Race and Education: A Look at why Black African-Caribbean Boys are Underachieving in Schools - Coursework Example

Race and Education: A Look at why Black African-Caribbean boys are underachieving in schools Introduction Within modern societies the performance of boys and girls in schools has been often related with the level of social and financial development of a particular state. On the other hand, significant differences can be observed in the performance of boys and girls of different racial or cultural background. In the case of Britain, the phenomenon of low performance of boys and girls who belong in minorities is also extensive. In accordance with a research made in 2000 it seems that ‘in one borough, black children were 20 percentage points ahead of the local average on baseline assessment tests carried out when they started primary school; but by the time they took their GCSEs, they lagged more than 20 points behind the norm’ (Russell, 2000, online article). In other words, significant efforts are made by black children in order to improve their performance in school; however their efforts do no seem to lead to a long – lasting success. In fact, in a report written by Carol Hunte – a consultant in the London Development Agency – it is stated that ‘allowing for class differences, black children performed poorly at GCSE compared with all other ethnic groups and were even behind recently arrived communities such as Bangladeshis; in London, only 15 per cent of African-Caribbean boys on free school meals (an indicator of poverty) gained 5 or more A*-C GCSEs as against an average for all boys of 26 per cent’ (IRR News, 2003). It seems that through the years there is a limited improvement on the performance of black children; still this improvement is low; additional efforts should be made by black children across the country in order to achieve higher grades in the long term. A recent research (2006) showed that ‘Black Caribbean students achieved a 6% rise in A to C GSCE grades, up from 35.7% in 2004 to 41.7% in 2005; the figures also showed an increase of 5% among black African students in 2005, from 43.3% to 48.3% between 2004 and 2005’ (Department for Education and Skills, Andalo, 2006, online article). The above statistics prove that the performance of black children in schools across UK follow an increasing trend, a fact that is quite satisfactory if taking into account the efforts made by the British government towards this direction. Current paper focuses on the identification of the reasons of underachieving of black African – Caribbean boys in schools in UK. The general trend regarding the performance of black children through the years (as presented above) proves that black children improve their performance in schools around the country; however this is a slow improvement; additional measures should be taken by the state in order for black African – Caribbean boys (and girls also) to have more chances to improve their performance in schools across Britain. 2. Race and Education – Reasons for the low performance of Black African-Carribean boys in schools in UK When examining the reasons for the underachievement of black African and Caribbean boys in schools across UK, it is necessary to define primarily the main aspects of the above problem. In practice, the reference to the issue mentioned above has been made using two different terms: ‘(1) Black and ethnic minority under achievement in schools; and (2) Racism in education; the first of these is increasingly recognised as a multidimensional problem, a problem inextricably linked to gender, class and racial identity formation and to teacher expectations; careful attention to the second of these discourses is required if the first is to be understood’ (Siraj et al., 1999, 127). In accordance with the above, the issue under examination – the underachievement of black African and Caribbean boys in schools across Britain – has to be appropriately analyzed in order for all its parts to be explained (the role of each one of these parts to the development of the problem in Britain should be also identified and adequately explained). The role of race in the performance of children that belong in minorities has been proved to be decisive for all schools in UK. On the other hand, it seems that teachers have a crucial role in the increase of race (or gender discrimination) in schools across the country. The specific issue was examined by Smith (2002) who tried to identify the role of teachers in the development of the performance of children belonging in minorities. Through the above research it has been revealed that ‘whilst teachers may identify local and global factors as underpinning the need to engender critical engagements with difference, the realisation of this is complex; the communication of the `Third World in the school is characterised by contradiction, reinforcing as well as unsettling ethnocentrism’ (Smith, 2002, 117). The term ‘Third World’ as used in the above research refers to the various groups of children (of different cultural and racial background) within the British schools. Teachers can participate actively in the development of equality in British schools but it seems that this is not a priority; instead the curriculum is used in accordance with the principles set by the government but the needs and the characteristics of each specific school community are not taken into consideration (neither by the principal of the school nor by the teachers) even if many problems appear within a specific school because of the development of race discrimination. It should be noticed here that the responsibility of the teachers (and the principal) of the school is higher compared to the relevant responsibility of the state. When teachers do not pay the required attention to the appearance and the development of phenomena of race discrimination within their schools, then the increase of the specific type of discrimination usually follows. In accordance with the above, the lack of appropriate attention by the teachers can be considered to be one of the most important reasons for the underachievement