Dealing with racism
The issue of racism can be a challenging one for any teacher to address. This is especially true when racism's impact is direct, as when a pupil makes a racially offensive remark or mistreats another pupil because of his or her race. But less overt situations can also be difficult, as when presenting topics relating to race in lessons, which requires a particular degree of sensitivity and awareness.
When it comes to the behaviour of pupils towards each other, levels of intolerance can very much depend on location. Some areas have a greater mix of cultures and religions than others, and this as well as economic and other social factors can have an influence on racial perceptions and attitudes.
Also, certain areas of the UK are home to cultural groups that may have positive or negative experiences of living outside their country of origin. Pupils obviously don't leave these experiences at home when they attend school. As children's ideas often form in the playground, with their peers influencing their perspectives on society, it is important to address these issues early on.
To combat racism in schools, teachers should be aware of such differences, attentive to children's interactions, and proactive in educating pupils about cultural and ethnic diversity across the curriculum. PSHE, Citizenship, History, Religion, Drama and other subjects offer ample opportunities for this.
See no evil
Schools are often reluctant to acknowledge the presence of racism for
fear of being perceived as inept in handling the problem or, worse yet,
insensitive to it. While pupils at secondary school will generally be excluded
for extreme cases of racist behaviour, at primary level incidents are generally
dealt with in-house, which unfortunately can mean glossing over or even pushing
some behaviour under the rug.
While problems of this sort among younger children might seem somehow less serious than incidents involving youths, it's worth remembering that social attitudes begin forming at a very early age and that ignoring a problem almost never makes it go away.
Inclusive learning
Language, gender and cultural factors produce different kinds of
pupils, so a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching doesn't really work.
Fortunately, there are opportunities for teachers to learn how to teach
children from different backgrounds using a more inclusive approach to
learning.
For example, in the wake of criticism that the education system has been failing to meet the needs of Muslim pupils and parents, the government responded by putting inclusive learning as a top priority on its agenda. In an effort to increase the awareness of Islam amongst non-Muslim teachers, the government now recommends special classes pertaining to Islam, prayer rooms in secondary schools, and religious awareness training for staff and governors when appropriate.
Celebrating difference
Teachers need to be attentive in the classroom, as even small
rejections such as a child moving away from someone who looks different from
them can cause huge distress. Where a pupil's fundamental perception of and
response to differences between individuals and groups seems to reflect an
"us versus them" mentality, it must be shifted towards a celebration
of differences and diversity. Activities encouraging this — using
discussion and practical exercises — are essential to addressing racism
in the classroom effectively.
What's in a word?
How to teach pupils about the issue of racism depends upon, among
other things, their age. One valuable early step is to make younger pupils
aware of the definition of words like racism and prejudice. Discussions
beginning with exact meanings can then move on to incorporate storytelling or
other means of example with which young pupils can more easily identify.
Prejudice in schools can manifest on grounds other than race. For example, special needs pupils within a 'mainstream' educational setting can also feel ostracised. Teachers could attempt to combat this by opening up a class discussion about different forms of prejudice, explaining that people can feel nervous about how to act with a disabled person, for example. It is worth remembering, however, that there's a fine line between putting a child at ease by discussing differences and singling them out through highlighting the fact that the difference is theirs.
Basically, in a class where everyone feels valued, it's much easier to get children to empathise with someone of a different religion, culture or physical ability who has been ostracised or bullied because of who they are or what they look like.
At primary level, teachers can perhaps channel the deep-rooted sense of fairness that most young children have by discussing how it feels to be discriminated against. Pupils can look at different types of racism, which include:-
- Violent — racially motivated attacks on people because of their colour
- Institutional — when people are discriminated against or refused promotion in their job because of their race
- Subtle — making people wait to be served in pubs, shops etc because of their race
The rights stuff
Racism in the UK is most often perceived to relate to friction between
those of English (white) backgrounds and those from black (African, Caribbean
or Asian) cultures. However, the multicultural make-up of Britain includes a
range of people from different ethnic backgrounds and asylum seekers from
various parts of the world.
Teachers can get older students to engage with these issues by injecting a global perspective into classroom studies on racism. Class discussions on human rights issues, for example, might focus on asylum seekers. Exercises can centre on questions such as:-
- How is an asylum seeker different from an illegal immigrant?
- What is the popular image of asylum seekers in this country?
- Do you think children from asylum-seeking families might need any kind of special education when they arrive in this country?
For students at Key Stage 4 level and above, issues such as the history of migration into the UK can be studied. Outcomes can be presented as a series of bullet points showing the reasons why people have come into the country, and the main areas of the world they have come from. Pupils can also write reports on conflicts such as civil wars in Somalia and Sudan, or genocide in Rwanda, all of which have caused families to leave their homes and become refugees. Further exercises can get pupils to explore the human rights records of countries such as Russia, the United States, South Africa, Serbia and Israel. By finding case studies, background details and key event information they can investigate issues of discrimination or racial persecution around the world. These types of class discussions help to develop skills of enquiry, communication and responsible action, particularly when linked with citizenship studies.
A number of organisations offer specific resources for schools. For example, The Runnymede Trust — a charity that looks into multiculturalism in Britain and fights racism — has developed the Real Histories Directory. An online resource for teachers, parents, pupils and the wider community, this resource encourages teaching and learning about cultural diversity across the UK. They have also produced a downloadable Practical Guide to Promoting Race Equality in Schools, which includes a CD-ROM with lesson plans and activities.
Useful links
Amnesty International: offers school resources and downloadable teaching packs that can be found through a simple search engine.
Channel 4: has links to interactive citizenship and PSHE activities, which are both useful for anti-racist exercises in the classroom.
Disability Equality in Education: has a range of resources from teaching packs to books on inclusive education, CDs, DVDs, games and children's storybooks.
Institute for Citizenship: features resources, information and case studies for teachers and students.
Oxfam: has over 80 resources for schools including publications on racism for teachers to use in the classroom.
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority: has some excellent guidance for teachers teaching about racism in the classroom.
The Refugee Council: sells publications relating to refugee issues as part of English, History, Geography and Religion.
The Runnymede Trust: provides resources for teachers wishing to promote race equality in schools. The linked Real Histories Directory (www.realhistories.org.uk) will help you locate resources that already exist in LAs such as storytellers, dual language books or culturally diverse toys. You can also add your own resources to the site.
This article was commissioned by TeacherNet's editorial team, independently of DCSF policy teams.
Last updated: 31 July 2007
