Race and Ethnicity in Education

Ranjit Arora

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781351150866
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Social Policy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This publication is primarily intended for teachers, student teachers and for staff in teacher training institutions. It will also be of use to staff in further, higher and adult education. It is primarily about issues of race and ethnicity in education and includes an examination of the relationship between policies and practices concerned with equal opportunities, both in schools and in teacher training institutions. The central theme of this book is the preparation of all teachers, through initial teacher training, to implement equal opportunities in schools and to provide education for a positively diverse society. A secondary theme is that of the recruitment, training and employment of minority ethnic teachers in British educational institutions. The organization of this book allows the author to address the two central issues, as identified above, in the context of policies and practices as they have developed over the last two decades. It begins with a discussion about equality in the context of issues of quality, followed by a discussion of race and education in its historical context. It includes a historical and contemporary review of issues concerned with two major aspects of teacher education in relation to ethnic minorities. Recent developments in initial teacher education and issues of partnership with schools are explored with a view to identifying the needs of schools. The book ends with an in-depth discussion of equality assurance in education and offers a framework for permeation as well as an agenda for action for all concerned with education.

Chapter 1
Quality and Equality in Education

Introduction

David Blunkett in his introduction to the consultation materials for changes to the National Curriculum in England recognised that the Macpherson Report had placed a particular emphasis on the role of curriculum in encouraging children to value cultural diversity and in combating the development of racism. He has also made a very clear statement that, ‘Teachers individually and collectively have to reappraise their teaching in response to the changing needs of their pupils and the ideas and attitudes of society and economic forces’.

The rationale for this book is located in the need for the preparation of teachers through initial teacher education and practice in schools with regard to education with an anti-racist perspective. It explores the relationship between professed commitment, to increase the number of minority ethnic teachers, and the consistent failure of training institutions to recruit and train teachers from minority ethnic groups. There is considerable evidence that preparation for teaching in a multicultural society has not received adequate attention by training institutions. With some exceptions, developments of appropriate courses have often been ad-hoc and dependent more on individual enthusiasms, circumstances and locations, rather than on any systematic efforts on the part of training institutions. It is more than 15 years ago, when the Swann Report, ‘Education for All’ (1985) identified the growing need for research into the recruitment of teachers from minority ethnic groups. It also highlighted some teacher training institutions with a particular expertise in the preparation of teachers for education in a multicultural society. More than 15 years have passed since a CRE survey (1988), several HMI reports and DES consultation documents also noted the virtual absence of minority ethnic teachers in British schools and identified the relatively small number of institutions that positively recruit minority ethnic students on their teacher education courses.

The possible causes for such gross under-representation identified by the DES’s consultation paper included fear of racial discrimination, marginalization and isolation and stress resulting from it; the prospect of good stable posts and promotion not being seen to be as good as those for white teachers; and the almost total absence of role models in teacher training institutions and in the profession at large, which also resulted in inadequate career prospects for potential young teachers from minority ethnic groups. The DfES is keen to increase the supply of minority ethnic teachers and has supported a range of initiatives, some with Section 11 funds, and by giving greater autonomy to institutions in the arrangements they make to satisfy themselves with regard to entrance qualifications. The last decade has seen the development of several employment based routes to teaching as well as part-time PGCE and B.Ed. programmes specially designed to train minority ethnic teachers. But in the main these courses, like the Induction courses of the l960s and Access courses of the 1970s, only address the problem in a limited way by focusing on teachers with overseas qualifications who have hitherto been unable to get qualified teacher status. Meanwhile most of the teacher-training institutions continue to recruit mainly, if not exclusively, an all white population of student teachers.

According to a CRE survey (Ranger 1988) of teacher training institutions the minority ethnic students made up 2.6 percent of all students in the relevant groups and courses compared with 5.3 percent in the appropriate age group in the population. This survey found that well over half the teacher training institutions had either none or only one Black student about to emerge as a teacher. The survey also found that despite the Swann recommendations and DES consultation papers the number of minority ethnic teachers was on the decline. A BICC survey (1988) to investigate the entry of young people into teacher education also found that teaching as a career was seen as much less attractive than many other professions by minority ethnic students, but no more than it was for indigenous White students. It was seen as less attractive as a career not so much because of the low salary/low status syndrome associated with the profession, but more because of the stress associated with the job and lack of recognition of minority ethnic teachers within the profession. The lack of clear and consistent career advice, absence of minority ethnic teachers as role models, fear of racial discrimination and racial abuse and fear of being marginalised were also echoed by most students in the survey. A group of practising Black teachers confirmed the incidence of racial discrimination and marginalisation, and also gave substantial evidence of the stress caused by their jobs.

