I’m Sheffield born and bred.  So were both my parents.  Of my four grandparents, at least three migrated to Sheffield from Lancashire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire between the 1840s and the First World War.  They were economic migrants, whose families moved to the steel-city boom town in search of a better standard of living and greater opportunities for their children.

Within a generation, their offspring assimilated into Sheffield’s historic culture and traditions in many respects – how they spoke, what they ate and drank, how they spent their leisure time, which football team they supported.

Until the Second World War such groups were almost always invisible until they opened their mouths and started to speak.

Such changes continued with the post-war groups that have arrived in the city, some but not all of whom were visibly incomers.  It’s refreshing when someone, whose skin-colour and clothing indicates that their ancestry and culture is rooted abroad, responds to a greeting with “Or reyt, pal”.

I offer a PowerPoint presentation and framework for discussion exploring –

• the continuing process of migration into and out of the local area
• the significance of identity-markers that grow from incoming communities
• the integration of customs and traditions between different cultures in the city
• the importance of preserving cultural traditions by asking older family members about their lives
• the local dialect and its relationship with formal standard English
• the need to deal with fear and prejudice that creates tension between communities

The initial presentation needs one hour of contact time, and there are multiple opportunities for cross-curricular follow-up activities:

• neighbourhood walks
• visits to sites – places of worship, shops, community centres
• guest speakers from a range of communities
• oral-history activities capturing the experiences of older people

Field-work opportunities:

• local churches, mosques, synagogue, gurdwara
• contact with cafés and restaurants, clothes shops and other specialist retail outlets