Improving the Educational Environment for Mixed Race Children

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Improving the Educational Environment for Mixed
Race Children

• Professor Leon Tikly
• University of Bristol

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Research

• Projects and collaborators
• EMAG evaluation (with Audrey Osler, John Hill)
• Mixed heritage (with Chamion Caballero, Jo
  Haynes, John Hill)
• Aiming High Evaluation (with Dave Gilborn, Jo
  Haynes, Chamion Caballero, John Hill)

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Outline

• Who are the mixed race children?
• How do we define educational need?
• Achievement patterns of mixed race children
• Key barriers to achievement
• Towards a culturally learning school

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How do we define achievement?

• Examination scores measure cognitive achievement
• Need to take into account affective outcomes of
  education, e.g. emotional well being, creating
  good citizens etc.

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Barriers to achievement

• In many cases similar to those faced by pupils of
  Black Caribbean origin.
• More likely to come from socially disadvantaged
  backgrounds
• to experience forms of institutionalised racism
  in the form of low teacher expectations
• to be excluded from school.

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Barriers to achievement

• White/Black Caribbean pupils also face specific
  barriers to achievement.
• Low expectations based on a stereotypical view of
  the fragmented home backgrounds and confused
  identities.
• Leads to the adoption of what are perceived to be
  rebellious and challenging forms of behaviour.

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Barriers to achievement

• Mixed heritage identities not recognised in the
  curriculum or in policies of schools and of LEAs.
  
• In the case of White/Black Caribbean pupils,
  their invisibility from policy makes it difficult
  for their underachievement to be challenged.
• Need a whole school approach to change.

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Conclusions

• Issues are multi-layered
• Require asking people to think in new ways and to
  break with stereotypes and assumptions about race
  and about mixedness
• Change requires a whole school approach
• Needs to be driven form the centre e.g. DCSF,
  TTA, NCSL, QCA etc.
• Increasing scope for multi-agency work to address
  disadvantage for mixed race learners