BEYOND “COLOURBLINDESS”

Abha Aggarwalabha@risc.org.uk

2011, UK Census

Professor David Gillborn, Critical Race Studies, Birmingham University

2013, Racism, Education and Policy

Robin DiAngelo, PhDMulticultural Education/ Whiteness studies

■ Prejudice / discrimination diagram

London, 2016

Global Education

The evidence shows ….■ Around ages 2/3, children begin to associate activities

and possessions with male or female. Qualities associated with male are more highly valued than female traits.

■ Between ages 3 and 5, children learn to attach value to skin colour; White at the top of the hierarchy and Black at the bottom.

■ Young children’s racial view is independent of their own ethnicity and the ethnic make up of their environment.

The Doll Test

The doll test■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4LMNxHvahY

The evidence shows ….■ Minority parents do talk to their children about race and

prejudice, lived experience informs children’s understanding

■ White parents/teachers give the message: treat everyone the same, racism is bad

■ White children report understanding:– Race is superfluous– Hard work leads to success

For BAME children …..

■ They under report incidents (‘no-one is really interested’, ‘just learn to live with it’, ‘don’t want to get my friend into trouble’)

■ Feel that incidents were handled badly (over/under-reactions, ‘made things worse’)

■ Felt they were disciplined more harshly

‘Mixed’ families

■ Mixed race young people often report of the difficultiesin living in families where membershave different racial identities

■ In particular, they often find difficulties in understanding aroundissues of race with their white parent.

What I am learning from my white grandchildren --truths about race | Anthony Peterson | TED

Uneven representation of BME teachers across the regions

With wide disparity gaps between BME teachers and pupils…

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

North East North West Yorkshireand theHumber

EastMidlands

WestMidlands

East ofEngland

InnerLondon

OuterLondon

South East South West

%

Regional variation of BME teachers and pupils (percentage)

Percentage of All BME Teachers (2015) Percentage of BME primary pupils 2013

Day to day life in schools for BME Teachers

• Casual and unwitting racism• Conflict between challenging

racist behaviour and turning a blind eye/wanting to ‘move on’

• Lack of solidarity and support• Incidences of racism treated

as behavioural issues

Some staff are disappointingly ignorant and do not realise that they carry implicitly racist views which are usually ill-thought-through. There is casual racism without intention to harm but lack of intent to harm doesn't do much if harm is caused.

I’m not sure if it’s ethnicity, but if a BME teacher challenges anything, and is being assertive and confident – they are perceived as maverick, aggressive and threatening.

Incidences of racism from students are met with silence. One student was very racist towards me, but the student was dealt with in terms of ‘a behavioural incident’.

■ Race / Racism is complex, nuanced and constantly shifting■ Silence is not Neutral - Get comfortable with the

uncomfortable topic of race and racism■ Let go of the good/bad binary – we ALL take on

multiple, complex, unhelpful messages about racial groups■ Individual prejudice vs. Systemic issues■ impact not intent■ Seek out a range of voices, input of people of colour

What could this mean for teacher’s and schools?

BAME student workshops■ Shared experiences■ Addressed questions

(When did racism start? Why do people have different skin colours? How do get my white friend to stop calling me ‘n**’?)

■ Explored ways forward for schools.

Teacher focus groups■ Recognition that current strategies (behavior) are not

working■ An understanding that the curriculum is important.■ Some recognition that the teaching force is limited.

What could this mean for teacher’s and schools?

Staff Training

BAME Elders

Incident Reporting

Lessons in Race & Racism

BAME student course/group

The ‘white’ curriculum