John Wheatley College - community ESOL in an urban area
During John Wheatley College's annual Week of Diversity, towards the end of 2009, an ESOL class and the SVQ Community Development group came together for the first time to learn from each other.
The collaboration aimed to provide a learning opportunity for the learners, by developing activities that encouraged them to interact with English-speaking students and also to challenge the perception the SVQ students had of issues surrounding asylum seekers.
The demand for ESOL classes within the community was high, with the Cranhill area being one of the many areas in Glasgow which had become a new home for people seeking asylum, refugees and economic migrants.
The participants from the ESOL programme came from many different countries, including Pakistan, Iraq, China, Poland and the Democratic Republic of Congo, while the participants from the SVQ group were all Scottish.
Similar activities were planned for the East End Campus of the College, where the main bulk of ESOL learning occurs, as well as at other outreach centres.