[page iii]

Appointments shown are those held by members at the time of the establishment of the Committee.

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[page v]

[page 1]

PREFACE

Background

1. In its report on 'The West Indian Community' (1) in 1977, the Select Committee on Race Relations and Immigration highlighted the widespread concern about the poor performance of West Indian children in schools. The Committee therefore recommended, amongst other measures, that 'as a matter of urgency the government (should) institute a high level and independent inquiry into the causes of the underachievement of children of West Indian origin in maintained schools and the remedial action required' (2).

Terms of reference

2. The government accepted the need for an inquiry but felt that it should be concerned with the needs of children from all ethnic minority groups with priority being given to children of West Indian origin (3). This committee was established in March 1979 but the appointment of members was not completed before the general election. The new government confirmed the establishment of the committee and appointed the remaining members. The terms of reference were:

'Recognising the contribution of schools in preparing all pupils for life in a society which is both multiracial and culturally diverse, the Committee is required to:

review in relation to schools the educational needs and attainments of children from ethnic minority groups taking account, as necessary, of factors outside the formal education system relevant to school performance, including influences in early childhood and prospects for school leavers;

consider the potential value of instituting arrangements for keeping under review the educational performance of different ethnic minority groups, and what those arrangements might be;

consider the most effective use of resources for these purposes; and to make recommendations.

Sub-committees

3. Since we had so much ground to cover we divided our work among six sub-committees. The division was: pre-school influences and the role of the school pastoral system, language, the school curriculum and examinations, the transition from school to work, teacher education and non-mainstream education. In addition, working groups were established to discuss statistics and research.

(1) House of Commons HC 180-I-III. February 1977.

(2) Ibid paragraph 57.

(3) 'The West Indian Community'. Home Office. Cmnd 7186, April 1978.

(4) The Committee's terms of reference relate to England only.

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Collection of evidence

4. Although we recognised that a great deal of discussion had already taken place about the apparent underachievement of West Indian children we felt that it was necessary for us to call for up to date evidence and to see whether the picture had changed since the Select Committee reported in 1977. We issued a general invitation in November 1979 to individuals and organisations to submit evidence and followed this up with requests for specific information to a number of organisations, including West Indian community groups and church organisations.

Approach to LEAs

5. We felt that it was important to look not only at the education service at national level but also to see for ourselves what was happening in local education authorities (LEAs) and in individual schools. We therefore approached nine LEAs in different parts of the country with varying concentrations of West Indian pupils. We followed up the information they supplied by visiting as many schools as possible, spending between half a day and three days in each school. (Between 1 January 1980 and 31 July 1980 we undertook over 100 days of visiting.)

Research

6. In order to be informed of relevant research findings we commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to produce a critical review of recent research on the education of West Indian children. It is proposed that this review should be published separately in the next few months. In order to obtain information on the qualifications of West Indian school leavers, we asked the Department of Education and Science (DES) Statistics Branch to include in their school leavers survey for 1978/79 for six LEAs a question on the ethnic origin of the leavers and the level of their achievement. (See Chapter One.)

Open meetings

7. In addition we felt that we should also talk and listen to those at the centre of our investigations - West Indian young people and their parents. We therefore arranged a series of open meetings in the evenings and at weekends in the areas which we were investigating.

Acknowledgement

8. We are grateful to the LEAs, schools, and other institutions whom we visited for their help and cooperation with our work. We would also like to thank all the organisations and individuals who gave oral and written evidence to us.

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INTRODUCTION

Definition of 'West Indian'

1. We were asked to submit an interim report on the particular needs and attainments of West Indian children because of widespread concern about the apparent failure of many members of this group throughout the education system. Since there is no nationally recognised definition of 'West Indian', we have in this report dealt with those children who are black (1), whose families came originally from the group of islands known as the West Indies, and who are generally speaking regarded as West Indian by teachers and the community at large. Virtually all these children are British born (2). They are therefore in no way 'immigrants'. They are a permanent and integral part of our society which has a responsibility to ensure as satisfactory an education for them as for any other British child. It is important to note in this context that the West Indian population in this country is disproportionately younger than the indigenous population and therefore many more West Indians are now of school age than might otherwise be expected (3).

Interim Report

2. From the evidence which we have obtained and which is detailed in chapter one, and from our visits and discussions up and down the country, we are convinced that West Indian children as a group are indeed underachieving in relation to their peers. This should be a matter of deep concern not only to all those involved in education but also to the whole community, and we are grateful for this opportunity to put forward our conclusions and recommendations as a matter of urgency. The fact that this is our interim report and that we shall be looking at the needs of other ethnic minorities as well as West Indians for a further two years, means that as a committee we shall be directly involved in the follow-up to this report and shall be able to take account of the response to our present recommendations in preparing our main report. Our aim now is to emphasise what we see as the major issues in the education of West Indian children, to draw attention to good practice, and to put forward practical recommendations on action which should be taken. We have taken the opportunity of raising throughout the report a number of broader issues on which we have yet to reach firm conclusions, and on which we would welcome further evidence. We have summarised these at the end of the report, and we have also listed a number of discussion points in the hope that these will stimulate and encourage widespread discussion.

Responses to our work

3. It is worth noting here the general reactions which we have received to our work from two key groups - West Indians and teachers. The West Indians' initial response was one of suspicion and cynicism - suspicion about

(1) In this report we have not dealt with the particular problems faced by 'black minorities' other than West Indians.

(2) According to the National Dwelling and Housing Survey, 1977, 95% of West Indian children in school were born in this country.

(3) According to the NDHS Survey 1977, approximately 30% of West Indians in this country were aged between 5 and 15 compared with a national average of approximately 17%.

[page 4]

why their children had once again been singled out for particular attention, and cynicism about whether anything worthwhile would actually emerge from our work since their views had already been expressed on a number of occasions, notably to the Select Committee, and little action had resulted. Our response was to point out that the attention being given to West Indian children was a direct result of the concern originally voiced by West Indians and that our intention was to make practical recommendations about action which might be taken to help West Indian children to reach their full potential. Although other bodies have undertaken research into various aspects of the education of ethnic minority groups, this is the first time that the government has set up an independent committee to look at the question as a whole with a view to putting forward recommendations for action.

4. The reaction from teachers was varied: some to whom we spoke were defensive and expressed doubts about the need for our work. We have tried to make it clear that we are not seeking to criticise or condemn teachers nor tell them how to do their jobs. On the contrary we have learnt a great deal from our discussions with teachers and in our visits we have seen a lot of good and interesting work being done which we very much hope will be further encouraged by this report. Many teachers we met welcomed the opportunity to talk to us and we were encouraged by the positive and helpful responses which we received from some of the teacher unions, most notably the National Union of Teachers (NUT) (1) and the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE).

5. Throughout our work we have been conscious of a loss of trust and a wide gulf in understanding between too many West Indian parents and schools and we therefore hope, apart from those specific recommendations which we have made about the need for closer links between the home and the school, that by explaining the factors influencing the attitudes of parents and teachers, and their aspirations and concerns, we can go some way towards bringing them closer together.

6. Equally important in our view is the broader context of the overall aims of education and the needs of all pupils in our schools today. Our terms of reference make clear that the education of West Indian children cannot be seen in isolation and must be considered as part of the education of all children. As part of our work we therefore considered what in our view schools should be attempting to provide for all their pupils in today's multiracial and culturally diverse society.

7. While we have been keenly aware of the questions currently being debated about the balance of the curriculum, the structure of the examinations system, teaching methods, standards of literacy and numeracy and the relationship between schools, parents and the world of work, we have tried

(1) The NUT's evidence to this committee 'The achievement of West Indian pupils' has been published and can be purchased from the NUT headquarters.

[page 5]

to confine ourselves in this report to looking at the education system as it is today and at the responses of that system to the presence in our schools, and in society, of ethnic minority groups and particularly West Indians.

8. It has been especially valuable for us to visit schools in a number of different parts of the country, in rural as well as urban areas, and in areas with no ethnic minority groups, as well as in those with high concentrations of West Indians. We have encountered a wide range of attitudes and experience amongst the teachers whom we have met and whereas many of those in multiracial urban schools may have been considering how best to meet the needs of ethnic minority pupils for many years, others, in schools which have only recently become multiracial, may only now be finding themselves faced with this challenge. Some teachers in the 'all-white' schools we visited were clearly thinking seriously for the first time about some of the fundamental issues that we raised with them. Others still assumed that the education of ethnic minority pupils was nothing to do with them. We have no doubt that the issues covered by our work have been and will continue to be relevant to every school and every teacher in this country.

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CHAPTER ONE

The Evidence of Underachievement

1. Concern about West Indian children and their performance at school was expressed as long ago as the early 1960s. For instance, in 1963 a study by Brent LEA found the performance of West Indian children was, on average, much lower than that of white children in reading, arithmetic and spelling. In 1965, a study carried out by Vernon (1) comparing West Indians in London and Hertfordshire showed similar results, and in 1966 and 1968 Little's studies (2) of the reading standards of nine year olds in the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) showed that West Indian children were performing less well at primary school than white children from the same socio-economic backgrounds. (The findings of the 1980 survey of the reading attainment of these children at 15+ is discussed in detail in chapter two). A study undertaken in Redbridge in 1978 (3) also showed considerable underachievement by West Indian children in reading in relation to their white peers.

School Leavers Survey Exercise

2. It was important for us in preparing this report to obtain some specific statistical data to establish the extent of the academic underachievement of West Indian children. The DES Statistics Branch therefore included for us in their school leavers survey for 1978/79 for six LEAs (covering approximately half of the school leavers from ethnic minorities in this country) a question on the ethnic origin of the leavers (4).

3. We summarise below the conclusions of this exercise and give the comparative figures for all maintained school leavers in England (5).

CSE AND O LEVEL ACHIEVEMENTS IN ENGLISH (6) AND MATHEMATICS

Tables A and B show the percentage distribution by broad level of achievement at CSE and O Level in English and mathematics. In English 9% of West Indians scored higher grades compared with 21% of Asians (for many of whom English may have been a second language) and 29% of other leavers in these LEAs. In mathematics 5% of West Indians scored higher grades compared with 19% of other leavers.

(1) 'Environmental handicaps and intellectual development'. Vernon (1965).

(2) 'The education of immigrant pupils in inner London primary schools'. Little et al (1968).

(3) 'Cause for Concern: West Indian pupils in Redbridge'. Black Peoples Progressive Association and Redbridge Community Relations Council (April 1978).

(4) The DES school leavers survey collects data on the education qualifications, age on leaving school and first destination of a 10% sample of all school leavers in a given academic year. For the 1978/79 survey, six LEAs with high concentrations of children from ethnic minority groups agreed to ask all maintained secondary schools in their areas to provide information on an ethnic basis for the committee. Information was obtained on 1,403 Asian, African or West Indian school leavers of whom 799 were West Indian.

(5) As the results are based on a sample survey they are subject to sampling variations but the main differences shown are significant even allowing for these variations. The figures are rounded to the nearest whole percentage and the sum of the constituent parts does not therefore always equal 100%.

(6) CSE English and GCE O Level English Language.

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TABLE A ENGLISH (CSE AND O LEVEL)

TABLE B MATHEMATICS (CSE AND O LEVEL)

ALL CSE AND O LEVEL ACHIEVEMENTS

Table C shows the percentage distribution by broad levels of achievement in all CSE and O Level examinations. The most striking feature in this table is that 3% of West Indians obtained 5 or more higher grades compared with 18% of Asians and 16% of other leavers. The comparative percentages of leavers from different ethnic minority groups gaining 'at least one graded result but less than five higher grades' do not give a reliable picture of the achievement of the 'middle band' of achievers since this category ranges from pupils gaining one graded CSE result to those gaining four higher grades at O Level. From what we have seen in schools however, we believe that the majority of the 81% of West Indians fall at the lower end of the range of achievement.

[page 8]

TABLE C CSE AND O LEVEL ACHIEVEMENTS

A LEVEL ACHIEVEMENTS

Table D shows that 2% of West Indians gained one or more A Level pass compared with 13% of Asians and 12% of other leavers.

TABLE D A LEVEL ACHIEVEMENTS

DESTINATION AND TYPE OF COURSE TO BE FOLLOWED

Table E shows that 1% of West Indians went on to university compared with 3% of Asians and 3% of other leavers.

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TABLE E DESTINATION OF SCHOOL LEAVERS

Table F shows that 1% of West Indians went on to full time degree courses in further education compared with 5% of Asians and 4% of other leavers.

TABLE F FURTHER EDUCATION COURSES (FULL-TIME)

Comparison with Asian leavers

4. This exercise provided us with some data about Asian school leavers in these LEAs. At this stage in our work we are not in a position to evaluate this information or to take into account the complex network of similarities and differences that would allow us to draw comparisons between the achievement of Asian and West Indian pupils. In the next two years we shall be looking at the achievement of children from all ethnic minority groups and we shall be able to use this information as a starting point in this task.

Dr Driver's research

5. While we were considering the evidence on underachievement an article appeared in New Society (1) suggesting that West Indian girls achieved better than West Indian boys at school and in some cases both West Indian boys and girls achieved better than their white classmates. The article attracted considerable publicity and was frequently referred to on our visits. We therefore took the opportunity of meeting Dr Driver and looked in further

(1) 'How West Indians do better at school (especially the girls)'. Driver G, New Society, January 1980.

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detail at the full report of his findings (1). This indicated that the findings in the oversimplified presentation in New Society, which had attracted so much interest, were not substantiated. The NFER review we commissioned deals with Driver's research in detail and stated that '... generalisations on a national scale could not be made as a result of this study because the pupils involved were not a representative sample since relevant records were often not available, either from a larger number of LEAs which had initially been approached, or from within the schools themselves. In addition it was admitted that it was not possible to compare one school with another on progressive measures of attainment or even one pupil-generation in the same school with another'. And 'Although, it is true, he (Dr Driver) acknowledges the limitations of the study ... it is also fair to point out that he does draw educational conclusions on the basis of statistical evidence which in many cases is found wanting in statistical terms.'

6. We recognise that the aims of education range beyond academic achievement and embrace concepts such as the personal development of the child and the fostering of self-respect and respect for others. While it is not possible to measure the extent to which children are achieving or underachieving in these respects, we have been continually aware of these factors on our visits and they are reflected in our conclusions. The evidence summarised in this section shows that many West Indian pupils are underachieving in relation to their peers, not least in obtaining the examination qualifications needed to give them equality of opportunity in the employment market and to enable them to take advantage of the range of post school opportunities available.

7. While we accept that there will perhaps always be some children who will underachieve and for various reasons will fail to reach their full potential, our concern is that West Indian children as a group are underachieving in our education system. We recognise that this might be seen as a broad generalisation: some West Indians are achieving results comparable with or indeed higher than those of their peers. We have met a group of West Indians, currently studying in higher education, all of whom said that they had faced particular obstacles and difficulties in the course of their education which they had had to overcome to reach higher education. We hope for our main report to be able to look into these difficulties and the particular circumstances which have led these and other West Indians to be academically successful.

(1) 'Beyond Underachievement'. Case studies of English, West Indian and Asian school leavers at 16+. CRE 1980.

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CHAPTER TWO

The Factors Contributing to Underachievement

Alleged causes of underachievement

1. In seeking to identify the factors which lead so many West Indian children to underachieve in our schools, many causes, both within the education system and outside it, were suggested by those who gave evidence to us. That which was most forcefully and frequently put forward by West Indians themselves was racism, both within schools and in society. Other reasons which were said to contribute to underachievement were the inadequacy of pre-school provision and the particular linguistic difficulties of West Indian children. Within schools, the inappropriateness of the curriculum and the examinations system, separately or combined with teachers' low expectations of West Indian pupils have also been represented as contributory factors. A loss of trust and a lack of understanding between teachers and West Indian parents, which may arise particularly if the latter have not themselves been educated in this country have been said to make the situation worse. Other factors such as the general state of race relations, discrimination in employment, conflict with authority figures, notably the police, and the relative absence of West Indians in prominent positions of responsibility in society who could be seen as 'role models' for young West Indians have also been put forward.

2. There is inevitably some overlap between these alleged causes and they are by no means all the factors which have been said to account for the underachievement. Other factors suggested to us were: poor teaching, a lack of responsiveness to the needs of individual pupils and just 'bad practice'. Although in these circumstances West Indian, and indeed other ethnic minority, pupils may suffer more than others because their particular needs are not being met, the education of all the children in the school is also likely to be affected. In the limited time available to us we have attempted to investigate, as far as possible, the various explanations and assertions which have been put to us and we have sought to identify those which could be substantiated and those which, if not wholly dismissed, could at least be said to be only a minor part of the overall picture of underachievement.

3. We have tried to see these factors in relation to the progress of a West Indian child in the education system from the pre-school stage, through primary and secondary school to the transition from school to adult life. We have also considered the support available for schools and teachers through teacher education, the advisory services, the collection of statistics and the provision of funding.

4. Because so many of those who gave evidence to us suggested that it was a major factor in underachievement, and since it is an issue which is not only extremely sensitive but is also widely misunderstood, we begin by looking in some detail at racism and its effects both within schools and in society generally.

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a. RACISM

1. Many West Indians insisted to us that the major reason for the underachievement of their children at school was racism (racial prejudice and discrimination), and its effects both in schools and in society generally. Many other people who gave evidence to us mentioned racism as a contributory factor.

2. In our view racism describes a set of attitudes and behaviour towards people of another race which is based on the belief that races are distinct and can be graded as 'superior' or 'inferior'. A racist is therefore someone who believes that people of a particular race, colour or national origin are inherently inferior, so that their identity, culture, self-esteem, views and feelings are of less value than his or her own and can be disregarded or treated as less important.

3. Very few people can be said to be entirely without prejudice of one kind or another and in this country, due in part at least to the influence of history, these prejudices may be directed against West Indians and other non-white ethnic minority groups. A well-intentioned and apparently sympathetic person may, as a result of his education, experiences or environment, have negative, patronising or stereotyped views about ethnic minority groups which may subconsciously affect this attitude and behaviour towards members of those groups. This may be illustrated by references to West Indians as 'them' and 'these people' and the tendency to describe British-born West Indians as 'immigrants'. We see such attitudes and behaviour as a form of 'unintentional' racism.

4. Although genuine misunderstandings can sometimes lead people, both black and white, to believe mistakenly that racism lies behind certain behaviour or situations, we are convinced from the evidence that we have obtained that racism, both intentional and unintentional, has a direct and important bearing on the performance of West Indian children in our schools.

5. The suggestion that teachers are in any way racist understandably arouses very strong reactions from the profession and is often simply rejected out of hand as entirely unjustified and malicious. Since a profession of nearly half a million people must to a great extent reflect the attitudes of society at large there must inevitably be some teachers who hold explicitly racist views. Such teachers are very much in the minority. We have, however, found some evidence of what we have described as unintentional racism in the behaviour and attitudes of other teachers whom it would be misleading to describe as racist in the commonly accepted sense. They firmly believe that any prejudices they may have can do no harm since they are not translated into any openly discriminatory behaviour. Nevertheless, if their attitudes are influenced in any way by prejudices against ethnic minority groups, this can and does, we believe, have a detrimental effect on all children whom they encounter.

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We hope that by discussing in this report some of the ways in which these effects show themselves we can help teachers to be more aware of the implications of their actions.