The research for this publication was located in the context identified above and also in the context of several other recent and current studies of a similar nature (Siraj-Blatchford 1991, HEFC 1993–94). The main aim was to address the two central issues, which have been in the forefront of teacher education at least for a decade, but without a substantive body of empirical analysis. The two issues are:

• The need for Teacher Education programmes to be ‘open, community informed and capable of making their students sensitive to the interaction between the local community and wider social groupings in a multicultural context’ (Chambers 1981); and
• The need to recruit and train teachers from minority ethnic groups and to encourage minority ethnic youngsters to consider the possibility of entering teaching (Swann 1985).

The Swann Report (1985) had emphasised that the most important source of minority ethnic teachers in the future is the minority ethnic pupils currently in schools. However most of the published work in this field has concentrated on ‘not the most important source’, but on teachers qualified overseas, or adults potentially benefiting from special Access programmes to facilitate entry to higher education. There has also perhaps been an untested assumption that the introduction of ‘multicultural education’ to established programmes of teacher education might enhance the attraction of the profession for minorities. The central purpose of this book therefore, is to study the relationship between the preparation of all teachers through initial teacher training and actual practice in schools with regard to providing an anti-racist perspective; and to study the relationship between the established need for minority ethnic teachers and the consistent failure of LEAs and teacher training institutions to recruit and train such teachers.

Research into Teacher Education and Multicultural Education

‘The Best of Both Worlds’ (1985), a review commissioned by the Swann Committee, is perhaps the most comprehensive overview of research evidence on the educational performance of pupils of Asian origin in the UK. In considering whether Asian pupils are achieving their full potential, and whether their educational needs and aspirations are being met, the authors (Taylor & Hegarty 1985) summarised and analysed evidence from large and small-scale research studies over 20 years. They concluded that in the absence of a systematic national policy on the education of minority ethnic children, a number of adhoc, short-term, often localised educational measures led to researchers making blanket statements about the under-achievement of minority ethnic pupils. A similar review, commissioned by the Rampton Committee (‘Caught Between’, Taylor 1981), concerned with research bearing on the education of children of West Indian origin. Another DES funded study ‘The School Effect’ (1989), looked at the effectiveness of Multi-Racial Comprehensive schools, and challenged the assumption that minority ethnic groups under-achieve in secondary schools. The study showed that although starting behind White children at the age of 11, Asian and West Indian children tended to catch up between the ages of 13 to 16, and claimed that it was due to school policies rather than the qualities of the children. The media coverage of this report was predictably slanted, and led many teachers to believe that there was no longer a problem of minority ethnic under-achievement in schools and that ‘race’ was no longer an educational issue. However, the authors acknowledged that they were not really able to explain why differences between schools occur; and that they did not have the resources to carry out a study of classroom interactions. Another major weakness of the study is the inadequacy of data on management styles, organisational structures and teacher perspectives. (A book of more than 300 pages devotes less than 2 pages to Teachers and Schools.) Gillborn & Drew (1992) in their critique of ‘The School Effect’ drew attention to a number of methodological and interpretative weaknesses. They were particularly critical of Smith and Tomlinson’s conclusion regarding the apparent lack of racism in schools. They pointed out that the absence of evidence of racism is not necessarily an evidence of the absence of racism, ‘in fact this may simply be due to the inadequacy of the research instruments given the highly complex, and sometimes subtle, forms of racism which many Black pupils experience’ (Gillborn & Drew 1992).

