All I'm saying is that "equality policies" designed to help BME in order to "level the playing field" are difficult to explain to working class whites who see their sons underperforming the BME children. The BNP has an easier job with its message. A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
In education there is increasingly a recognition that white boys need more support than they are getting but the system as a whole is flawed and it isn't really helping any of those children who find themselves disengaged and marginalised. Another argument that could be made is that interventions for BME children have had some success and now rather than being targetted at ethnic groups, they should be targetted according to need. Ad astra per aspera
some of these same working class whites whose sons are underperforming may well not be doing anything constructive to support their child's education. Perhaps they can't if they have literacy and numeracy problems themselves but there is also a culture that is anti-education, anti-employment amongst some of those groups
Now, to say that the white working class subculture handicaps itself relative to BME subcultures is a concept that is going to go down really well with the voters.
But nobody's going to say that since those who care about lifting people out of poverty through education have cultural-relativist reflexes which prevent them from thinking that one subculture is inferior to another one. A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
ie kid A is underperforming at school because his parents do not value education and do not work,and expect the state to provide for them. They provide no constructive input for their child and do not support good study habits. They pass their anti-authority values onto their child. Kid A could be black or white or male or female. But the issue to tackle is the culture they are growing up in, which unless the child and the school are fairly exceptional, is going to keep that child trapped with poor outcomes for life.
Which reminds me that this is where we are just beginning to see a shift in the way the UK is looking at equality and it is a welcome move IMO. The equality and human rights commission is setting about developing a new narrative that has a stronger focus on human rights, on the needs of everybody as an individual. Moving away from blanket policies and incorrect assumptions about an individuals needs based on their 'category' eg black/pakistani and towards a more holistic way at looking at social problems, their causes and thus solutions.
But early stages here - mindsets are still very much siloed through equality categories. Until this changes then we'll have that resentment towards 'minorities'. Ad astra per aspera
The average black Caribbean child today may well attend the most lavish of new academies, where the average spent per pupil is more than many private schools. He or she will also have a host of central and local government initiatives which persuade, encourage and sometimes bribe them to achieve. Yet, in terms of behaviour and academic results, they still remain bottom of the class.A new study by Warwick University concludes institutional racism is to blame for our pupils' collapse. The idea that teachers are directly or indirectly holding back black pupils is questionable. More likely it is to do with the inability or unwillingness of these students to break away from an anti-education peer group that loves the street more than the classroom. There is a need to challenge the low expectations that exist within too many students. Too many black boys aspire to the impossible aim of being a footballer. This has come not because schools have dampened down their aspirations, but because a dominant peer group culture appears more attractive.
The average black Caribbean child today may well attend the most lavish of new academies, where the average spent per pupil is more than many private schools. He or she will also have a host of central and local government initiatives which persuade, encourage and sometimes bribe them to achieve. Yet, in terms of behaviour and academic results, they still remain bottom of the class.
A new study by Warwick University concludes institutional racism is to blame for our pupils' collapse. The idea that teachers are directly or indirectly holding back black pupils is questionable. More likely it is to do with the inability or unwillingness of these students to break away from an anti-education peer group that loves the street more than the classroom. There is a need to challenge the low expectations that exist within too many students. Too many black boys aspire to the impossible aim of being a footballer. This has come not because schools have dampened down their aspirations, but because a dominant peer group culture appears more attractive.
Black Caribbean pupils are being subjected to institutional racism in English schools which can dramatically undermine their chances of academic success, according to a new study. Researchers have uncovered evidence that teachers are routinely under-estimating the abilities of some black pupils, suggesting that assumptions about behavioural problems are overshadowing their academic talents. The findings, based on a survey which tracked 15,000 pupils through their education, add weight to the theory that low achievement among some black students is made worse because teachers don't expect them to succeed.
Black Caribbean pupils are being subjected to institutional racism in English schools which can dramatically undermine their chances of academic success, according to a new study.
Researchers have uncovered evidence that teachers are routinely under-estimating the abilities of some black pupils, suggesting that assumptions about behavioural problems are overshadowing their academic talents.
The findings, based on a survey which tracked 15,000 pupils through their education, add weight to the theory that low achievement among some black students is made worse because teachers don't expect them to succeed.