6. For example, there seemed to be a fairly widespread opinion among teachers to whom we spoke that West Indian pupils inevitably caused difficulties. These pupils were, therefore, seen either as problems to be put up with or, at best, deserving sympathy. Such negative and patronising attitudes, focusing as they do on West Indian children as problems, cannot lead to a constructive or balanced approach to their education. Teacher education, both initial and in-service, by concentrating on the difficulties of multi-racial schools, has done little to encourage more positive attitudes towards West Indian children.

7. Again, it has repeatedly been pointed out to us that low expectations of the academic ability of West Indian pupils by teachers can often prove a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many teachers feel that West Indians are unlikely to achieve in academic terms but may have high expectations of their potential in areas such as sport, dance, drama and art. If these particular skills are unduly emphasised there is a risk of establishing a view of West Indian children that may become a stereotype and teachers may be led to encourage these pupils to pursue these subjects at the expense of their academic studies. We have not so far been able to consider fully whether West Indian children may thus have an unbalanced curriculum which may jeopardise their chances of academic success although many West Indian parents clearly believe this to be the case.

8. By contrast, many of the teachers to whom we spoke on our visits were at pains to assert that they deliberately made no distinction between 'black' pupils and others: they were 'colour-blind'. In this way, they claimed to fulfil the first duty of a teacher which they saw as regarding all pupils equally, as having particular strengths and weaknesses and individual educational needs. However, to regard all children as equal in this sense need not mean that they should all receive the same educational treatment. In fact, to adopt a 'colour-blind' view of children is in effect to ignore important differences between them which may give rise to particular educational needs. A West Indian child in a predominantly white society needs to see that people like himself are accepted in society generally and that it is recognised that ethnic minority groups have made and are making important contributions in all walks of life. If teachers do not make a determined effort to acknowledge the West Indian child's individual needs in this respect, they are in effect treating him as though he were white and denying an important and visible fact of his everyday life. As the NUT put it to us in their evidence:

'Within the education system neither teachers nor pupils are blind to colour, and it would be insufficient for teachers to claim that they give all their pupils equality of treatment within the classroom. They have to

[page 14]

cope with social pressures from the outside world - for the classroom does not exist in a vacuum - and attitudes of racial intolerance, prejudice and a stereotyped view of ethnic minority groups will often percolate through into schools.'

9. Alongside these attitudes and their effects are a number of broader questions relating to the extent to which the actual institutions and procedures operating within our education system as a whole provide equality of opportunity for ethnic minority groups. Traditional educational practices, originally established to cater for the needs of a generally homogeneous population, can in fact operate in discriminatory ways when applied to today's society. This is another matter which concerns all ethnic minority groups, not just West Indians, and will therefore form part of the background to our main report.

10. We discuss in the course of this report various ways in which racism in the broadest sense in both schools and society can have a bearing on the achievement of West Indian children. The recommendations which we offer in respect of particular aspects of education, notably on the curriculum, books and teaching materials and teacher education, are intended to overcome the effects of racism. In isolation, however, these cannot be enough. Teachers should be prepared to examine and reappraise their own attitudes and actions in an effort to ensure that their behaviour towards and expectations of ethnic minority pupils are not influenced by stereotyped and negative views. They should also be willing to challenge manifestations of racism wherever they occur by, for example, making clear that racist name-calling both in the school playground and classroom in unacceptable. In short we are asking teachers to play a leading role in seeking to bring about a change in attitudes on the part of society as a whole towards ethnic minority groups.

b. PRE-SCHOOL PROVISION

1. The report of the Central Policy Review Staff (CPRS) in 1978 'Services for Young Children with Working Mothers' drew attention to four inadequate aspects of the existing services for the under fives:

'a. there is a lack of direction and no clear priorities as to the ways in which services should progress.

b. there is confusion in the administration of services for children under five. The provision of services is fragmented and responsibility is divided.

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c. the consequences of the present situation for the children and their parents are both unjust and inequitable. There is a serious lost opportunity for preventative work at an early stage.

d. it is widely recognised that children benefit from some education and care outside their homes between the ages of three and five. A substantial number of children are denied this benefit because adequate provision is not available.'

'In Great Britain there are some 900,000 children under five whose mothers have a job; the government provides or controls full and part time day care for about 120,000 children in day nurseries and with childminders'.

and

'... there are over three quarters of a million children under five whose mothers work and who have at present no access to local authority day nursery or childminder provision.'

2. These figures are an overall assessment of what is clearly a very unsatisfactory situation. We believe that for many West Indian children the position is even worse. A disproportionate number of West Indian women are forced to go out to work because of their economic circumstances. The 1971 Census showed that 68% of West Indian married women went out to work compared with the national average of 42%. The percentage of West Indian men employed on night shifts is almost double that of white males and the incidence of one parent families is higher for West Indians than for whites. West Indian parents may therefore face particular pressures affecting their children in the vital pre-school formative years. In an ideal world, West Indians would work the kind of hours for the level of pay which would allow them to spend time with their children. It is vital for a young child to have 'adult time' available; to have stories told and read to him; to be helped to learn nursery rhymes so that his language and his ability to listen can be developed, and so that parents can answer the inevitable questions that children always pose. While it is now generally accepted that young children need to form a stable and consistent relationship with only a limited number of adults we are faced with a situation where West Indian parents are stretched in ways which make steady, relaxed care of their children hard to achieve. They are caught up in a cycle of cumulative disadvantage and as the government White Paper 'Racial Discrimination' in 1975 (1) pointed out:

'... relatively low paid or low status jobs for the first generation of immigrants go hand in hand with poor overcrowded living conditions 'and a depressed environment. If, for example, job opportunities, educational facilities, housing and environmental conditions are all poor, the next generation will grow up less weIl equipped to deal with the

(1) 'Racial Discrimination' HMSO Cmnd 6234 September 1975.

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difficulties facing them. The wheel then comes full circle, as the second generation find themselves trapped in poor jobs and poor housing.'

Range of Facilities Available

4. The facilities available for children under five can be grouped as follows: day care facilities (mostly for children under five and the responsibility of local authority social services departments): day nurseries, childminders, play groups; educational facilities (for children from three to five and the responsibility of LEAs): nursery schools, nursery units in primary schools, primary schools that accept rising fives into their infant classes. There are also some facilities such-as combined nursery centres which are administered by education and social services departments. In addition the voluntary sector is much involved in this field, notably with the provision of playgroups,' toy libraries and family support groups. Health visitors also have a role to play which even if not primarily concerned with education is nevertheless a most important one.

Day Care Facilities

5. The principal local authority day care facilities available are day nurseries but far too few places are available to cater for children other than those seen as in special need. The fact that the provision of day care facilities is inadequate has long been acknowledged and it is not our task in this report to dwell on the deficiencies of the system. We have limited ourselves to offering recommendations for day care facilities where we feel that they will particularly benefit West Indian families.

Child-minders

6. Like most parents, West Indians are unlikely to be able to obtain places for their children in day nurseries. They must therefore rely on other forms

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of care such as childminders, both those registered (1) with the local authority social services departments and those who look after children but who are not registered. We should like to see social services departments encouraging the registration of childminders and when they are registered supporting them with books and educational toys and offering advice and training on how these can best be used to help develop the child's conceptual and linguistic skills. We also feel that social services departments should do more to help parents select the most suitable childminder for their child and we have been impressed by the efforts made by some local authorities to 'match' child with minder rather than simply issuing on request a list of registered minders in an area with no additional guidance to parents.

Educational Facilities

7. Educational facilities should be available for all children from three to five whose parents wish to avail themselves of this service. According to the DES provisional statistics for January 1980 only 39% of pupils under five were attending maintained nursery and primary schools. Unfortunately just under half of these were being taught in classes in primary schools, other than specific nursery classes, alongside older pupils and without the appropriate nursery resources, both in terms of staffing and teaching materials. We should like to see nursery provision increased and the nursery school or nursery unit becoming a focal point for provision for the under fives and being recognised as such by social workers and health visitors. It should also be seen as a resource centre for the community it serves by making facilities both in terms of advice and guidance and resources such as toys and other materials available to mothers and childminders.

8. We are particularly interested in looking at ways in which the number of nursery school places can be increased. As primary school rolls fall we hope that LEAs will take steps to convert former primary school premises for nursery use. The DES has recently issued guidance (2) on this which shows that in many cases little capital cost need be involved. In areas with West Indian children, LEAs can of course seek financial assistance with salaries under Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 (see chapter three below). We intend for our main report to look further at the extent to which local education authorities are taking advantage of Section 11 in the field of provision for the under fives.

9. Even the present facilities could be used much more intensively. To use nursery school and nursery unit premises for six hours a day, five days

(1) Anyone looking after someone else's child under five in their own home must register with the local social services department if payment is made, if the child is not a close relative, and if it is looked after during the day for at least two hours or an aggregate of two hours or longer. Minders have to reach certain minimum standards in safety and facilities for the local authority to register them. In registering a minder the local authority may specify the maximum number of children who shall he cared for, having regard to the number of children already in the home; DHSS circular 37/68 recommends that a single-handed minder should not normally have more than three children under five, including any of her own.

(2) 'Nursery Education, low cost adaptation of spare space in primary schools' DES Architects and Buildings Branch Broadsheet I - May 1980.

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a week, and forty weeks a year is both a gross under-utilisation of an expensive capital asset and a denial of the requirements of working mothers. With relatively little extra cost the nursery units or schools could remain open for long enough for parents working full-time to make use of them. This could be achieved in part by the use of voluntary help from childminders, mothers who work only part-time or not at all, and by additional nursery nurses. LEAs would of course need to take into account that children staying in the nursery schools and units before and after school hours would benefit from a more informal 'domestic' environment where they could relax and feel at home.

10. In the final stages of preparing our report, we were concerned to learn that recent changes in the grant support arrangements might reduce the willingness of some local authorities to provide the under-five facilities we believe to be essential. We refer to the fact that Rate Support Grant to individual authorities is now calculated, as far as provision for under fives is concerned, on the basis of their total under-five population regardless of their levels of provision. We would have hoped to see those local authorities which are seeking to meet the needs of under fives in a positive manner having every financial incentive to do so.

11. Overall therefore it is clear that facilities for the under fives, both in terms of day-care and educational provision, are inadequate, and that this bears particularly heavily on West Indian families. The recommendations we offer are designed to counter the particular difficulties that they experience as well as improving the overall situation. There seems little likelihood of any improvement whilst, as the CPRS report put it, '... provision of services is fragmented and responsibility is divided'. In an attempt to bring about improved consultation and collaboration between education and the social services at local level, we remind local authorities of the joint DES/DHSS circular (1) on the co-ordination of provision for the under fives and we would like to see an, official in every local authority designated to be responsible for the co-ordination of the services for the under fives. We therefore recommend that:

i. All local authorities should review their arrangements for the co-ordination of services, both voluntary and statutory, for the under fives with a view to designating an official to be responsible for the co-ordination of these services.

ii. As primary school rolls fall LEAs should convert former primary school premises for nursery use. In areas with West Indian children full use should be made of resources available through Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 in the staffing of such units and the facilities should be extended to provide a service for mothers working full-time.

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iii. Local Authorities and Health Authorities should ensure that initial training and in-service training for nursery nurses and health visitors include information on the particular pressure faced by West Indian parents and sensitise all those who work with under fives to the need for West Indian children to develop positive attitudes towards their ethnic group by the provision of appropriate learning and play materials.

iv. Local Authorities and Health Authorities should seek to recruit more West Indians, and members of other ethnic minority groups, as nursery nurses and health visitors.

v. Local Authorities should use all available means of informing parents of the nursery education and day care facilities available in their areas.

vi. Local Education Authorities should make available to all parents of young children a document offering advice and ideas on preparation for school.

vii. Local Authorities should review their procedures for the registration of childminders in order to extend the service and should offer guidance to mothers on selecting a childminder to meet their particular needs.

Aims of Education

1. The aim of all schools must be to provide a 'good education' for all their pupils and although opinions will vary about what that actually entails, we believe that there is general agreement that the broad purposes of education are to:
- encourage the individual development of every child to acquire knowledge and skills to the limits of his or her age, aptitude and ability; .
- transmit knowledge and values from one generation to the next; and
- provide every individual child with an equal opportunity of playing a full and active part in adult social and working life.

To benefit from education in all these respects a child must possess the basic tools of learning: the ability to read and to use language.


READING

2. While no one doubts the importance of learning to read, it is not, perhaps, sufficiently appreciated how important it is to learn to read at an early age. If reading is not learnt quickly, the child will inevitably have difficulty in keeping pace with the demands of our education system.

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1980 lLEA Literacy Survey

3. An important source of data on West Indian children's reading attainment is the 1980 ILEA Literacy Survey (1). It includes information on the testing of West Indian pupils at 15+ and compares this with earlier attainment scores for UK non-immigrant children at the same ages. Its major finding in respect of the reading attainment of West Indians was that it was very low compared with other groups and that not only was it low at eight years but it remained low at school leaving age. No groups were reading at the levels expected for their age when compared with a national sample.

MEAN READING SCORES AT 8, 10 AND 15 YEARS (expected score for each age of national sample 100).

4. The survey examines a number of possible factors which might have led to this result-length of education in this country, social deprivation, linguistic handicaps, teacher expectations and the self image of the child. It finds that each of these factors plays some part in the overall picture of underachievement, and concludes:

'A major contributory factor would seem to be adverse environmental circumstances. When factors of social deprivation ... were taken into account the difference in the average attainment of the Black (West Indians) and White British (indigenous) in the Literacy Survey was halved. The possible effects of linguistic interference and teacher attitudes and expectations could not be measured directly but it seems probable that they have an adverse effect on West Indians, particularly when coupled with adverse social circumstances.'

(1) The survey was based on a cohort of children born between September 1959 and September 1960 numbering over 31,000 when they were tested for reading at eight. They were subsequently also tested on verbal reasoning, and received teachers' assessments on English and maths for transfer at 10+. A ten% sample was also tested individually at 11+, and at 8 and 13 when teachers completed questionnaires on the social and education background of the children. Seventy-five% of the sample of West Indian children in this cohort started school at five or younger. Nearly a third of the whole cohort had left ILEA schools by 1976 and absences accounted for a further loss of nearly a quarter of the pupils. Therefore only approximately half of the pupils identified in 1968 at age eight as West Indian (52%) and United Kingdom non-immigrant (49%) had complete test data.

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Teaching Methods and Materials

5. The materials used for teaching reading should reflect the cultural background of all children and a scheme such as the Schools Council's 'Breakthrough to Literacy' has the advantage that it allows the teacher to build on the child's own language. We have been impressed by the ILEA multi-cultural inspectorate's videotapes of children's language work which are designed for in-service training and the 'Reading through Understanding' (RTU) materials, which contain very helpful teachers' guides as well as children's reading material for classroom work.

Remedial Strategies

6. Schools should attempt to give children individual attention when they fall behind in reading. Because language builds on the individual concepts that a child brings from home, a particularly valuable teaching approach can be to encourage older pupils who have already mastered certain stages in reading, to assist younger or slower learners by explaining each stage and encouraging their confidence. We noted with interest that some primary schools have arrangements whereby pensioners and students regularly help children by listening to them reading.

Involvement of parents

7. We have received encouraging evidence of the benefits to the teaching of reading derived from close collaboration between schools and parents. A two year study in 1976-78 involving six multi-racial schools was set up by Dr Hewison of the Thomas Coram Research Unit and others to establish whether reading standards could be improved by encouraging parents to help their children at home. The essential factor was that the class teacher sent reading material home three or four times a week and the parent heard the child read and recorded the fact on a card sent from school. The progress of these children was compared with children in two other classes in which an experienced teacher, a reading specialist, worked half time with small groups withdrawn from the class for extra reading. To quote from the report of the study:

'From a preliminary analysis of the data ... the main findings ... show that in two multi-racial inner city schools, parental involvement in the teaching of reading led to a significant improvement ... while ... small group teaching by the reading specialist appeared to make little or no difference to the children's reading test scores as compared with those of the controls.'

i. in inner city schools it is feasible to involve all parents in formal educational activities with infant and first-year junior children, even if some of the parents are non-literate, or even non-English speaking;

ii. the reading attainments of children who receive parental help are markedly better than those of comparable children who do not;

iii. most parents express satisfaction at being involved in this way by the schools;

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iv. teachers report that the children show an increased keenness in learning in school;

v. teachers report that they have found the experience worthwhile and are continuing to involve parents in the teaching of reading even though the experiment has ended;

vi. small group instruction by a highly competent specialist appeared to make no difference to reading standards comparable to the improvement of the children who had help at home;

vii. parental assistance was particularly effective in raising the performance level of the weakest readers.

8. We regard this work as of the utmost importance and we believe. that efforts to involve parents more closely in helping their children to learn to read could yield important benefits for West Indian children.

LANGUAGE

9. The results of the School Leavers Survey exercise show that low reading scores by West Indian pupils are matched by their underachievement in GCE English Language and CSE English. Only 9% of West Indian pupils gained higher grades compared with 34% of all school leavers at 16+. A major aim of schools must be to ensure that children are literate and articulate in English, to enable them to take full advantage of the opportunities provided by education, and to achieve their full potential in school and in society. In developing confidence and competence in English, schools should value the language or dialect which all children, including West Indians, bring to school, and should recognise the effect which the acceptance or rejection of it by teachers can have on the child's self-image, and the constructive use which can be made of it in helping the child to understand and appreciate the nature of language.

West Indian Language

10. West Indian children in this country speak in a variety of ways. Some are able to speak creole (1), and use it on certain occasions; many, regardless of their island of origin, are developing what has been described as 'Black English' or 'British Jamaican'. Other children speak mainly in the local vernacular, with or without creole features, and others again speak mainly in standard English. Children originating from St Lucia and Dominica are sometimes able to understand French creole. A few are able to use several of these forms. Very few, apart from new arrivals, speak exclusively in creole.

(1) Some linguists consider West Indian creoles to be dialects of English, while others, particularly some from the Caribbean, consider them to be languages in their own rights.

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11. In writing, many West Indian children display none of the features of creoles; others fairly commonly use certain forms that are consistent with the rules of creoles; for instance, they may not mark plurals and they may not inflect the verb to show that the past tense is indicated. A few children have more serious difficulties which result in a confusion in structures. Other errors that any child might make feature in their writing. It is commonly the case that errors and confusion appear more often in writing that is uncommitted, where the purpose is not understood by the child, and where his own intentions are not clear in his head. To help West Indian children with their writing, all teachers need to have more understanding of language development than is commonly the case and some knowledge of the way that creoles work. Too often indiscriminate, unthought-out corrections by the teacher, not properly understood by the child, add to the confusion that already exists or is the prime cause of it.

12. In view of the amount of evidence that we have received associating the underachievement of West Indian pupils with linguistic difficulties, we have looked at the ways in which a West Indian child's language can affect his or her performance at school, at teachers' knowledge of, and reactions to that language, and at West Indian parents' views on the use of their child's language by schools.

Attitudes of Schools and Teachers

13. It has repeatedly been stressed to us that the reception given by teachers and other adults to the language of the West Indian child can play an important role in reinforcing and developing the child's self image. Rosen and Burgess (1) expanded on this:

'what is at stake here is much more than merely tolerating the dialect of the pupil. For many pupils, speaking the dialect means saying something uniquely. It may mean more. The very act of speaking it is a declaration of who and what they are and wish to be.'

