Education, work and home ownership as markers of being a good citizen: Caribbean mothers practice citizenship at local and transnational levels

Education, work and home ownership have always been important aspects of achievement, pride and identity among Caribbean people, and important markers of being a good citizen. In the Caribbean, these values are instilled in children from a very early age, both within families as well as at school, where boys and girls are taught to aspire for “excellence” not only in their studies, but also in their appearance, as a key value which links to achievement. Upon migration, many migrant parents continue to transmit these values through various forms of practice and encouragement, within the constraints of local norms in the host countries. This paper recounts the experiences of Caribbean serial migrant mothers to the UK during the 1960’s, focussing particularly on two who came as parents followed by their children, and on one who came as a child to join her parents. It traces their experiences of parenting in the Caribbean, and the ways in which they have tried to instil those values in their parenting practices in Britain. It also highlights the constraints they encountered in their parenting experiences in Britain, and the various accommodations they have made in order to conform to the local norms and expectations. Finally, it illustrates these mothers’ awareness of the tensions involved in bringing up their children in British society, as British citizens with Caribbean values, and their concerns that these key values of good citizenship are being lost among the younger generation.