Transcript Barriers to Achievement for Black Boys - Hom

Raising the Achievement of Black
and Minority Ethnic Learners:
The View From Research
Professor Leon Tikly
Research
Projects and collaborators:
– EMAG evaluation (with Audrey Osler, John
Hill)
– Mixed heritage (with Chamion Caballero, Jo
Haynes, John Hill)
– Aiming High Evaluation (ongoing) (with Dave
Gilborn, Jo Haynes, Chamion Caballero, John
Hill)
Aims
• What is the relative achievement of Black
pupils compared to other groups?
• What evidence is there relating to the
barriers to achievement?
• What can schools do to overcome these
barriers – towards the culturally learning
school
Bristol Fixed Term Exclusions by
Ethnicity 2003/4
Primary Schools
Secondary Schools
Fixed
Fixed
Fixed
%
No.
%
No.
%
No.
Special Schools
*National
All Bristol
White British
White Irish
White Other
936
636
2
419
3036
67.9
2310
76.1
0.2
21
0.7
363
86.6
34
8.1
4
0.4
43
1.4
58
6.2
211
6.9
8
0.9
23
0.8
Mixed Other
59
6.3
78
2.6
9
2.1
Black Caribbean
78
8.3
101
3.3
7
1.7
Black African
27
2.9
42
1.4
2
0.5
Black Other
38
4.1
59
1.9
1
0.2
2
0.2
11
0.4
1
0.2
2
0.5
Mixed White and Black Caribbean
Mixed White and Asian
Indian
Pakistani
17
1.8
15
0.5
Bangladeshi
1
0.1
2
0.1
Asian Other
1
0.1
4
0.1
3
0.1
37
1.2
12
0.4
(not included in graph-small
numbers)
Irish Traveller
White
2
0.1
Gypsy/Roma
3
0.1
Mixed White and Black African
7
0.2
52
1.7
Chinese
Other Ethnic Group
Refused
Not Obtained
3
2
0.3
0.2
What research shows us about
achievement…..
There is no inherent reason why any particular group should be
underachieving- underachievement cannot be blamed on the child
or the parent/carer.
• “For each of the principal minority ethnic groups there is at
least one authority where they attain higher than the other
groups.” (Gillborn and Mirza 2000)
• “In 1 in 10 LEAs, Black pupils are more likely to attain the
benchmark than white pupils at GCSE however, but in 4 times
as many LEAs the picture is reversed.” (Gillborn and
Mirza,2000)
• There are a number of other factors that influence
achievement; social class, poverty, gender, time in the UK,
mother’s education level-however these do not explain the
persistent underachievement of certain BME groups.
Barriers to Achievement for Black
Caribbean pupils
The key barriers to achievement facing
Black pupils are:
– they are more likely to come from socially
disadvantaged backgrounds than white
pupils;
– are more likely to experience forms of
institutionalised racism in the form of low
teacher expectations;
– and, are more likely to be excluded from
school.
Specific Barriers to Achievement
for White/Black Caribbean Pupils
• White/Black Caribbean pupils also face specific barriers
to achievement:
– Low expectations of pupils by teachers based on a stereotypical
view of the fragmented home backgrounds and ‘confused’
identities
– Experience racism from teachers and from their White and Black
peers targeted at their mixed heritage;
– This can lead to the adoption of what are perceived to be
rebellious and challenging forms of behaviour.
– Mixed heritage identities (including those of White/Black
Caribbean, White/Black African and White/Asian pupils) are not
recognised in the curriculum or in policies of schools and of
LEAs.
– Their invisibility from policy makes it difficult for their
underachievement to be challenged
Evidence Relating to Somali
Refugees
• An interrupted or non-existent educational
experience in Somalia
• Exposure to organised violence leading to
psychological problems
• Arrival with little or no English, both among
adults and children
• High level of parental illiteracy
• High housing mobility resulting in children
attending many schools in their first years in the
UK
Evidence Relating to Somali
Refugees
• A disproportionate number of female heads of
household in UK and absence of male role
models
• Poor health in the UK – often a result of poverty
and poor housing
• Over-representation of Somali children in
underachieving inner city school
• Experiences of racial harassment by peers,
leading to a fear of attending some schools
• Teacher racism and stereotyping.
Institutionalised racism
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Weak leadership
Low teacher expectations
Low sets
Lower examination tiers
Failure to recognise the problem of underachievement
Failure to monitor data
Failure to deal with racist bullying
Inconsistent behaviour management
Failure to address exclusions
Failure to engage with parents
The Race Relations
(Amendment) Act 2000
General duty:
• Eliminate unlawful racial discrimination
• Promote racial equality
• Promote good race relations between
people of different racial groups
Specific duty:
• Race Equality Policy, Action Plan and
review process in place
The implications for schools:
To be proactive in promoting race equality
and cultural diversity in:
• Identifying underachievement
• Raising standards and promoting equality of
opportunity for pupils who are underachieving
• Curriculum content and delivery
• Pupil admissions, assessments and discipline
(including exclusions)
• All assessment, monitoring, reviewing and
evaluation systems
National Policy
• Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant
– Raise achievement of groups at risk of
underachieving
– Support EAL learners
• Aiming High
– African Caribbean Achievement (to be rolled
out as Black pupils achievement project)
– Gypsy Traveller
– EAL
Elements of a Culturally Learning
School
LEA Support
and Challenge
Professional
learning
communities
Parental/
community
Involvement/
support
Leadership
prioritises
race
equality
National Policy
and funding
Zero
tolerance
for underachievement
The
Culturally
Learning
School
Pro-active
To policy/
innovative
Challenge
data/
high
expectations
Community
Support
Culture
of openness/
safety
Responds
positively to
diversity
Distributed
leadership
Race Relations
Legal
Framework
Towards a Culturally Learning
School
• A culturally learning school is aware of the
changing racial and cultural composition of the
school community and is prepared to respond
positively to these;
• A headteacher and senior management team
who are alert to changes of policy either at
government or LEA level and are proactive in
anticipating the implications of new policy for
their schools;
• keen to pilot new initiatives where these are
seen to have positive outcomes for minority
ethnic groups;
Towards a Culturally Learning
School
• Open and responsive to the views of teachers, parents and pupils
and encourage leadership and responsibility throughout the school
community;
• The leadership both support and challenge teachers to realise high
expectations for all learners;
• Ongoing reaffirmation and discussion of equal opportunities and
race equality policies and to challenge institutionalised racism;
• Carefully monitor quantitative and qualitative performance data
relating to ethnicity as well as data relating to attendance, exclusion
and the inclusion of mixed heritage and other minority ethnic pupils
in top sets and higher examination tiers
• Continuous staff development as a means to understand and
develop effective strategies to raise the achievement of mixed and
‘mono heritage’ groups.
Strategies that work
• Careful monitoring of achievement and target
underachievement
• Support for bilingual learners
• Collating and disseminating good practice
• Setting effective targets for minority ethnic
learners.
• Strategies to train senior managers and
governors in the use of EMAG
• Co-ordinating the work of mainstream and
specialist EMAG staff;
Strategies that work
• Providing SENCO training on the needs of SEN
minority ethnic learners.
• Supporting supplementary schools/ classes
• Supporting mentoring schemes
• Consultation with minority ethnic groups over the
use of EMAG
• Facilitating home/school visits
• The establishment of support groups for specific
groups of minority ethnic learners and parents.