Institutional racism in education? Solutions?

[titbumwillypoo]

We've heard a lot about institutional racism over the last couple of weeks and working in education I thought i'd look at the numbers and a couple of things stood out.
Pupils from the Chinese, Asian and Mixed ethnic groups scored higher than average for Attainment 8
White pupils and Black pupils scored lower than average
Pupils from the White Gypsy/Roma and Irish Traveller ethnic groups had the lowest average scores.
And regarding exclusions Black Carribean( Including Mixed: White/B. Carib) children were most likely to be excluded, followed by White British whilst Chinese, Asian and Mixed ethnic groups had the lowest.

So is it fair to argue that it's not the educational system that is racist but how different cultures value education in regards to attainment.
Secondly, permanently excluding a child is a long and difficult process (usually involving drugs or violence) so why do you think more Black Carribean or being excluded?

soc-for-ed-studies.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GillbornD-et-al_Race-Racism-and-Education.pdf
www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/education-skills-and-training/11-to-16-years-old/gcse-results-attainment-8-for-children-aged-14-to-16-key-stage-4/latest

So is it fair to argue that it's not the educational system that is racist but how different cultures value education in regards to attainment.

No.

Are you sure you work in education?

Please tell me how a system in which numerous ethnic minorities do better than the majority race can be classed as racist? Surely if it racist then white children would be the most successful in it?

I think the curriculum itself is more accessible for White people and more relatable for white people.
There is a distinct lack of diversity in our approach to the content of what our educational system provides.

But sauvignonblancplz the actual figures dispute that it benefits white children.

What figures ?

No, there's definitely institutional racism in education.

You are confusing two things. It's fairly well known that there are some cultures that put an enormous value on education and will motivate their children; that should be a source of pride for them and it is a good thing. It doesn't demonstrate there's no racism for those children (or indeed others) to overcome.

Your argument implies it'd somehow be ok for the institution to be racist just so long as all students of colour were managing to score high on tests while feeling shit.

sauvignonblancplz The figures are all on the websites i linked to.
SarahAndQuack, please elaborate. Every school i've ever worked in has policies on equality which they enforce, any time children have been caught using hateful language they've been pulled up on it and sanctions imposed. So please explain why you think there is definitely institutional racism in education. What am i missing?

It's probably a bit of both. I went to a school with a lot of Asian pupils and now work in one with similar demographics, and IME there's a lot of truth to the stereotype that Asian parents push their children hard educationally, especially if they (the parents) aren't UK born. But that probably also feeds into unconscious biases that teachers and school workers have, e.g. having higher expectations of Asian pupils than those from other demographics. Likewise if more black pupils are getting expelled, that could set up an unconscious expectation among staff that black pupils are more likely to be badly behaved, which may lead to them getting more severe punishments than a white or Asian pupil would for doing the same thing.

The system doesn't have to benefit white pupils over all others for racism to play a part. And I don't think teachers are consciously racist (or at least it's an infinitesimally small minority who are). But as humans it's in our nature to pick up on patterns, rightly or wrongly, so unfortunately if there's already an existing trend towards pupils of certain races faring differently in school then that's likely to somewhat bias our judgement of unknown pupils based on their race, which may lead to further reinforcement of those trends. Unfortunately by the very nature of unconscious bias it's very difficult and perhaps even impossible to get rid of it completely, so I'm not sure what can be done about it.

Well, for starters, the fact you think that children being pulled up on using hateful language is a bit of an indicator, isn't it?

What that indicates is that some children will go to school with the expectation that they may be treated badly. Then other children will be appropriately 'pulled up on it'.

Yes, of course it's good those children are pulled up on it. But that doesn't mean the original hurt isn't there.

An educational institution needs to take more responsibility for tackling these things head on, for doing everything possible to ensure children never get to the point of being exposed to hate speech.

I think the shifts in education will come alongside shifts in society.

I work in HE and there is quite definitely institutional racism. People talk over black women in meetings. People assume the black lecturer is the cleaner. People tell black students 'oh, are you here for the postcolonial lit module?' or 'I wouldn't think you would want to study this'. Primary material by or about people of colour is still not often enough on the syllabus; scholarship by scholars of colour is still not often enough on the syllabus. We have a woefully tiny number of black professors, and black academics in general.

All of that filters down, IMO. You want your GCSE group to be exposed to good, interesting perspectives on a subject, developed by black academics and about black histories or people? Good luck with that. It's not impossible, but your choices will be fewer.

You cant talk about exclusions without talking about SEN and SEN is about access to health care, social serivces, local authority services, charities that provide support as well as education. Maybe look at how less like somee races are to recieve a diagnosis and then support or how more likely certain races are to be excluded with SEN even if they manage to get a diagnosis.

"So is it fair to argue that it's not the educational system that is racist but how different cultures value education in regards to attainment."

Sadly it's not as black and white as this (no pun intended). As we notice these patterns - ie Asian kids being pushed more by their parents etc - it sets off internal (usually subconscious) biases that mean they are more likely to be marked better whilst the Afro-Caribbean child who doesn't have that educational support system at home is more likely to be marked down.

My own experience at school as a black child is always feeling underestimated by teachers. I was placed in the 4th set for maths when I entered the school aged 9, which I remember feeling miffed about, and had climbed to top set within 2 terms. When I wanted to apply for medicine at uni I was discouraged (even though I'd achieved all A/A* for GCSE). White kids who weren't as studious as me were often encouraged more, I felt.

