
altered; however, they cannot be divorced from their histories which
influence their meaning, even within new contexts (Blommaert 2005).
Blommaert refers to this reciting and recycling of meanings and expres-
sions as intertextuality—the fact that utterances are in fact innately his-
torical and therefore accompanied by meanings and interpretations
beyond the control of the communicator. Blommaert identifies the pro-
 Introduction 17

cess by which discourses are decontextualised and then recontextualised

as entextualisation—a process through which discourses are transported
into new contexts along with new corresponding metadiscourses
(Blommaert 2005). This concept of the historical embedding of utter-
ances is highly relevant, as at times supplementary school leaders and
teachers draw upon historically loaded terminologies, ideas and historical
events, to create particular conceptualisations of the institutions with
which they are involved.
Blommaert cautions, however, that contextualisation is not without its
difficulties; there are possibilities of mis-contextualisation, particularly in
cases that involve differences in power or other socio-political categories
such as race, ethnicity or gender. This further emphasises the need to
understand the context in which such practices are cultivated in order to
sufficiently comprehend the sense-making processes adopted by individ-
uals within real-life social situations (Blommaert 2005).

Structure of the Book

This introductory chapter has outlined the general focus and direction of
the book and has situated the key subject matter of the book within cur-
rent debates with regard to diversity and identity in Britain. This chapter
has also outlined the theoretical, empirical and conceptual groundings of
the book, introducing positioning theory—the theoretical lens through
which the world of supplementary schooling will be surveyed.
Chapter 2 will begin to build a backdrop for the book by exploring key
overarching discourses pertaining to community settlement. These are
the discourses within which supplementary schools exist and to which
they respond, and which constitute the general storylines unpinning the
field. As supplementary schools typically operate within ethnic minority
communities, the discourses explored within this chapter will relate spe-
cifically to the acculturation experiences of these communities, as these
have an inevitable impact on their positioning within British society and
consequently also affect the functioning of supplementary schools. This
chapter will discuss the various factors that shape the acculturation expe-
18 A. Simon

riences of ethnic minority communities, which largely pertain to the

community country of origin, community perceptions of the host coun-
try and community perceptions of their home country. Also addressed
here is the subject of community identity and the ways in which
­communities seek to preserve, protect and, in some cases, recover it. This
chapter will show that the positioning of ethnic minority communities is
not given but negotiated on multiple levels and dependent on various
factors.
Chapter 3 will provide further historical context pertaining specifically
to supplementary schooling in the UK. This chapter will chart both the
inception and rise of supplementary schools and the corresponding pol-
icy movements within mainstream education, focusing mainly on the
period stretching from the 1960s to the 1980s. The 1960s in particular
has great significance in terms of schooling and race relations, as it was
during this time period that educational policy began to mirror the state’s
problematic construction of black immigrants (Grosvenor 1997). This is
therefore considered to be a fitting starting point for this historical explo-
ration. The chapter will contextualise the supplementary schooling move-
ment against the backdrop of mainstream policy and practice, looking at
the agendas that circulated within mainstream education that served in
limiting opportunities for ethnic minority groups and thereby contrib-
uted to the rise of supplementary schooling.
Part II of the book focuses on the operations of supplementary schools
at the micro level. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 constitute an extensive exploration
of the key purposes of supplementary schooling. These purposes are rep-
resented within five key themes, namely survival, safeguarding, recovery,
counteraction of negative portrayals and transformation of social stand-
ing. These chapters explore the intricacies and dynamics of these themes
using empirical data, which will be analysed through the key tenets of
positioning theory. Whilst each individual theme will be explored sepa-
rately, there is clearly much overlap between them. For instance, survival
efforts were often linked to efforts to safeguard, and therefore both pur-
poses were sometimes simultaneously performed.
Chapter 4 looks closely at the themes of survival and safeguarding, the
two most predominant school purposes. Survival here refers to the efforts
 Introduction 19

made by schools to preserve specific aspects of the community identity.

This was often intertwined with safeguarding where schools would
attempt to protect elements of the community identity from external
threats. The themes are therefore presented and analysed as intercon-
nected concepts. For instance, the chapter discusses the dynamics of
­linguistic preservation and the safeguarding of community languages
against the increasingly dominant force of the English language. Also
discussed here are the survival and safeguarding of cultural traditions,
community mindset and religious identity.
Chapter 5 continues the exploration of supplementary school pur-
poses, covering the themes of counteraction and transformation. The
notion of ‘counteraction’ here constitutes the deliberate efforts of schools
to resist and replace negative discourses that threaten the community
identity and to thereby defend community boundaries. The chapter in
fact begins by highlighting some of these common discourses that taint
public opinion of marginalised groups, focusing particularly on refugees,
asylum seekers, the African-Caribbean community, the Muslim commu-
nity and the Irish community. Alongside counteraction, some schools
also extended their efforts to incorporate transformation measures, geared
towards shifting of community social standing. This chapter in particular
foregrounds the powerful forms of agency exercised by schools as they
respond to higher-level discourses through the third-order positioning of
community members.
Chapter 6 constitutes an extensive exploration of the last of the key
purposes: Recovery. Recovery involved the reconstruction of an identity
that has been lost or stolen due to socio-political factors beyond the con-
trol of the community in question. This chapter focuses on an African-­
Caribbean school and an Irish school, as it was in these schools that the
recovery discourse appeared as a predominant underlying feature. Whilst
the African-Caribbean school sought to recover the true pre-colonialism,
pre-slavery ‘African’ identity, the Irish school was focused on the recovery
of the vibrant Irish identity that existed prior to the Irish Republican Army
(IRA) Birmingham pub bombings in 1974. The chapter documents the
respective narratives of identity depletion and loss and also charts the
methods used by these schools to reinstate desired community identities.
20 A. Simon

The chapters in Part II will make connections between the accounts of

the school leaders and wider discourses of acculturation and transnation-
alism, indicating that these schools ‘speak beyond themselves’— symbol-
ising and embodying current and historical community experiences. In
doing so, these chapters demonstrate that the realm of supplementary
schooling has much to contribute to debates concerning the accultura-
tion of immigrant communities in Britain and, more specifically, the
ways in which such communities negotiate cultural displacement. This
exploration of key themes also highlights the varied and complex nature
of supplementary schooling that is made visible through the examination
of school purpose.
Part III of the book seeks to further operationalise supplementary
school positioning through a detailed case study which demonstrates the
manifestation of school positioning within regular schooling processes.
This part of the book marks a transition from the panoramic view pre-
sented in Chaps. 4, 5 and 6 which span a diverse cohort of 16 schools, to
a more focused micro-level viewpoint. Chapters 7 and 8 present the in-­
depth case study of an African-Caribbean supplementary school, explor-
ing the micro-level discursive encoding of school positioning within
classroom interactions. This chapter will also make links to wider over-
arching discourses, revealing the interactional dynamics between the
micro- and macro-discursive levels. The chapter will again incorporate
the key tenets of positioning theory as an analytical tool and will decipher
the storylines, social positionings and social actions (Harré and van
Langenhove 1999) reflected within everyday classroom practice and how
these relate to the positionings of the school.
This case study highlights what ethnic minority community institu-
tions do for their communities, providing examples of how they serve
their respective communities by providing a space of mediation between
the community and the wider society. Schrover and Vermeulen (2005)
state that immigrant organisations are representative of how the immi-
grant group perceive the disparities between them and the wider society.
Chapters 7 and 8 suggest that this representation is manifested in the
discursive interactions of the school.
Part IV draws together the overarching themes and concepts of the
book, relating discussions to broad acculturation discourses. Whereas
 Introduction 21

Chaps. 4, 5 and 6 outline the various individual purposes and the related
discourses circulating within the supplementary schooling field, Chap. 9
highlights the various combinations of purpose components found
within individual institutions and discusses these combinations in light
of wider acculturation discourses. Within this chapter, these c­ ombinations
of components are referred to as metanarratives—clusters of discourses
that are representative of community acculturation experiences. Here the
analytical scope will be extended outwards, beyond the micro-­level school
setting. Again, the suggestion here is that supplementary schools have the
ability to speak beyond themselves and to give indications of certain pro-
cesses and perspectives within the wider ethnic minority communities
they serve. It is within this chapter that the book will again engage with
the wider discussions of migration and acculturation, making direct links
between these processes and the current operations of supplementary
schools. The aim of this chapter is not to establish any definitive typology
of any sort, but to highlight the complex and diverse social positionings
of schools and allow for certain inferences to be made with regard to the
acculturation experiences and outlooks of the respective ethnic minority
communities.
Chapter 10 is the concluding chapter of the book and reviews the vari-
ous key points emanating from the evidence presented throughout the
book. The chapter will contest simplistic notions of supplementary
schools as learning spaces defined by the communities they serve or the
subjects they teach. Instead this chapter proposes that these schools are in
fact complex, multipurpose, social enterprises with very deliberate aims
and purposes that can be directly linked to acculturation experiences,
including community perceptions of the wider society and the position-
ing of the community within this society. Consequently, this chapter will
argue that due to the position that these schools occupy between the
immigrant community and the wider society, they have much to contrib-
ute to current and future debates concerning the settlement of ethnic
minority communities in Britain and the ways in which these communi-
ties negotiate the social context of the host society.
22 A. Simon

