{"id":1591,"date":"2020-07-01T16:58:28","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T16:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/?p=1591"},"modified":"2022-05-27T06:24:39","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T06:24:39","slug":"what-place-for-white-children-in-talk-of-diversity-identity-and-educational-underachievement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/?p=1591","title":{"rendered":"What place for white children in talk of diversity, identity, and educational underachievement?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reading the Runnymede Trust (2020) report by Remi Joseph-Salisbury<\/a>, reminded me of another area dear to my heart; that of the white working class underachievement. Professionally my interest dates around 2001. This was when I made a submission to the Birmingham Stephen Lawrence Commission, where I had said that we should not neglect the poor whites. Later, when I joined \u00a0the Birmingham Advisory and Support Service as an Equality Adviser. The service already had two Achievement Groups in place: African Caribbean and Asian. A couple of years after arriving there, I instigated the White Achievement Group (launched 26 January 2004). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after, 20 May, I was at the \u2018Raising Achievement \u2013 towards a whole school agenda\u2019 seminar. There were another 34 delegates, from across the country. They had titles such as: Raising Achievement Coordinator, Head of Service, Ethnic Minority Achievement, Race Equality Education Coordinator.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Chair\u2019s opening comments, an officer from the Aiming High Project at DfES, began proceedings. Her session was entitled:  Raising achievement \u2013 the national context. She put up a slide with bar charts: Deprivation, ethnicity & achievement. The data provided the details of the 2003 GCSE Cohort: proportion achieving 5+ A*-C GCSE\/GNVQs for pupils with PLASC record. The shortest bar was for White British free school meals (20.4%) and the longest bar was Chinese non-FSM (75.7). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second\nsession \u2018Deconstructing underachievement\u2019 by a university professor and other\nsessions on making sense of monitoring, effective parental engagement, the\ncritical role of Afro-Caribbean teachers and towards a whole school agenda;\nnone of the speakers nor the delegates made any reference whatsoever to the\nwhite underachievement. My own role at the time was \u2018Lead Adviser Equalities\u2019,\nwith a focus on ethnic minority underachievement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Championing\u2019 the white working class<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon\nreturn to my office, I investigated the published data and concluded that both\nnationally and locally poor white boys and girls, i.e. those on free school\nmeals, were the lowest achieving group. I instigated the practice of focussing\non numbers<\/em> of children rather than percentages. I was of the view that this\nwas a better way of drawing attention to the fact that these children were all\nindividuals, who had been entrusted to the school system by their parents and\nwhich, in turn, had let them down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report <\/a>I produced showed the very large numbers of white children (the largest group locally and nationally) leaving school without the benchmark qualifications i.e. 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C. Worse than this my report showed that nationally 25,000 white children left school with \u2018no passes\u2019 whatsoever (with 1194 Black and 601 Pakistani), meanwhile in Birmingham 486 white children left with \u2018no passes\u2019 (with 89 Pakistani and 56 Black). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also\nshowed that there was a correlation between white underachievement and support\nfor extremist political parties (British National Party and the National Front).\nThe most recent data had shown that 1815 people had voted for these two parties\nin the Sheldon Ward and 1633 in Kingstanding; both these areas had high levels\nof white underachievement. Several other wards also had significant extremist\nsupport and underachievement: Oscott (1515), Hodge Hill (1420), Stechford (1339).\n   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report\nstated: \u201cA number of teachers described how their schools had implemented\npolicies that directly targeted white working-class students.\u201d It goes onto\nrecommend that \u201cPolicies that focus specifically on the attainment of white\nworking-class students should not come at the expense of BME students.\u201d I agree.\nThe focus should be determined by the data on who is underachieving, who needs\nwhat help and who needs more resources than other children (yes positive\ndiscrimination if you wish to label it).   In my\nview best people to lead on this work are those who are racially literate especially\nthose who engage with concepts such as whiteness and diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following\nthe report, I made a several presentations and wrote numerous articles. This included:\nWhite Plight (BVSC Update July\/August 2008); White Working Class- a Case for\nPositive Action (BVSC Update March 2011) and White Working-Class discrimination\n(Equal Opportunities Review February 2011). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2008, the then Head of Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, came to Birmingham to make a speech at the site of the \u2018Rivers of Blood\u2019 speech by Enoch Powell, 40 years before. I made a comment from the floor, about my work. The newspaper reported my comment and referred to me as the champion<\/em> <\/a>of the white working class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I quoted from my report that \u201cthere is hardly a single voice being raised about this tragic state of affairs (meaning white underachievement) from anywhere, locally or nationally, sometime with the sad exception of the extreme right who purport to represent this constituency\u201d. Coincidentally, a few days later Mr Phillips wrote an article <\/a>on the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most significant of my articles was a two-page spread in the Times Educational Supplement  <\/a>    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My 15 minutes (well a couple of hours) fame <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was of the view that the White Working Class had been abandoned by New Labour. I wanted to change that. With the help of the Headteacher of Colmers School, I arranged to see Richard Burden,  MP for Northfield. I presented my research to him and persuaded him to raise the matter at Parliament. He agreed, by using the Adjournment debate route. Normally it takes a very long-time to be selected for this, but he got lucky. I worked with his office on the speech he would make, on 19 May 2009: White Disadvantaged Pupils (Birmingham). <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Sarah McCarthy-Fry) responded for the government. She listed several ways in which the government was responding already and promised to do more. On the matter of providing \u201copportunities for disadvantaged white pupils to celebrate their culture and identity\u201d, she pointed to the Extra Mile initiative <\/a>as one of the ways disadvantaged pupils, especially white, were being catered for.  Sadly, the government changed the following year otherwise who knows what might have happened because of my report.   