Changing face of Scotland: migration data

Topic area:

New Arrivals

Title of lesson:

Changing Face of Scotland - Migration Data

Reference:

Based on activities on the Runnymede and Channel 4 websites

Age group: S1-S4 

Time needed: Two lessons

Delivery method: Class and group

Materials needed: Reference sources (see below) and squared paper and/or Excel package.

Prior knowledge/learning: Basic understanding of terms migration, immigration, refugee, asylum seeker.

Other/Related reference material:

Scottish Government statistics website

Scotland Census data 

COSLA Strategic Migration Partnership

Aims, Objectives and Outline Process

Aim:

To develop pupils’ understanding of the statistics involved in migration to Scotland, based on specific ethnic groups.

Objectives:

• To find relevant statistics and to calculate these as percentages of the wider Scottish population
• To generate a sense of which areas of Scotland particular ethnic groups might be settled in
• To understand the limitations of data use
• To interpret the data and create 'text' for a younger age group
• To create bar graphs, tables and pie charts to illustrate the key findings from the data

Process:

1. Assign specific ethnic groups to each group and get them to undertake a focused search/research work to identify data sources. More guidance will be needed for S1-S2 pupils to guide their searches. Pupils should be encouraged to identify data from a range of sources and to discuss - in their groups - why some differences might exist in the statistics which they derive (eg rounding up, the use of less precise / more precise measures).

2. With S1-S2 pupils, discuss the concept of reliability. For S3-S4 pupils, get them to discuss in groups how data reliability can impact upon accuracy and the importance of noting the accuracy of data.

3. Before displaying the data, pupils should interpret it by making comparisons to the wider Scottish population and any other areas of interesting analysis. Get them to look for any patterns or trends but to also make clear any limitations (eg due to population size, lack of reliability of data, for example due to currency).

4. Each group should decide how to display their data - tables, bar graphs, pie charts. Tools used will be determined by age.

5. Once completed, get pupils to present their findings to the other groups, indicating reliability. S1-S2 pupils will require a framework for planning and delivering their presentations.

Ideas for development/follow-up:

n/a 

Changing Face of Scotland - Some background information for teachers

In the 2001 census, the General Register Office for Scotland noted that:

'587,000 people resident in Scotland at the time of the Census (almost 12 per cent of the population) had moved address in the previous year. Around 474,000 had moved from another Scottish address, while

48,000 had moved from elsewhere in the United Kingdom and 29,000 from abroad. The countries which accounted for the most number of migrants from abroad were the United States, Germany, Australia and France. The number of migrants who came to Scotland from the rest of the UK was approximately the same as the number of migrants who moved in the opposite direction.'

Populations have always migrated on a variety of scales and for various reasons, and push-pull factors vary and can be forced, for example because of war or otherwise.

In addition to these comings and goings, the population changes for other reasons: birth and death rates, the results of government policy such as Fresh Talent, which seeks to attract people with skills to Scotland, international decisions such as the extension of the European Union (EU) which brought workers from eastern Europe to Scotland, and conflict around the world which can bring asylum seekers to our country.

At the time of the last census in 1991, 1.2% of the population described themselves as being from an ethnic minority background. By 2001 this figure had changed to 2%. According to the Government’s Office of the Chief Statistician in 2004:

'The size of the minority ethnic population has increased since the 1991 Census. Whilst the total population increase between 1991 and 2001 was 1.3%, the minority ethnic population increased by 62.3%.'

In 2001, those who identified themselves as ‘White Scottish’ accounted for 88% of the population. Unlike the 1991 census, this most recent census allowed us to select from a wider range of categories that best suited our ethnicity. The ‘White’ category was expanded to include: ‘Other White British’, ‘White Irish’ and ‘Any Other White’ background, opening up the possibility of more accurate recording and being able to understand more of the complexities within Scottish society.

The census of 2001 recorded that people describing themselves as ‘White Irish’ accounted for 1% or 49,428 of the population whilst 'Other White British' accounted for 7.4% or 73685 and 'Other White' such as white Europeans and Americans etc accounted for 1.5% or 78,150. What is clear from the census information is that we now know that every local authority area in the country has an ethnic minority population. What is also clear is that that population continues to change.

This then is one aspect of the changing face of Scotland. There are others to highlight.

The government’s policy of dispersing asylum seekers to different parts of the UK led in March 2000 to the first arrivals in Scotland, and to Glasgow in particular, where the council had agreed a contract to house and provide basic services to asylum seekers and their families.

In August 2006, there were some 5000 asylum seekers in Scotland spread across 11 local authorities, but the majority staying in Glasgow. A third of all these new arrivals came from just four countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Pakistan and Somalia.

When the EU expanded to include 10 new member states in 2004, the people in those countries gained the same rights by and large as citizens of countries already in the EU. This included the right to work in any EU country without needing special permission.

Since then the number of European workers coming to Scotland has increased. Estimates vary but there are roughly 35,000 nationals from the ‘accession’ states in Europe in Scotland. Many will stay long enough to earn money to send home, but others have brought families and hope to settle in Scotland for the long term.

Information is getting better and more readily available. There is still more that could be done to improve the collection of data but we are beginning to see that Scotland’s population has gone through changes and continues to change. We see that people are arriving and leaving for different reasons. Over the last decade these changes have become more noticeable but we are hopefully better prepared by being better informed.