14. On further examination we found that the attitudes teachers hold towards West Indian children's language fall into three broad patterns:

i. Deficit

This was the first approach to be put forward and assumed that the language of West Indian children was inadequate for learning, deficient or restricted. This resulted in an effort, from an early age, to change or

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replace the child's language, with consequent harm to his language development and self-image. The evidence that we have received gives no support to this approach, which nevertheless still persists amongst some teachers.

ii. Dialect interference

Many teachers who would reject the 'deficit' approach would still claim that some West Indian children's language, though not inferior is nevertheless sufficiently different from Standard English to cause difficulties. Others would go further and claim that the West Indian child's language gives rise to linguistic interference similar to the effect of mother tongue speech habits on foreign language learning. Dr VK Edwards has advanced evidence for this (1) but others have questioned this interpretation. Whatever the degree of such 'dialect interference' we feel there is a danger that all the child's educational difficulties and lack of achievement in language might be put down to this cause. This is particularly true if teachers fail to look more deeply for other important but more subtle factors such as a feeling of alienation, inappropriate subject matter where the child feels he has no significance, and sometimes the teacher's own expectations.

iii. Repertoire

The third approach, familiar to many English teachers, and now recognised as being particularly appropriate to West Indian children is one that values all language and dialects as an important part of the child's linguistic repertoire. The intention is not to change or replace any particular dialect but to develop a sharper awareness of, and interest in, the different language forms that the child can use, thus avoiding confusion between them. Standard English is considered to be an important and necessary part of the child's repertoire, and he can be helped to use it more effectively through this approach. An underlying principle is that whereas both the 'deficit' and 'dialect interference' approaches focus on what the child cannot do, the 'repertoire' approach focuses on what the child can do and builds constructively on the considerable linguistic strengths the child brings to the classroom.

(1) 'The written work of West Indian children shows ample evidence of creole interference. Unfortunately, especially in the early years of schooling, more general problems of literacy tend to mask the special problems of dialect interference ... unless the teacher is sensitive to the differences between creole and British English'. ('The West Indian Language issue in British schools: challenges and responses' V Edwards, 1979.)

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language help which may be inappropriate or unnecessary. As far as the 'dialect interference' view is concerned, it is important to remember that by far the majority of West Indian children were born in this country and can use both West Indian creole and Standard English. They need to be helped to understand clearly the differences and similarities between these two language forms, their relative values in different contexts, and the uses to which they should be put. We would therefore very strongly support the 'repertoire' approach to language as one which values and uses all the language forms which all children bring to school. It enhances the child's self-respect and self-confidence and understanding and appreciation of the nature of language and its different forms, and not least of course the development of writing and comprehension skills.

Attitudes of West Indian Parents

16. In suggesting that schools should make use of and build on the language which the West Indian child brings from his home, we have been conscious of the strength of feeling amongst many West Indian parents against any use of West Indian creole in schools. They have stressed to us that in the West Indies Standard English is the language of the upper classes and symbolises progress, success and social acceptability, while creole is the language of the working classes. In many West Indian homes in this country there is therefore ambivalence towards the use of creole. They see the duty of the school as that of teaching the child good English and feel that the use of creole may hinder his progress in examinations and thus reduce job prospects. We have taken these concerns very seriously. We agree that a major aim of schools must be to teach all children to function in Standard English but affirm that imaginative and constructive use of a child's home language can assist in this. Schools should make clear to West Indian parents that, in building on the child's own use of dialect they are not attempting to 'teach creole' but are simply using the child's own form of speech as one of the many mechanisms to develop the child's awareness of the different forms of language and their appropriateness to different situations.

17. We stress the importance that we attach throughout a child's schooling to offering him a good range of 'models' of language use through the provision of appropriate books and reading materials. Where these may not be available in the home, we believe that schools have an obligation to consider ways of helping children to have access to suitable books and to offer guidance on the choice of materials. They can also advise parents on the value of encouraging their children to read at home, and of themselves reading to their children to develop their language skills.

18. In conclusion, from the evidence that we have received from the teachers, parents and West Indian pupils to whom we have spoken, we do not believe that for the majority of West Indian children in our schools, who were born and brought up in this country, linguistic factors play a part in underachievement. The linguistic 'difficulties' of West Indian children have, we feel, too often been put forward in the past to seek to account for

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or explain their underachievement with the result that the more fundamental underlying causes have been neglected and avoided. Those West Indian children who have been born in the West Indies and who may have had part of their early education there may however have particular difficulties which need to be overcome. As more West Indian youngsters grow up and have families of their own in this country, these difficulties may diminish. But from what we have seen we believe it is important that a West Indian child's language is looked at in a positive light in the classroom since a rejection by the teacher of the, home language may be a serious obstacle to motivation and subsequent achievement. The key to all this is clearly teacher education about which we have more to say in chapter three.

Here however we recommend that:

Reading

1. All LEAs and schools should look for ways in which parents can be more closely involved in helping their children to learn to read.

ii. All initial teacher education courses should include an introduction to the nature of West Indian creole.

iii. LEAs with West Indian pupils should provide specialised in-service courses on West Indian language and offer practical advice to teachers on how to draw on the 'repertoire' approach to the teaching of Standard English.

iv. The Schools Council, in consultation with the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (CILT), should keep under review the question of dialect in schools and should seek to provide up to date and practical guidance for teachers.

v. Schools should follow up the Bullock Committee's (1) suggestion that all teachers should accept responsibility for playing their part in a coherent programme of language across the curriculum.

vi. Schools with West Indian pupils should give every opportunity for those pupils. to make full use of their linguistic repertoire through creative work in English, drama and discussion work.

'Good' Education

1. A 'good' education should enable a child to understand his own society, and to know enough about other societies to enhance that understanding. A 'good' education cannot be based on one culture only, and in Britain where ethnic minorities form a permanent and integral part of the population,

(1) 'A Language for Life' HMSO 1975.

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we do not believe that education should seek to iron out the differences between cultures, nor attempt to draw everyone into the dominant culture. On the contrary, it will draw upon the experiences of the many cultures that make up our society and thus broaden the cultural horizons of every child. That is what we mean by 'multi-cultural' education.

2. The term 'curriculum' is used to cover all the forms of learning intended in the school. Much of this learning is planned by teachers and expressed in the various syllabuses of school subjects and reinforced by the teaching materials and literature used in the schools. Children learn however from both the planned curriculum and from what is often referred to as the 'hidden' curriculum. They learn from what is shown, what is expressed and what is done in school but equally from what is concealed, what is suppressed and what is avoided.

Multi-cultural Curriculum

3. We believe that the curriculum in all schools should reflect the fact that Britain is, to quote our terms of reference, 'a society which is both multi-racial and culturally diverse'. In other words all schools should have a 'multi-cultural' curriculum. The Multicultural Curriculum Support Group of one LEA has put forward a definition of such a curriculum that we wholly endorse:

'The multi-cultural curriculum is one which is appropriate to the education of all pupils, whatever their background, by reference to a diversity of cultures. The variety of social and cultural groups should be evident in the visual images, stories and information disseminated within the school. However this selection should not be made in such a way as to reinforce stereotyping of life-styles, occupations, status, human characteristics or one particular culture.'

NUT

'A curriculum which celebrates cultural diversity and achievement should be a naturally accepted feature of school life in Britain. Choice of content should be based on the assumption that Britain is a multi-racial society to which many different ethnic groups make a positive and valued contribution. Accurate information must be available to pupils on the historical and economic reasons for immigration to Britain, and on Britain's role in an interdependent world, both past and present. Teaching about cultures in different parts of the world should not be presented in an ethnocentric manner but should acknowledge the distinctive achievements and attributes of other civilisations. In this way positive attitudes towards cultural differences may be fostered, and the ignorance on which myths and stereotypes feed will be replaced by sympathetic awareness and acceptance'.

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NATFHE

'Diversity of cultures ought to be a source of community enrichment, rather than of division; hence an ethnocentric curriculum is dangerously inappropriate. All subjects, and many combinations of subjects, are capable of contributing towards a greater awareness of the variety of linguistic pattern, family customs, artistic achievements and religious beliefs in this country.'

'People from the West Indies mainly stay by themselves and don't mix with other people. Most West Indians live around the big cities like Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Very few people live in the country. Back in the West Indies they live in shanty towns and eat coconuts all day.'

'People from Africa are also black but you do not get many of them immigrating. In their country most of them live in the bush.'

'A lot of the time immigrants complain about the way they are treated, the government, money, poor living conditions, etc. If all they can do is complain they shouldn't have come. It was their choice.'

'When the immigrants come into Britain and complain, the government should throw them out of Britain for good. Also white people should have first choices about jobs.'

'I have learnt that a lot of the crime rate is due to the excess immigrants in the country. The immigrants who are mostly unemployed go around in gangs and commit violent crimes.'

'I have learnt that they are pulling this country down because they all depend on social security.'

'My opinions are totally against immigration of any kind. I think it should be illegal. If countries are going to have wars they should look after their own refugees (1). I think this is the cause of over-population and because of this the country is getting poorer. I am totally for the National Front and I think everyone should keep to their own countries and overpopulate them instead of ours, have wars and rob other people over there. I think immigration should be banned.'

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5. It is important to make clear that a curriculum that reflects the multi-racial nature of society should not be seen as something different or extra to be added on to the existing curriculum of a school. As a teacher from a London infant school said to us:

'multi-cultural education is not a little module to be stuck on the end of a course, syllabus or any part of the curriculum.'

6. Some teachers still see such an approach as a threat to academic standards:

'We have been teaching this way for a long time-we are not anxious to change unless we are confident that a new course is going to be equally successful.' (secondary school head of department.)

'We have had mixed ability; we've gone Community and now its bloody multi-cultural.' (school teacher).

The Role of the Teacher

7. Since teachers clearly play the key role in the British education system they can therefore make a major contribution to the development of a curriculum relevant to the needs of all pupils both by contributing to the school's overall development and by taking initiatives in their particular subject areas. Effective teachers will take full account of the knowledge, assumptions and sensitivities of the children in a class. That can be achieved by adapting their teaching styles, for example, to subjects which may impinge on the personal experience or cultural background of children from a particular ethnic group. In order to be able to respond to the needs of West Indian pupils and those from other ethnic minority groups, teachers clearly should have some knowledge and understanding of the cultures and backgrounds of those children. We therefore emphasise the need for improved coverage of these areas in teacher education programmes and particularly for an expansion of school-based in-service work. (See chapter three).

8. Public libraries, school libraries and teachers' centres need to be better equipped to enhance teachers' knowledge of ethnic minority groups. Teachers should be encouraged to make use of the knowledge and resource provided

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by West Indians - whether other West Indian teachers, parents or indeed pupils. A list of some of the main West Indian groups concerned with education, together with other organisations interested in the overall development of a multi-cultural approach to the curriculum, which can offer guidance and materials to teachers, is given in Appendix I, to indicate the range of such services available. Teachers can also be helped and encouraged in developing a multi-cultural approach to their work by the LEA advisory service and at a national level by advice from HM Inspectorate. The Schools Council could also do far more than at present to help teachers appreciate the need for a multi-cultural approach to the curriculum.

Subject Teacher Associations

9. Since we believe that teachers can play a major part in developing a multi-cultural approach to the curriculum we were particularly disappointed by the responses which we received from some of the subject teacher associations. They seemed to show that they had given very little attention to this issue. The secretary of one association wrote:

'Thank you for your letter. I have passed this on to our District Secretary for West Midlands where, of course, many children of West Indian origin are in schools of general education. I am sure teachers in that district will have up to date and first hand experience in teaching West Indian children.'

'(one) reacted indignantly to the idea of "raising ethnic issues without good historical or educational reasons but just because of the pressure of ethnical diversity in the classroom". "Any approach" wrote another, "that distinguishes between one racial group and another is wrong".'

10. The contribution which West Indian teachers can make in education is important not least as 'role models' to encourage West Indian pupils to consider a career in teaching. Some West Indian teachers have told us that they feel subject to particular pressures within schools and are too often seen by their colleagues as a means of dealing with conflict, for example between West Indian pupils and white teachers, between West Indian parents and white teachers and even between West Indian pupils and their parents. West Indian teachers should be seen as having a part to play in the education system as a whole, and not only where there are West Indian pupils. Indeed there is a risk in schools with one or two West Indian teachers that the other staff will assume that dealing with the 'multi-cultural bits' of the curriculum and the needs of West Indian pupils can be left solely to these West Indian teachers. We are convinced that there must be more West Indian teachers and professionals at all levels in the education service and we have therefore suggested means of increasing their numbers in the section on teacher education.

The role of the head

11. The head teacher determines a school's approach to its curriculum. We found a number of very different and contrasting styles of management

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among the heads of the schools we visited. These fell into the following three broad categories:

a. where the head and senior staff were convinced of the need to develop a multi-cultural curriculum and were making very direct efforts to 'convert' the rest of the staff, for example by intensive in-service training;

b. where a multi-cultural working party of staff had been set up, sometimes involving the head directly and sometimes simply reporting to him, to look at the multi-cultural perspective of all aspects of the school's work;

c. where there was no co-ordinated policy for multi-cultural education but the head allowed those staff who wished to, to develop multi-cultural elements in their particular fields.

Good Practice

12. In our visits to schools we have sought to identify examples of good practice in the field of multi-cultural education, and the following seem to us to be particularly interesting and imaginative:

Primary schools

i. A good indicator of whether a school has responded to the presence in society of ethnic minority groups, is the extent to which these groups are positively represented in displays around the school building. The best example which we found was a primary school where the old building was enlivened on the inside with life-size murals and striking examples of the children's work on themes drawn from different cultures. The most impressive was an ingenious mural in collage of Caribbean village life.

ii. We also commend the practice of the head of an infants school who said of her school:

'In order to present children of all races with a positive self-image, pictures are displayed of people from other cultures in professional occupations. Stories, music, poetry and religious education from other cultures are used constantly. Our latest venture is to photograph the children's parents at their work, in their uniforms, at home and at worship, to provide our own "local visual aids".'

iii. Another interesting example of good practice was at an all-white village school which played host to groups of visiting children from multi-racial

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inner city schools in an exchange scheme organised by the LEA. These visits appeared to have had a positive effect on the attitudes of the village children, who would not normally have had any contact with ethnic minorities, and even more remarkably on the attitudes towards 'outsiders' within the village community as a whole. We commend this initiative to all other all-white schools.

i. We were impressed by the work being done at a secondary school we visited. The following is an extract from the school's notes:

'The humanities work in the lower school has six stated multi-cultural aims, ...
- to develop a sense of respect for the views of other people;
- to help every child to feel secure and accepting of his true identity;
- to establish the concept that a Briton may be brown or black as well as white;
- to show that the school values the special customs and culture of every ethnic group and accepts these as an integral part of contemporary British society;
- to affirm that everybody has a history, and that the family history and roots of the black and brown children are not the same as the histories of the indigenous English;
- to establish the concept that people and groups change and adapt to circumstances.'

ii. Another school's approach to the humanities takes the form of an integrated studies course for years one and two which incorporates English, history and geography and some aspects of economics and social studies. There is a great deal of interaction within the teaching team which is itself multi-racial and team meetings are held regularly and guidelines in the form of teaching notes are produced by individual members of staff for discussion by the team. Worksheets and booklets are produced by the team on various topics in the course, for example a booklet on 'The Multicultural Community' covering race and culture, facts and prejudices, stereotypes, discrimination, and Britain's immigration and emigration during the last 150 years.

iii. We were impressed by a three day Caribbean event organised by an all-white secondary school. The three areas of the programme were: Workshops

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The Exhibition

Films and simulation games

A number of films were shown. Simulation games were played on themes of inequality, poverty, trade and agriculture. A number of black poets, dancers, writers and musicians contributed to the event.

'i. extending children's awareness, understanding and tolerance of people from ethnic minority groups; and

ii. thereby removing the foundations of racial prejudice through exposing them to the people, music, dance, drama and geography of the black culture within a supportive context.'

'The effectiveness and value of such an event depends on lead-in and follow-up work and the issues being dealt with should, of course, have their place in the curriculum where they should be covered systematically over four or five years.'

13. The Schools Council should see the promotion of a multi-cultural approach to the curriculum as an integral part of its overall responsibilities for the curriculum. It should for example, publicise good practices like those described above. In our visits we have found a number of schools carrying out their own curricular reviews and producing their own multi-cultural materials. These approaches and many of the materials produced are clearly valuable for the schools concerned, and in many cases the learning process for the staff involved was said to have been as important as the exercise itself. In view of this we should like to see the examples more widely known and the teaching materials made more widely available. We therefore support the view put forward by the NUT in their evidence:

'A considerable body of expertise exists amongst teachers around the country who have developed multi-ethnic curricula; there should be a national forum for the dissemination of good practice in terms of curriculum development for multi-ethnic education.'

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14. In this section we have sought to explain why we believe a multi-cultural approach to the curriculum should be adopted in all schools. Many of the general comments we have made in this section apply equally to primary and secondary schools and we have attempted to identify instances of good practice at both levels. We are very conscious however that in the limited time available we have been unable to give sufficient attention to the particular factors which bear on the primary curriculum and we intend therefore to give greater consideration to these for our main report. We summarise the broad aims of a multi-cultural curriculum as trying to ensure that:

i. all children learn about their own cultures and histories and those of other groups and see them treated with equal seriousness and respect;

ii. all children are equipped with the necessary skills and information to have access to the culture of their own community and of other communities;

iii. all children fully appreciate the important contribution which ethnic minorities make to this society;

iv. the knowledge and values transmitted by the school seek to remove the ignorance upon which much racial prejudice and discrimination is based; and

v. positive attitudes towards cultural diversity are developed so that society can build on and benefit from the strengths and richness it brings.

i. The DES should, as part of its current review of curriculum arrangements, invite all LEAs to define their policy and commitment to multi-cultural education and to describe how this is put into effect in their schools.

ii. HM Inspectorate should, within their regular inspections, assess the extent to which schools are responding to the challenges of meeting the special needs of ethnic minority pupils and of preparing all pupils for life in a multi-racial society, and should advise LEAs and teachers accordingly.

iii. The specialist group of HMIs concerned with multi-cultural education should continue to make known their findings about the extent to which schools are responding to this challenge, possibly through a document in the 'Matters for Discussion' series.

iv. Heads should seek to involve West Indian teachers and teachers from other ethnic minority groups more directly in the overall development of the curriculum.

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v. Heads should consider the establishment of staff working parties to consider their own school's response to multi-cultural education.

vi. Teachers should review their work to take full account of the multi-racial nature of British society.

vii. The Schools Council should consider the setting up of machinery for the collection and dissemination of good practice and materials in the field of multi-cultural education.

1. In looking at what is being taught in schools we have given particular attention to books and teaching materials. We have been very concerned at the number of books still being used which give a negative picture of ethnic minorities and their cultures. A typical example quoted to us is:

'perhaps she could finish her father's unfinished work. He had been interested in savages and backward races. Africa was the best place to find such people ... Mary would go to Africa. She could go among the wildest savages she could find. She would spend her life studying cannibals.' (1)

'To the conquest of nature through knowledge the contributions made by Asiatics have been negligible and by Africans (Egyptians excluded) non-existent. The printing press and the telescope, the steam engine, the internal combustion engine and the aeroplane, the telegraph and telephone, wireless broadcasting and the cinematograph, the gramophone and television, together with all the leading discoveries in physiology, the circulation of the blood, the laws of respiration and the like, are the result of researches carried out by white men of European stock.' (2)

(1) Reading On Red Book 1. 7th edition 1968. An English reader for primary children.