There was a documentary called "When will there be a black Prime Minister" (or similar) a few years ago which described how black kids tend to do better from GCSE year onwards, as this is the point when papers are marked externally/anonymously. i.e. biases are removed.

I think you’re confusing race with culture .
Everything @SarahAndQuack has said I agree with.

Education is very white British - their is not a diverse representation of BAME, at all.

That’s what makes it institutionally racist.

*there

Every school i've ever worked in has policies on equality which they enforce, any time children have been caught using hateful language they've been pulled up on it and sanctions imposed. So please explain why you think there is definitely institutional racism in education. What am i missing?

My God. I really hope your work in education involves counting the doornobs. And even there you'd be a danger with this level of ignorance. Do you genuinely believe there's nothing more to racism than using hateful language?

Example: two children enter a selective school. At the end of year 8 child A takes first place in three exams and second place in two. Child B comes first in one exam and no higher than third in any other. Child B is moved up to the top set. Child A is not. No explanations given. Which is the black child, which the white?

Child A excels in English, History, languages and has little interest in sport. The only other non-white children in her cohort are celebrated for their sporting prowess - and never win prizes for academic work. How should she proceed?

The only member of staff with an Oxbridge degree gathers together a little group of pupils who they intend to push forward. Nothing is said, but super-academic Child C is excluded from this group because staff member doesn't believe Child C would 'fit in' at an Oxford or Cambridge college.

This is how racism works in schools. These tiny individual decisions and actions, replicated a thousandfold across the country. Congratulations on never having noticed any of it.

Thank you all for your responses, some very informative points about expectation. Obviously some of the ways you've been treated is deplorable but i'd just like some clarification please.
"What that indicates is that some children will go to school with the expectation that they may be treated badly. Then other children will be appropriately 'pulled up on it'.

Yes, of course it's good those children are pulled up on it. But that doesn't mean the original hurt isn't there.

An educational institution needs to take more responsibility for tackling these things head on, for doing everything possible to ensure children never get to the point of being exposed to hate speech."

Ok. I work in primary schools where we foster good values, manners, inclusion, love of learning etc I'm a great believer in the idea that if you can get these ideals embedded at an early age then there is a chance of breaking patterns of negative learnt behaviour that children get from outside school. What more do you suggest in our position because we can't do much about parents only do our best for the children.

PerditaProvokesEnmity, no I don't believe that hateful language is all there is to racism that's why i supplied the links on attainment and exclusion. You have given examples of individual racism, one person making decisions based on race, not how the system as a whole is racist.
sauvignonblancplz
Education is very white British - their is not a diverse representation of BAME, at all.
How can Maths, English language, PE and Science be more representative of BAME? RE, geography, art, music and PSHE is pretty diverse. I think the worst offender on the curriculum is history but i'm sure that will change.

It’s not at all diverse - look at the formulas, wording of questions, pictures in text books, authors of books. Choice of texts - characters within these books.

You’re being really one dimensional.

How can a mathematical formula be diverse? How can a scientific principle be diverse? Wording of questions - i'll go with sometimes on the reading SAT's they can be more middle class than my students generally are. As I said i'm Primary so we don't really use text books, do they have pictures of the authors on nowadays? Choice of texts, at Primary we have a little more freedom and there is still plenty from the English Canon but we are teaching very different skills.
I don't believe i'm being one dimensional, i'm just going off my experience of schools and was interested in hearing different views.
Also would love to know what "counting the doornobs" means

Are you really a teacher?

Maths isn’t just numbers! It’s problems, real life scenarios that make the math relatable to the child. Even the names , places etc are reflective of a white Britain.
Authors pictures? A basic starting point for a lot of literature is a fact finding expedition looking at author , context etc.

What do you mean different skills? Plenty of what in the English canon?
Most texts are place BAME characters as those who are the underdog, I haven’t taught any texts where the protagonist is a successful person from a BAME background. This is something that needs addressed.
How many of your colleagues are BAME? How many senior members of staff are BAME?

Maths, see picture. It's pretty typical of worksheets given to our children.
Like I said i'm Primary, very little focus or depth past the blurb on the back of the book about the author.
Skills: Phonics, (the Biff and Chip books are pretty diverse) spelling, comprehension. We don't really do critical thinking yet. The English canon would be those classic texts that we still use because A)the themes are still relevant and B)because we can rarely afford new full sets of books. Is Handa an underdog, is Sephy an underdog? I know our year 6 really enjoyed Noughts and Crosses.
If you are GCSE then you are probably right about representation. Most of the books i could think of, the BAME characters were secondary characters but most of the books in our KS1 library are pretty diverse.
Finally staff, none as I live in an ex mining town in Yorkshire where the demographic is 97.9% White British according to the 2011 Census so it's probably down to numbers on that one.

the Biff and Chip books are pretty diverse

They’d be more diverse if Biff and Chip were from a BAME family. Then kids would see themselves represented in the stories, not just a character on the periphery.

There are plenty in the range where Wilf and Wilma or Anneena and Nadim are the main characters. Also does the fact that schools have to use books that are 35 years old not suggest that many schools cannot afford to replace them with a more modern version.

Can I tell you a little story.

My son is mixed race. In his year 6 class the majority of the children were black or Aisian. They were given a piece of homework to write about a famous Victorial. Not one of the examples they were given was black or Aisian, not one, not even good old Mary Seacole. They were not encouraged to look for black or Aisian people.
The teacher loved his class, he cried buckets at the leavers do, I do not believe for a minute that he is racist. It just didnt occur to him, and its not reflected in the curriculum. And thats why education is institutionally racist.