Over the last two decades there has been a minor explosion of studies in teacher education both in this country and in the USA. The dominant recurring themes in the 1980s have included the insistence on the centrality of practice, the need for partnership with schools, and the development of practical theories or principles. McNamara’s (1982) account of research in Teacher Education makes reference to a range of descriptive and evaluative studies (Alexander & Harris l977; Reid & Patrick 1980; McNamara & Ross 1982; Alexander & Wormald 1983) and also describes projects, which involved established teachers (Raynor 1981; IT-INSET 1978–82). He concludes that research on teacher training is unlikely to have an impact on professional practice, until teachers and the realities of the classroom are more closely associated with the training process. It does seem strange that the idea of partnership of teacher training institutions with schools seems to have been presented as something new, when it has always been practised, albeit with varying degrees of success. The fact is that no teacher education could possibly have taken place without the co-operation of schools. The only difference now is that schools, with the availability of finance, may be willing to participate more readily in the process of training, but whether they are they more able to do so, given what is required of them after the ERA of 1988, is debatable. Graves (1990) argues that they are not any more able to do so, because for teachers to become reflective practitioners they need to understand what reflection-in-action means. More practice without the opportunity to reflect, and without an adequate intellectual framework to underpin their practice and reflection, is not likely to lead to improved practice. Graves offers an interactive framework in which students derive the knowhow of teaching from direct experience in schools and from research findings based on work in schools. But he argues that this learning needs to be mediated and organised by someone who is familiar both with the world of practice and that of research.

Research projects such as IT-INSET (Ashton & Henderson 1989); DES-funded School-based training in the PGCE at Cambridge and the East Anglia project (Tickle 1987) are quoted as examples of good practice. A number of other theoretical and empirical studies of teacher education, for example, Lucas (1988) Ashcroft & Griffith (1989) have also been concerned with partnership and reflective teaching. However, there have been relatively few recent studies that have looked at the relationship between ‘race’ and initial teacher education. The DES-funded, Keele-based research project on ‘In-Service Education in a Multi-racial Society’ (1981) still remains the only substantial piece of research in this area, and that too was only concerned with In-Service Education. The lack of discussion, direction and support for doing multicultural research and the paucity of multicultural education research studies is partly due to the ‘marginalisation of minority intellectual thought in traditional writings on teaching’ (Grant 1992). More recently, Siraj-Blatchford (1993) has examined the central role of teacher educators in reconstructing and promoting equality. The accumulated message from this publication is that there is massive evidence that discrimination and inequality continue to permeate institutions and individuals involved in teacher education, and that change is urgent and long overdue. Some small-scale individual projects have also examined the incidence of minority ethnic under-achievement in initial teacher education (Clay, Cole & Hill 1990; Siraj-Blatchford 1990) and Black students’ experience of racism in initial teacher education (Siraj-Blatchford 1991). But a lot more has been written about the employment of minority ethnic teachers. With some exceptions (Ranger 1988, BICC 1988, Siraj-Blatchford 1990 & 1993), most of these accounts are not based on formal research but on personal observation and direct work experience.

Key Questions

The central issue for researchers to keep in mind is the fact that whatever their personal views, children will continue to be taught in schools ‘as they are’, and that the people who are most likely to have a positive impact upon schools and improve the quality of children’s experiences within schools are newly trained teachers who are accepted as credible by their colleagues and achieve posts of responsibility. The purpose of my research was not to offer explanations for the under-achievement of minority ethnic children, but to draw attention to the under-achievement of teacher training institutions, and to expose the hypocrisy of policies and practices that claim to be non-discriminatory. Thus I began with the following questions in mind:

• Why is it that certain training institutions who claim to be national leaders in their provision for preparation of teachers for a multicultural society, and whose courses receive glowing reports from external examiners and inspectors, still seem to fail in meeting the needs of their minority ethnic students?
• Why is it that despite a national under-representation of minority ethnic teachers, there are significant numbers of well-qualified teachers from minority ethnic groups who are unable to find a teaching job?
• Why is it that despite central Government’s professed support for training and employing minority ethnic teachers, most Teacher Training Institutions are unable to recruit minority ethnic students onto their courses?
• Why is it that even when training institutions have succeeded in recruiting minority ethnic students, they fail to recruit minority ethnic staff?

