Classroom 1

In this section I describe my first visit to the class to build a picture of the context. I then present information sharing episodes that happened in this classroom. I include a plan of classroom 1 in appendix Q.

Class A takes place in the extended services room of a primary school. e school is in a residential area where there have been successive seled communities of migrants. e area scores highly on indices of multiple deprivation and is one of the poorer areas of the city. e school is surrounded by housing and close to busy shops and other facilities.

At my first visit to Class A I am greeted at the entrance by V1, who I haven’t seen for two years. She is a regular visitor to the class; the learners depend on her for both emotional and practical support and she recruits many of the learners. She hugs me, helps me navigate the security system and takes me to the classroom. In subsequent visits when I have completed the necessary paperwork I can walk to the classroom alone but it takes several visits before I am confident finding my way up the stairs and down the corridors. e classroom cannot be accessed ex- cept by those already in the school. However the class has many visitors. ese include school staff, regular volunteers and invited guests.

On this first visit T1 and eleven learners are already in the classroom and are involved in a whole class discussion. I have visited before so it is a familiar space to me. ere is a u-shape of tables facing an interactive whiteboard. e teacher uses this board to access the Internet as well as to write and draw for the learn- ers. She also uses small whiteboards to write words when learners are working independently. e class has several tablets which are used less frequently. As I become a regular visitor I start to assist T1, typing for her and carrying out In- ternet searches as well as leading some activities. Learners are expected to bring their own pens, notebooks and folders but there is a cupboard where stationery such as scissors, hole punches and glue is kept.

T1 introduces me and says they are talking about Eid. I recognise one woman, A3, and we smile at each other. It takes me some time to learn the names of the other learners and even longer to get to know them. e lesson continues with the learners talking about likes and dislikes. ere are frequent jokes and laughter. T1 and the learners know each other well and the intimacy of these

relationships makes an impression on me each time I visit. T1 and the learn- ers generally live very locally within easy walking distance. eir relationships extend outside and sometimes pre-date the class, for example two women are sisters and two women who join in the second term are sisters-in-law. When I come to the next enrolment session in January, T1 already recognises many of the new learners who come to register either because they have aended class before or because she knows someone from their family.

In the break the learners produce food they have brought from home and this again is a feature of most visits. is can be elaborate, for example when A2 brings in the herbs and spices to make a special kind of tea. ey are keen to offer food to T1 and over the weeks they become keener to encourage me to eat. Towards the end of the lesson a learner’s phone rings and she ducks under the table to answer it. We all laugh and T1 turns to me saying you mustn’t tell people what goes on in here. When the class finishes I talk to T1 and V1. ey are both enthusiastic about my research. I leave aer making arrangements with T1 for my next visit.

Episodes

e following episodes are from different visits to class A and are arranged chronologically.

Houlba Aer the break the learners discuss food from different countries. One

of the Yemeni learners mentions a food “houlba” that she enjoys. Neither I nor T1 understand what this is and this leads to a discussion that lasts a few minutes. Four learners try to explain to us in different ways. ey start by using gestures (I realise aerwards it is grinding) and one says small seed holding up her fingers to demonstrate. T1 asks a series of questions to try and understand what kind of food they are talking about and we both make suggestions. e learners are very engaged in trying to explain and T1 and I are equally interested in trying to understand and work out the English word. When we still don’t understand and the learners seem to have exhausted their English vocabulary they try different methods to explain. A16 uses her mobile phone to call her bilingual daughter but tells us there is no answer. At the same time another learner searches on her smartphone. She stands up and comes to me at the front of the class. She shows me a list of search results that are all videos. She plays one of the videos to me

but I don’t understand what she is showing me. T1 has also been searching on one of the class tablets and she works out that it is a dip made of fenugreek. She writes the word fenugreek in English on a small whiteboard. e learners are then satisfied that she understands.

Joke about iens is episode took place in a lesson where I was asking

the learners what kinds of information they used in their everyday lives. I start the recording aer checking that they are happy for me to do this. e learners say their English is very bad and ask if I will laugh at them. I reassure them and say they are learning, and that I can’t speak any Arabic or Urdu. T1 talks about a lesson last week saying that she only laughed when someone said she put children in the curry but the learner laughed as well. ere is general amusement following this. A16 then starts to tell a story about her mother saying that she has good Arabic now. Teacher interjects to explain to me that her mum is English but moved to Yemen as an adult. A16 continues when she first went there she wanted to buy seven chicken legs but she said can I buy seven man? When she realised, she said what am I going to do with seven man? is is followed by lots of laughter and a comment by more than one learner about who would want seven men. She then explains to me that the words for chicken and men in Arabic are quite close. T1 summarises and closes the discussion saying that was a very funny joke.