(2) 1945 edition. First published 1936 but still in use in many schools.

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2. We recognise that at a time of expenditure constraints it is not feasible to propose replacing any but the most offensive books. We would, however, hope to see LEAs giving serious consideration to their replacement as soon as possible. Meanwhile teachers should as a matter of urgency review the books and materials they use and take account of their appropriateness to today's multi-cultural society. A number of organisations have endeavoured to help teachers assess any cultural bias in the materials they use and we commend the NUT's pamphlet 'In Black and White - Guidelines for teachers on racial stereotyping in textbooks and learning materials'. The checklist from this pamphlet is reproduced at Appendix C.

3. We found a general shortage of teaching materials which reflected the diversity of cultures present in our society today. Some teachers we spoke to clearly wanted to bring a multi-cultural dimension to their work but said they had been unable to find the background material they needed. For example, much of the material available which was said to be multi-cultural in fact focused on minority groups in their countries of origin and did not take any account of the role of ethnic minorities in our society. Some West Indian bookshops are now providing useful material with a multi-cultural emphasis and some of these are listed in Appendix I, together with a number of groups and organisations which have an interest in multi-cultural education and particularly the education of West Indian pupils and which can also provide useful resources for teachers. As referred to in paragraph 13 in the preceding section, a number of individual schools are also now preparing their own materials. However, far more could be done by major publishers in this field who still seem to be reluctant to become involved in what they see as only a minority interest area. We were reassured to learn therefore that the Educational Publishers Council of the Publishers Association (PA) is considering the matter. We suggest to the PA that they organise exhibitions of multi-cultural materials throughout the country so that teachers can be made aware of the material available. We shall be continuing to look with interest at the outcome of initiatives in this field for our main report.

4. We recommend that:

i. Teachers should examine critically the text books and teaching materials they use and take account of their appropriateness to today's multi-cultural society.

ii. LEAs, through their advisory services, should help teachers to keep under review the text books and teaching material they use and, as resources allow, provide for the replacement of those which display a negative cultural bias.

iii. Public and school librarians should attempt to ensure their stocks represent in a balanced manner the range of cultures present in British society, by including books which reflect the culture and achievements of West Indians and the contribution which they and other ethnic minorities have made and are making to this society and to other countries.

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f. EXAMINATIONS

Examining Boards

1. Teachers who are seeking to broaden their approach to their subjects frequently claim they are limited in what they can do by the requirements and constraints of the examinations system. On the other hand, the examining boards from whom we received evidence stressed that they were flexible and responsive to teachers' needs but that they had to wait until changes had taken place in the curriculum before changes could be made in examinations. They claimed that 'examinations follow the curriculum' and they cannot attempt to bring about changes before all teachers are prepared for them. This view was put particularly strongly to us by a GCE board:

'The examination system reflects and responds to the wishes of schools and the teachers within them but there is much controversy among teachers as to how far "concessions" should be made for minority ethnic groups ... Teachers have great freedom in designing the curriculum for their pupils but courses appropriate for them are constrained by the requirements of universities, professional bodies and other users of results and often the range of subjects chosen for an individual pupil or class of pupils has to bear this in mind if it is not to create difficulties for the pupils later on. The examination system is not the cause of this constraint.'

'The Board is aware that some schools and colleges have special problems because of their multi-ethnic school populations. These problems would appear to relate to teaching difficulties arising from different background experience or cultures and to social integration. They do not appear to relate to GCE examinations.'

'As you will appreciate, there are relatively few subjects within the school curriculum on which ethnic considerations have any direct bearing.'

'Developments in the curriculum which reflect our multi-ethnic society must be matched and supported by a parallel development in the syllabuses offered by examination boards.'

Examination papers

2. As with books and materials we have found evidence of an exclusively eurocentric bias in some examination papers. We have not been able to

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investigate this question in depth but we have seen some papers which show a clear bias towards the traditional view of British society and which are clearly inappropriate to the needs and experiences of ethnic minority pupils, as well, be it said, of many white pupils. For example, an A Level paper in embroidery refers to:

'A poorly lit cathedral needs a new altar frontal for use during Advent' and '... you are to be married in your local village church and to mark the occasion you would like to present a wedding kneeler ...'.

Good practice

3. Teachers in several multi-racial schools that we visited stressed the more positive approach which has been adopted by some CSE boards and the recognition given in certain of their syllabuses to the presence of West Indian pupils in our schools. Our own investigations have borne out this view. One of the CSE boards whom we consulted includes West Indian authors in its set book list for English and in its music syllabuses allows for practical performance on instruments such as steel drums. Mode 3 CSE examinations can be of particular value in broadening the curriculum and we found some schools developing these to meet the particular needs of their multi-racial populations. One CSE board drew our attention to a Mode 3 syllabus which dealt with the social and economic history of the West Indies. Some of its social studies syllabuses also had multi-cultural elements and some English syllabuses contained references to West Indian literature. We should like to see a similarly imaginative approach being adopted by other CSE boards and by GCE boards.

Channelling into CSEs

4. The subject of examinations has been raised frequently with us by West Indian parents and young people since they feel strongly that because of stereotyped views on the low academic ability of West Indian pupils, teachers unfairly channel them into CSE rather than GCE examinations. This concern was illustrated by the West Indian girl who said to us:

'They always try and put the black kids in for CSE. I wanted to do English O Level and the Head said "What are you doing here?" Then she said to the teacher "Any trouble from her, send her straight to me." So I left the course because people were looking at me as though to say "What is she doing here?" So I felt bad. Teachers didn't ask me anything about what I wanted to do. It put me right off.'

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is that West Indian pupils do indeed seem to be disproportionately represented in CSE streams. This concern is borne out to some extent by the results of the school leavers survey exercise which show that in the six LEAs covered, 46% of West Indian pupils were entered for CSEs only, compared with a national average of 33%. Whether this is indeed the result of low teacher expectations or simply a consequence of the overall underachievement of West Indian pupils is clearly something we need to consider further and on which we need further evidence.

Current developments

5. In looking at the existing structure of CSE and GCE examinations we have been conscious of the government's proposals for a new system of examining at 16+. If the examinations system is to reflect the cultural diversity of school populations and of society it is essential that the national and subject criteria for the new examinations make it clear that this should be the case. Flexibility must be allowed within those criteria for schools to develop syllabuses and methods of examining that allow pupils from ethnic minorities to fulfil their true potential.

6. We have read with interest the government's Consultative Paper 'Examinations 16-18' and were reassured to see that it incorporated many of the points that had emerged from our own deliberations. In particular, we wholeheartedly endorse the view that any new examination devised for those pupils who may intend to spend one year in the sixth form before seeking employment should be vocationally oriented.

7. Examinations have a major part to play in complementing and reflecting a multi-cultural approach to the curriculum in schools and the multi-racial nature of today's school population.

We therefore recommend that:

i. The DES, in its current consideration of the future framework of examinations, should take full account of the needs of children from ethnic minority groups and of the need for a multi-cultural approach throughout education.

ii. All GCE and CSE examining boards should undertake a systematic review of the relevance of their syllabuses to the needs of today's multi-racial school population. They should encourage a multi-cultural approach to education and should seek to involve ethnic minority groups in their consultative procedures.

1. The evidence to us has continually stressed the need for an effective and supportive school pastoral system especially where there are West Indian pupils. The evidence from the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) states that:

'... increased pastoral care is needed for minority children, most especially where teachers are insensitive to their needs'.

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The National Association for Multiracial Education (NAME) convincingly summarises the matter:

'good and effective pastoral care requires a real effort to understand and value the contribution that individual children and through them the groups they belong to, make to the life of a school. Taken in this light, pastoral care is about knowing children, finding out what they need in order to help them to make significant choices for themselves.'

Good Practice

3. Although most teachers whom we met were aware of the overall aims of the pastoral system in their school we found that many were unaware of their own role and that of their colleagues within this system. We firmly believe that all teachers have a pastoral role in schools and that it cannot be separated from their overall teaching duties. Pastoral care cannot be seen as being solely the concern of those staff expressly designated as having pastoral responsibilities. We should, therefore, like to see all schools preparing and distributing a staff handbook setting out clearly the role of every teacher in the school's pastoral system. We commend as good practice the examples of job specifications for the form tutor and Head of Year taken from a secondary school staff handbook and reproduced at Appendix D.

School Records

4. For schools to be able to respond adequately to the needs of their pupils, particularly those from ethnic minority groups, they need to have detailed information about the children's previous education. This should we feel include details of their pre-school care and education (ie whether they have attended nursery school or been looked after by a childminder), their family and home circumstances and an indication of any particular educational needs (for example difficulties with language). Such information should be maintained by all schools on all their pupils on record cards provided according to a standardised format by each LEA. We were concerned that several schools we visited did not hold basic information about their pupils. Where records were kept, the information was often either out of date or incomplete. This paucity of information may mean not only that teachers are likely to be unaware of the particular needs of some of their pupils but can lead to difficulties when the child transfers to another school. We have been concerned to note both the variation between different areas in the approach to record keeping and the attitudes adopted to making these records accessible to parents. We should like to see more guidance provided for LEAs to ensure a more uniform approach to these issues.

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We therefore recommend that:

i. The DES, in consultation with the local authority associations and the teacher unions, should issue guidance on the maintenance of school pupil records and on accessibility to these by parents.

ii. LEAs should ensure that a sufficient range of in-service provision is available in their areas, relating to the needs and backgrounds of ethnic minority pupils, including West Indians.

iii. Heads should prepare guidance for their staff setting out clearly the role of every teacher in the school's pastoral arrangements.

iv. Heads of multi-racial schools should encourage their staff to attend LEA and other in-service courses concerned with ethnic minority groups and to relate their new knowledge, skills and insights to the needs of these pupils.

1. One of the strongest impressions which we have formed from our visits and discussions has been of the wide gulf in trust and understanding between schools and West Indian parents. The parents appear to be losing confidence in what schools are teaching their children and the schools seem to be achieving only limited success in explaining their aims and practices to parents. We have found no evidence to support the view that West Indian parents are not interested in their children's education - indeed they sometimes show more interest than other parents in what the school is doing. In some cases, however, the expectations, views and worries of West Indian parents about their children's progress seem to be misunderstood and sometimes, as we have found, even disregarded by teachers.

The Role of Schools

2. Nonetheless, we found a growing recognition by schools of the need for cooperation with parents. The need for schools to establish close links with the parents of their pupils can be particularly important for West Indian parents, who may not have been educated here and who may be unfamiliar with our education system. It is vital for parents to learn about the aims of the school and to get to know and trust the teachers. It is also important for teachers to learn to know and trust West Indian parents and to appreciate that they can be a valuable source of information on West Indian culture. Teachers should be prepared to acknowledge the contribution which parents can make to their children's education. As one teacher put it to us, 'When a child enters school, the parents and teachers enter into a partnership'. In this way parents learn about the overall aims of the school and the individual aims of the teachers, and can thus support and encourage the teachers in their work. This close relationship may be encouraged by the employment of designated home/school liaison staff but can only really be fully effective where all teachers are prepared to visit parents at home as part of their pastoral responsibilities. Home visiting should not, however, be seen as the answer to the West Indian child's underachievement and should not be undertaken merely when 'something is wrong'. It is an integral part of the overall process of opening up the school to the community.

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Home visiting

As NAME put it to us in their evidence:

'Schools should reach out, and not simply expect parents to come to school without making the effort to make them feel welcome and of value: this can be achieved in a number of ways, but it may take a long time, and teachers should not feel discouraged because changed attitudes do not become immediately apparent straight away a policy is adopted. Some schools may have years of mistrust to overcome.'

3. We are concerned that much of educational practice and procedure is couched in language which makes it very difficult for parents to understand let alone question what a school is doing. We, therefore, welcome the provisions in the 1980 Education Act requiring LEAs to publish annually detailed information about their schools. We were pleased to note the proposal in the DES consultative document issued in August 1980 (1) that this should include information about 'the range and level of curriculum provided ... for those with special needs, subject options and choices and the arrangements for parents to be consulted about such choices ... and the provision made for careers education and guidance'. This information, provided it is given in everyday language, should go a considerable way towards enabling West Indian parents to be better informed about a school's overall aims and objectives and allaying their anxieties about aspects of its approach to its curriculum.

School Reports

4. Many West Indian parents have expressed to us their concern that the school reports which they had received about their children did not truly reflect their actual progress. Typically they referred to reports in the early years of secondary education which indicated that a particular pupil was 'working solidly' and with no apparent cause for concern, and only at the third year stage did it suddenly become apparent that the pupil was in fact in a non-examination or even a remedial stream. Although we appreciate the difficulties that schools face in conveying a comprehensive picture of a pupil's progress and development in a written report and possibly only a short interview at a parents' evening, schools we feel could make greater efforts to keep parents informed of their child's progress. West Indian parents, both of whom may be working shifts, may have particular difficulty in attending school open evenings and they may have to rely more heavily on school reports. We should, therefore, like to see all schools providing at least two full written reports each academic year and making greater efforts to provide more frequent opportunities for meetings between parents and teachers.

PTAs

Parent-teacher associations (PTAs) can provide a valuable means of bringing together parents and teachers on an informal basis, but many West Indian parents to whom we spoke felt reluctant to become involved in PTA activities since they felt they tended to concentrate on social and fund-raising events rather than on general educational matters.

(1) 'Education Act 1980 - Publication of Information (Section 8)' DES Consultative Document, 7 August 1980.

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The Role of parents

5. Although West Indian parents undoubtedly want the best education possible for their children many seem to be unaware of the crucial importance of the contribution that they themselves can make to their child's education. They may still be influenced by the attitudes towards education that they experienced in the West Indies where parents placed absolute trust in the schools and the teachers, and teachers made educational and career decisions for young people with total acceptance from the parents. Many of them may, therefore, be uneasy about actively participating in decisions about their children's education as they may not recognise that in the British education system parents and teachers are expected to work together. In addition, pressures such as the need for both parents (or single parents) to work long hours for relatively low levels of pay may mean that West Indian parents may be unable to devote as much time and attention as they would like to their children. In addition, they may be forced to live in housing that has no facilities for children to do homework or quiet study. Such pressures are often not fully appreciated or understood by teachers who may, for example, misinterpret failure to attend a school open evening as signifying a lack of interest in the child rather than a consequence of working long hours and shift work. We hope that schools and teachers will bear these pressures in mind and will make greater efforts to support and encourage parents. Secondary schools can for example set aside a room after school hours for children to do home work and encourage West Indian children to make use of this.

6. Schools can, however, only go so far in this respect; parents must also appreciate and understand the role that they must play in supporting teachers. The NFER review of research drew attention to the concern, which has been frequently expressed to us by teachers and others whom we have met on our visits, that West Indian parents need particular help in recognising their responsibilities in this respect. At the pre-school stage, as the NFER review states:

'Many writers have suggested that although West Indian parents are evidently concerned about their children's development they often do seem to lack understanding of the developmental importance of play, toys, communication and parent-child interaction in the early years ... For example, Bushell (1973) suggested that the West Indian parent does not seem to regard the importance of stimulation by conversation or use of toys as part of the function of the baby minder as she does not appreciate their significance herself.'

'... Rutter and Mittler (1972) discovered less conversation taking place between the West Indian parent and her child, and Rutter et al (1975) noted that there were fewer interactions in general between parents and children in West Indian families.'

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7. Within schools, particularly at secondary level, the issue which has most frequently been singled out as one which causes misunderstandings between teachers and parents is discipline. The NFER review again refers to a study carried out by Townsend and Brittan in 1972:

'Approximately three quarters of the 40 primary head teachers and of the 20 secondary head teachers who commented on discipline problems consistently identified West Indian pupils as the immigrant group with which most of the disciplinary problems arose. Many of the comments referred to different standards of discipline in West Indian homes and English primary schools;. discipline in the former being seen by heads as strict, harsh, firm and repressive and often involving corporal punishment, as opposed to the discipline in schools which they saw as involving self-discipline, liberal attitudes, understanding, tolerance and informality. One problem appeared to be that West Indian parents saw this difference in attitude as 'soft'. .. Many head teachers reported that the attitude of West Indian parents to lack of learning, motivation or behavioural difficulties was, in each case, to suggest corporal punishment.'

School Governors

8. One way in which West Indian parents can be actively involved in shaping the school's overall policies including its curriculum is through appointment to school governing bodies. We endorse the recommendation in the Taylor report (1) on the need for parental and community representation on governing bodies. The Education Act 1980 makes statutory provision for the representation of parents on governing bodies and gives complete local freedom to determine how best to achieve representation of the community in the light of local circumstances. When considering the need for specific provision for the representation of ethnic minority groups on the governing bodies of multi-racial schools, the Taylor Committee concluded that:

'... we see no need to make specific provision for the representation of particular interests ... We are satisfied that our overall proposals will result in a significant increase in direct local participation in school government and ethnic minorities should thus in future receive greater opportunities for participating in this service.'

(1) 'A new partnership for our schools', HMSO 1977.

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The Role of the West Indian Community - Supplementary Schools

9. As a direct response to the underachievement of their children, many West Indian groups have established supplementary schools throughout the country to provide tuition in basic skills and 'supplement' their children's education until, as one supplementary school leader put it to us, '... the mainstream schools get it right'. Many of these schools see an equally important part of their function as providing West Indian children with a knowledge and understanding of their traditions and heritage which is missing from the traditional school curriculum. The commitment shown by West Indian parents to these schools and the encouragement that they give to their children to attend are impressive. The children have told us that they go willingly to supplementary schools because they are encouraged to work hard and made to feel they can achieve. Supplementary schools are fulfilling an important role and can have much to offer mainstream schools in terms of advice on teaching methods and materials appropriate to the needs of West Indian pupils and on ways of building up trust and understanding with their parents. There should be closer contacts between mainstream schools and local supplementary schools, and teachers should be encouraged to visit these schools to see at first hand the work being done. Similarly we hope that the leaders of supplementary schools will respond positively and constructively to any approaches from mainstream schools. In turn we would ask LEAs to continue to look favourably on applications for assistance from supplementary schools by, for example, making premises available and providing books and materials. Many of the other ethnic minority groups with which we shall be concerned for our main report also provide supplementary assistance with their children's education. We shall therefore be looking in more detail at the various forms of supplementary provision and their relationship with mainstream education in our main report.

10. In addition to helping West Indian children through supplementary schools, West Indian community groups can play an important role in supporting and assisting parents in providing information and advice about the educational facilities and services available. They can also help parents to fulfil their responsibilities in preparing children to take advantage of the opportunities of education and support parents in making decisions about their children's education.

11. The links between schools and the community are important and will become increasingly so as parents become more involved in their children's education. For West Indians, we believe that the building of close and effective contacts between parents and teachers can be particularly valuable in overcoming the gulf in trust and understanding which exists at present and which has been said to contribute to the sense of alienation and lack of motivation which many West Indian pupils experience.

We therefore recommend that:

Links between schools and the community

i. All schools, but particularly multi-racial schools, should designate a senior member of staff to be responsible for the co-ordination of links between the school and the community it serves.