To seek answers to these questions I had to look back at the history not just of teacher education, but also at the history of educational policies concerned with ‘race’ and education. These two extensive literature reviews were conducted with a great deal of rigour, by going directly to primary sources and not depending entirely on existing reviews. This was seen to be an important part of my research, because much of what is already available has been selected from a particular point of view, and is subject to interpretations and inferences alternative to the ones I was seeking. Unfortunately, the use of primary sources has necessarily made this a very long book, but I am sure it has added to it a quality of depth and breadth that other reviews may not have. I also studied some of the recent developments and new initiatives related to the training and recruitment of minority ethnic teachers. Thus my research had a clear sense of being challenging, both of the assumptions and processes of contemporary teacher education. By shifting attention away from the victims (Black people) on to the perpetrators (White institutions) of racism, it tries to shed light on processes through which racism is reproduced. As a Black researcher, I believe I have been able to provide an authentic perspective on what is essential in terms of student ‘need’, and how minority ethnic students experience the process of teacher education in largely White institutions. As a teacher trainer, and thus as an insider, I have also been able to match this insight, due to my familiarity with the issues, with the perceptions of training providers in the institutions where the research was based. Another significant dimension of seeing myself as an ‘insider’ has to do with being a member of a minority ethnic group, thus being able to identify with and relate to the issues of discrimination and racism within institutions.

Equality of Opportunity in Education

It could be argued that it is an inevitable consequence of any hierarchical society that inequalities will persist. The power that the more advantaged have will enable them to determine if and when change will take place. There will be an instinctive desire to ensure that whatever change does take place, it does not put their advantageous position in any jeopardy. Inequalities are thus locked in a vicious circle. If you have the power, then you will attempt to retain that, using whatever strategies may help. The focus on an assimilationist approach of the Conservative governments has resulted in equality issues, especially from the point of culture and race, being very much marginalised. Terms such as equal opportunities, education for equality, education for cultural diversity, and education for a culturally plural society are often used as if they were interchangeable. More seriously, the terms have often become associated with certain political beliefs, with the result that support for equality policies have been dependent on what are perceived to be the political levers. The three most commonly known approaches, currently in use in the United Kingdom are described below.

Equal opportunity as equal treatment

Such an approach assumes that as long as there is no deliberate unfair discrimination against another person, there is equal opportunity. The central thrust of this approach is that everyone is treated in the same way, thus ensuring equality of opportunity. In practice such an approach could lead, for example, to treat all Black children as if they were White, consequently ignoring individual differences and varying educational needs. This approach also assumes that by forbidding unfair treatment, the existing patterns of inequality will automatically disappear.

Equal opportunity as equal access

This approach also considers it important to remove unfair treatment, but goes further by suggesting that it is not enough to remove discrimination at the point of service delivery, because there may not be equal access to the point where service is being delivered. There can be no real equality, if for example, women can’t be considered for a job because of an unnecessary obstacle, or a requirement such as attendance at a residential course, which may not be possible for some women with children to attend.

Equal opportunity as equal share

This approach, whilst incorporating the notions of equal access and equal treatment, suggests more direct action. It implies that equal opportunity can only truly exist when the benfits of society or service delivery, such as education and employment, are available and held in equal proportions by the groups, which make up our society. Such an approach also suggests an equal share in the power and economy of society. In my view, an equal opportunity policy should therefore aim at positive measures to eliminate not only overt discrimination, but also conditions or requirement and practices, which are discriminatory in operation. Such a policy should also include provisions for affirmative action and measures to provide special education and training for those who would be otherwise unable to enjoy the full benefits of an equal opportunity policy. Whatever the terminology, for more people in Britain today, cultural diversity is visible and a part of life. This is not to deny or overlook the increase in racism in certain areas.

Finally, different dimensions of equality have to be seen much more as a part of the same issue, rather than as separate and divisive compartments. The proposals for a Single Equalities Bill which incorporates the issues of race, gender and disability can only be a good thing if it results in further co-operation between the various Commissions, such as the CRE and the EOC, for ensuring the implementation of equality legislation. However, the complexities of disadvantages need to be understood and managed sensitively and effectively. During the 1980s there was some notable achievements in the area of equality and cultural diversity. The need for all students to be educated with a view to being citizens of a culturally diverse society had been accepted, as well as the fact that racism was an important factor in society, and that education had to be seen in its broadest context so that the responsibilities of anyone part of the education system could be understood. Though most people accepted these principles, the implementation of policies was variable. Similar vari...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Foreword
• 1 Quality and Equality in Education
• 2 Literature Review – Race and Education
• 3 Literature Review – Teacher Training Provision
• 4 Minority Ethnic Participation in Teaching
• 5 Initial Teacher Training Partnership
• 6 Equality Assurance: A Framework for Permeation
• 7 Positively Diverse: An Agenda for Action
• Bibliography
• Index