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 2
Supplementary Schools and Their
Communities

This chapter will present supplementary schooling as a concept and will

also give consideration to the experiences and perspectives of the ethnic
minority communities they serve. The chapter begins with a brief over-
view of supplementary schooling including the labelling and categorisa-
tion of schools. This chapter will show that far from being homogeneous,
supplementary schooling is complex and diverse, with schools occupying
differing positions in British society. The following section contextualises
ethnic minority communities through the exploration of the key factors
that impact on the acculturation experiences of these communities. The
chapter will end with an exploration of the negotiation of community
identity which has been found to lie at the very centre of supplementary
schooling.

The Idea of Supplementary Schooling

Supplementary schools are schools established and run by community
groups sharing a language, religious beliefs or cultural traditions (Creese
and Martin 2006) that operate beyond the realm of mainstream school-

© The Author(s) 2018 25

A. Simon, Supplementary Schools and Ethnic Minority Communities,
https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50057-1_2
26 A. Simon

ing. Many schools are self-supporting; however, there are now various
funding streams that schools can apply for from a number of charities
and non-governmental organisations. For instance, up until 2015, the
Paul Hamlyn Foundation offered specific funding to supplementary
schools in the UK, and the John Lyon’s Charity is also a firm supporter of
supplementary schooling and provides funding for schools that have
achieved a ‘quality mark’ for supplementary education. Supplementary
schools are primarily voluntary and operate outside of mainstream school
hours on evenings and weekends. Whilst these schools have remained
largely unnoticed, in 2007, the British government’s awakening to the
major impact of supplementary schooling was marked by the establish-
ment of the first National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education
(NRCSE), which was funded by the Department of Education and Skills
in partnership with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. There has also recently
been an increased recognition of the positive effects of such schooling in
terms of raising educational attainment (Maylor et al. 2010).
Supplementary schools were first established in the UK during the
1800s by Russian settlers (McLean 1985). Within the following century,
many other ethnic minority groups established community-based schools
for children. Between the 1950s and 1970s, supplementary schooling
experienced a significant increase (McLean 1985). It was in this post-war
period that Britain saw the arrival of immigrants from the new common-
wealth (Issa and Williams 2009) who sought to establish their own
institutions.
Whilst supplementary schools are not reported to have experienced
any other spurt of growth, they have maintained a significant presence
within British society, and more recent immigrant groups have followed
in the footsteps of their forerunners, in establishing community-specific
supplementary schools. More recently established institutions carry with
them many of the discourses of the past with regard to the inadequacies
of mainstream schooling, the challenges of survival within wider society
and the general positioning of the community within the society. It can
therefore be said that these discourses have been recontextualised within
current schools in that they continue to shape the purposes, ethos and
teaching practices of these schools.
 Supplementary Schools and Their Communities 27

According to NRCSE statistics, there are currently 3000–5000 supple-

mentary schools operating in the UK (NRCSE 2018). These schools are
established and maintained by a wide range of community groups and
are diverse in terms of curriculum content, purpose and consequent
social positioning.

Labelling and Categorisation of Schools

Current literature indicates that supplementary schools can occupy sev-

eral social positions that relate to their purposes and aims and that these
positions are interlinked and complex in nature. It is perhaps not surpris-
ing therefore that despite the growing body of literature on supplemen-
tary schooling, the actual labelling of schools still poses a significant
challenge. Within the literature there are many descriptions of supple-
mentary schools which are accompanied by two main reference terms,
namely ‘supplementary’ and ‘complementary’, with some writers choos-
ing to alternate between both terms.
The term ‘complementary’ is seen to be most appropriate as it high-
lights the positive complementary relationship between these schools and
mainstream schools and their wider contribution to social and economic
life (Issa and Williams 2009; Creese and Martin 2006). However, this
notion has also been questioned, particularly with regard to black supple-
mentary schooling. Black supplementary schools constitute a response to
the exclusion of the black community from the mainstream educational
system and are therefore not a complement to mainstream educational
system but a means of actively critiquing, countering and even resisting its
operations and effects (Hall et al. 2002; Mirza and Reay 2000). From this
perspective, ‘supplementary’ is often deemed a more appropriate term of
reference. It is also suggested that perhaps neither complementary nor
supplementary is an appropriate term. David Simon, for instance, ques-
tions: “are we supplementing something that is already wrong or are we
creating something that is new?” (Simon 2007: 71–72). Speaking here of
black schools in particular, Simon implies that the term ‘supplementary’
fails to adequately reflect the non-acceptance of a defective mainstream
system and an orientation towards the creation of a separate alternative.
28 A. Simon

These debates indicate the existence of an unspoken challenge with

regard to the defining and titling of supplementary schools. The various
terminologies present within current literature reflect differing concepts
of supplementary schools predicated on the differing social positions of
schools. This debate with regard to the positional complexities of supple-
mentary schools indicates that supplementary schools are more than just
(academic or cultural) subject learning spaces, but have varied socio-­
political agendas. However, within current literature, there is an assump-
tion of uniformity amongst groups of schools, which is largely based on
declared (as opposed to hidden) curriculum content and the ethnic
minority grouping of the school, which obscures these positional
complexities.
Within this book, the term ‘supplementary’ is used to refer to the
schools being explored. This term has been settled upon due to its current
and historical significance. Within the supplementary schooling field, it
is well recognised that the establishment and perpetuation of supplemen-
tary schooling was, to a significant degree, due to the perceived short-
comings of mainstream educational provision. The inadequacy of
mainstream schooling is one of the most predominant narratives circulat-
ing within the supplementary schooling literature. Despite the diversity
of schools within the supplementary schooling field, many writers agree
that a unifying aspect of supplementary schools is that they constitute
responses to the perceived failings of mainstream schooling (Minty et al.
2008; Li 2006). Having said this, it is important to recognise that black
schools, in particular, were predicated on the premise that mainstream
schools were not only failing to make adequate provisions for black chil-
dren but were actively seeking to disadvantage them. Thus, one of the
central aims of black supplementary schools was to produce a black-­
controlled space for the education of black children. Black supplemen-
tary schools were also part of a wider movement to combat racial
inequality in mainstream schooling (Andrews 2013). In this sense, black
supplementary schools can be seen to be different from other forms of
supplementary schooling in that they were born out of experiences
unique to the black community. Within this book, the term ‘supplemen-
tary’ will be used fairly loosely, recognising that this term is not wholly
negative in that it can refer generally to the further extension of regular
schooling provision.
 Supplementary Schools and Their Communities 29

Alongside the labelling of schools, supplementary schools are also cat-

egorised mainly with regard to ethnic or linguistic grouping or curricu-
lum content; thus, there is an assumption that schools within each
separate category are similar to each other whilst being different from
schools in other categories. This book goes beyond this simplistic cate-
gorisation of schools based on assumptions pertaining to certain predom-
inant features, and considers the schools in light of their social positioning.
Approaching schools from this perspective effectively widens the frame of
analysis, giving rise to the exploration of issues of immigration and settle-
ment, political histories and transnationalism, which are beyond the
immediate school institution, yet have a significant impact on its every-
day operations. This approach also reveals the ability of these schools to
speak beyond themselves, in that their very operations are indicative of
the positioning of ethnic minority communities in Britain and the settle-
ment experiences of such groups. The following section will frame these
experiences through the exploration of a series of acculturation factors.