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Links between schools and parents

ii. LEAs, in providing the information required under Section 8(5) of the Education Act 1980, should ensure that the material is provided in a form which is accessible and easily understood by parents, particularly those from ethnic minority groups, and by the wider community.

iii. Schools should encourage teachers to see home visiting as an integral part of their pastoral responsibilities.

iv. Schools should provide at least two full written reports each academic year on every pupil, and should ensure, through frequent meetings between parents and teachers, that a child's progress and prospects are clearly understood by his or her parents.

v. Schools should encourage their PTAs to take an active interest in educational matters and should explore additional ways in which parents can be involved in the school's work.

vi. LEAs should take steps to ensure that ethnic minority interests are fully taken into account in making appointments to the governing bodies of schools.

vii. Schools should make a particular effort to establish contacts with supplementary schools in their areas.

viii. LEAs should continue to look favourably on applications for assistance from supplementary schools.

1. Concern has long been expressed by West Indians that their children are frequently unfairly and disproportionately removed from mainstream education and are placed in a variety of special educational units or establishments notably ESN(M) schools and disruptive units. Since this concern was perhaps the major issue in the evidence considered by the Select Committee in 1976/77, we have looked in some detail at the nature of these various forms of 'special provision'.

ESN(M) (1) schools

Possible Misclassification

2. The concern of West Indians that their children were being wrongly placed in ESN(M) schools was brought to a head in 1971 with the publication of a book by Bernard Coard, a West Indian teacher in an ESN school,

(1) Since the Education Handicapped Pupils Act 1970 the ESN category has been extended to include both moderate and severe degrees of learning difficulty and schools have been classified ESN(M) and ESN(S). Comments in this section relate to the former.

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entitled 'How the West Indian child is made educationally sub-normal in the British school system'. The NFER review says of his book:

'Coard placed the blame for misclassification squarely on the schools and teachers and attributed incorrect assessment to three main factors - differences in culture and social class which he claimed were reflected in tests and teachers, and cases where children are emotionally disturbed. He claimed that West Indian pupils' academic achievement is influenced by low teacher expectation, lack of motivation and a negative self-image due to negative social attitudes. Indeed, he stressed the influence of teacher expectation to the extent that he maintained that the very act of being assessed for placement in an ESN school is seen as such a threatening situation by the West Indian child that he will lose any motivation he possesses since he perceives such a low probability of success.'

3. The opinions expressed by Coard about cultural bias in the testing of West Indian children are part of the long-running debate about the validity of tests of children's abilities. Efforts have been made over the years to develop 'culture-free' methods of testing but today these have largely given way to moves to develop a 'culture-fair' approach. The NFER review describes these developments as follows:

'The idea of a culture fair test is that it can be attempted equally by people of diverse backgrounds - socio-culturally deprived white children or black children - without any advantage or detriment because of the background. Yet such a definition says nothing of a possible need to take account of cultural differences and one potential approach to culture fair assessment would be to leave it to the tester to discount the effects of ethnic and cultural differences in interpreting test scores.'

'... since assessment is part of the entire educational process (it) cannot be viewed outside the context of the aims of education as a whole. Thus the difficulty with culture fair assessment is not primarily technical, in devising tests to meet the requisite criteria, difficult though that may be, but the more philosophical problem of deciding of what those criteria should in fact be.'

4. Prior to 1972 the DES collected educational statistics on an ethnic basis through Form 7(i). These statistics, despite the definitional inadequacies which finally led to their being discontinued, showed that the concern felt by West Indians about the over-representation of their children in ESN(M) schools was, to some extent at least, justified. The Select Committee, in

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1976/77 was still concerned that West Indian pupils appeared to be disproportionately represented in ESN(M) schools and recommended therefore that:

'statistics of children of West Indian origin attending ESN schools be obtained, published and carefully monitored.' (1)

Current Situation

5. Ten years after the initial concern was voiced, many West Indians believe that for the same reasons their children are still being unfairly assessed as needing special education and are still being disproportionately placed in ESN(M) schools. The information we obtained from schools and on our visits did not enable us to confirm or deny this belief. In some cases there were clearly grounds for believing that this might be the case but the non-availability of statistics showing the ethnic breakdown of the whole school population for the LEA concerned made an accurate judgement impossible. We have recommended in chapter three that ethnically-based statistics should now be collected by the DES. In that way it would be possible to determine whether there was any disproportionate representation of a particular ethnic minority group in ESN(M) schools. We therefore very much hope that the DES will take immediate steps to fulfil their earlier commitment to collect figures on the ethnic mix of ESN(M) schools. Under the proposed new arrangements for special education it is essential that there is monitoring on an ethnic basis of assessments, referrals and the numbers of children about whom a formal statement has been made.

New Arrangements

6. Special education is of course undergoing changes as a result of the Warnock report (3) and the recently introduced Bill (4). The Bill proposes a new and wider concept of special educational needs relating to children with learning difficulties, to replace the present statutory categories of handicapped pupils, and imposes duties on governing bodies and LEAs in respect of children with special educational needs in ordinary schools. We welcome these revised arrangements particularly in relation to the new rights for the parents of such children, including the right of appeal to local committees against decisions about their children's education.

7. Although as we have said we were unable to establish whether there are still disproportionate numbers of West Indian children in ESN(M) schools,

(1) House of Commons HC 180-I-III February 1977.

(2) 'The West Indian Community'. Home Office. Cmnd 7186, April 1978 - paragraphs 30 and 32.

(3) 'Special Educational Needs' Cmnd 7212, May 1978.

(4) Education Bill (1981) published 22 January 1981.

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it is clear that there used to be. That knowledge and the worry that it may still be true are matters of deep and understandable concern for West Indian parents. That concern must be recognised and taken seriously if it is to be overcome. In view of the changes in special education proposed in the Bill we shall look again at this subject in our main report. Meanwhile we believe that the recommendations we have offered will go some way towards alleviating the fears of West Indians about special education in general and the placement of West Indian pupils in particular.

Curriculum

8. Our visits to ESN(M) schools made it clear to us that a 'multi-cultural' curriculum should not be confined to mainstream schools. One of the schools we visited, where about 33% of the pupils were West Indian, ensured that cultural background was taken into account in the project work which the pupils were undertaking. Another school was making very impressive efforts to help its leavers to find employment by setting aside the final year for work experience projects and offering help and guidance with interview techniques. (Nine out of 13 leavers at Easter 1980 had been found employment at the time of our visit (May 1980) and a further two had been placed in 'work-type' situations.) It was encouraging to see that the hard work that this school had put into obtaining the cooperation of local industries over work experience schemes appeared to have been very successful.

Suspensions and Exclusions

9. West Indians have frequently voiced their anxiety about the number of West Indian pupils who are suspended or excluded from school. Since there are no statistics available locally or nationally relating to the overall number of suspensions and exclusions, let alone an ethnic breakdown of such figures, we asked for information on this question from three multi-racial urban LEAs. These LEAs sought information from their secondary schools with West Indian pupils on the numbers of these pupils who were suspended and excluded on 31 January 1980. Because they did not have figures on the ethnic breakdown of their school populations, two of these LEAs, whilst providing figures on suspensions and exclusions, were unable to set these in context for us. The results of this exercise in the third LEA, which did give some indication of the proportions of West Indian pupils in the schools concerned, are given in Appendix E. These figures show that the use of suspension and exclusion varied widely in the schools concerned but the total numbers of pupils involved was far too small to be able to attempt to draw any firm conclusions based on them. Overall there is no clear evidence of disproportionate numbers of West Indian pupils being suspended or excluded although in some individual schools it appears, from the very limited information available, that this may be the case. In order to consider the reasons for any such over-representation, and the extent to which such trends are borne out on a broader scale, far more detailed and specific information is needed. However we feel it would be of benefit to all concerned for the procedures after pupils have been suspended or excluded to be tightened up and particularly for parents to be given clear rights of appeal against the decision.

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Disruptive Units

10. In recent years a number of LEAs have established special behavioural or 'disruptive' units, either attached to one school or serving a group of schools, designed to cater for pupils who for a variety of reasons find it difficult to cope with the demands of school life. In some cases they are for pupils who are suspended or excluded from mainstream schools. We share the uneasiness expressed by many people over the increase in the number of these units in recent years and would like to see the DES clarifying the legal position of those units serving more than one school and requiring full-time attendance. Many people have in fact suggested to us that the needs of disruptive pupils ought to be met within mainstream schools. This is also something which we feel should be considered further by the DES and HM Inspectorate.

Statistics

11. West Indians have expressed to us their fears that their children are wrongly and disproportionately referred to these units. We obtained information on a number of units in an attempt to ascertain whether they did have disproportionate numbers of West Indian pupils and what the reasons were for their referral. The units visited varied from off-site units serving over 40 schools to on-site units serving one school, and the criteria for referral of pupils to these units varied considerably. Again the absence of statistics on an ethnic basis for all the pupils in the LEA area meant that it was not possible for us to confirm or deny the view that West Indian pupils were over-represented in the units. The units we visited however did not appear to have an over-representation of West Indian pupils.

Facilities

12. The facilities available in the units varied considerably. One in a secondary school was simply a room 9ft x 6ft [2.75m x 1.8m] with no windows. We were concerned that this should be permitted. We were, nevertheless, generally impressed by the dedication of the majority of the teachers in these units and with the favourable pupil/teacher ratios. We found units where the atmosphere was friendly yet structured and supportive efforts were made to provide a balanced educational diet.

We therefore recommend that:

ESN(M) schools

i. The DES, through guidance to LEAs, should make clear that, in identifying pupils who require special educational treatment and, under the proposed new arrangements, in assessing special educational needs, they must take account of particular factors, such as cultural differences and the effects of discrimination, which may have a bearing on the educational progress of West Indian pupils.

ii. LEAs should take into account any possible cultural bias in the tests they use for the assessment of West Indian pupils' special educational needs.

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iii. LEAs should ensure that the proposed new procedures for assessment of pupils having special educational needs are fully explained to West Indians and that parents are informed of their rights of appeal.

iv. Under the proposed new arrangements for special education, LEAs should ensure that when a West Indian child is being assessed as having special educational needs, at least one person, other than the parents, who is West Indian or is knowledgeable about the particular educational difficulties faced by such pupils, is involved.

v. LEAs should make greater efforts to recruit more West Indian educational psychologists.

vi. The DES should, as a matter of urgency, implement its undertaking to collect statistics on the ethnic mix of all ESN(M) schools, and, under the proposed new arrangements for special education, should institute regular monitoring on an ethnic basis of assessment and referrals of pupils as having special educational needs and the entry into some form of special education of children about whom a formal statement has been made.

vii. LEAs should ensure that the curriculum in ESN(M) schools, and for children about whom a formal statement is maintained under the proposed new arrangements, meets the children's educational needs and within this, reflects the cultural diversity of our society.

viii. The DES, in consultation with the local authority associations and the teacher unions, should prepare and issue guidance to LEAs designed to tighten up procedures when pupils are suspended or excluded from school.

ix. The DES should consider the legal position of units serving more than one school and which cater on a full-time basis for disruptive pupils.

x. The DES, in consultation with HM Inspectorate, should consider the possibility of issuing guidance to LEAs on how to meet the needs of disruptive pupils in mainstream schools.

xi. LEAs should establish a clearly laid down procedure for the referral of pupils to disruptive units to ensure that parents are fully consulted at an early stage.

xii. LEAs should ensure that pupils do not remain in disruptive units indefinitely and that their progress is reviewed at monthly intervals with a view to an early return to mainstream education.

1. Much of what we have already said about the work which should and is being done by schools is concerned with preparing pupils for adult life.

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The most important issue which we have found relating to the preparation of West Indian pupils for adult life, and probably one which worries West Indians more than any other covered by our remit, is the transition from school to work.

School to Work

2. The employability of a school leaver is determined largely by the academic qualifications which he or she has obtained at school and since West Indians, as we have seen, are underachieving at school they will clearly be at a disadvantage in the jobs market. In many cases they may also be aiming at the lower end of the employment spectrum where jobs are becoming increasingly scarce. With rising unemployment, employers are setting higher entry standards for jobs, in many cases far above the actual level of skills required, as a means of simplifying their selection procedure. This may particularly militate against West Indians who may not for example, have O Level mathematics or English language.

3. In addition to these difficulties however it is clear that the overriding disadvantage which young West Indians face in the jobs market is racial discrimination at all levels. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have both admitted to us that discrimination is still widespread in employment, and careers officers and officials at employment offices have said that they find it more difficult to place a West Indian than a white school leaver with identical qualifications. The situation described in the PEP survey of 1976 (1) appears to be just as true today, as is illustrated by the recent CRE survey of job discrimination in Nottingham (2). We deplore the continuing existence of such discrimination. Far greater efforts must be made by all concerned, central government and its agencies, local trades councils and chambers of commerce, and employers and trade unions, to create a climate in which all school leavers will have an equal chance of finding employment. We strongly urge the CBI and the TUC now that they have made admirable declarations of principle (3), not to relax their efforts in trying to bring about a change in attitude amongst all concerned. In this connection we welcome the CRE's recent 'Code of Practice for the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion of equality of opportunity in employment' and would like to see it being more widely used.

4. For the purposes of this report, we have concentrated on looking at how schools prepare their pupils, especially West Indians, for adult working life through their careers education programmes; at the contribution of the careers service, especially outreach workers; and at the training schemes provided by the Manpower Services Commission (MSC) for unemployed

(1) 'The Facts of Racial Disadvantage' David J. Smith, PEP 1976.

(2) 'Half a Chance' CRE 1980.

(3) Statement and Guide on Equal Opportunities, CBI July 1979. Model Clause for agreements, TUC March 1975.

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school leavers. It is important to note the effect which the already high and still rising level of unemployment among West Indians, especially amongst the young, may have on the achievement of those still at school. It is difficult for a pupil to put his heart into his work when he sees those who have left school before him, still unemployed.

5. The report 'Education for 16-19 Year Olds' (1) appeared too late for us to consider in this report. We shall consider it in our main report.

6. In looking at the transition from school to work and the needs of the 16-19 year olds, we have been struck by the total lack of co-ordination of the provisions for this age group, who may be found in school, at college, in employment, unemployed, on day release or on various Youth Opportunities Programme (YOP) courses. Different financial support arrangements apply to the individuals concerned, ranging from no support for the vast majority of children at school, discretionary grants in further education, social security payments to those on courses up to 21 hours, to £23.50 per week for those on YOP schemes. Many children from low-income families including disproportionate numbers of West Indians because of the particular social and economic pressures which their families face, may be discouraged or actually prevented from remaining at school or going on to further education to gain or improve their educational qualifications, by the lack of adequate financial support in these areas. They may instead prefer to be unemployed and receive supplementary or unemployment benefit, to enter a short-term YOP course and receive the statutory payment, or to enter low-level and poorly paid employment in 'dead-end' jobs, well below their actual abilities. We deplore the fact that the present system is therefore actually discouraging young people from remaining in education and encouraging them instead to join the already high number of school leavers seeking employment. The question of devising a system of financial support for all 16-19s, whether at school or elsewhere, so that all youngsters from whatever background and economic circumstances can have an equal opportunity of fulfilling their true potential in education, has been widely discussed in recent years. We recognise that any scheme which involves substantial additional government funds is unlikely to be feasible in the current economic climate. We would however urge the Department of Education and Science (DES), the Department of Employment (DE), and the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) to consider the possibility of restructuring the existing financial support arrangement for 16-19 year olds and redistributing existing resources to provide a common and comprehensive system of support.

7. We have looked at the opportunities for young West Indians to take up apprenticeships. From our own visits and discussions with employers, it seems that, even with the decreasing number of apprenticeships available

(1) Report of a review undertaken for the government and the Local Authority Associations, January 1981.

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overall, young West Indians are still very much under-represented. This can arise from discrimination, a lack of knowledge about apprenticeships generally and, in some industries, the fact that entry is virtually limited only to those with close family connections. The present apprenticeship system is now generally admitted to be inappropriate to the needs of industry today and therefore to the needs of school leavers. We therefore welcome the recent government announcement of a review of these arrangements.

Careers Education

8. With rising youth unemployment, schools are giving increasing attention to their careers education programmes. We welcome this trend but agree with the HMI Secondary Survey (1) that, despite these advances, many schools could do more to prepare their pupils for adult working life. More schools for example should provide opportunities for work experience for pupils of all abilities and should develop closer links with local employers. Careers education is particularly important for pupils from ethnic minority groups whose parents may have had their own education outside this country and may lack direct experience and knowledge of employment opportunities here. It can be especially valuable for young West Indians whose families may not have the business and commercial contacts which exist in other minority communities.

9. Careers education is unfortunately often seen by schools as a low timetable priority and a poor relation when set alongside academic subjects leading to examinations. The attitude of the head teacher can be a crucial factor in redressing this balance and in those schools where we found good careers education this was because the head considered it to be important. In an ideal situation we would like to see in all schools a full-time head of careers with his or her own careers teaching room and resources bank, to plan the school's overall careers programme and co-ordinate the work of all the teachers involved. Specific careers education should begin not later than the third year, prior to option choices, and should continue on a regular basis through the fourth and fifth years and into the sixth form where necessary. Careers teachers should work closely with the careers service, local employers and parents. Although we recognise that the structure of careers education in schools cannot be changed overnight, especially at a time of cuts in expenditure, we urge all schools to give a high priority to working towards these objectives. Careers education should not however be seen only in the context of the specific careers programme but also as an aspect of all subjects in the curriculum. In the broadest sense in fact, careers education begins when a child enters school through the messages given, consciously and subconsciously, by teachers and others and the materials used. Primary schools and secondary schools in their early years have an important contribution to make in arousing interest in and awareness of occupations.

(1) 'Aspects of Secondary Education' A survey by HM Inspectors of schools, HMSO December 1979.

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10. In several schools we visited, little effort was made to follow up their school leavers to see whether they had been successful in gaining employment and if so, whether they were satisfied with their jobs. This lack of knowledge on the part of schools of the destination of their leavers, particularly those from ethnic minority groups, comes out clearly in the findings of our school leavers survey exercise - Table E in chapter one which shows that the destination of 25% of Asian leavers and 18% of West Indian leavers was 'unknown' compared with 11% of 'other' leavers in the six LEAs and a national average of 8%. More detailed information on the destination of school leavers could play an important part in helping schools to evaluate the success of their careers education and to relate their programmes more closely to the needs of their pupils and the job opportunities available in their areas. It would also allow schools to identify any worrying patterns in the achievement or lack of achievement of any ethnic minority group. Whilst this, of itself, will not increase job opportunities, particularly in areas of high youth unemployment, it would provide more specific information upon which schools could base their guidance and efforts.

11. In view of current interest in the role of school governing bodies and because they may be ideally placed to bridge the gap between school and the wider community, we feel that school governing bodies can play a valuable part in encouraging and overseeing their school's careers education programme. They could for example establish a committee or action group concerned with the preparation and movement of pupils from school to work or further and higher education. Membership might include parents, employers, teachers, careers officers, further education representatives and community workers and the group could review regularly careers provision and offer additional help and expertise in such areas as informing ethnic minority parents of the working of the system, following up the school leavers, setting up work experience schemes and school/industry links and liaising with employers about entrance requirements.

12. We have received a great deal of evidence from West Indians claiming discrimination and low expectations of West Indian children on the part of careers teachers. For example one West Indian girl said to us:

'Our careers teacher might as well stay in bed all day. A girl in my class wants to be an engineer. She was told, "You don't want to do that: why not reception or clerical work?" I throw all the clerical work envelopes in the bin, because I don't want to do it, but that's all they send me, stuff about clerical work. They can't be bothered to find out anything for us to do. We have to go out and do it ourselves.'

