Sending children to school 'back home': Multiple moralities of Punjabi Sikh parents in Britain

This article explores how Punjabi Sikh parents in Britain try to produce 'good children' through moral reasoning about their schooling. Parents compare schooling in Britain with India and sometimes wonder about sending their children to school 'back home', in the hope of immersing them in Indian culture, traditions and language. The ethnographic material comes from a study of Indian Punjabi transnationalism involving fieldwork in the West Midlands and 72 interviews with parents, grandparents and young people. I first explore the views of parents and grandparents who advocate sending children to school in India. Then, focusing on two mothers, I explore the moral dilemmas that resulted from sending their children 'back home'. The article demonstrates the value of Zigon's theories on moral pluralism, and explores dynamics of gender, generation and class.