The Community in Context

Supplementary schools are typically owned and run by ethnic minority
communities. When discussing these institutions, it is necessary to con-
sider the discourses that circulate within these communities and there-
fore have an inevitable impact on the schools that they establish. These
discourses constitute the context in which supplementary schools func-
tion. Whilst there can be no assumed uniformity in the experiences of
ethnic minority communities, there are certain overarching discourses
that are common in ethnic minority community experiences. Indeed,
the five key themes discussed in Chaps. 4, 5 and 6 are representative of
the commonalities in the experiences of the groups involved in the study.
This section will outline some of the key political, historical and socio-
cultural discourses that impact the acculturation experiences of ethnic
minority groups and thus the positioning and functioning of supple-
mentary schools.
Acculturation refers to the process that takes place when an individual
or group who have developed in one cultural context, attempt to live in
30 A. Simon

another unfamiliar cultural context (Berry 1997). When discussing this

process, other writers have commonly referred to ‘assimilation’ or ‘inte-
gration’ or derivatives of these terms. Both assimilation and integration
are grounded with the idea of an already integrated society, amalgamated
by consensus and state organisation—a society which immigrants must
be integrated into (Joppke and Morawska 2003). Thus, both concepts are
generally measured by degrees of social inclusion within the host society
and adaption to host society culture (Remennick 2003).
This book purposely veers away from such concepts, focusing instead
on the positioning of ethnic minority communities, and seeks to concep-
tualise each school on its own terms as opposed to plotting its position
according to integrationist or assimilationist scales. The research priori-
tises participants’ own positioning of their communities based on their
views of the community in relation to the wider society. Thus, it is delib-
erately orientated towards the perspective of the ‘insider looking in’ as
opposed to that of the ‘outsider looking in’. It is mainly for these reasons
that assimilation and integration were considered to be too narrowly
focused for the conceptual basis of this book.
Berry’s notion of acculturation is described as “the dual process of cul-
tural and psychological change that takes place as a result of contact
between two or more cultural groups and their individual members”
(Berry 2005: 698). Encapsulated within this concept is the distinct appre-
ciation for the variability of acculturation processes, both within and
between groups and between individual group members (Berry 2005).
Whilst implying a certain degree of adjustment, there is no assumption
about the nature, timescale or direction of this adjustment. This process of
acculturation is therefore dynamic and pliable, accommodating for the
consideration of community positioning shifts throughout time and/or
with the changing of circumstances. A community positioning can often
change as its economic wealth increases, for instance. Such an approach
encompasses a flexible view of migration and settlement, allowing for the
consideration of complex interrelationships that affect the adaption
process and recognising the variability and complexity of this process
(Phinney et al. 2001). Within the aculturation ­perspective, it is recognised
that cross-cultural encounters have the potential to be integrative
as well as divisive due to the tendency of such encounters to accentuate
 Supplementary Schools and Their Communities 31

both the similarities and differences that exist between the groups involved.
At another level, global culture also acts as a homogenising force across all
cultural groups—a force which is negotiated through various socio-psy-
chological mechanisms. Thus, the processes of settlement and adaption
are highly complex, encompassing processes of homogenisation, indigeni-
sation, sameness and differentiation.
Community groups themselves are also complex and cannot be
assumed to be homogenous units. Whilst there are likely to be certain
commonalities between group members, it cannot be presumed that
groups are homogeneous entities that are characterised by definitive tidy
boundaries and fixed internal ties (Parekh 2002). It is inevitable that
within these groups there are multiple concepts and levels of membership
and allegiance. Whilst group members often harbour imaginary visions
of homogeny and oneness, and of a people bound by particular ways of
thinking and doing, there are in reality, multiple ways of experiencing
and expressing a community identity.
In the present globalised age, individuals commonly adopt multiple
and hybridised identities, shifting between a number of identity spaces
that are in themselves in an ongoing state of evolution. In this sense,
group boarders are negotiable (Ratcliffe 2004) and context-bound. La
Barbera supports this view, stating that during the process of migration,
the perception, representation and definition of identities change to such
an extent that it is better to think of identity as something that a person
does as opposed to something that they possess (La Barbera 2015). It is
therefore the case that ethnic minority identity is “something that does
not appear or simply pre-exist contexts of use but something that is cre-
atively, flexibly and contextually constituted” (Merino and Tileagă 2011:
87). For instance, when an individual has to leave the geographical con-
text on which their identity is based and move to a completely new land
of residence, their sense of identity may diminish, causing them to seek a
place of belonging within the new social structure. This often leads to
changes in social identity in order to obtain a sense of belonging, which
can involve the acquisition of new cultural skills and knowledge and the
adoption of new culturally defined roles. In some cases, the migration
experience can have the opposite effect, causing the individual to cling
even more tightly to their own indigenous identity in the face of the
32 A. Simon

uncertainty of an unfamiliar social context. Within the migration experi-

ence, an individual may also have to adopt new roles or have certain
identities forced upon them, which challenge and conflict with estab-
lished aspects of their identity (Seweryn 2007). For instance, a person
who has had a well-respected role as a teacher in their country of origin
may find themselves laden with the label of ‘refugee’ or ‘asylum’ seeker,
both of which carry negative connotations within the UK and are likely
to engender discrimination. The migration trajectory of the individual is
of course dependent on certain personal factors such as age, the nature of
the society of origin and the circumstances of migration (forced or volun-
tary) (Seweryn 2007). These internal group dynamics outlined in this
subsection have an inevitable impact on acculturation experiences.

Factors that Impact Community Positioning

In light of the above considerations with regard to acculturation experi-

ences, the discussion will now turn to the exploration of some of the
more specific factors that impact the various positionings adopted by
members of ethnic minority groups, when navigating the contours of a
new host society. These are factors that have impacted the establishment
and current functioning of the schools at the centre of this book; these
institutions can therefore be viewed as reflectors of acculturation
experiences.
Community perceptions of the host society are widely named as one
of the key factors strongly correlated with the process of acculturation
(Tartakovsky 2011; Berry 2005; Phinney et al. 2001; Burnett 1998).
These perceptions are of course largely centred on relations between the
ethnic minority community and the host society. The impact of the inter-
actions between immigrants and members of the host society is high-
lighted by Phinney et al. (2001), who state that:

Ethnic and national identities and their role in adaption can best be under-
stood in terms of an interaction between the attitudes and characteristics of
immigrants and the responses of the receiving society, moderated by the
particular circumstances of the immigrant group within the new society.
(Phinney et al. 2001: 494)
 Supplementary Schools and Their Communities 33

Here Phinney et al. highlight the negotiated construction of commu-

nity identity and its role within acculturation processes. Ager and Strang
additionally speak of the process of integration as a two-way process
involving mutual accommodation between both the host society and the
immigrant community (Ager and Strang 2008). Such suggestions reveal
the central role of host society perceptions in the acculturation process.
Of particular relevance to acculturation is the orientation of host soci-
ety citizens towards immigration and pluralism and the immigration
policies employed within the society (Berry 2005; Phinney et al. 2001).
Some societies, for instance, are accepting of the cultural pluralism that is
produced through immigration, viewing cultural diversity as a commu-
nal resource. Such societies are less likely to impose cultural change or
exclusion on immigrant communities and are more likely to provide
social support within already established social institutions such as health
and education services. Phinney et al. claim that the ethnic identity of the
immigrant group is likely to be more strongly exerted in such cases
(Phinney et al. 2001). Other societies seek to eliminate diversity through
policies and assimilation programmes (Berry 2005) which can have the
opposite effect of isolating communities, resulting in the muting of cul-
tural expression. Host society immigration policies can also affect the
ability for immigrants to be united with family members, which for many
is a central factor of settlement and will therefore affect their accultura-
tion experiences and in turn affect their positioning within the host soci-
ety (Burnett 1998).
Recently, British policy is said to have adopted more of an assimila-
tionist approach, insisting that immigrants demonstrate a sense of
belonging and placing increased emphasis on the obligations involved in
the practice of citizenship (Vathi and King 2013). However, due to the
significant growth of asylum-seeking and economic migrants in the
1990s, a more restrictive stance has also been adopted towards
­immigration, which is reflected in cuts in asylum figures, stricter mea-
sures of refugee determination, establishment of temporary forms of asy-
lum, detention centre confinement and enforced dispersal (Vathi and
King 2013). Such policy measures result in, or at the very least contribute
to, discourses that impact host society perspectives of immigrant com-
munities and the self-positioning of these communities with the wider
34 A. Simon