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effort to gain the trust and confidence of young West Indians and their parents in order to carry out their work effectively. As the successful head of careers at a secondary school we visited put it to us:

'Successful careers programmes must be suited to the needs of individual schools and communities and to the personalities and talents of the teachers involved. A successful careers programme requires a full-time member of staff who is involved in every aspect of careers work within the school. There must also be manifested a concern for and awareness of individual pupil needs within the careers programme. Both pupils and parents must feel that they are receiving a personal service.'

The Careers Service

14. The work of careers officers should support and build on school careers education. Unless there is systematic and effective careers teaching within schools it is very difficult for careers officers, in perhaps a half-hour interview, to give adequate vocational guidance. We would therefore like to see careers teachers working very closely with the careers officer(s) serving their schools to ensure that the pupils are fully prepared, through their careers education programmes, to make the best use of the often limited time which they may have with the careers officer. An interesting example was provided by one school we visited where the careers teacher and careers officer ensured that those pupils who were having particular difficulties over deciding their future had ample opportunity for discussions with the careers officer while less time was devoted to those pupils who had already made their career choices. This kind of cooperation is a valuable means of seeking to ensure that those pupils who require particular careers guidance and counselling receive it, whilst not placing further burdens on a service which we recognise is already very much under pressure.

15. West Indian parents feel strongly that some careers officers arbitrarily restrict the range of opportunities presented to their children either because of the local situation or because of a lack of sensitivity which can be perceived

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as discrimination. There is a feeling amongst West Indian parents that careers officers like careers teachers have discriminatory views of young West Indians which lead them to channel them into certain occupations. This view was put to us by a West Indian School girl:

'They said catering. It's just because my mum's a dinner lady. I wanted to do youth work and she said, "what do your parents do?" I said my mum's a canteen manageress and she said why not do catering. I got no information at all on how to do youth work.'

'they all want to be motor mechanics.'

'West Indian youngsters like their white peers are individuals. Some are completely realistic; others reflect the low expectations some parts of society have of them and need to be encouraged to lift their sights; while another group aspire beyond their immediate job expectations. With all, careers officers do not concentrate on current attainment to the exclusion of future potential and frequently suggest further education and/or training to help further their ambition ... Careers officers must ensure individual clients have sufficient time and care devoted to them and that West Indians feel that the careers service is completely without prejudice. Careers officers must also continue to educate employers about their duties and responsibilities in a multi-ethnic society.'

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Indians effectively and sensitively. All training courses for careers officers should therefore deal with the needs of ethnic minority youngsters but from the limited number of syllabuses which we have looked at this does not seem to be the case at present. There should be a place within the careers network for mature West Indians who may have a particular ability to relate to and understand the problems of West Indian youngsters. We would therefore encourage a more flexible approach by LEAs to employing such people even when they lack 'paper' qualifications.

19. We have looked at the work being done by Unemployment Specialist Careers Officers (USCOs) and outreach workers. Although they are intended to work with all unemployed and alienated youngsters these officers are mainly working in deprived inner-city areas with substantial ethnic minority populations and therefore have a particular role with regard to young West Indians. We commend the work of these officers, particularly the outreach workers, in making contact with and gaining the confidence of alienated young West Indians and putting them back into contact with the statutory agencies who can then try and help them to find employment.

The work of the MSC

20. We commend the work being done by the Manpower Services Commission (MSC) in making provision for unemployed youngsters, many of whom are West Indian, through their Youth Opportunities Programmes (YOPs). These have been particularly valuable in teaching youngsters skills which can then enable them to gain employment.

21. We commend the MSC's booklet 'Special Programmes, Special Needs: Ethnic Minorities and the Special Programmes' for its helpful and practical approach and very much hope that the consultative process which led to its production will continue. We have visited a number of YOP projects and have seen several examples of good instructors working with youngsters, many of whom were West Indian, and clearly motivating them well and providing them with worthwhile skills. We have however been concerned about the instructors on some projects who, apart from their technical skills, did not seem able to relate to or communicate with the youngsters with whom they were dealing. We understand from the MSC that in many cases they have encountered difficulties in recruiting instructors. At a time of unemployment there must surely be a greater pool of skilled workers available and we would like to see far greater efforts being made to recruit appropriate people to work with youngsters on these projects.

22. The MSC have said that it is not their policy to fund projects intended for West Indian youngsters only. In view of the disproportionately high level of unemployment among young West Indians and in view of the particular needs and difficulties which they may have, we intend to discuss the question further with the representatives of the MSC.

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23. We have been concerned at the difficulties which many West Indian community groups have faced when they have tried to set up projects themselves. The MSC claimed that they often found that such groups lacked the financial and management skills needed to administer such projects and their applications could not therefore be approved. We feel that the MSC should review its arrangements for providing help and advice in these circumstances.

We therefore recommend that:

i. The DES and the Department of Employment should consider jointly the establishment of access courses for entry into training for the careers service.

ii. The Department of Employment should review the content of all initial and in-service training courses for careers officers to ensure that some reference is included to the particular needs of West Indian school leavers.

iii. The DES in consultation with the Department of Employment and the Department of Health and Social Security should review the arrangements for the financial support of 16-19 year olds.

iv. The Department of Employment in consultation with DES and the Manpower Services Commission should introduce a national system of vocational preparation 'traineeships' within each industry to supplement the present system of craft apprenticeships and available on first employment to those entering jobs which involve little or no further education or planned training. These 'traineeships' should be formally recognised in the same way as apprenticeships, and certification given on completion of the traineeship.

v. The Department of Employment should issue advice to LEAs on ways of involving West Indians lacking formal careers qualifications in the work of the careers service.

vi. The Manpower Services Commission should review its arrangements for assisting community groups wishing to set up Youth Opportunities projects with a view to encouraging community initiatives.

vii. Schools should review their existing arrangements for preparing pupils for the transition from school to work.

viii. Schools should have a fully structured careers education programme beginning not later than the third year and run by a full-time trained careers teacher.

ix. Schools, in cooperation with the local authorities and careers service, should monitor on an ethnic basis the destination of their leavers.

x. The CBI and the TUC should continue their efforts to bring about equality of opportunity for all ethnic minority groups in employment.

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CHAPTER THREE

Support for Schools and Teachers

TEACHER EDUCATION

1. As we have already said, teachers, as the central figures in the education process, play a key role in meeting the needs of ethnic minority pupils and in developing a multi-cultural approach to their work. To do this however, teachers need to be adequately prepared by their initial and induction training and throughout their careers by appropriate in-service courses. We have therefore looked in some detail at the work of teacher training institutions (TTIs) and the overall development of teacher education. As NATFHE put it to us in their evidence:

'Teacher education, embracing as it does initial training, induction and later in-service studies, is an indivisible process. All colleges, no matter where they may be situated, can play their full part with teachers, professional tutors, advisers and institutes of education to develop a wide range of multi-cultural studies, both full-time and part-time. Unless studies are updated to meet the emergence of a society which contains not only the seeds of racial disharmony but also the potential for immense cultural and human enrichment they will become increasingly irrelevant and anachronistic. Far too many teachers and lecturers are under-prepared to cope with the changes needed.'

2. The evidence we have received from all sources, including schools and teachers, LEAs, students and parents presents an overwhelming picture of the failure of teacher training institutions to prepare teachers for their role in a multiracial society. In very few institutions is a grounding given to all students in how to appreciate and understand the experiences and cultures of ethnic minority pupils or of how to help ethnic minority parents who may not have much personal experience of this education system.

3. The failure of TTIs in this respect has been ascribed to:

a. the well-worn, traditional grooves of thought, practice and attitude within which the teacher trainers operate;

b. the sheltered nature of campus life which means that the teacher trainers are out of touch with the realities of today's 'multiracial and culturally diverse' society and that they rarely consult anyone outside their own institutions;

c. uncertain leadership on multi-cultural education by those in charge of teacher training institutions compounded by the absence of guidance from the DES;

d. the marked preference of subject specialists for the academic rather than the practical aspects of their subjects;

e. the increasingly outdated experience of teacher trainers and, as a result of the contracting teacher training provision, the addition of few new staff with recent practical teaching experience;

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f. few opportunities given for students to gain experience in teaching ethnic minority pupils; and

g. inadequate grounding for students in language and dialect.

Good Practice

5. To show the scene as so generally discouraging however gives too little credit to the imaginative and innovative work which has been attempted over a number of years by a few colleges, such as the following:

i. A college where the academic board is systematically reviewing all its contributions to multi-cultural education, both through its studies and its links with the community;

ii. A college of higher education which has established a BA Honours degree in combined social studies, with a special focus on community relations;

iii. A college which has established a residential urban studies centre to enable students to forge strong links with ethnic minority groups in the area where they do their teaching practice;

iv. A college where a post graduate course contains substantial elements of multi-cultural education for both primary and secondary student teachers.

- promoting a basic understanding of the concept and practice of a multi-cultural approach to education among all students and staff; - increasing relevant classroom and community oriented activities; - developing a multi-cultural approach to each individual subject area; and - developing contacts with local ethnic minority groups and organisations so they can contribute to the work of the institution.

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Induction Training

7. Since initial training is failing to prepare teachers to teach in multiracial schools, it is vital that LEAs and schools provide effective induction training. As a senior member of one TTI put it to us:

'I am sympathetic towards multi-cultural education, but we live in a white area. My students rarely encounter black children in class. So we don't prepare them specifically for the multiracial school but try to give them a sound, general professional grounding, in the firm hope that their LEA and their school will enable them to cope in their first post.'

8. Two examples of good practice we found are:

i. a teacher/tutor scheme established by an LEA where probationary teachers were provided with a counselling service and a programme of visits to other schools;

ii. a well-documented induction programme established by a secondary school, details of which are given at Appendix F.

In-Service Education

10. In contrast to initial training, in-service education (INSET) presents a much more positive picture. Progress in broadening the curriculum to take account of today's multiracial society has been made by a number of LEAs and, more tentatively, in recent times, by some schools seeking to develop their own in-service programmes. As one might expect the key figures in these instances have been the LEA advisers and individual head teachers. Their efforts have been assisted and encouraged by the LEA support services such as language and resources centres. The advisory and information services organised by West Indians themselves, already referred to in our section on books and teaching materials (chapter two), some of which are mentioned in Appendix I, can also be of particular value here.

11. LEAs vary widely in the extent to which their in-service provision takes account of the need for a multi-cultural approach to education. We were concerned that some teachers we met who wanted this kind of in-service training claimed that nothing suitable was available.

Good Practice

12. We give below some interesting examples of good practice:

i. weekly lunch hour sessions in an infants school to study language development;

ii. training of teachers in a secondary school by school staff experienced in counselling in order that all fourth year pupils could have group discussions on health, education, vocational guidance and community living throughout the year;

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iii. formation of a curriculum development team within a secondary school to design a curriculum relevant to the needs of pupils in today's society.

To achieve this:

- a one-day INSET course on multi-cultural education was held for all staff;
- staff are released in turn from teaching to devise new courses and materials;

Further details are given in Appendix G;

iv. a part-time course at a polytechnic leading to a BEd in multi-cultural studies. Details are given in Appendix H. (Such high level courses can be particularly valuable in attracting staff who may wish to enhance their professional qualifications.)

West Indian Teachers

14. We have already referred to the important contribution that West Indian teachers and professionals can make at all levels in the education service. We therefore fully endorse the Select Committee's recommendation (1) that 'ways and means (should be found for) increasing the numbers of teachers of West Indian origin in maintained schools'. We would like to see more West Indians entering teaching through the normal channels, but, because of lack of the appropriate academic qualifications many who might have wished to train, have been unable to do so. Recognising this difficulty, in 1978 the DES invited seven LEAs as part of a pilot scheme, to establish special access courses designed to prepare mature students particularly but not exclusively from ethnic minority groups, to enter training for teaching and the other caring professions. In session 1979/80 there were 11 such courses running with a total of 169 students, of whom 115 were on one-year courses. The latter figure included 78 West Indians, of whom 64 (82%) were subsequently admitted to institutions of higher education. In the current session 291 students, including 148 West Indians, were admitted to 20 courses, nine of which are running for the first time In 1980/81.

15. These results are very encouraging and seem to indicate that there is an untapped reservoir of ability among West Indians who have shown they have the capacity to respond to the right kind of opportunity. We would therefore like to see more LEAs with West Indian populations seeking to establish such courses. We also feel that colleges should seek to consult and involve West Indians in the setting up of such courses. Unfortunately at present only two LEAs provide discretionary awards (one of these at a reduced rate) for these courses. Ways must therefore be found to provide mandatory awards for students on these courses.

(1) House of Commons HC 180 I February 1977 paragraph 71.

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16. We therefore recommend that:

Initial Training

i. The governing bodies and maintaining authorities of all TTIs in the public sector and university departments of education should institute a fundamental reappraisal of their policy towards multi-cultural education.

ii. HM Inspectorate should continue to provide courses on multi-cultural education for holders of senior posts within TTIs and, in their routine and special inspections of TTIs, should seek to encourage a more broadly-based approach to education by all institutions.

iii. LEAs should review the effectiveness of their induction programmes for probationary teachers and ensure that these include guidance on the needs and backgrounds of all pupils in their area.

iv. Schools should establish an effective induction programme for probationers and new members of staff providing information and advice on the needs of all pupils in the school.

v. LEAs should ensure that in their areas there is a wide range of in-service provision relating to the needs of all the pupils in their schools.

vi. LEAs should organise seminars for senior staff in their schools, particularly for head teachers and their deputies, and potential holders of such posts, in the theory and practical application of a multi-cultural approach to education.

vii. LEAs should consider how best to collect and disseminate information about interesting practices in school-based INSET.

viii. LEAs should seek to recruit more West Indian teachers and professionals and to ensure equal opportunities for them at all levels in the education service.

ix. LEAs with West Indian populations should establish special access courses for entry to training for teaching and other caring professions.

x. The DES should find ways in which mandatory awards can be given to students on special access courses.

1. Teachers are supported in their work by teams of advisers and inspectors within the local authorities. We believe that all these advisers have a role to play in increasing awareness and understanding of the needs of ethnic minority pupils and in fostering the development of a curriculum relevant to the needs of society today.

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Multi-cultural Advisers

2. A number of LEAs have appointed advisers with specific responsibilities for multi-cultural education and we have therefore taken a particular interest in the work that they are doing. According to the responses received to the government's review of the curriculum (1), 'rather under a quarter of the authorities referred to the role of an adviser with special responsibilities for multiracial or multi-cultural education'. The indications are that the numbers are now increasing but the amount of time devoted to multi-cultural education varies widely between LEAs: in some areas there are two or more full-time advisers. Elsewhere the adviser has other responsibilities which may take up most of his time. This is in our view inadequate. In many larger LEAs, to be fully effective, the multi-cultural adviser will need a supporting team and appropriate resources to assist him in his work. We should like to see those LEAs with ethnic minority populations appointing at least one adviser with specific responsibility for multi-cultural education and all other LEAs designating an adviser to coordinate work in this field.

3. We see the multi-cultural adviser as an integral part of an LEA advisory service with the same status as his colleagues and participating in the authority's decision-making process at a senior level. As well as encouraging a multi-cultural approach to education in schools, the adviser also has a role to play in educating and stimulating his colleagues into a greater awareness of the needs of minority groups in his area. He therefore needs to have a genuine understanding of ethnic minority pupils and a knowledge of the minority communities' cultures and concerns. He will need to develop links with self-help groups in his area and be prepared to foster a close relationship with all those involved in community relations. In many cases these points might best be met by the appointment of someone who is himself from an ethnic minority group. In order to assist him in carrying out his work the LEA should provide induction training on general matters relating to the authority's policy on such matters as falling rolls, as well as on the needs of all ethnic minority groups in the area.

We therefore recommend that:

1. All LEAs should designate an adviser to coordinate activities in the field of multi-cultural education, and those LEAs with substantial ethnic minority populations should consider the appointment of a full-time adviser with this role.

ii. LEAs, in appointing advisers for multi-cultural education, should take into account the extent of the applicant's understanding of the needs of pupils from all ethnic minority groups and his knowledge of minority communities' cultures and concerns.

iii. LEAs should provide induction training for their multi-cultural advisers on general matters relating to the authority's overall educational policies.

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STATISTICS

1. In 1977 the Select Committee Report on the West Indian Community recommended that:

'statistics of children of West Indian origin attending ESN schools be obtained, published and carefully monitored'; and

'the Department of Education and Science should compile and monitor relevant statistics relating to those (West Indian) students training to be teachers, and teachers in grant-aided establishments, who are of West Indian origin'.

2. The government concluded that the collection of statistics should be undertaken in these categories, with a view to the first returns of information being made in January 1980. It is understood that due to discussion about including an ethnic question in the 1981 Census, little progress has been made in implementing this decision.

3. As we have several times remarked, our task in preparing this report was made more difficult by the absence of statistics on the distribution of West Indian children. Although some schools collect statistics on the ethnic origin of their pupils, there is little uniformity in the classifications used and it is difficult to make comparisons between one school and another, let alone gain anything approaching an overall picture.

4. We asked a number of LEAs to collect statistics on particular matters including the number of West Indian teachers whom they employed. Only one LEA already had this information. Another felt unable to ask its schools for it on the grounds that this might be unacceptable to some of its teachers. This concern has however not been borne out by the evidence which we have received from the majority of the main teacher unions, notably the NUT who stated clearly and unequivocally that they are now in favour of keeping records on an ethnic basis both of pupils, and of teachers.

Value of ethnically based statistics

5. Ethnically based statistics can, we believe, be of value at all levels and to all parties within education: to central government in determining policy; to LEAs in quantifying and locating particular needs; to schools so that they can take full account of the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of pupils and see whether any groups are underachieving or are disproportionately represented in any subject or class and to make an appropriate response; and to parents so that they can assess their child's performance in relation to his peers. We are therefore wholly in favour of the collection of educational statistics on an ethnic basis where they are to be used in establishing facts about how members of the ethnic minorities are faring in the education system.

6. We outline below the different types of information which should be collected and the date by which the first returns should be made. Although we shall undoubtedly be giving further consideration to the question of

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statistics in the rest of our work, the recommendations below relate to the interests of all ethnic minority groups. These recommendations will in no way be affected by our further deliberations and we strongly urge therefore that, subject to the consultation procedure in which we would expect to be involved (paragraph 7 below), they should be implemented.

We therefore recommend that with effect from 1 September 1982:

i. All schools should record the ethnic origin of a child's family, along with the normal standard data, when a child first enters school, on the basis of discussions with the parents.

ii. The DES should reincorporate the collection of information on the ethnic origin of all pupils in schools into its annual statistical exercise and should introduce ethnic classifications into its school leavers survey.

iii. The DES should ask all teacher training institutions to collect statistics on the ethnic origin of all students training to be teachers including students seeking to enter teaching through special access courses.

iv. The DES should record and publish statistics on the ethnic origin of all teachers in employment by amending teachers service cards to include information on ethnic origin.

v. The DES should arrange for the annual collection of details from all universities, polytechnics and colleges of higher education, of the ethnic breakdown of their student populations (1), and should examine the reasons for any under-representation of any group at any institution.

1. One of the broader issues which has been raised frequently has been the adequacy and appropriateness of the special funding arrangements for provision for ethnic minority children and especially for West Indians.