Sad stories from home countries is episode took place in the same lesson

as the episode above. ere has been a whole group discussion about the dif- ficulties some learners experience with public transport in the UK inspired by me showing them a bus timetable. One learner then tells a story she heard from Pakistan about a woman being robbed. ere is conversation in Arabic as some other learners explain to each other and then ask questions in English to under- stand what happened. e story is about a woman who got in a taxi by herself and was then robbed of her jewellery. I understand the word haram (forbidden in Arabic) which several say in chorus at one point. T1 tries to move the lesson on to the next task which is to talk about health information. But the learners want to keep talking about the robbery. One learner then says it is much safer here; you can go out by yourself and ask the police for help. Another adds that in Arabic countries you can only go out with a man. T1 is interested now and asks the rest of class if this is true. Several learners agree.

ere is then another tragic story from Yemen. T1 asks so you got the infor- mation about Pakistan from a Pakistani news programme? So do you watch the news in your own language? Do you watch the news in Arabic and Urdu? Sev- eral learners say yes and then someone says they use WhatsApp. I ask if this is to talk to your family in Yemen and she says yes. T1 asks what about the news in English? Do you watch English news? Some hesitancy but some (maybe only one or two but I’m not sure) say yes. Someone else starts to tell another sad story and T1 says no more, please. Aer the learners leave I talk about this dis- cussion with T1. She is clearly emotional and says to me who wouldn’t want these women to be safe? I also include the comment about feeling safe in the UK in the book I wrote for the class A learners (further details of this book are given on page 107). However; when we discuss this page, most of the learners say that they do not go out by themselves.

Stories of accidents is episode took place in a lesson where the learners drew

pictures about themselves and their lives, and then practised asking and answer- ing questions. During the break time T1 tells me we had an amazing story from A3 the other day about going to a shop and slipping on a banana skin. I am sur- prised and ask whether she really slipped on a banana skin. T1 says everybody laughs when you say that but she really hurt herself. I say it’s something I only hear in jokes. A3 tells me she hurt her back. T1 says I didn’t ask you, but when it happened did people help you? She says she ran from the shop because she was embarrassed. T1 says that is exactly what I would do. I describe cycling into a lamp post. I say I fell over and hurt my leg really badly but I was so embar- rassed I said I was fine and ran away. T1 talks about her friend falling off his bike, skidding past a queue of people, and landing in a hardware store. is is followed by lots of laughter. She concludes by saying it wasn’t even the branch that repairs bikes. T1 then talks about A3’s story about a medicinal drink that her mother-in-law makes or made. She tells the class I have typed the story for you so we can all read it; it was really interesting.

Zumba leaflet is episode takes place during an enrolment session for the

class. e learners come to complete their paperwork and then leave. T1 sits at the front with each learner to fill in their course paperwork one by one. She shows them where to sign and fills in the rest of the form for them. For the returning learners she already knows some of their personal information but each form still involves her asking a series of questions. Several of the learners

are told they need to bring documentation in for the next lesson. When this is the case T1 writes it down on a post-it note and gives it to the learner. I am siing with two learners while T1 is at the front with a third. I am looking through a folder kept in the class that contains flyers for different activities in the local area. I am talking about the flyers and showing them to the two women. I show them a flyer for a Zumba class and ask them if they are interested in going. e immediate reaction from the learners is no, they don’t want to go. I explain that the photo which shows a very fit woman in shorts and a crop top doesn’t reflect what the class is like. I tell them that normal women go. T1 has overheard us and joins in. She says that she went once and that there are women there in hijab and abayas. e women then seem more interested. I explain where the class is and they both know the location. However nobody says they will go.

