Managing Diversity in British Schools - Essay Example

"Assess the reporting of standards of achievement and behaviour in British Schools" Introduction British schools have from various religious backgrounds, cultures and regions of the world. These students belonging to diverse backgrounds are involved into many problems that they face everyday. Students from ethnic minorities face problem of racism which could result in students' under-achievement. But the problem of under-achievement has mainly been observed among black boys though students from Asian countries who also face racism and so does the black girls, tend to perform much better than them. They have been segregated and have performed well but this has only strengthened the feeling of being different. Instead of segregation they could be taught in conventional schools with teachers pointing their weak areas. The Government needs to provide resources to schools of the minorities and ensure that they do not undergo racial abuse by teachers and fellows. Therefore these boys seem to need special attention from their teachers and proper care, love and support from their parents which could be obtained by training. This paper intends to highlight the reporting of standards of achievement and behavior in British Schools while finding out the reasons for the problems of blacks in Britain face. Three articles taken from different sources were analyzed and the findings from those are given below. Failure of black boys must be tackled - but is "apartheid schooling" the solution In this article, Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, plans to deal with the under- achievement of the black students. It is known that there has been two times as many blacks in prison as there are studying in the university. In order to increase their achievement level it is believed that they should be taught separately from the white students and it is also essential to have parental support. He said that "The Windsor Fellowship", which is mainly for ethnic minority children, have mentored their students excellently that 100% of their students passed with good GCSE grades in London while 75% in Birmingham last year. Keith Vaz, the Labour MP for Leicester East, criticized and fears that this would further enhance the segregation and lead to encouraging the feeling of being different. He says that the normal schools should provide additional help required by the failing minority students. Phillips believes that poverty is neither the reason for the poor performance of the black boys, nor white people regarding them as inferior. As their sisters perform well so does the Chinese and Indian students who also suffer from discrimination as perform far better than black boys. [7] Objectivity or Interest of the Writers The writer cares about the welfare of the students of the ethnic minorities and suggests ways of improving their educational achievements especially those of the black boys, who seem to be spending their lives in prison, mainly by segregating schools but believes that racial discrimination is not the reason for their poor performance. The writer believes that poverty is not the major reason behind the low achievement but it is actually under-employment which is the main reason. The black boy after graduation do not get job up to their capabilities which is seen by children and is believed that education is not the solution. Hence they indulge in crime which seems manlier than education. [6] The major reason for the black boys performing low is the racial abuse in the schools which needs to be stopped as it results not only in poor results but dropping out of schools. This eventually leads them to commit illegal act like robbery and drug trafficking. Hence every student should be welcomed and diversity should be accepted in schools especially by the white teachers and students. [4] The minorities and blacks students must have seen their parents work so hard and their employer's under-utilizing their skills, leaving them to dwell in poverty. Hence it leaves an impression on the students that it's completely useless to study when they will not get what they deserve. On top of this is racial abuse which is unbearable therefore they choose an easier way. The easier way as mentioned above is by acting tough, committing crimes and ending up in prison. [13] Black boys are more prone to discrimination and are more exposed to the outer and unruly world. As compared to black girls and other minorities group like the Chinese, Indians and Bangladeshis who are also the victims but practice self-restrain and bear the torture. On the other hand these boys are crude, do not have tolerance and believe in physical power rather than in the power of knowledge which can take them a long way and make them successful. Hence this is the major reason for their poor performance. In order to increase their performance and prevent them from going astray the black students should be taught by the black teachers who understand them better and are from the same cultural background. This in a way would prevent them from being racially abused but to a certain period of time and only during their school hours. These people will face discrimination and have a feeling of being different when they go out. Hence these students and other minorities groups should be taught along with the whites. Rather than segregating the students training to the white teachers and students should be given on how to deal with diverse group, learn about their culture and stay in harmony with them. [8] Minister comments on 2005 GCSE results of ethnic minorities. In this article Jacqui Smith, Minister for Schools, said that the performance of ethnic minorities has increased in GCSE results. This is mainly due to the hard work of the students and the teachers. Aiming High has taken a step and mentioned in an authoritative report that they would solve the problem of ethnic minorities achieving low results and help them in improving along with London Challenge. They would bridge the gap by making these disadvantaged students achieve up to their capabilities. Since 2004 students of Bangladesh and Pakistan have remarkable increase in their exam performance and result. [11] Objectivity or Interest of the Writers The writer is concerned about the future of the ethnic minorities and feels that with the help of Aiming High and London Challenge and students and teachers' hard work, good result has been achieved. This has been proved by minorities excelling over the whites in most of the subjects and closing the gap that had previously existed. The gap between the achievements of the white students and the ethnic minorities has been closing and they have out performed the whites in Mathematics and English. The black students have gained more progress than whites in English from 14% to 21%. There has been remarkable improvement by black African and Bangladeshi students since 1999, in GCSE results. [1] Aiming High seem to fulfill its promise of helping the ethnic minorities group and making the Government provide resources and capable teachers who are meeting the needs of their students. They believe in training the teachers, students and others members