host society. Whilst researching Albanian immigrants in Britain, Vathi

and King discovered that “protracted asylum policies” (Vathi and King
2013: 1844) served to override the agency of Albanian immigrants,
thereby hindering integration opportunities and preventing the facilita-
tion of belongingness. This was mainly due to the extreme uncertainty
that characterised the process of obtaining ‘status’ and the underlying
principle of deterrence embedded within immigration policies (Vathi
and King 2013).
According to the acculturation intentions model (AIM), immigrants
tend to interact with members of the society who they feel are most
accommodating towards them and are more willing to adopt the norms
and values of such a society whilst distancing themselves from societies
they feel are less accommodating (Tartakovsky 2011). In this sense, it can
be said that the assimilation of ethnic minority community members
into host society groups or institutions is heavily dependent on permis-
sion being granted from the host society itself. This permission is indi-
cated through the direction of immigration law and policies and the
attitudes of the host population. It is often the case that assimilation is
hindered by discrimination and legal barriers.
The effects of discrimination are accounted by Tartakovsky who sug-
gests that discrimination is associated with the development of negative
attitudes towards the host country and increased feelings of ‘ethnic threat’
amongst immigrant groups, decreasing their sense of control over the
acculturation process (Tartakovsky 2011). According to Joly (2004), this
may lead to the enclosure of the ethnic minority group, which may in
turn result in the community seeking to establish a “space of dignity”
(Joly 2004: 151) through the amplification of unique aspects of differ-
ence, specific to the community (Joly 2004). Heller suggests, however,
that in exerting certain hegemonic community traits in order to establish
a legitimate space within the monocultural nation-state, ethnic minority
communities effectively produce “structures of hegemony similar to those
against which they struggle” (Heller 1999: 32). Levels of cultural expres-
sion and the social and conceptual spaces occupied by ethnic minority
groups are therefore highly complex factors, collaboratively negotiated
between group and non-group members and mediated by socio-political
powers at the meso and macro levels.
 Supplementary Schools and Their Communities 35

The attitudes of the host society towards immigrants are shaped by a

number of factors that can be contextual, psychological, economic or polit-
ical (Berry 2001). In this sense, the views of the host society towards immi-
gration and ethnic minority groups are an evolving phenomenon that may
fluctuate with time and population subsets. This is because immigration
may have differing consequences for these different subsets (Dovidio and
Esses 2001). The welcoming of labour immigrants in Europe from the
1950s to the 1970s is a case in point. Whilst they were seen to be beneficial
for economic growth, national borders were opened and these immigrants
were welcomed into the receiving countries. However, in the latter part of
the twentieth century, they evoked contrasting reactions which were
expressed through the rise in “racist and fascist ideologies” (Dovidio and
Esses 2001: 380), a time in which some countries resorted to offering
immigrants financial incentives to return home (Dovidio and Esses 2001).
It is through the aforementioned interrelational dynamics that the host
society “mediates and structures the experiences and opportunities of
immigrants” (Burnett 1998: 19), which in turn dictates the positioning
of the ethnic minority community within the host society. Such dynam-
ics are strongly related to the supplementary schools at the centre of this
book, as the positioning of the community inevitably effects the position-
ing of the school, thus making community positioning an important
contextual factor influencing the schooling delivered.
Country of origin may also affect the perceptions of immigrants
towards the host society. Results of a study carried out by Bloch showed
that perceptions of Britain held amongst refugees were strongly corre-
lated with the country of origin. Congolese refugees for instance found
Britain the most culturally alienating. This perhaps correlates with the
fact that there are no colonial links between the Democratic Republic of
Congo and Britain (Bloch 2002). The basis of asylum claims also impacted
perceptions of Britain, as perceptions of Britain as ‘home’ were highest
amongst those seeking asylum on the basis of race. This is likely to be due
to the non-acceptance or hostility towards an innate and deeply embed-
ded attribute of the refugee, which could justifiably be interpreted as
some level of rejection of the person themselves as opposed to a political
or religious orientation. Immigration status also affected participants’
views of the British society, as it dictated access and rights (Bloch 2002).
36 A. Simon

Perceptions of the Home Country

Immigrants’ perceptions of their home country can also influence views

of the host society and in turn can dictate the course of the acculturation
process (Colic-Peisker and Walker 2003). This was seen to be the case
amongst Brazian migrants in America. Levitt reports that these migrants
perceived their homeland to be corrupt and dangerous, and suggests that
such a perception is unlikely to engender ongoing active involvement
(Levitt 2010). Focusing on refugees from Bosnia and Herzovina living in
Australia, Colic-Peisker and Walker also comment that some refugees
grieved for things of their homeland, which translated into a negative
outlook of the host country (Colic-Peisker and Walker 2003). This latter
example, in particular, illustrates the interrelatedness of views of the host
and the home country and show each to be integral to the acculturation
process.
This variable of attitude towards the country of origin is also con-
nected to other psychological variables (Tartakovsky 2011). Memories of
home are not static but evolve and are negotiated alongside memories of
other places and altering circumstances—memories of migration and of
the diaspora experience (Stock 2010). In other words, memories gathered
during the acculturation journey within the host society can alter percep-
tions of the community homeland. These arguments correspond with
Anderson’s concept of the reproduction of the national memory and
imagination (Anderson 1983).
In addition to relationships and interactions with the host society, the
literature also highlights the value of internal ties with other like-ethnic
group members in terms of social interaction and community support
and the maintenance of cultural traditions (Dow 2010; Ager and Strang
2008). Within their research study on the integration of refugees into
British society, Ager and Strang found that for many of the participants,
the ability to share cultural practices and maintain cultural relationship
patterns with family members and other members of the community was
highly instrumental in engendering a sense of settlement within British
society (Ager and Strang 2008). Many other previous studies have also
concluded that connections established within ethnic minority groups
 Supplementary Schools and Their Communities 37