Central Funding

2. The Select Committee's report on the West Indian Community in 1976/77 (2) repeated a recommendation of an earlier Select Committee Report that:

'the establishment of a central fund to meet the special educational needs of West Indian children and adults, and other ethnic groups, should be reconsidered'.

(2) House of Commons HC180-I HMSO 17 February 1977 paragraph 73.

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The government was reluctant to establish a central fund on the grounds that 'as the most fundamental needs of the ethnic minorities are essentially the same as those of the population as a whole, it is through the general expenditure programmes of central and local government that these needs should be met' (1). West Indians do not agree that their needs are being adequately met by these means.

3. The question of a central fund to meet the particular educational needs of ethnic minorities and within that, whether there should be special provision for West Indians or other groups, is a complex matter which we will consider for our main report.

Section 11

4. One of the government's responses to the needs of ethnic minorities is the assistance given under Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 (2). Grant is currently payable at a rate of 75% on the salaries of staff employed by eligible local authorities to meet the particular needs of recent Commonwealth immigrants: claims may be made in respect of other local authority services but in fact the great majority (80 to 85%) relate to staff in education. The initiative for making a claim rests with the local authority concerned.

5. It has been accepted for some time that there are drawbacks in the operation of this system and in November 1978 the government published a consultative document outlining proposals for a new grant. This document summed up the defects of Section 11 as follows:

'It prevents aid being given to a sufficiently wide range of ethnic minorities; it excludes the second and subsequent generations from the benefits of the grant; it inhibits a comprehensive and coordinated approach to the problems of ethnic minorities in particular areas; and it is restrictive in the purposes for which aid can be given and the form it can take.'

(1) Home Office White Paper April 1978 Cmnd 7186 paragraph 38.

(2) Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 provides that: 'Subject to the provisions of this section the Secretary of State (Home Secretary) may pay, to local authorities who in his opinion are required to make special provision in the exercise of any of their functions in consequence of the presence within their areas of substantial numbers of immigrants from the Commonwealth whose language or customs differ from those of the community, grants of such amounts as he may with the consent of the Treasury determine on account of expenditure of such descriptions (being expenditure in respect of the employment of staff) as he may so determine'.

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bilities towards ethnic minority pupils lost. Both these points have served to highlight the general criticism that there is no machinery to monitor the use which authorities make of Section 11.

7. We believe that Section 11 provides a valuable source of funding to local authorities. We strongly support, however, the need for the government to revise its provisions to make it more appropriate to the needs of the ethnic minority communities in our society. For example, eligibility should be determined by the extent to which local authorities' proposals meet the special needs of these communities or prepare all pupils for life in a multiracial society. The grant should not be restricted to staffing, but should also be available for other running costs of projects, equipment, training and capital expenditure. It is also particularly important that consultation with the ethnic minority groups themselves should be built into the administration of the fund.

We therefore recommend that:

i. The Home Office, in consultation with the DES, should undertake a review of the provisions and operation of Section 11 with a view to making it more appropriate to the needs of the ethnic minority communities.

ii. Local authorities should set up consultative procedures involving ethnic minority groups in their areas and no claim for Section 11 funding should be considered without an indication that it has been fully discussed with them.

iii. Local authorities should clearly state their criteria for the appointment of staff under Section 11 and one of those criteria should be membership of, or experience of working with, the ethnic minority groups concerned.

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CHAPTER FOUR

Programme for Action

CONCLUSION

1. We have put forward evidence to show that West Indian children as a group are failing in our education system. Urgent action is needed to remedy this.

2. A variety of reasons were suggested by those who gave evidence to us, to seek to explain and account for this underachievement. We have looked at these suggestions to identify those which could be substantiated and on which we should offer recommendations designed to overcome them or offset their effects, and those which could be dismissed.

3. In the eyes of many West Indians the major cause of their children's underachievement is racism and its effects in school and in society. Although there are inevitably some teachers who hold explicitly racist views, they are very much in the minority. We did however find evidence of what we have described as unintentional racism in the behaviour and attitudes of other teachers. This may take the form of stereotyped or patronising attitudes towards West Indian children, which when combined with negative views of their academic ability and potential, may prove a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whilst we cannot accept that racism, intentional or unintentional, alone accounts for the underachievement of West Indian children in our schools, we believe that when taken together with, for example negative teacher attitudes and an inappropriate curriculum, racism does play a major part in their underachievement.

4. In the pre-school field, provision for the under fives in terms of day care and nursery education, has long been acknowledged as inadequate and those facilities which do exist are generally inappropriate to the needs of West Indian families. Too few attempts are made to inform West Indian parents and their childminders of how they can best help develop the child's linguistic and conceptual skills and prepare him or her to benefit from education. Much of the evidence we have received points to the cycle of West Indian underachievement having its roots in the pre-school years and we believe therefore that measures relating to primary and secondary education must be accompanied by improvements in the pre-school field.

5. The linguistic difficulties of West Indian pupils and particularly the 'dialect interference' from which they are said to suffer, have often been mentioned as factors in their underachievement. We believe that these linguistic factors have been unduly emphasised and mask the more complex underlying causes of underachievement. We do not accept that, for the vast majority of British-born West Indian children in our schools today, language plays any part in underachievement. However the attitudes towards West Indian children's language held by some teachers, especially when combined with other attitudes towards and expectations of these children, may have an important bearing on their motivation and achievement.

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6. Within both primary and secondary schools the inappropriateness of the curriculum and the books and teaching materials used to the needs and backgrounds of West Indian pupils has been cited as a cause of their lack of motivation and commitment to the work and their consequent underachievement. The examinations system has also been said to be narrow and inflexible in its approach to the presence of ethnic minority groups in our society. We believe that in general terms both the curriculum and examinations system have not responded sufficiently to take account of the nature of society today. A multicultural approach should be adopted for all children and we see moves towards broadening the curriculum and examinations system as improving educational provision for all pupils as well as encouraging West Indians to fulfil their true potential.

7. Careers education and advice should provide pupils with the knowledge and guidance to enable them to make reasoned decisions about their futures and to help them to find appropriate and satisfactory employment. West Indians have claimed that low expectations of their children on the part of both careers teachers and careers officers lead to the children being discouraged from aspiring to the full range of post school opportunities available. Discrimination is still widespread in the employment market and the levels of unemployment amongst West Indians is disproportionately high. Both these factors may have a demotivating effect on West Indian pupils in schools and discourage them from achieving their full potential. Schools need to do far more to prepare their pupils for adult life.

8. On the one hand, the lack of understanding by schools of the social and economic pressures faced by West Indian parents, and, on the other, the failure of some West Indian parents to appreciate the part which they must play in supporting schools and teachers in the education of their children, have also been seen as factors in underachievement. We have been much troubled throughout our own visits and discussions by the gulf in trust and understanding which exists between many teachers and West Indian parents, and at the indirect but nonetheless important bearing which this must have on the child's achievement. We have sought to encourage schools to 'reach out' to parents and keep them better informed both about the school's policies and practices and about their child's progress and needs, and acknowledge their role as 'partners' in the education process. In turn West Indian parents, and the West Indian community as a whole, should respond positively to approaches from schools and should seek ways of being actively involved in the school's work.

9. Teachers are the key figures in our education system. Teachers and head teachers are the moving force in developing and implementing a multicultural approach to the curriculum. Their training, both initial and in-service, needs to inform and sensitise them to the particular needs and backgrounds of ethnic minority groups and give them an understanding of the theory and practice of a multicultural approach to education. Our own work has borne out the view overwhelmingly put to us in evidence that initial teacher

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education has so far failed to fulfil these purposes adequately and that in-service provision, whilst rather more encouraging, could still do far more in this respect. Without the reassessment and extension of in-service education at all levels which we have recommended it is unlikely that the majority of teachers will be able to encourage West Indian pupils to fulfil their true potential.

10. We are convinced that the absence of ethnically-based statistics throughout the education system has contributed to the lack of positive action at both national and local level to identify and seek to remedy the underachievement of West Indian pupils. We have therefore recommended a comprehensive system for the collection and monitoring of such statistics.

11. To sum up, we have identified no single cause for the underachievement of West Indian children but rather a network of widely differing attitudes and expectations on the part of teachers and the education system as a whole, and on the part of West Indian parents, which lead the West Indian child to have particular difficulties and face particular hurdles in achieving his or her full potential. We have therefore recommended a range of specific, practical measures for the short-term together with some broader more general recommendations designed to bring about fundamental changes in attitude and practice in the longer term. Taken together, these constitute a programme for action which will go a long way towards enabling West Indian pupils to fulfil their true potential in our schools, as well as providing a more balanced education for all our children.


AGENCIES OF CHANGE

1. In order to bring about the changes for which we have called throughout this report, a whole range of institutions and organisations associated with education need to play their part. We set out below these agencies of change and discuss briefly the contributions which each can make. We intend to follow up these points in discussion with those concerned.

a. Central government

2. We believe that central government has a duty to give a positive lead in bringing about a change in attitudes on the part of the community at large and in securing a greater acceptance of the ethnic minorities in our society. Up to now governments have conspicuously failed in this respect. We were therefore encouraged by the speech of the Home Secretary in Birmingham in July 1980. He said:

'To the white community my message is simple and unequivocal. Black people are part of Britain and part of Britain's future. They are entitled to the same respect, the same consideration, the same treatment as any other citizen. These are facts which must be accepted. But mere grudging acceptance is not enough. If our society is to prosper, mutual regard must be one of the qualities of good citizenship.'

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Consultation and Representation

Nevertheless even where the government itself has some responsibility for what is done its own actions frequently do not accord with those admirable sentiments. Again and again the ethnic minorities see consultations taking place, committees being appointed, conferences arranged, reports written, hierarchies organised (or reorganised), candidates nominated, without the involvement in the smallest way, directly or indirectly, of groups or individuals from among them. This occurs even where their interests are central to the discussion. How, they ask, can policies formulated in such circumstances possibly take account of their needs? We therefore urge all government departments to ensure that ethnic minority groups are directly involved in their consultations and that the interests and needs of ethnic minority groups are taken fully into account and reflected in the appointments they make.

DES

3. Since we are concerned principally with education, we have taken a keen interest in the role played by the DES in developing a multicultural approach to education. Regrettably we have received some evidence about the lack of leadership given by the DES in the field of multicultural education, particularly in relation to teacher education. We have therefore addressed a number of our recommendations to the DES for we have no doubt that it can play a major role in bringing about the developments in education for which we have called, by stimulating developments and initiatives, issuing advice and guidance, and funding research projects. It is also best placed to bring together the major parties involved in education and to collect and monitor information. We appreciate the encouragement we have been given in our work by DES Ministers and hope that this will lead the DES as a whole to respond positively to our report.

4. Within the DES itself we have been concerned to note that the needs of ethnic minority children are so often seen only as an aspect of educational disadvantage or in some cases even just a form of handicap. This seems to reflect a general view throughout the education service that ethnic minority children are 'a problem' and in some way 'lacking' or 'inadequate'. We intend to look more closely at the role of the DES, and particularly at the work of the Educational Disadvantage Unit (EDU) which is the focal point within the DES for all educational matters relating to ethnic minority groups, for our main report.

HMI

5. HM Inspectorate can play an equally valuable role in fostering the development of a more broadly-based approach to education by, for example, identifying good practice in this field and offering practical guidance on appropriate teaching methods and materials. We have specifically recommended that HMI should continue to take account of the need for all schools to adopt a multicultural approach to the curriculum in their inspections and that a paper on this should be prepared in the 'Matters for Discussion' series. All HMI short courses should also include a multicultural element. To assist in developing a more balanced approach to the needs of ethnic minority groups and a broader multicultural perspective within the Inspectorate itself we feel there should be more HMIs drawn from the ethnic minorities.

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b. Local government

Local Authorities

6. Equally important is the commitment at local level. Local authorities with ethnic minority populations should ensure that their particular needs are being met, by for example seeking assistance from central government under Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 where appropriate. Authorities need to establish clear and comprehensive means of involving ethnic minority groups in policy making and in helping to determine their priorities and needs. Similarly they should ensure that there is adequate ethnic minority representation on their advisory groups. We have specifically recommended for example that in putting forward applications for Section 11 funds, they should involve ethnic minority groups.

LEAs

7. LEAs have a crucial role to play in fostering the development of a multicultural approach to education in their areas. We have made a number of recommendations to them ranging from questions of overall policy to specific points relating to books and teaching materials and intend to follow up, for our main report, the extent to which LEAs are responding.

c. Organisations and institutions

Schools Council

8. The Schools Council has over the years offered guidance to teachers on various issues related to the education of ethnic minority children and has established a working party on multicultural education. We feel nonetheless that it could do more in promoting a multicultural approach throughout education and taking greater account of the needs of today's multiracial society in all aspects of its work. We understand that the Schools Council's project 'Studies in the Multi-ethnic Curriculum', conducted by Professor Alan Little, has yielded a considerable amount of information and we hope that this will lead to a greater involvement by the Council in the multicultural education field.

Teacher Unions

9. We were disappointed by the almost total absence of ethnic minority representatives in the delegations that we met from the main teacher unions. This seems to reflect an under-representation of ethnic minority teachers in senior positions in these unions. We have however been encouraged, as we have said earlier in the report, by the positive response of some unions in giving a clear lead to their members in developing a multicultural approach to their work. Unfortunately, this approach does not seem to be borne out at local level judging by some of the comments and responses we encountered on our visits.

Examining Boards

10. We should like to see a greater recognition by all examining boards of the need for examination syllabuses to reflect and support moves towards developing a multicultural approach to the curriculum, and to cater for the particular needs of ethnic minority groups.

TTIs

11. Since teachers must, to some extent, take the lead in bringing about the changes and developments which we have advocated in this report,

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teacher training institutions (TTIs) need to prepare teachers to fulfil their responsibilities in this respect. We believe that TTIs should seek to give all their students a grounding in the particular needs of ethnic minority pupils and the theory and practical application of a multicultural approach to education.

School Governing Bodies

12. It is now generally accepted that school governors should take a much more direct interest in their school's approach to its curriculum. We would encourage this and also like to see them encouraging the developing of links between the school and the community it serves.

CRE

13. The Commission for Racial Equality's (CRE) task is to promote equality of opportunity and a more positive view of today's multiracial society and to combat the effects of racism and discrimination. We fully support them in this. The Commission has a crucial role to play in identifying racial inequality in education and taking steps to eliminate it and we should like to see a greater commitment to this role in the future. We look forward with interest to the results of their current investigations into educational practice. We have however been concerned that on a number of occasions, events organised by the CRE in the education field have shown a lack of planning and preparatory consultation with ethnic minority groups, and major partners in education have either been ignored or only involved very belatedly and on an ad hoc basis. We very much hope therefore that in the future the CRE will deploy its resources in the education field with greater professionalism and will make much greater efforts to achieve its objectives in a spirit of partnership with ethnic minorities.

CRCs

14. Local community relations councils (CRCs) also have a crucial role to play in informing ethnic minority groups about issues which affect them, such as local and central government policies, and in facilitating discussions and activities on these issues with a view to enabling ethnic minorities to make their views known to policy makers.


COSTS

1. At a time of constraints on public spending it is especially important to consider how much additional expenditure is required by our recommendations. The answer, for most of them, is none. What we are seeking is, rather, a reordering of the priorities under which resources are at present allocated so as to bring about a fundamental change in attitude towards the ethnic minorities in our society and in particular towards ethnic minority pupils in our schools. Where, for example, we have recommended that central government departments, local authorities, and organisations and institutions should review their policies in particular fields it is not possible to estimate the cost of such reviews. To the extent that we cause them merely to alter the perspective from which they carry out their normal appraisal of their activities our recommendations lay no additional cost upon them. Recommendations affecting the work of LEA advisers, appointments to school

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governing bodies or the appointment at all levels of the education service of members of the ethnic minorities need entail no additional expenditure. Similarly, in the context of the transition from school to adult life, where we have spoken of a review of arrangements for the financial support of 16-19 year olds, with a view to restructuring the present confusing and inequitable arrangements to provide a common and comprehensive system of support, there will have to be a considerable redistribution of resources but there should be no additional costs. We have made several recommendations about the need for there to be more reference to ethnic minority groups and to the need for a multicultural approach to education in initial and in-service courses for teachers, careers officers and those working with under fives. We would not see this as an addition to a course but rather as a theme running throughout it. It would not therefore entail any additional costs.

2. We recognise however that there are additional costs, associated with staff time in establishing links between schools and parents or reviewing the content of the curriculum, and similar matters. Where we have asked schools and institutions to review the extent to which they cater for and take account of the multiracial nature of our society, even in all-white areas, costs will not be financial but rather psychological. All concerned - teachers, pupils and parents - will need to be prepared to reappraise, in some cases long-accepted views of the 'British education system' and of their roles within it.

3. There are some recommendations however where we can give an indication of the likely costs involved. In relation to the guidance which LEAs might provide for parents of young children (recommendation vi in Chapter 2 paragraph b.11), the cost to the LEA concerned, of producing 17,000 copies of the booklet at Appendix B, was £700 in 1980. Where we have recommended that more LEAs should establish special access courses for entry to training for teaching and other caring professions, and that similar courses should be established for entry to training for the careers service, we have also recommended that ways should be found for students on these courses to be given mandatory awards. In one LEA where the full-time students on access courses are at present supported through major discretionary awards, the cost is estimated to be £25,000 a session.

4. The specific costs that we have identified, for example those for access courses for professional training, are not high. That seems to us all the more reason for the government to use them as an earnest of their intentions by finding the resources for them now.

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

We list below for ease of reference the recommendations which we have offered together with references to the relevant sections of the report.


PRE-SCHOOL PROVISION (pages 14 to 19 inclusive)

i. All local authorities should review their arrangements for the co-ordination of services, both voluntary and statutory, for the under fives

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with a view to designating an official to be responsible for the co-ordination of these services.

ii. As primary school rolls fall LEAs should convert former primary school premises for nursery use. In areas with West Indian children full use should be made of resources available through Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 in the staffing of such units and the facilities should be extended to provide a service for mothers working full-time.

iii. Local Authorities and Health Authorities should ensure that initial training and in-service training for nursery nurses and health visitors include information on the particular pressures faced by West Indian parents and sensitise all those who work with under fives to the need for West Indian children to develop positive attitudes towards their ethnic group by the provision of appropriate learning and play materials.

iv. Local Authorities and Health Authorities should seek to recruit more West Indians, and members of other ethnic minority groups, as nursery nurses and health visitors.

v. Local Authorities should use all available means of informing parents of the nursery education and day-care facilities available in their areas.

vi. Local Education Authorities should make available to all parents of young children a document offering advice and ideas on preparation for school.

vii. Local Authorities should review their procedures for the registration of childminders in order to extend the service and should offer guidance to mothers on selecting a childminder to meet their particular needs.

Reading

i. All LEAs and schools should look for ways in which parents can be more closely involved in helping their children to learn to read.

ii. All initial teacher education courses should include an introduction to the nature of West Indian Creole.

iii. LEAs with West Indian pupils should provide specialised in-service courses on West Indian language and offer practical advice to teachers on how to draw on the 'repertoire' approach to the teaching of Standard English.

iv. The Schools Council, in consultation with the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (CILT), should keep under review the question of dialect in schools and should seek to provide up to date and practical guidance for teachers.

