Colour coded

15th December 1995, 12:00am

Share

Colour coded

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/colour-coded
I am a PROMISE, THE SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT OF BRITISH AFRICAN CARIBBEANS, By Yvonne Channer, Trentham Books, Pounds 13.95. - 1 85856 038 1.

TEACHERS FOR THE FUTURE, Edited by Victoria Showunmi and Delroy Constantine Simms, Trentham Books, Pounds 12.95. - 1 85856 039 X.

Beulah Ainley on why there are relatively few black teachers.

These books contribute to the continuing debate on race and education. I Am A Promise presents evidence challenging the persistent myth that African-Caribbeans under-achieve at school.

It results from interviews with 12 British African-Caribbeans aged 25 to 45 who received all or most of their education in England. All are in professional occupations and the book’s main theme is how they overcame racism in the educational system.

Janet, a teacher, explains the problem. “I was brought up to believe by the school and society that very little was expected of me. I had nothing to say that anybody would possible be interested in and nothing to contribute. ”

Some respondents were placed in lower streams and had to struggle to get out while others went on to further education to get a good education. There were also problems in higher education where the atmosphere of a “predominantly white, middle class, male university and polytechnic” alienated some respondents. Lecturers, they said, were “frequently surprised at the presence of black students”. This sometimes caused anxiety and strained relationships leading to the often lonely black student leaving the course.

I Am a Promise found that parental contributions and determination on the part of pupils were important. Respondents’ parents “used options and made decisions about their children’s school career”. One respondent explained how her mother sent her out of town to an almost all-white school in preference to the local almost all-black school. This mother might be seen as “racist” to her own kind but her local school had a bad reputation and she wanted her child to succeed.

Having good role models was another contributing factor. Some found it among their own family. Rita, for instance, was encouraged to succeed at school because her uncles and aunts were doctors and government officials in the United States.

Another important reason for the educational achievement of these African-Caribbeans was their religious belief. They see God as being in control of all aspects of their lives. This gave respondents a sense of direction, purpose and an inner strength to cope. Jason, for example, explained how religion helped him by “finding positive things about myself and being able to overcome a lot of the negatives reinforced by society and school”.

Teachers for the Future is made up of several essays which identify areas in education and teacher training which directly or indirectly prevent black people from becoming teachers. The first essay, “The Role of Black Researchers in Education Research”, by Delroy Constantine-Simms challenges white researchers’ validity to research black people in education when they don’t understand what it is to be “black”.

He argues that for white researchers “there are fundamental issues of individual and institutional racism in their own backyard” which they ignore. This is evident in the under-representation of black teachers and lecturers in further and higher education and on editorial and academic boards. The implication is that if white researchers are not part of the solution they are part of the problem.

The second essay, “Why Teaching is Not For Me” by Shukla Dhingra and Kenneth Dunkwu, is based on a study of black teachers and pupils about teaching as a career. It found racism responsible for the under-representation of black teachers. Only two per cent of teachers were black, compared to the overall population of 4.4 per cent. Teaching was unattractive in terms of promotion, being on the lowest pay scale and suffering from isolation and lack of respect from white teachers and pupils.

The problem for black teachers starts well before they qualify. As pupils they have very few black teachers as role models and those they see are subjected to racism. Sally Coulton’s essay, “Teaching for Tomorrow, Lessons for Today”, argues that most black student teachers were unhappy about the national curriculum, believing it to be Eurocentric and not recognising the “value and contributions made by others than white Europeans”.

The second problem is Initial Teacher Training. Some black student teachers also found placements a harrowing experience, especially when placed in rural all-white schools. They faced racism from staff and pupils who found it difficult to accept a black person as a teacher, resulting sometimes in the failure of their placement.

To get more black teachers the book recommends better communication with black communities, involving a clear framework of activities, including promotional talks, displays and exhibitions featuring black teachers working in schools.

Also initial teacher training institutions should set up black student support groups and more information should be given on complaints procedures regarding racism. Setting targets for the appointments of black staff in schools, further and higher education is essential in order to provide role models for students.

Beulah Ainley is a writer and researcher on race and the media.

Want to keep reading for free?

Register with Tes and you can read two free articles every month plus you'll have access to our range of award-winning newsletters.

Keep reading for just £1 per month

You've reached your limit of free articles this month. Subscribe for £1 per month for three months and get:

  • Unlimited access to all Tes magazine content
  • Exclusive subscriber-only stories
  • Award-winning email newsletters
Recent
Most read
Most shared