have a number of benefits that aid in the integration process. In particu-

lar, the provision of a cultural space where refugees can maintain their
own customs, religion and language is seen to be highly important (Ager
and Strang 2008). In support of this perspective, Vathi and King also
discovered that the lack of networks amongst Albanian immigrants,
mainly due to initial dispersal measures, the absence of chain migration,
irregular entry processes and general fear and mistrust, stunted settle-
ment and social integration (Vathi and King 2013).
Joly argues that in the vast majority of cases, ethnic mobilisation con-
stitutes a “positive declaration of engagement” with the host society (Joly
2004: 151). However, the nature of the support offered by community
organisations is dependent on size, how well established it is and organ-
isation levels. Thus, not all organisations will be equally effective (Burnett
1998). From a contrasting viewpoint, Dow postulates that home country
networks may also constitute a deterrent to involvement within the host
society because they may minimise the incentive for interaction with host
society members and the need to become acquainted with socially accept-
able behaviours within the host society (Dow 2010).
The mode of migration and the surrounding circumstances can also
affect the acculturation process; namely, the reasons for immigrating, the
way in which the decision was made and the extent of knowledge gath-
ered beforehand (Berry 2005; Burnett 1998). Whilst all migrants
undoubtedly experience some form of upheaval, the mode of migration
dictates the nature and scale of this upheaval and its consequent effects
on the acculturation experience. Voluntary or economic immigrants
enter the host country under very different circumstances than do immi-
grants who are forced to migrate and seek asylum beyond their homeland
due to genocide, war or other forms of political unrest. There is also the
growing category of mixed migration; referring to those whose migration
is both voluntary and forced (Van Hear 2010). These circumstances inev-
itably affect the positioning of immigrant communities within the host
society and the subsequent positioning of the supplementary schools
they establish.
With regard to the differing effects of migration modes on the accul-
turation process, the experience of refugees is a case in point. It is gener-
ally acknowledged that refugees in particular have a unique experience of
Another random document with
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you are my guest, politeness prevents my expressing what I think of
your conduct. You can break that pipe to pieces and burn the
stick”—this to his servant—“I do not care to smoke it.”
The priest turned pale, sat silent for a minute, and then said in
apology—
“Yes, yes, you say truly, I have eaten dirt.”
Strange to say, we were very friendly with him afterwards.
The pipe affected by the lower classes is the short chibouque, this
nearly every North Persian of the lower class carries at his back in
his girdle or in his pocket; there is a small clay, brass or iron head,
and a straight stem of cherry-wood, six inches to a foot long, with a
bore some half-inch in diameter through it; there is no mouth-piece,
and it is held to the lips, and not in the teeth. The tobacco smoked is
usually Samsoon, a common kind of coarse Turkish; or Koordi, a
mild tobacco, nearly white in colour, but with a pungent flavour; there
are many other varieties. This Koordi looks like coarse sawdust, and
is quite dry, and is simply the leaf-stalk and stem of the plant
coarsely pounded; to look at it, no one would suppose on a first
inspection that it was tobacco at all: the best comes from
Kermanshah.
A third kind of pipe is used by the Arabs of the Gulf and many
South Persians; it consists simply of a tube of clay, an inch in
diameter, bent at a right or acute angle, and constricted at the
middle; from end to end it measures four to seven inches; one side is
crammed with tobacco, “Tootoon i Koordi;” a coal is placed on it, and
it is passed from hand to hand till the contents are burnt out. It is a
very primitive pipe.
Enough of pipes. By five all the visitors had gone; we dined at
seven, and I retired to sleep in a comfortable bed.
At about five[4] next morning I am roused by—
“Chai, sahib” (tea, sir); and a lordly individual, with huge
mustachios, a black lambskin cap, a brown cloth inner coat, a blue
cloth outer coat, a broad belt, and a long “kummer” (or straight
broad-bladed sword), dark-blue “shulwar” (what an American calls
pants, and an outfitter pyjamas), and his stockinged feet—his shoes
were outside my door—places a cup of tea, some twice-baked sweet
biscuit, of delicious crispness, and some marmalade, at my side, and
departs. He soon returns with a second cup of tea and a kalian.
As I am a griffin, he draws my attention to the latter being—“Welly
good thing, kalian.”
He then goes through a pantomime suggesting sleep, talking all
the time to me in Persian. I take his advice.
At eight he wakes me, and I find he has a warm tub ready for me. I
dress once again in the clothes of ordinary life, and go down, to find
no one about, for Major S⸺ has gone to the office, and taken the
Colonel with him.
However, my especial chief, Mr. B⸺, soon appears,
accompanied by his big black dog “Topsy,” who comes into all the
rooms and sits on all the settees: there is a fine sense of liberty in
this. Mr. B⸺ warns me that I must not hope to make anything by
practice—that he never did, and I never shall; but that there is a fine
field for gratuitous work.
He then explains to me the Persian system of medicine. It has its
advantages in its delightful simplicity. All diseases are cold or hot. All
remedies are hot or cold. A hot disease requires a cold remedy, and
vice-versâ.
Now, if the Persian doctor is called in, and has any doubt as to the
nature of the disorder, he prescribes a hot remedy, let us say; if the
patient gets better, he was right; if worse, then he prescribes a cold
remedy, and sticks to it. He thus gets over all need for diagnosis, all
physiological treatment, and he cannot, according to his own lights,
be wrong.
His prescriptions contain a multitude of mostly obsolete and inert
drugs, ten being a small number of ingredients, twenty an ordinary
one. Before he is summoned, an omen is taken by the patient and
his friends, as to who shall be called in; when he has seen his
patient, another is taken, as to whether his advice shall be followed
or not. His fee is a few pence, or more generally he undertakes the
case on speculation; so much—of which he is lucky if he gets half—if
the patient gets well; nothing if he doesn’t.
Most of the relatives, friends, and neighbours prescribe various
homely, or at times, powerful remedies, which are all as a rule tried.
Quiet by the sick-bed is unknown; in fact, the patient used to fuss
and noise would be depressed by it. And remedies and contrivances
of a barbarous nature, such as putting a patient in fresh horse-dung,
sewing him up in a raw hide, are the rule rather than the exception.
Usually the European doctor is distrusted, only called in when the
patient is breathing his last, or by the very rich or very poor.
Mr. B⸺ gave me one very good piece of advice. “You will go to
Hamadan—with the Persians novelty is everything. Strike while the
iron is hot, and before the novelty is worn off, and you—well, you will
get lots of experience.”
I was astonished and incredulous—it was all true.[5]
We visited the telegraph-office, and looked round the Colonel’s
garden, returning to breakfast at eleven, and we sat down to a
substantial déjeuner à la fourchette, with country wines, and tea for
those who preferred it. It was followed by the inevitable kalian and
coffee.
I wanted much to see the Zoological Gardens, but we were told
that the Shah had turned the beasts loose. We, however, decided to
go, and we found it so—they were all loose.
The leo-panther, a cross between the lion and panther, a lovely
animal like an immense cat, very tame, allowing one to pat him; two
lions, a bear, two tigers (young ones), walking about with the
antelopes and wild sheep. I must say the presence of the tigers was
not quite pleasant. There is a pretty building—a sort of summer
pavilion—here, belonging to the king, well worth seeing.
A curious incident occurred as Major S⸺, Mr. M⸺, Mr. B⸺,
and I were walking home from these Zoological Gardens; we were
crossing a bit of desert plain behind the gardens towards the Major’s
house. On a sudden we saw come from under the corner of the
garden wall at a shambling trot—a big tawny animal; to discover that
it was a lioness was instantaneous, and it was coming our way. B
⸺, with whom discretion was the better part of valour, did not
hesitate; like the last of the Horatii, he “vowed revenge, and to
pursue it fled.”
We kept on, but fear was in all our hearts—I know it was in mine,
possibly the Major was exempt—but we walked very fast, looking
ever and anon at the advancing lioness. There was apparently no
mistaking the shambling pace of the wild beast; as it got nearer it
turned out to be a big dog. Of course when we arrived at the house
we all laughed at B⸺.
The Major’s dignity and profession forbade his running, Mr. M⸺,
as a diplomat, never of course did anything in a hurry, so couldn’t
run, and as they were present I didn’t like to run, though I itched to
do it. Of course, B⸺ said he knew it was a dog, and ran to frighten
us; if so, his simulation of terror was almost lifelike.
In the evening we dined at the English Mission,[6] where there is a
billiard-table—my last game for some time, I fancy.
 CHAPTER IV.
TEHERAN.

The Gulhaek Road—Visit to a virtuoso—His story—Persian New Year—Persian

ladies—Titles—The harem—Its inhabitants—A eunuch—Lovely visions—The
Dervish—The great festival—Miscellaneous uniform—At the Court of Persia—
The Shah—The ceremony—Baksheesh—Rejoicings.