of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools. When these boys have to face the continuous discrimination because of their race and there is no support by the teachers, then they are likely to avoid participating in the various tasks assigned by the teachers – or in any activities organized by the school. Even when they participate in these tasks and activities their performance is low. Apart from teachers, a major responsibility for the underachievement of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools belongs to the British society. In accordance with this view, the principles and the ethics that have been developed in Britain through the years regarding the position and the value of minorities within the country are very likely to influence the perceptions of teachers and children (referring to native British) in schools across UK. The specific issue was examined by Ghuman (2002) who came to the conclusion that ‘the teaching of the mother tongue within the school curriculum and the entrenched negative attitudes (prejudice) of some teachers against South Asians’ (Ghuman, 2002, 47) are major problems for young people from South Asia in British schools. Moreover, despite the fact that the above young people perform extremely well in all schools activities (compared to the native British) they still face problems regarding their acceptance from their British schoolmates. The above research refers to the case of South Asian young people however it could be equally used in the case of black African and Caribbean boys (they can all be characterized as belonging in minorities). All the above problems have become known to the British government and appropriate measures have been taken in order to reduce the effects of gender differences in schools across the country. In accordance with David (1991, 87) ‘the objectives of the reforms are to deal with declining international competitiveness and the raising of educational standards through consumer or parental choice’. However, the efforts made above could be characterized as rather limited if taken into consideration the expansion of the problem in UK. In this context, it could be stated that the development of the specific problem in Britain – referring to the underachievement of black African and Caribbean boys in schools across UK – can be justified because of the absence of effective measures by the British Government regarding the problem mentioned above (underachievement of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools). Regarding this issue, it is supported by Mirza (2006, 137) that ‘in Britain when we talk of Black and ethnic minorities in schools we think of underachievement, rising exclusions and low aspirations; however, research evidence shows racialized people, particularly the women, have a positive and enduring relationship with education’. In accordance with the above, the performance of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools cannot be effectively supported when the relevant governmental authorities avoid proceeding to the introduction and development of the necessary measures ensuring equality in British schools among the children of all racial and cultural backgrounds. Indeed, the role of government to the underachievement of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools should be considered as of primary importance; it is the State that regulates all issues related with schools (especially the public ones) across the country: development of curriculum, appointment of teachers, regulation of all the issues arisen within the school environment and so on. Of course in the last case (establishment of regulations referring to the operational mode of schools across the country only the case of the hours within which the curriculum is delivered to the children is common across all schools in the country; most of the other issues can be regulated in accordance with the relevant decision of the principal of the school – and the participation of the council of the parents whenever necessary). In other words, the government has a primary role in the development of performance of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools; however the intervention of the school administrators in many aspects of the above issue is of critical importance; school administrators have the power to be differentiated (only when this is permitted by the relevant laws) by the official orders given by the government regarding the various issues developed within schools across UK (a common practice in most countries around the world). For this reason, school administrators and the teachers are considered to have a major role in the underachievement of black African and Caribbean boys in schools across UK. The role of teachers in the development of the problem of underachievement of black African and Caribbean boys in schools across UK has been also highlighted by Bariso (2001). The above researcher tried to examine the potential role of black teachers in the limitation of the problem; however no sufficient proof has been revealed regarding the role of black teachers in the increase of performance of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools. Even the ‘pay per performance’ scheme which has been introduced by the British government as an effort to increase the performance of teachers across the country (the performance of children of all racial background would be also expected to be increased) has not been proved as particularly effective. Of course, black teachers could have an important role to the increase of the performance of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools but only under the terms that they were given the necessary support and the incentives for the achievement of the above target. From a different point of view, it could be noticed that black teachers could not be expected to participate actively in the increase of performance of black African and Caribbean boys but they would rather behave equally to all the children of their classroom – in a different case an issue of inequality between the native children and those belonging in minorities could be