ABSTRACT

Immigrants in any society present many educational problems to the host community, especially if they arrive in considerable numbers. Adults have to be inducted into a society strange to them, a new language may have to be acquired, new habits of dress, hygiene, feeding and living will be demanded. Socialization, normally taking a period of twenty years for indigenous citizens, has to be engaged upon quickly and painfully by the newcomers (see Chapter 9). This may entail the learning of entirely new social systems, as many studies in the U S A and Australia indicate. Spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans settling in New York, Surinamese in the Hague, Pakistanis in Bradford, England, and Indians in Fiji experience similar problems, although the geographical settings are vastly different.