I passed a fortnight in Major S⸺’s house, and gradually got

some sort of smattering of colloquial Persian; but I could not see
much of the place, for I had no servant of my own, and, though a
horse was always at my disposal, not knowing the language, I was
unable to go out alone, and was forced to content myself with rides
on the “Gulhaek Road” with my chief, Mr. B⸺.
This “Gulhaek Road” was the usual ride, simply because it was at
that time the only attempt at a road on our side—or, in fact, any side
—of Teheran. It led past the Kasr-i-Kajar, one of the royal palaces, to
Gulhaek, where the English Legation summered, and also to the
other numerous villages at the foot of the mountains, at each of
which a foreign legation during the summer hung out its ensign; as
Zergendeh, where the Russians lived; Tejreesh, the French, &c.
One visit we paid, to a gentleman who had been many years in the
Persian service, was rather amusing. Our host was an old
Frenchman who held an appointment as instructor in French and
translator to the Shah, and was a Mahommedan. I do not know
whether the account I heard of his mode of life was true or not. It
was that he proceeded to Hamadan every year, and invested in two
wives; as the spring came round he divorced them, and made his
annual excursion, returning with two more. He was a very cheery old
man, and evidently derived great comfort from a barrel-organ that
stood in his room. Of his other comforts I know nothing, but I did see
two remarkably clean pairs of ankles and two remarkably fine pairs
of eyes. This was all one could make out of two closely-veiled
females, who, with many giggles, constantly bustled in and out of the
room on divers pretexts. The Frenchman had a large collection of
valuable antiquities, which he showed us, and they were all genuine.
That was seventeen years ago; now, in a hundred specimens from
Persia, be they what they will, ninety are shams. Amongst other
treasures he had a fine balass ruby as big as a florin, on which was
cut an intaglio of a Sassanian king, which was, I believe, afterwards
purchased by Mr. Alison (then Her Majesty’s Minister) for a large
sum. At that time the craze for objects of oriental art had not set in,
and the big tiles we saw (or bricks) of reflet métallique, with raised
inscriptions, were such as one seldom sees nowadays, save in
national collections.
Our host’s history had doubtless been a checkered one, and I was
told on good authority that he had a faithful page who waited on him,
and—gaily dressed as a boy-pipebearer, a favourite attendant with
the wealthy of the capital—attended his master wherever he went.
The page was a lady in disguise, and a Mussulman; but, alas! this
romantic episode could not be allowed to continue. Some busybody
betrayed him to the priests, he and the lady were arrested, and he
had the usual choice of Islam or death. Under the circumstances he
chose the former, and retained, under an outward conformance to
the tenets of Mussulmanism, a practical power of jollity and “keeping
it up” which few of the most advanced viveurs could rival. I was
afterwards led to understand that the French Minister of the day at
the Court of Persia had the power, but not the will, to protect the poor
fellow against the very unpleasant choice given him. Years sober us
all, and I saw the gentleman long afterwards, a most grave and
reverend seigneur.
The Persian New Year was about to commence, and, as there is
always a jubilee reception of all the foreign ambassadors by the
Shah, it was decided that Colonel G⸺ should be presented at it by
the minister, and I too was to have the pleasure of seeing the
splendours of the Persian Court; after which Major S⸺, who was
going to Baghdad on duty, kindly promised to allow me to
accompany him as far as Hamadan, where I should enter on my
active duties.
One morning my medical chief asked me if I should like to visit the
anderūn, or ladies’ quarter, of a great Persian nobleman?
“As you are going down country you probably won’t have the
chance again; and I have seen such things too often for it to be any
pleasure to me.”
Of course I was delighted. I hurriedly put on a long-tailed coat,
which is de rigueur in visiting a Persian house, our short ones being
considered by them as extremely indecent. I had goloshes on over
my boots, and rode off with one of B⸺’s servants to the house of
the Eyn-ul-Molk (eye of the state); such titles, not being hereditary
ones, are usual among the statesmen and great officials of Persia.
“The Sword of the State,” “The Pillar of the Kingdom,” “The
Shadow of the King,” are all titles in actual use; they are sufficiently
high-sounding and poetical even to satisfy a Persian’s sense of
dignity.
No sooner is a prince born, than the king proceeds to give him a
title, which as he grows in dignity and years is often changed for a
higher one; thus, when I came to Persia, Sultan Massūd Mirza, the
eldest son of the king, was known as Yemeen-u-dowlet, or Sword of
the State; this some ten years afterwards, when the young man
became a real power in the kingdom, was changed to Zil-es-Sultan,
or Shadow of the King.
On reaching the house of Eyn-ul-Molk, I was at once conducted to
his presence, given a chair, and treated with great consideration. I
removed my goloshes at the door of his apartment. An interpreter,
who spoke pigeon French, informed me that one of the ladies was ill,
and that I had better see her and prescribe.
The Eyn-ul-Molk was a blear-eyed, venerable man of evidently
high position, very rich and very anxious; as the interpreter put it, the
patient was trop jolie pour mourir, and my expectations were
considerably aroused.
 I was handed over to a white eunuch, who seemed to be troubled
with all the ills that flesh is heir to, and who grunted and grumbled a
good deal as he led me towards the part of the house set apart for
the habitation of the ladies.
After passing through several yards and passages, we came to a
low door with a curtain. My guide entered, and raised the curtain,
previously shouting “Bero! bero!” (be off, be off).
A crowd of children and negresses scuttled off into the various
rooms which surrounded a well-kept garden, with beds of flowers
and playing fountains, some thirty yards by fifteen.
Those who did not go out of sight drew down the big sheets of
printed calico that covered their heads, turning themselves into
faceless bundles, terminated in bare legs visible to the knee, with
feet either bare or thrust into tiny slippers; even the very little girls
had veils, though they did not cover their faces, and were mostly
pretty little round-faced things, with large eyes, and fringes of black
hair cut across their foreheads.
I had been told not to appear to notice anything, as that would be
interpreted as a desire to look at the inhabitants of the anderūn,
which would be considered the height of bad breeding. So I kept my
eyes discreetly fixed on the ground, feeling certain that I should find
plenty of time for thorough investigation.
The old eunuch took me into a room, beautifully carpeted, and
bare of all furniture save one chair, on which I was directed to sit.
He left me, and I noticed that the room was decorated with small
mirrors let into elaborately cut plaster-of-Paris work; the walls were
so covered with small facets of mirror that one could hardly see
anything of the white plaster, which was arched at the ceiling, arch
within arch, in the manner so familiar to us in the decoration of the
Alhambra; but a peculiarly chaste effect was produced, for neither
colour nor gilding was used—only pure white plaster and mirror. In
many places there were panels, where plaster-work, cut (not
moulded) in high relief, showed patterns whose effectiveness could
not be denied. In fact, the result was one of chastened splendour
quite new to me. The doors, which were of polished walnut-wood,
were covered by curtains of bright colours of Yezd silk, some six feet
by four, simply suspended in front of them. The window, which
occupied one entire end of the room, was composed of small pieces
of glass of all the colours of the rainbow, set in a wooden frame of a
geometrical pattern of a very elaborate nature; as the window was
some fourteen feet by ten, and no piece of glass was more than two
inches square in size, some idea may be formed of the enormous
amount of work in such a piece of carpentry. The wood employed in
such work is plane, and it does not warp.
This window was made in three compartments; each one was
made to draw up when required, thus giving a full view of the garden;
all were, however, at present down, and the coloured light which
entered produced a very rich effect—a relief, too, from the strong
sunlight outside.
Round three sides of the room were nummuds, or felt carpets,
some two inches thick; as one walked on them, it was like going over
the softest turf; they were light-ochre in colour, with a pale-blue
pattern inlaid. In the centre was a carpet some twenty feet by nine. I
had never seen such a carpet; it was very beautiful, but of very
subdued colours, and of a rather large pattern.
In each of the three walls there were three recesses or takhjahs, a
yard from the ground, and in each of these was placed a glass vase
of narcissus blooms; as every vase contained some hundred stems,
the perfume was somewhat overpowering.
The eunuch now returned, seated himself on the ground at my
side, and a black woman, of hideous aspect, brought me a water-
pipe.
While I was smoking it, the curtain at one of the doors was lifted,
and two young ladies entered, aged from sixteen to eighteen, though
they seemed some three or four-and-twenty to me. I must
acknowledge that I was unprepared for such a free display of
loveliness, and it was the first time I ever saw Persian ladies in their
very becoming, if slightly indelicate, home-dress.
 Their feet and legs were bare; their skirts were bouffés by a
number of under-skirts such as are usually worn by the ballet on our
operatic stage; but instead of these under-garments being white and
gauzy, they were of silk, and of all colours. The outer skirt was of silk
also—in the one case pale pink, in the other pale blue—with gold
patterns on them, and these voluminous skirts barely reached their
knees. Each lady wore a small zouave jacket of bright-coloured gold-
embroidered velvet, with tight-fitting sleeves, which buttoned from
the elbow with a multitude of small silver buttons, but these buttons
were not fastened. A gold-embroidered gauze shirt was worn under
this jacket that left, I am sorry to say, nothing to the imagination; the
sleeves of it were wide and open. Each lady had tied a gold-
embroidered silk kerchief, called a “chargāt,” over her head, fastened
by a brooch at the chin; each had a fringe of hair over her forehead,
and each had a big love-lock, which came from under her kerchief,
at the middle of her cheek. Long tresses of black hair came below
their waists.