Since then my work has shifted focus, namely to my doctoral research related to the education of British Pakistani boys. However, I did make a submission <\/a>to the House of Commons enquiry published as Underachievement in Education by White Working-Class Children (2015). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nationally, several other reports have been produced by researchers much more capable than I and with a lot more resources at their disposal. The most longstanding work I know of has been happening at Lambeth Council, under the leadership of Dr Feyisa Demie. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National College for School Leadership<\/a> produced several excellent reports on the subject. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Union of Teachers published Opening Locked Doors<\/a>– educational achievement and white working class young people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ofsted published ‘White boys from low-income backgrounds: good practice in schools’. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2009, the Runnymede Trust asked: Who cares about the White Working Class? <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a\nForeword to the report the Vice-Chair Kate Gavron stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe poor white working class share many more problems with the poor from minority ethnic communities than some of them recognize. All the most disadvantaged groups must be helped to improve their joint lot. Competition between them, real or imagined, is just a distraction.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The absent presence of white in the talk on diversity and identity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my\nreport I had pointed out the omission of white children and their identity in\nthe talk on multicultural education. I had recommended that \u201cwhen addressing\nequality and race equality in particular one must not ignore the needs of the\nwhite population, especially those who live in disadvantaged neighbourhoods\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This view was confirmed by Keith Ajegbo and colleagues in their report of diversity and citizenship<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following\nare a few quotes from their report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All children and young people need to understand their identities and feel a sense of<\/em> belonging \u2013 as important for an indigenous white pupil as a newly arrived immigrant. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we have emerged in a new world in which there is worse\nunderachievement by white working-class boys<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It makes no sense in our report to focus on minority ethnic\npupils without trying to address and understand the issues for white pupils. It\nis these white pupils whose attitudes are overwhelmingly important in creating\ncommunity cohesion. Nor is there any advantage in creating confidence in\nminority ethnic pupils if it leaves white pupils feeling disenfranchised and\nresentful. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many indigenous white pupils have negative perceptions of\ntheir own identity. We spoke to one white British pupil in Year 3, for instance,\nwho, after hearing in a class discussion how the rest of the class came from\ncountries such as the Congo, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago and Poland, said\nthat she \u2018came from nowhere’. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the case of white working-class boys, their sense of\nlinkage with a tangible history is often as absent as \u2013 or even more absent\nthan \u2013 for other groups.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

White pupils in areas where the ethnic composition of their\nneighbourhood is very<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

mixed, or made up predominantly of different ethnic groups, often suffer labelling and discrimination, giving them a different take on how we live together. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They can feel beleaguered and marginalised, finding their\nown identities under threat as much as minority ethnic children might not have\ntheirs recognised.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we want community cohesion and for the UK to be at ease\nwith its diversity, as much thought and resource for education for diversity\nneed to be located with the needs of indigenous white pupils as with pupils\nfrom minority ethnic groups. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considerable support is channelled into inner city,\nmulticultural schools, but predominantly white schools need support for\neducation for diversity too.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The diversity of the indigenous white population is also key\nto the diversity of the UK and should be studied.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teachers need to be able, in different contexts, to promote\nthe identities and self-worth of indigenous white pupils, white working class\npupils, mixed heritage pupils and minority (and sometimes majority) ethnic pupils,\nand at the same time to be aware of religion and the multiple identities we all\nlive with.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critical literacy is crucial: if you are white, for example,\nliving in a white area, how do you relate what you see on the television to\nyour idea of being British and the nature of British society?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schools need additional help and support. To develop\nschools’ approaches to education for diversity further, and to work with local\nauthorities in predominantly white areas around diversity issues, new\napproaches need to be developed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also perpetuated by factors such as economic\ndeprivation; feelings of marginalisation within the community exacerbated by\nhousing allocation; a lack of community and school engagement; a perception\nthat their identities are not being affirmed in school; low literacy levels and\nparental low aspiration of their children’s education. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Postscript<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I finish this blog, I note that the current government has commissioned another enquiry into education of white working-class children. As has been said in response to their setting up a commission on race inequalities, they would have been better to implement the recommendations of the previous report<\/a>. It had pointed out that, compared to other ethnic groups, white working-class British children are less resilient in the face of poverty, deprivation, and low socioeconomic status.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading the Runnymede Trust (2020) report by Remi Joseph-Salisbury, reminded me of another area dear to my heart; that of the white working class underachievement. Professionally my interest dates around 2001. This was when I made a submission to the Birmingham Stephen Lawrence Commission, where I had said that we should not neglect the poor … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “What place for white children in talk of diversity, identity, and educational underachievement?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1591"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1733,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions\/1733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardpartnership.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}