Document lesson ese episodes took place during a lesson that T1 and I had

planned together where we looked at leers, leaflets and other personal docu- ments. It is the end of break and T1 gets the learners’ aention saying OK we will look at the leers. Each pair show me one thing. You can keep eating and drinking but let’s look at what A11 is going to show us. She asks A11 can you pass it to me? A11 passes her a leaflet and T1 holds it up. A11 says it’s a leaflet and T1 asks what is it about? Can you see what this says? Somebody says NHS. T1 says yes. She points at parts of the leaflet saying there are pictures of families and there’s a form to fill in. She says it’s for Healthy Start. She asks if anyone got that and some say yes. T1 explains you can get fruit, vegetables, milk and vitamins when you are pregnant. She explains that she got this leaflet from the job centre. She shows them the form and the envelope and says you can put it in the post. A group of learners are talking about one of the other documents in Arabic and T1 asks them to be quiet and listen. T1 writes on the board, do something as a category and then explains what this means to the class. She summarises; so this leaflet is important and you need to do something. It was lucky because A11 is going to take it home and use it.

Later in the lesson, T1 notices the Poll card in a pile and says we should look at this. She holds it up. She says this one is about voting. ere is lile response. She explains if you have a British passport you can vote in the local council elec- tions and you can choose the government. In May you can go and put a cross on a paper to show who you want to be the government. Again there is no response from the learners. T1 pauses and asks the learners if they understand but they

don’t respond.

I included a page about this lesson in the book for learners however they didn’t offer any comment on this activity. On a separate occasion I talk to T1 about talk- ing about elections with this class. She says it is difficult to talk about in class as it would have to involve a series of lessons rather than a single discussion.

Video of G’s dad is episode happened during the break time of the lesson

above. T1 is telling me a story about her daughter when I hear the sound of singing. I look around and ask who’s singing. Someone points at A10 who has got her own tablet out. e learners siing closest to her are all watching some- thing. T1 asks A10 to show her. She holds out her hand but has to ask again. ere is lots of laughter and talking in Arabic. Eventually A10 passes us the tablet. We watch a video of a man siing under some trees and singing. He is with a group of other men. A10 explains it is her dad in Yemen. All the Yemeni women in the class are laughing now. A9 says in English he is like Michael Jack- son which causes more laughter. T1 asks what he’s singing about. ey talk in Arabic and V3 explains it’s a sad song about him missing his loved ones who are travelling. T1 says it means he misses you and is thinking about you. A10 smiles. T1 then asks A6 about her brothers and sisters, and her mum and dad and whether they are still in her own country. She says your mum must miss you. A6 says yes.

Talking about the queen is happened during the lesson where we were talk-

ing about our visit to the centre for the visually impaired (CVI). Aer the break we look at pictures of the queen and her family. T1 searches on the Internet and finds an article from the Daily Telegraph about the queen’s 90th birthday. While she is searching, T1 jokes to me that she is demonstrating British values. I say you can tick it off the list now. T1 shows photographs of Charles, the queen, William, George, and other members of the family. She explains what king and queen mean. A18 asks lots of questions and writes words down. A13 doesn’t believe T1 that Charles will be king next as she thinks it will be William, T1 in- sists saying I know and eventually A13 accepts her statement. T1 says the queen looks very well for someone who is ninety. ere is then a short discussion in Arabic with lots of laughter. A13 translates some of it into English. She says it is easy for the queen to look good for her age because she has massages every day and people taking care of her. She demonstrates massage on her arm but also

says the word in English. She continues she has the best doctors; it is easy for her to be healthy. It is different for us. ere is more laughter.

Ramadan is episode took place during Ramadan and is from a lesson where

the learners are making collaborative posters about Eid. ey had spent the previous lesson drawing and writing about what they do during Ramadan and we are looking at this work which is spread out on the tables. I ask what special foods people eat during Ramadan. A13 says you can eat what you like. I point at a picture of dates and say but why do you eat dates? A learner explains they should be the first food you eat and I ask her why. Another learner tells me that they are good for energy and health and a traditional food for the Middle East. T1 says that’s true and points out the two meanings of date. She asks for the Arabic and gets A18 to write it down on a whiteboard. e learners explain how you break fast with dates and water. A13 then enthusiastically lists other foods that she eats when she breaks her fast: kebab, samosa… . I say but that’s because you like them isn’t it? ere is laughter. T1 says dates are Islamic aren’t they? A18 explains that you should eat three or five dates. T1 says this is why there are dates everywhere. If you go to the shops there are piles and piles of dates. It would be a busy time for people working in a date factory. A learner says a long time ago in the Middle East people ate dates as their main food. T1 says yes she can believe that; in the past people did not have lots of different kinds of food.