Both were good-looking plump girls, in robust health. Both giggled,
and both were full of fun.
The one who was supposed to be ill had not coloured a very rosy
pair of cheeks; the other was heavily rouged. Their eyelashes were
darkened with antimony, but their eyebrows were unpainted. The
Persian woman’s eye is usually very dark and large, and the painting
the edges of the lids produces a very languishing effect.
After talking to the eunuch for some minutes, in which the old
fellow evidently was calling these very gushing ladies to order, they
suddenly plumped down on their knees in front of me, and compelled
me to feel both their pulses, look at both their tongues, examine their
throats, and a second time to feel their pulses at the other wrist.
As I understood very little Persian, and neither they nor the
eunuch anything but that language, it was very difficult to make out
what was the matter. One thing was very certain—they looked upon
the whole matter as a very good joke; and seemed inclined to
torment the eunuch and make great fun of me.
 At last one lady showed me a flea-bite on a very round and
shapely arm, which literally jangled with glass bangles and gold
bracelets. As this was the most serious symptom I had yet seen, I
began to think I had better retire, when tea was brought in by a
young negress.
The ladies, the eunuch, and myself, all partook, but the two ladies
did so with shrieks of laughter, in which the negress joined.
Suddenly a cry of “Aga! aga!” (the master, the master) was raised,
and I saw the Eyn-ul-Molk coming up the garden. The two indiscreet
ones became at once staid matrons of the severest type. They
sprang to the other side of the room, they drew their kerchiefs, or
rather the corners of them, over their faces, leaving the eyes alone
visible; and the young negress who had brought the tea became a
statue of propriety in ebony, pulling her big print veil over her mouth
till she looked like a living bolster.
The old nobleman came in, and I was made to feel again the
pulses of my patient, and again look at her tongue. But nothing but
her eyes and tongue were now visible, and both ladies pretended to
look on the infidel doctor with horror. They answered their husband’s
questions only in a whisper, and in a few minutes I followed the Eyn-
ul-Molk to the “berūni,” or general apartments. I noticed that these
were furnished with much less luxury than the women’s side.
I now managed to find out that the fair sufferer had that morning
very early had a slight attack of intermittent fever, and, with the help
of the interpreter, I said that I would prescribe on getting home.
The farewell pipe was brought, and I retired, I trust, gracefully.
Thus ended my first visit to a Persian patient.
I suppose that my remedies were successful, for, though I was not
asked to attend again, I received a plate of oranges and two dried
salmon as a fee, with a polite message of thanks in a day or two.
As this visit had occupied some four hours in all, I came to the
conclusion that I should not add much to my income by private
practice, the result of an attendance on the wife of a great noble
being so small in a money point of view; and though interesting at
the time from its novelty, yet I felt that that would soon pass off.
I had been regularly robbed of my rest, after the first few
dreamless nights that one has at the end of a long journey, by a sort
of hooting sound, followed by cries of “ya huc, h-u-u-u-c.” These
noises were repeated at irregular intervals all through the night, and I
found also that they occurred in the day-time whenever Major S⸺
entered or left the house. They proceeded from the Major’s dervish,
and they grew louder and more frequent day by day.
The dervishes, or wandering mendicants, are persons who, from
laziness or inclination, take a vow of poverty, either for a time or
permanently. They form various colleges or sects, and have
recognised heads (“mūrsheds”) to whom they show great deference.
It is extremely difficult to find out what their precise tenets are, for the
more learned among them have a great disinclination to discussing
religious matters with the infidel, while the more ignorant seem,
when sane, to have really no religion, save that of doing no work. In
many ways they resemble the monks of old amongst ourselves,
though, as—in Persia at least—they seldom live in communities,
“wandering friars” would be a safer comparison. Persians as a rule
dislike and despise them, but they fear to offend the masses by
showing it, and cede to them a great show of deference. The more
respectable simply wander about, obtaining free food and lodging in
any town they may pass through. Others combine the profession of
travelling mountebank and dealer in charms with that of religious
mendicancy.
Many are clothed all in white, having taken a vow to that effect;
and most of them refrain from shaving or from cutting the hair. All, or
nearly all, wear a tall cap of felt or cloth, shaped like a sugar-loaf,
and ornamented by inscriptions of texts from the Koran. Most of
them carry a carved almsholder, which is generally composed of a
huge nut elaborately carved, and suspended by brass or silver
chains from the waistband. A steel axe is often carried, and a
panther or deer-skin worn. All affect a striking and eccentric
appearance, and all have a lean and travel-worn air, save some few,
who merely affect the costume, and are dervishes only in dress.
 One man who used to haunt the Gulhaek Road was entirely
naked, and was a most importunate and offensive beggar. A
European got into some trouble on this man’s account, for on his
accosting him with great importunity, and then proceeding to curse
him because his demands were ungratified, the despised infidel
administered several lashes with the long thong of his hunting-crop.
Another celebrated dervish, who is a man of some property, draws
a good pension from the Shah, and is sent yearly to some shrine to
pray for the king, his expenses being defrayed from the royal purse.
He perpetually rotates his head, after the manner of the harlequin of
the old school, and incessantly vociferates in a loud voice, Ali Oh! Ali
Oh! As he is always bareheaded, and an old man rather inclined to
corpulence, the result is not edifying; but his perquisites must be
very large, as he is well known to possess the royal favour.
Provincial governors and local magnates treat royally “him whom the
king is delighted to honour.” I have seen this man roll his head
continuously and vociferate his cry, merely pausing for breath, for
three hours at a stretch: the power of doing this continuously can
only have been attained by long practice. His journeys over all
Persia are so frequent, and he is so well known, that in every large
town great crowds turn out to gaze on and follow “Ali Oh!”, by which
name the man is always known.
A striking appearance is attained at all hazards; often the clothing
being merely a pair of short drawers, an antelope, panther, or tiger-
skin being slung across the shoulder, and an axe or huge club, often
armed with spikes, being almost invariably carried.
When a dervish meets a horseman or any one of condition he
offers him in the politest manner a flower, or even a leaf or blade of
grass; as a rule it is accepted and a trifle given. At other times the
dervish will simply stretch out his hand or his almsholder, and favour
the passer-by with a steady stare, the word “huc” (my right) being
suddenly ejaculated.
Dervishes are often professional story-tellers, the costume being
merely donned for effect; or, as in the case of a highly-gifted story-
teller of my acquaintance, one Aga Nusserulla of Shiraz, a man who
earned a good living by his erudite and interesting tales, the cap only
was worn, and that merely when engaged in his public recitals; he
also carried the big iron axe, with which he gesticulated in a manner
really graceful and artistic.
I often, as I grew more acquainted with Persian, had this man in to
beguile the tedium of the long evenings, and he would sit by the hour
under the orange-trees, rattling off an endless story freely
interspersed with poetical recitations, which were always apposite
and well given—in fact, they were intoned. He never allowed the
interest of his tales to flag, and never left off, save at a point so
interesting as to ensure a request for his attendance the succeeding
evening, adopting the principle of the lady of the ‘Arabian Nights.’ I
frequently, on passing through the Maidan, or public square, of
Shiraz, saw Aga Nusserulla surrounded by a gaping crowd of
peasants, porters, and muleteers squatting in a circle, he striding up
and down and waving his axe as he told his story of love or fairyland;
then he recognised my presence by merely the slightest drop of his
eyelid, for his harvest of coppers would have been blighted had he
betrayed to his gaping listeners his intimacy with a “Feringhi”
(“Frank”—the term used in Persia for all Europeans to their face; that
of “Kaffir,” or “unbeliever,” being carefully kept for speaking of them
in their absence).
The tales told in the bazaar to the villagers were mostly bristling
with indecency; but the dervish never transgressed in this respect on
getting a hint from me that that sort of thing was unpleasing, and his
stories were always of great interest, intensely pathetic at times, and
at others very comic. His power of imitation was great; the voices of
his old men and women were unmistakable, while the sex of the
lovers was equally distinct, and his laugh was infectious and
sympathetic.
Another dervish I knew was a man six-feet-six in height, who was
possessed of the sounding title of “King Panther” (Shah Paleng).
This man’s only title to respect was his great height and startling
appearance, for he was but a stupid and pertinacious beggar, after
all. I had the misfortune to make his acquaintance, having selected
him as a good photographic type; I got my type, but could not get rid
of my model, always finding the fellow seated in my courtyard,
engaged apparently in religious meditation. It was only by the
strongest remonstrance with my servants that I could get him kept
out of the house, and even then he used to haunt my door.
Dervishes, as a rule, have many vices. They have very often
vague ideas of meum and tuum, and debauch and rob the wives of
the villagers by tricks; in fact, their holiness is more believed in by
the women than the men throughout Persia. Many are drunkards,
others take opium; this is often the cause of their haggard
appearance.
Others indulge in the smoking or drinking of bhang, or Indian
hemp, and when under the intoxicating influence of this drug, a state
which is induced prior to the coming-on of the stupefying effect, they
have been guilty of great and dreadful crimes.
In Shiraz they were credited with nightly orgies and the celebration
of unknown rites, the mysteries and horrors of which were probably
much exaggerated, being possibly merely debauches of smoking
