Institutional racism and critical race theory

Key idea of Critical Race Theory

• Racism is an ingrained feature of society

  • Intentional

  • Institutional

CRT — Roithmayr (2003) — locked-in inequality

• Scale of historical discrimination so large that inequality is self-perpetuating

CRT — Gillborn (2008)

• Ethnic inequality inevitable feature of educations system

CRT — Carmichael and Hamilton (1967) — institutional racism

• Less overt and identifiable in terms of specific individuals

  • It’s the operation of established and respected forces in society

5 ways in which the education system is institutionally racist (IR)

1. Marketisation and segregation

2. Ethnocentric curriculum

3. Assessment

4. Access to opportunities

5. New IQism

Gillborn (1997) — 2 impacts of marketisation and segregation

1. Gives schools more scope to select pupils

2. Allows negative stereotypes to influence admission decisions

🇺🇸 Moore and Davenport (1990) — language and marketisation and segregation (2)

1. Primary school reports screened out pupils with language difficulties

2. Application processes difficult for EAL parents to understand

🇺🇸 Moore and Davenport (1990) — impact of marketisation and segregation

• Selection procedures → ethnic segregation → EM pupils fail to get into good secondary schools

Commission for Racial Equality 🇬🇧 (1993) — 4 examples of racism in admission processes that lead to EM pupils in worse schools

1. Primary school reports stereotype EM pupils

2. Interviews showed racist bias

3. Lack of info and application forms in minority languages

4. EM parents unaware of waiting list system and important deadlines

Ethnocentric curriculum

• Attitude/policy that prioritises one culture and viewpoint linked to an ethnicity and disregards others

• Builds racist bias into everyday workings of schools and colleges

Ethnocentric curriculum — Troyna and Williams — languages

• Meagre provision for teaching Asian languages

  • Lots more for European languages

Ethnocentric curriculum — David (1993)

• National Curriculum ‘specifically British’

  • Ignores non-European languages, literature and music

Ethnocentric curriculum — Ball (1994) — history

• NC ignores ethnic diversity and history of Black and Asian people

  • Promotes an attitude of ‘little Englandism’ which recreates the age of Empire and ‘past glories’

Ethnocentric curriculum — Coard (1971; 2005) — history

• Ethnocentric curriculum produces underachievement

• 🇬🇧 presented as ‘bringing civilisation’ to the ‘primitive people’ they colonised

• Images of Black people as inferior undermines their self-esteem → underachievement

Ethnocentric curriculum — Michael Gove

• Removed curriculum’s explicit focus on racial and ethnic diversity

  • Meant teaching of Black history optional

2019 — % of GCSE pupils studying modules that refer to Black people’s contribution to Britain

11%

% of GCSE pupils studying a module with a focus on empire

<10%

% of major exam board GCSE history modules that explicitly mention Black history

20%

% of major exam board GCSE history modules that explicitly mention history of Black people in Britain

8%

% of GCSE students studying modules centred on non-European/American cultures

33%

CRITICISM of Coard — Stone (1981)

• Black children do not suffer from low self-esteem

Assessment — Gillborn (2008)

• ‘Assessment game’ rigged to validate dominant culture’s superiority

• If Black children succeed as a group the rules will be changed to re-engineer failures

Assessment — Gillborn (2008) — example

• Primary schools used to use baseline assessments

  • In 2003 this was changed to a foundation stage profile

• In 2000, Black children were the highest achievers on entry to school (20% above average)

  • In 2003, FSP ranked Black students lower than White students across all 6 areas measured

Assessment — Gillborn (2008) — FSP

• FSP = based on teacher’s judgements; end of reception

• BA = written tests in conjunction with teacher judgements; start of primary school

Assessment — Sanders and Horn (1995) — GCSEs

• When more weighting given to coursework > written exams, ethnic group differences widen

Access to opportunities — Gillborn (2008) — Gifted and Talented

• White children more than 2x more likely to be IDed as G&T than Black Caribbean pupils

• White children more than 15x more likely to be IDed as G&T than Black African pupils

Access to opportunities — Strand (2012) — exam tiers

• Black/White achievement gap in maths and science age 14

  • Caused by systematic underrepresentation of Black pupils in higher tier entries due to teacher labelling and s-f p

Access to opportunities — Tikly et al (2006) — exam tiers

• 30 schools had ‘aiming high’ programmes yet continued to systematically not enter Black Caribban pupils for higher tier exams due to being in lower sets

New IQism

• False assumptions made by teachers and policy makers about pupil ability and potential

  • Seen as fixed and easily measured

New IQism — Gillborn

• Unable to measure potential as tests can only tell us what one has learnt and can do now

New IQism — Gillborn and Youdell (2001)

• Secondary schools increasingly using IQ tests to determine streams on entry

New IQism — Gillborn — access to higher sets/G&T

• Depends on teacher assessment of pupil ability

  • Works against EM pupils

    • Black pupils presented as having more disciplinary problems due to teacher’s racialised expectations

CRITICISM of Gillborn

• Doesn’t explain underachievement of some EM groups like Black boys yet overachievement of 🇮🇳 and 🇨🇳 pupils

  • Gillborn: this idea in itself performs an ideological function by concealing IR in schools

CRITICISM of Gillborn — Sewell

• Racism in schools not powerful enough to prevent individuals from achieving

  • Other factors: anti-school attitudes, role of dad, peer groups

4 key findings of 2021 Race Report

1. EM pupils do well/better than White pupils in compulsory education (excluding Black Caribbean)

2. Diversity has increased in legal and medical professions

3. Some communities haunted by historic racism → deep mistrust (barrier to success)

4. Education system not deliberately rigged against EM (aka not instutionally racist)

% pay gap betwen EM and White employees

2.3%