Search

When looking at the historical past, questions of diversity and school reform seem to go hand in hand. The presence of diverse communities in American urban schools has helped foster a change in traditional educational practices and policies. At times, the goal for these communities was to be given their just share of receiving a fair, equitable, and democratic education. However, when evaluating America's historical timeline, issues of diversity in American urban schools emerge when major social and political events impact aspects of American social life. The period 1880-1900 saw vast numbers of immigrants, mostly from Europe, settling in America's metropolitan cities. Some of these immigrants had aspirations of beginning a new life in the United States, while others sought to work hard, make a bit of money and return back home with their newfound wealth. Those that did settle brought with them their customs and traditions, languages and religions as well as their unique views on education. This essay explores how several immigrant groups in the United States reacted to the already present modes of schooling, and how American schools responded to the educational needs and educational demands of these groups.

The world is gradually shrinking that at the press of a button events happening in a far-flung part of the earth could be followed live via a cable network. Globalization or capitalist penetration of every economy is a new phenomenon. Industrialized nations of the West are growing richer and having access to natural resources of the third world. Most of the third world countries are experiencing a harsh economic turn. World trade organization (WTO) continues to harp on the need for free trade which is beneficial to the developed countries. Yet developed Western countries mount an impenetrable fortress to ward off immigrants from their paradise. Nigerian immigrants’ device different strategies to scale the protected Western fence at great cost. Employing newspaper, magazine reports, and other extant secondary materials as well as primary data such as oral interviews of those in the business of securing visas in Nigeria and eyewitness account of repatriated migrants, the paper attempts an analysis of this phenomenon. Also, Ernest Ravestin’s Push-Pull theory of migration is used to interrogate this quest to emigrate.

Unlike the millennials from the industrialised world who were raised amidst an increasingly online and socially networked society, their South African counterparts at previously disadvantaged universities have some weaknesses similar to those of digital migrants. These weaknesses are caused by the limited exposure millennials in South Africa have to digital devices and Internet connectivity. In spite of these impediments, their future careers in an increasingly globalised world require them to behave like, transact and engage with full-fledged digital citizens from the global north. Digital citizenship is the ability to use technology safely, responsibly, critically, productively and civically. This raises intellectual curiosity about the extent to which the African millennial is prepared for a world that expects them to be digital citizens. This article, therefore, investigates the challenges faced by the South African millennial as they navigate an unusual route to digital citizenship. We adopted the activity theory for a mixed-methods study that consists of a survey of 148 questionnaires and 15 in-depth interviews. The findings show that while university-going millennials acquire digital literacy, their development of digital citizenship is affected by lack of mentors and access (i.e. connectivity and devices) at home and lack of soft skills training (i.e. online safety, digital etiquette and inadequate information literacy) at the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]