How Important is Racism in the Educational Experience of Pupils in Britain from Minority Ethnic Groups?
How Important is Racism in the Educational Experience of Pupils in Britain from Minority Ethnic Groups
What is racism? The Cambridge International dictionary of English describes it as "the belief that people's qualities are influenced by their race and that the members of other races are not as good as the members of your own, which results in the other races being treated unfairly"
From the reader (block 5 unit 4) 'race' was a term used in scientific literature in the eighteenth century to explain the differences between humans. Their view was that 'races' were biologically different. This theory has been discredited by modern scientific thought however the word race is used in order that people can understand what is being discussed in terms of ethnic minorities. The reader goes on to describe 'racism' as "individual or personal racism refers to attitudes and behaviour that display or draw on stereotypes, bias or prejudice. Prejudice refers to an unwarranted pre-judgement and can be derogatory or favourable." If racism can be favourable, does that mean that it is welcomed in that particular instance or does it mean favourable racism somehow cancels out the derogatory racism? On the other hand, is all racism fundamentally wrong? We hear about the derogatory racism in the press on an almost daily basis. An article in The Guardian (Tuesday January 15th 2002) told us of the racial division in Bradford schools, where we have seen racially motivated riots. An instance of favourable racism appears in the same article when Labour MP Dianne Abbott said more black male teachers in the classroom as role models for the underachieving Afro-Caribbean pupils. This is also a clear case of generalisation. Another would be the claim that Asian girls are under-achieving because their culture discouraged them from following an academic path. From the research done, there is definitely a tendency to 'lump' together the pupils from ethnic minorities. Unfortunately in Bradford, the segregation is blindingly obvious in that there are schools with all Asian pupils and schools with all white pupils. What is needed here is a pragmatic response to the realities faced by this city.
What is racism? The Cambridge International dictionary of English describes it as "the belief that people's qualities are influenced by their race and that the members of other races are not as good as the members of your own, which results in the other races being treated unfairly"
From the reader (block 5 unit 4) 'race' was a term used in scientific literature in the eighteenth century to explain the differences between humans. Their view was that 'races' were biologically different. This theory has been discredited by modern scientific thought however the word race is used in order that people can understand what is being discussed in terms of ethnic minorities. The reader goes on to describe 'racism' as "individual or personal racism refers to attitudes and behaviour that display or draw on stereotypes, bias or prejudice. Prejudice refers to an unwarranted pre-judgement and can be derogatory or favourable." If racism can be favourable, does that mean that it is welcomed in that particular instance or does it mean favourable racism somehow cancels out the derogatory racism? On the other hand, is all racism fundamentally wrong? We hear about the derogatory racism in the press on an almost daily basis. An article in The Guardian (Tuesday January 15th 2002) told us of the racial division in Bradford schools, where we have seen racially motivated riots. An instance of favourable racism appears in the same article when Labour MP Dianne Abbott said more black male teachers in the classroom as role models for the underachieving Afro-Caribbean pupils. This is also a clear case of generalisation. Another would be the claim that Asian girls are under-achieving because their culture discouraged them from following an academic path. From the research done, there is definitely a tendency to 'lump' together the pupils from ethnic minorities. Unfortunately in Bradford, the segregation is blindingly obvious in that there are schools with all Asian pupils and schools with all white pupils. What is needed here is a pragmatic response to the realities faced by this city.