and drinking.
So common is the condition of the dervish in Persia, that in each
of the big towns there is a shop appropriated to the sale of their
paraphernalia of tiger-skins, axes, embroidered hats, &c.
The vows seem simply to consist of those of poverty and
obedience to a chief, with a payment of a portion of the alms
extracted from the charitable to him. There is no vow of continence;
and, on the whole, a dervish may be generally said to imply an idle
“vagrom” man, who lives by imposing on the good-nature of others.
We were approaching the Aid-i-No-Ruz, or festival of the New
Year, when it is the custom of the dervishes to erect a sort of tent at
the street-door of any personage, and to remain in it till dismissed
with a present.
Major S⸺, as an undoubted personage, had a dervish sent to
his house. He had suffered from the infliction before, and had bought
himself off on that occasion by a gift of fifty kerans (two pounds), but
this time he was determined to grin and bear it, thinking that by
making a stand he would escape a similar infliction in the future.
The chief of the dervishes indicates to his subordinates the houses
that they are to besiege, and they are allotted to the various
members of the fraternity according to seniority—the king, the prime
minister, the chancellor, and so on, downwards.
When I say that every man of standing had his dervish, it will be
seen that there were many of the brotherhood at that time in
Teheran.
Every foreign minister had one at his door, and I am sure that any
Persian of consideration would have been very loth to be without this
very visible sign of greatness.
The Major’s dervish was to be found in the street day and night, in
or beside his so-called tent; this consisted of some two yards of thin
canvas, pegged into the wall at the side of the outer gate, and held
down by three pieces of string. The dervish sat by day on an
antelope-skin, and by night (if he ever did sleep) slept on it in his
clothes.
As any one, visitor or host, entered or left the house, a shrill blast
was blown on a buffalo-horn, and the man emitted his monotonous
“Huc—yah huc” and extended his palm. He had a small pot of live
charcoal before him; and smoking, and his so-called garden (a sort
of playing at gardening, six twigs of box-tree being planted in a little
heap of dust, and an orange being placed between each), occupied
a good deal of his time.
The annoying part of it was that he was always there, and that we
could never forget, or fail to notice this fact, from the persistent
salutations of “Salaam, sahib!” smilingly given, or the eternal cries
and blasts of the buffalo-horn, by which he made night hideous and
the day unbearable. As time wore on and the New Year approached,
the blasts and cries became more prolonged and more frequent, and
the whole household became more and more depressed. We all
knew that the servants were providing the man with two square
meals a day and unlimited tobacco, of course quite contrary to
orders.
But I think the greatest sufferers were myself and a friend, whose
bedroom-window was above the so-called tent of this demon in
human form. Patience has its limits, and one morning we determined
to, as we hoped, induce our bugbear to shift his quarters. We poured
our two tubs into one, and carefully choosing our moment, suddenly
emptied the contents on the tent.
Down it came on the head of the dervish, putting out his fire-pot,
and producing a very free succession of invocations to saints.
But, alas! when we went out in the morning, hoping to find him
gone, we were received with “Salaam, sahib!” and a solo on the horn
that for volume, Harper, of trumpet fame, might have vainly
attempted to emulate.
We slunk off, but vowed further vengeance. The next day we
determined on a baptism of fire, and we carefully stoked our
“mangal,” or brazier, till it gave off a fine red heat, and was quite full
of live charcoal. At that time, when there were few fire-places in the
rooms of Persian houses, it was usual to employ these braziers to
warm the rooms.
We did not impart our design to the Major, who would doubtless
have disapproved, but as soon as the coast was clear, and we were
sure that the dervish was in his tent, we prepared for action.
We had got the brazier into position, when the wretch commenced
one of his frantic solos; down came the contents, some twenty
pounds of live charcoal and wood-ashes.
The dervish laughed at such things, and blew a defiant blast; but
in a moment the charcoal, having burnt through the tent-roof,
descended on his flowing locks, and, amidst deriding shouts of
“Khock ber ser um!” (ashes on my head), a favourite form of
imprecation with Persians, from my companion, the dervish emerged
considerably the worse.
We were delighted, and felt that we had been at last too many for
him. Though our minds were not quite free from visions of a severe
wigging from the Major, we felt we had triumphed, and hurried down
to tell our tale.
We then found that the dervish had exhausted even the Major’s
patience, and had received his present and gone. We maintained a
discreet silence. Whether the Major heard of our two attacks I never
knew, but the man was gone—tent, garden, fire-pot, oranges, and
all. Perhaps the treatment he got was considered too bad; anyhow,
he was gone, and we ceased to hear nightly “the voice which cried,
Sleep no more.”
A few days after the above little drama came the Aid-i-No-Ruz, or
New Year’s Day: the excitement was great. It appeared that uniform
of some sort was de rigueur, and Colonel G⸺ kindly lent me a blue
frock-coat with many frogs, and a gold-laced cap; a pair of uniform
inexpressibles with a broad red stripe, were got from some one else;
a cavalry sabre and a pair of buckskin gloves completed the semi-
military appearance which is possessed by officers of the English
army on the stage; there they always live in uniform, off it never; a
pair of goloshes were also donned!
I was only too grateful to complete my nondescript rig-out, for,
determined as I was to see the sight, and uniform of some sort being
a sine quâ non, Mr. Alison, Her Majesty’s Minister, had kindly placed
at my disposal the full-dress costume of a Highland chief, in which all
my friends were dying to see me, and in which I should no doubt
have presented a striking appearance; and rather than not go, I was
determined to don even so appalling a costume as that worn by the
traditional Highlander.
I had girded on my sword, when my medical chief entered in a
frock-coat similar to mine, but with fewer frogs, and a cap with much
narrower lace.
We were doubtless filled with mutual admiration, but my chief’s
eye soon fell on my wealth of frogs, for was not I disguised as a
lieutenant-colonel, while he was merely a travesty of a captain?
“This will never do, Wills. Why, I shall appear to be your
subordinate!”
 There was no doubt of the justice of the remark. My plumage was
decidedly the handsomer. I consented to a change to the less-
befrogged and humbler coat; but my chief had long arms, and what
was short in the sleeve for me was only half-way down his fore-arm,
and he showed all his cuff and a good deal of shirt-sleeve. He looked
now undoubtedly my senior, but also as if he had grown considerably
since that coat was made. We had to stick to our caps, as my head
was too big to get into his.
We all collected, and we two doctors caused some amusement by
our very martial array; in fact, our get-up was a considerable likeness
to that of “the bold gendarmes.”
Off we went, all on horseback, to the English Mission (or
Legation), and we joined the procession of his Excellency, Mr. Alison,
who was doubtless disappointed not to have in his train a spurious
Highland chief.
The streets were crowded; every one, to the poorest, in new
clothes, for the Persian on this auspicious day always puts on a new
suit. Many of the streets and bazaars were lined by soldiers of rather
unmartial appearance, and most of them were preparing plumes of
white cocks’ feathers, which they got ready with a knife, a bit of stick,
and some string.
The din was tremendous. Gradually we neared the palace, and,
getting down at one of the side doors of it, we entered in the order of
our rank, the ambassador and Colonel G⸺, in full uniform, with
cocked hats, leading the procession; then came the secretaries, then
the mission doctor, the major, then my chief, while I came last and
least, the junior of all.
Passing through many courtyards crowded with grandees and
their servants, we came into a handsome apartment well provided
with chairs; there we found the other ambassadors and their suites,
viz., the French, Russian, and Turkish, who had preceded our party;
they were in full dress, and wore all their orders.
Pipes were handed round, and then trays of sherbet (iced water
flavoured with syrups) and coffee; also a profusion of sweetmeats.
 After some half-hour, the master of the ceremonies—who was
arrayed in the tall turban of Cashmere shawls, the long robe of the
same, trimmed with fur, and the red stockings, that constitute the
Court dress of Persia; decorated with numerous orders and the
portrait of his sovereign set in diamonds—preceded Mr. Alison, who,
as the “doyen” of the ambassadors, took precedence of the other
nationalities; and ushered us in.
We entered a garden, up the path of which were laid carpets, and
in the midst was a fountain; various little formal beds, filled with
narcissus and planted with shrubs, occupied the rest of the space,
while a long “hauz,” or enclosed basin, raised some six inches from
the ground, ran down the centre; the water in this, which was quite
still, was ornamented with an elaborate pattern, formed on its
surface by sprinkling handfuls of rose-leaves, and the effect was
pretty in the extreme. All round the edge of the hauz were placed a
continuous row of oranges.
A few of the royal body-guard, or “gholams,” with their guns in red
cloth cases, slung over their shoulders, stood about in motionless
groups; also some of the king’s ministers and more favoured
servants chatted in whispers; while at an open window sat the Shah-
in-Shah, or King of kings and Asylum of the Universe.
When we had all entered we made a military salute, to which the
Shah vouchsafed no reply; after a few more paces, we halted again
and made a second; and then we were ushered into the room itself
in which his Majesty deigned to receive us. Here we all formed in
single file in order of rank behind our respective ambassadors, thus
forming four files.
The Shah was on our entrance no longer sitting, but lounged
against a table; on it lay his jewelled sword, which, covered as it was
with diamonds, literally glittered in the strong sunbeams, these also
illuminated the jewels with which the king really blazed; the royal
plume, or “jika,” of white feathers and diamonds trembled on the
black hat of finest Astrachan lambskin, shimmering with rays of
many-coloured light.