possibly developed; in this way the race discrimination in schools across the country would be increased. In any case, the British government can be considered as responsible for the development of race discrimination across the country – as it can be observed in current relationships between native British and people belonging in minorities across the country (referring to the social, political and financial life of people living in Britain). It should be noticed however that the government of Britain has taken all appropriate measures in order for the rights of people belonging in minorities to be appropriately protected across the country (the Race Relations Act of 1976 is an indicative example of this effort). However, no appropriate measures have been taken after the establishment of the relevant legislative texts in order to ensure their application across the country – no specific authority has been appointed for the monitoring of the application of the relevant legislation in Britain. The data related with the performance of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools (as presented in the Introduction section) are rather disappointing. Towards the same direction, Caballero et al. (2007, 545) supported that ‘although the Mixed primary and secondary school population is rapidly growing in both size and recognition, pupils from mixed racial and ethnic backgrounds are largely invisible in current educational policies and practices regarding minority ethnic pupils’. The above researchers refer to the policies that are applied currently across Britain regarding the potential improvement of performance of children belonging in minorities. These policies – as formulated by the state after the relevant suggestions of schools administrators – can be characterized as sufficient but ineffective regarding the required target – improvement of performance of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools. On the other hand, it is made clear by the above research that the increase in the number of children belonging in minorities in British schools can have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the measures proposed for the improvement of the performance of black African and Caribbean boys. The limitation of the effectiveness of the relevant measures as the population of the British schools is increased would be normally expected. 4. Conclusion The performance of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools has been improved the last years under the influence of the relevant measures taken by the British government but also the efforts of the teachers and school administrators across the country. The issues developed above refer mostly to the past, i.e. they do not represent current trends regarding the specific issues. Of course, the factors that have been identified to be related with the underachievement of black African and Caribbean boys in schools across UK continue to exist and have an influence in the continuation of the phenomenon; however, today their influence has been reduced – as a result the performance of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools has been improved. In accordance with a series of statistics published by the New Black Magazine (2008, online article) ‘in London last year, 2007, 100% of their students passed five or more good GCSEs, in Birmingham the figure was 75%; a boys school in South London that provides a six-week course for black pupils has seen the proportion getting five good GCSEs rise from 25.6% to 44.4% in two years’. On the other hand, it has been revealed that ‘only 31.9% of black boys achieved five A to C passes last year, against a national average of 51.9%’ (The New Black Magazine, 2008, online article). In accordance with the above statistics, the performance of black African and Caribbean boys in British schools is continuously improved. Up to now, a series of factors have been proved to be related with the underachievement of black African and Caribbean boys in schools across UK. The intervention of the government and the school administrators towards the limitation of the phenomenon and the provision of the necessary support to the children belonging in minorities and who are enrolled in British schools has been found to be of critical importance for the resolution of the problem leading to the gradual improvement of performance of black African and Caribbean boys in schools across Britain. References Andalo, D. (2006) Black pupils continue to improve at GSCE level, online, available at http://education.guardian.co.uk/gcses/story/0,,1720904,00.html Bariso, E. (2001) Code of Professional Practice at Stake? Race, Representation and Professionalism in British Education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 4(2): 167-184 Caballero, C., Haynes, J., Tikly, L. (2007) Researching mixed race in education: perceptions, policies and practices. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 10(3): 345-362 David, M. (1991) Comparisons of ‘Education Reform’ in Britain and the USA: a new era? International Studies in Sociology of Education, 1(1&2): 87-109 Ghuman, P. (2002) South-Asian Adolescents in British Schools: a review. Educational Studies, 28(1): 47-59 IRR News (2003) Crisis of black underachievement in London schools, online, available at http://www.irr.org.uk/2003/may/ak000015.html Mirza, H. (2006) Race, gender and educational desire. Race Ethnicity and Education, 9(2): 137-158 Russell, B. (2000) Black pupils losing out in drive to raise standards, The Independent, online, available at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/black-pupils-losing-out-in-drive-to-raise-standards-634003.html Siraj, I., Siraj, J. (1999) ‘Race’, Research and Reform: the impact of the three Rs on anti-racist pre-school and primary education in the UK. Race Ethnicity and Education, 2(1): 127-148 Smith, M. (2002) Globalisation and local experience: encounters with difference in a UK school. The Sociological Review, 50(1): 117-135 The New Black Magazine (2008) Britain: Educating Black Boys, online, available at http://www.thenewblackmagazine.com/view.aspx?index=57 Read More