of the school various issues like behaviour, culture, and anti-racism, and race equality; all this will prevent the minorities against discrimination and segregation. [2] London Challenge aims at removing the feeling of being deprived and under-achieved among students of most of the London schools. It does so through the program of "Keys to Success" by improving cultural awareness, schools results and opinion of students and parents about others. [9] The students of ethnic minorities seems to be performing really well mainly due to the reason that awareness has been increased among people with the help of the Government's efforts and they are less subjected to racial abuse as compared to some years back. There are trained teachers who do not give importance to the racial stereotype and consider all students equally. The minorities students especially blacks now do care about their future and work hard to attain their grades to the best of their capabilities ignoring any discrimination that could possibly hinder their path. They fear putting their future at stake and ending up in prison, which had normally been the trend in the past. [5] [14] Teachers are failing black boys. The article is about problems of under-achievement faced by black boys. It is known that all children join school at the age of five and by they age of eleven their performance begins to fall. Their performance levels completely drops at the age of sixteen. Only 13% of the black boys in London who are of age 16 are able to achieve the grade between A to E. It is because they feel education is not manly but this also goes for some under-achieving white boys. The manliness and violence is important for them because of the racism and the reluctance of teachers to face such behaviors. Some of the white teachers who do not fall for the racial stereotype are able to get best results from the black boys. It is believed by the black teachers that disobedient and stubborn black boys can be melted down just by careful handling and affection. For many years Britain's black community has conducted Saturday schools to help the failing students. The well known Saturday schools are Claudia Jones Saturday school in Hackney, Seventh Day Adventist schools in London and others. The schools have increasing achievement mainly because they have willing black teachers, supportive parents, uniformed and disciplined children. [10] It is essential that everyone needs to put an effort whether it be white teachers who unknowingly are falling for the racial stereotype and are wrongly judging the abilities of black students, or black parents who need to constantly support and encourage their children. Mainly the Government needs to take a step to protect the future of black children. [3] Objectivity or Interest of the Writers The writer believes that the black boys are more sensitive to racial discrimination and are unable to tolerate that. They need special care and proper handling from both parents and teachers and an extra effort by teachers on failing black students. Their teachers need to ignore their concept of racial perceptions and treat every student equally. The reason behind the poor performance is that they are not interested in education because it doesn't seem to help them in getting their rightful position in the world. It only exploits their skills when they go for jobs mainly they are under paid or given a lower position. They try to find easier way out of life by being dropped out of school and indulging in crime to avenge their humiliation. [2] Not all whites are discriminating others minority groups. There are several schools and teachers who do not give any importance to the racism. They tend to treat everyone equally and the minority groups perform equally well as compared to white students under these teachers. Teachers who are finding a difference in their students and discriminating them should be given training on managing diversity. It is believed that colored students mainly blacks are disobedient and uncontrolled but it is proved wrong. Even these people tend to behave normally when they are given extra attention and care by their teachers. The teachers should also try to prevent any discrimination faced by these students from their fellow whites. So as to improve the achievement level of the failing blacks extra attention have been given to them by their teacher, by conducting after school classes, classes on weekends, starting Saturday schools. This is mainly of upgrading and polishing the areas in which these students lack. These classes and schools tend to bring remarkable results from the students. [12] There has not just been efforts put up by the teachers who are willing to give their best, but the students have tried to give their best too by coming to these schools and classes in uniforms, being disciplined and acting as civilized being. In order to increase performance of the black students, there should be more black teachers who are properly trained. The administrations should take a closer look at the black's culture and religion and should increase awareness among other people and teach them accordingly. Active participation of parents is essential. [2] The Government need to actively participate n creating awareness among people about the minorities, provide training to teachers to deals with such issues and learn more about diversities and learn to deal with people belonging to diverse groups. It needs to provide resources and better teachers to the segregated black schools and prevent them from being discriminated. Conclusion The British Schools and in general the segregation among the whites and the blacks have resulted in drawbacks on the minorities. It has been observed that the students belonging to minorities are performing low in their education, mainly because: They are victims of racial abuse and are not treated equally especially when studying in the mainstream schools. Resulting in choosing the wrong path and ending up in prison. Their schools are segregated which makes them aware of that fact that they are different from the majority and are inferior. Though it is a source of their good performance for a short period of time. The fact of being under-employed makes them poor in their academics. Recent years have resulted in increases in their performance as compared to whites, due to: Increased awareness among people with the help of Government and other agencies. Better teachers regardless of color and all well trained. Teachers are paying more attention to failing students and those who belong to minorities require help. Minority students working hard to gain good grades and attain a better position in the society for themselves. Due to so many problems in the previous years minorities were unable to excel but since Government and others have made an effort to give them a place in the society, they are able to leave their mark by getting the best result. The blacks are now performing better and are able to compete with their white counterparts better. This is also helping in curbing the discrimination against them and will help them live a life that is better and more fulfilling. 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