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v. Schools should follow up the Bullock Committee's suggestion that all teachers should accept responsibility for playing their part in a coherent programme of language across the curriculum.

vi. Schools with West Indian pupils should give every opportunity for those pupils to make full use of their linguistic repertoire through creative work in English, drama and discussion work.

i. The DES should, as part of its current review of curriculum arrangements, invite all LEAs to define their policy and commitment to multicultural education and to describe how this is put into effect in their schools.

ii. HM Inspectorate should, within their regular inspections, assess the extent to which schools are responding to the challenges of meeting the special needs of ethnic minority pupils and of preparing all pupils for life in a multiracial society, and should advise LEAs and teachers accordingly.

iii. The specialist group of HMIs concerned with multicultural education should continue to make known their findings about the extent to which schools are responding to this challenge, possibly through a document in the 'Matters for Discussion' series.

iv. Heads should seek to involve West Indian teachers and teachers from other ethnic minority groups more directly in the overall development of the curriculum.

v. Heads should consider the establishment of staff working parties to consider their own school's response to multicultural education.

vi. Teachers should review their work to take full account of the multiracial nature of British society.

vii. The Schools Council should consider the setting up of machinery for the collection and dissemination of good practice and materials in the field of multicultural education.

i. Teachers should examine critically the textbooks and teaching materials they use and take account of their appropriateness to today's multicultural society.

ii. LEAs, through their advisory services, should help teachers to keep under review the textbooks and teaching materials they use and, as resources allow, provide for the replacement of those which display a negative cultural bias.

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iii. Public and school librarians should attempt to ensure their stocks represent in a balanced manner the range of cultures present in British society, by including books which reflect the culture and achievements of West Indians and the contribution which they and other ethnic minorities have made and are making to this society and to other countries.

i. The DES, in its current consideration of the future framework of examinations, should take full account of the needs of children from ethnic minority groups and of the need for a multicultural approach throughout education.

ii. All GCE and CSE examining boards should undertake a systematic review of the relevance of their syllabuses to the needs of today's multiracial school population. They should encourage a multicultural approach to education and should seek to involve ethnic minority groups in their consultative procedures.

i. The DES, in consultation with the local authority associations and the teacher unions, should issue guidance on the maintenance of school pupil records and on accessibility to these by parents.

ii. LEAs should ensure that a sufficient range of in-service provision is available in their areas, relating to the needs and backgrounds of ethnic minority pupils, including West Indians.

iii. Heads should prepare guidance for their staff setting out clearly the role of every teacher in the school's pastoral arrangements.

iv. Heads of multiracial schools should encourage their staff to attend LEA and other in-service courses concerned with ethnic minority groups and to relate their new knowledge, skills and insights to the needs of these pupils.

i. All schools, but particularly multiracial schools, should designate a senior member of staff to be responsible for the co-ordination of links between the school and the community it serves.

ii. LEAs, in providing the information required under Section 8(5) of the Education Act 1980, should ensure that the material is provided in a form which is accessible and easily understood by parents, particularly those from ethnic minority groups, and by the wider community.

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iii. Schools should encourage teachers to see home visiting as an integral part of their pastoral responsibilities.

iv. Schools should provide at least two full written reports each academic year on every pupil, and should ensure, through frequent meetings between parents and teachers, that a child's progress and prospects are clearly understood by his or her parents.

v. Schools should encourage their PTAs to take an active interest in educational matters and should explore additional ways in which parents can be involved in the school's work.

vi. LEAs should take steps to ensure that ethnic minority interests are fully taken into account in making appointments to the governing bodies of schools.

vii. Schools should make a particular effort to establish contacts with supplementary schools in their areas.

viii. LEAs should continue to look favourably on applications for assistance from supplementary schools.

ESN(M) schools

i. The DES, through guidance to LEAs, should make clear that, in identifying pupils who require special educational treatment and, under the proposed new arrangements, in assessing special educational needs, they must take account of particular factors, such as cultural differences and the effects of discrimination, which may have a bearing on the educational progress of West Indian pupils.

ii. LEAs should take into account any possible cultural bias in the tests they use for the assessment of West Indian pupils' special educational needs.

iii. LEAs should ensure that the proposed new procedures for assessment of pupils having special educational needs are fully explained to West Indians and that parents are informed of their rights of appeal.

iv. Under the proposed new arrangements for special education, LEAs should ensure that when a West Indian child is being assessed as having special educational needs, at least one person, other than the parents, who is West Indian or is knowledgeable about the particular educational difficulties faced by such pupils, is involved.

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v. LEAs should make greater efforts to recruit more West Indian educational psychologists.

vi. The DES should, as a matter of urgency, implement its undertaking to collect statistics on the ethnic mix of all ESN(M) schools, and, under the proposed new arrangements for special education, should institute regular monitoring on an ethnic basis of assessment and referrals of pupils as having special educational needs and the entry into some form of special education of children about whom a formal statement has been made.

vii. LEAs should ensure that the curriculum in ESN(M) schools, and for children about whom a formal statement is maintained under the proposed new arrangements, meets the children's educational needs and within this, reflects the cultural diversity of our society.

viii. The DES, in consultation with the local authority associations and the teacher unions, should prepare and issue guidance to LEAs designed to tighten up procedures when pupils are suspended or excluded from school.

ix. The DES should consider the legal position of units serving more than one school and which cater on a full-time basis for disruptive pupils.

x. The DES, in consultation with HM Inspectorate, should consider the possibility of issuing guidance to LEAs on how to meet the needs of disruptive pupils in mainstream schools.

xi. LEAs should establish a clearly laid down procedure for the referral of pupils to disruptive units to ensure that parents are fully consulted at an early stage.

xii. LEAs should ensure that pupils do not remain in disruptive units indefinitely and that their progress is reviewed at monthly intervals with a view to an early return to mainstream education.

i. The DES and the Department of Employment should consider jointly the establishment of access courses for entry into training for the careers service.

ii. The Department of Employment should review the content of all initial and in-service training courses for careers officers to ensure that some reference is included to the particular needs of West Indian school leavers.

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iii. The DES, in consultation with the Department of Employment and the Department of Health and Social Security, should review the arrangements for the financial support of 16-19 year olds.

iv. The Department of Employment, in consultation with the DES and the Manpower Services Commission, should introduce a national system of vocational preparation 'traineeships' within each industry to supplement the present system of craft apprenticeships and available on first employment to those entering jobs which involve little or no further education or planned training. These 'traineeships' should be formally recognised in the same way as apprenticeships, and certification given on completion of the traineeship.

v. The Department of Employment should issue advice to LEAs on ways of involving West Indians lacking formal careers qualifications in the work of the careers service.

vi. The Manpower Services Commission should review its arrangements for assisting community groups wishing to set up Youth Opportunities projects with a view to encouraging community initiatives.

vii. Schools should review their existing arrangements for preparing pupils for the transition from school to work.

viii. Schools should have a fully structured careers education programme beginning not later than the third year and run by a full-time trained careers teacher.

ix. Schools, in cooperation with the local authorities and careers service, should monitor on an ethnic basis the destination of their leavers.

x. The CBI and TUC should continue their efforts to bring about equality of opportunity for all ethnic minority groups in employment.

Initial training

i. The governing bodies and maintaining authorities of all TTIs in the public sector and university departments of education should institute a fundamental reappraisal of their policy towards multicultural education.

ii. HM Inspectorate should continue to provide courses on multicultural education for holders of senior posts within TTIs and, in their routine and special inspections of TTIs, should seek to encourage a more broadly based approach to education by all institutions.

iii. LEAs should review the effectiveness of their induction programmes for probationary teachers and ensure that these include guidance on the needs and backgrounds of all pupils in their area.

[page 83]

iv. Schools should establish an effective induction programme for probationers and new members of staff providing information and advice on the needs of all pupils in the school.

v. LEAs should ensure that in their areas there is a wide range of in-service provision relating to the needs of all the pupils in their schools.

vi. LEAs should organise seminars for senior staff in their schools, particularly for head teachers and their deputies, and potential holders of such posts, in the theory and practical application of a multicultural approach to education.

vii. LEAs should consider how best to collect and disseminate information about interesting practices in school-based INSET.

viii. LEAs should seek to recruit more West Indian teachers and professionals and to ensure equal opportunities for them at all levels in the education service.

ix. LEAs with West Indian populations should establish special access courses for entry to training for teaching and other caring professions.

x. The DES should find ways in which mandatory awards can be given to students on special access courses.

i. All LEAs should designate an adviser to co-ordinate activities in the field of multicultural education, and those LEAs with substantial ethnic minority populations should consider the appointment of a full-time adviser with this role.

ii. LEAs, in appointing advisers for multicultural education, should take into account the extent of the applicant's understanding of the needs of pupils from all ethnic minority groups and his knowledge of minority communities' cultures and concerns.

iii. LEAs should provide induction training for their multicultural advisers on general matters relating to the authority's overall educational policies.

With effect from 1 September 1982:

i. All schools should record the ethnic origin of a child's family, along with the normal standard data, when a child first enters school, on the basis of discussions with the parents.

[page 84]

ii. The DES should reincorporate the collection of information on the ethnic origin of all pupils in schools into its annual statistical exercise and should introduce ethnic classifications into its school leavers survey.

iii. The DES should ask all teacher training institutions to collect statistics on the ethnic origin of all students training to be teachers including students seeking to enter teaching through special access courses.

iv. The DES should record and publish statistics on the ethnic origin of all teachers in employment by amending teachers service cards to include information on ethnic origin.

v. The DES should arrange for the annual collection of details from all universities, polytechnics and colleges of higher education, of the ethnic breakdown of their student populations, and should examine the reasons for any under-representation of any group at any institution.

i. The Home Office, in consultation with the DES, should undertake a review of the provisions and operation of Section 11 with a view to making it more appropriate to the needs of the ethnic minority communities.

ii. Local authorities should set up consultative procedures involving ethnic minority groups in their areas and no claim for Section 11 funding should be considered without an indication that it has been fully discussed with them.

iii. Local authorities should clearly state their criteria for the appointment of staff under Section 11 and one of those criteria should be membership of, or experience of working with, the ethnic minority groups concerned.

Matters for further consideration

1. In the course of this report we have referred to a number of broad issues to which, in the limited time available, we have been unable to give full consideration or which bear on the interests of all ethnic minority groups and not only on West Indians. On these we would particularly value further evidence.

a. Relating to West Indians specifically, there are the issues of:

i. Whether West Indian pupils are wrongly channelled into CSE rather than GCE examinations and, if so, what the reasons are for this (page 39);

ii. The particular factors which have led some West Indians to succeed and the obstacles which they have had to overcome (page 10);

iii. The extent to which the MSC's Youth Opportunities Programme projects should be and are designed to meet the particular needs of West Indian youngsters (page 58).

[page 85]

b. Relating to the interests of all ethnic minority groups (and the fostering of a multicultural approach throughout education), there are the following more general issues:

i. The effect on an ethnic minority child's motivation and subsequent achievement, of discrimination and its effects in schools and in society (page 14);

ii. The relationship between the home background and parental support received by an ethnic minority child and his or her academic achievement (page 44);

iii. The various forms of supplementary provision made for ethnic minority children within their own communities and the relationship between these and mainstream education (page 45);

iv. The extent to which the education system and traditional practices and procedures fail to take account of the multiracial nature of society today (page 14);

v. The extent to which LEAs are seeking financial assistance under Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 (page 68) and for developments particularly in the field of provision for the under fives (page 17);

vi. The ways in which initial teacher training should provide a grounding in multicultural education (page 61).

3. As we mentioned in Chapter one our School Leavers Survey exercise yielded some information on the achievements of Asians as well as West Indian school leavers. We intend to consider this for our main report and would welcome any comments which might help us to evaluate this data.

Discussion points

4. In addition there are several important questions which have either been raised in evidence to us or have emerged from our own deliberations and which require further consideration. These are set out below:

i. The effects of developments in the field of race relations, for example the current debate about nationality and immigration, on the motivation and achievement of ethnic minority pupils;

[page 86]

ii. The response of the media to the multiracial nature of society and the effects this may have on attitudes towards ethnic minority pupils;

iii. Relations between the police and ethnic minority youngsters and the bearing these may have on school performance;

iv. The current debate on the validity of IQ testing and the heritability of intellectual abilities;

v. The effects on school performance of divergences in attitudes and expectations between ethnic minority pupils and their parents and communities;

vi. The question of the establishment of a central fund to meet the particular needs of ethnic minority children;

vii. The extent to which academic qualifications and 'normal' school reports provide a true 'profile' of a pupil's abilities and future potential.

6. Comments on this report, together with evidence on the whole range of issues, relating to all ethnic minority groups, encompassed by our terms of reference should be sent to:

DG Halladay
Secretary
Committee of Inquiry into the Education of Children from Ethnic Minority Groups
Elizabeth House
York Road
London
SE1 7PH

[page 87]

APPENDIX A

Co-opted Members to Sub-Committees

Although our membership covered a wide range of interest and expertise, we felt that we would benefit from the presence on our sub-committees of additional members with further knowledge and experience. We therefore co-opted a number of members, to whom we are extremely grateful for their help. We list them below:

Ms J Barrow OBE, Lecturer, University of London, Institute of Education
Mrs E Bernard, Senior Education Welfare Officer, Inner London Education Authority
Mr F Best, Social Worker, Derbyshire County Council
Miss E Brittan, Research Officer, London Borough of Harrow
Mrs W Bushell, Educational Psychologist, London Borough of Croydon
Mr L Fallows, formerly County Adviser, Lancashire LEA
Mrs J Goody, Multicultural Inspectorate, Inner London Education Authority
Ms H Hall, Head, Welbourne Infants' School, London Borough of Haringey
Mr J Jackson, Community Liaison Teacher, Inner London Education Authority
Mr D Lake, Teacher, Sinfin School, Derby
Ms J Leitch, Lecturer, North East London Polytechnic
Mr G Myers, Chief Education Welfare Officer, Birmingham LEA

We are especially grateful to Mr AD Matthews MBE - a retired multi-cultural adviser with the London Borough of Ealing - who in addition to serving on one of our sub-committees visited a considerable number of schools on our behalf. We are indebted to him for his valuable help and advice.

[page 88]

APPENDIX B

Example of a Leaflet issued by one LEA to Parents with Young Children

Your child's development begins at birth and the years before school are of great importance. It is during these years that a child grows more rapidly and learns more quickly than at any other time.

Your child learns from you. Here are some ways in which you can help your child make a confident start.

Talk with your child.

Listen to him and encourage him to talk and ask questions as he helps in the home.

The sort of language you and your child will want to share may develop when you are cooking, setting the table, eating a meal or washing up. Here are some of the words which your child will need to use.

Cooking: 'mixing' 'flour' 'pan' 'stirring' 'eggs' 'oven'

Setting the table and eating a meal: 'plates' 'cups and saucers'

Washing up: 'clean' 'wet' 'hot' 'dirty' 'dry' 'cold'

[page 89]

Your home, garden, street, shops and the supermarket are full of chances for you to point out things of interest and answer your child's questions.

Let him help you whenever he can.

Visits to the park, the seaside, the zoo and to grandparents are also times when you can encourage your child to talk and express his feelings.

[page 90]

Take opportunities to talk with your child as he plays with his toys. Let him tell you about what he is making. Encourage your child to tell you about the shape, size and colour of the things.

If your child is playing with bricks, he may be able to tell you all these things, but also let him tell you his own ideas about his building.

[page 91]

Sometimes your child will not know the words to use and will look to you for help.

Try to answer your child's many questions and encourage him to talk freely. Let him know that you are interested in what he has to say. You may find it difficult to make time for this, but if you do your child will be ready to share his ideas with you, his teacher and his friends in school.

[page 92]

Before your child learns to read he needs to have stories told and read to him. Sit with him and enjoy colourful picture books and stories.

Help your child to learn nursery rhymes and songs by singing with him.

[page 93]

Your child may watch television and listen to radio from an early age. You can help your child to understand what he sees. Talk with him and choose the programmes especially those produced for young children.

Watch, listen and talk with your child about programmes such as 'You and Me', 'Play School', 'My World', 'Listen with Mother' and 'Playtime'. You will help to extend his language and develop his ability to listen.

[page 94]

Your child learns through play.

Give your child clothes for dressing up, boxes for building and empty pots and pans so that he can use them to develop his play. Programmes such as 'Play School' are full of ideas for play.

As he nears school age your child will enjoy playing with other children and will learn to share his toys through play.

[page 95]

On his own or with his friends he will sort things into groups: large buttons into different colours, boxes and packets into groups of different sizes and shapes. Encourage your child by giving him anything which can be sorted.

[page 96]

Before your child learns to write he needs to use large crayons, paint brushes and pencils.

Let him make his own big pictures and tell you about them.

[page 97]

Give your child odds and ends such as paper plates, egg boxes, packets, cotton reels, wool, cards and pieces of material. With these he will enjoy making his own pictures and models.

[page 98]

In order to keep your child healthy and happy you will need to see that he has plenty of fresh air and sleep.

When you take your child out try to find a safe place where he can run and climb. He will enjoy playing a game of ball with you.

A quiet time at the end of the day, with a favourite book or toy will help to make bedtime calm and pleasant. You can talk together about the day or what is going to happen tomorrow.

[page 99]

Your child will need help with dressing and undressing. As he gets older encourage him to do these things for himself.

Zips are easier than buttons or laces,
pullovers easier than cardigans,
slip on shoes easier than laced ones.

Learning to dress himself will take time but be patient because it will help your child to be confident to do this for himself.

Before he starts school help him to know his own clothes, which should be clearly marked with his own name and to know how to use a handkerchief.

When your child goes to school he will need to take care of himself at the toilet. Please help him to do this and to ask to go to the toilet in an acceptable way.

[page 100]

Help your child to look forward to starting school as a happy time. Don't tell him that the teachers will be cross with him for the things he can not do. Tell him instead how pleased his teachers will be with the things he can do.

At school your child will have a drink of milk; encourage him to drink through a straw.

Let your child try many different kinds of food with you at home. Teach him how to use a knife and fork. If you do this, school meals will later be no problem to him.

[page 101]

You and your child should get used to the journey to and from school before he starts school. Find the best route and teach him road safety on the way.

On these journeys your child needs to learn to stop, look and listen before crossing the road.

If there is a school crossing teach your child to use it with the help of the traffic warden.

[page 102]

When your child starts school you will want to take him and meet him when he leaves. Try not to keep him waiting as children quickly become worried if they don't know where you are. If you are unable to meet your child make sure that he knows which other adult he should come home with.

[page 103]

Before your child is admitted to school try to visit the school with him when you are invited.

When you have met his teacher and seen his classroom you can talk about the visit and help him look forward to starting school.

It is important for your child to know that you and his teachers are all interested in what he does.

[page 104]

You can support your child's school in many ways. Do offer to help if possible when the school needs you at Sports Days, on visits, at sales or when making things for the children.

Try to attend any meetings and Open Days to which you are invited, when you will find that your child's teacher will be pleased to talk with you about your child's work.

Teachers always find these meetings with parents valuable and remember that your child will be disappointed if you do not show interest in his progress.

It will help your child if he attends school regularly and, if possible, does not go away on holiday during the school term.

[page 105]

HEALTH AND WELFARE SERVICES

There are a number of services provided for all children attending school and some services which help children who have special problems.

These services are well known lo the Head Teachers of schools and they are the best people to put you in touch with them. Please go to the Head Teacher for help and advice.

HEALTH

The National Health Service looks after the health of your child at school and provides for all children the services of:

1 The Child Health Medical Officer, who visits school and will help with, and follow up, any health problems your child may have.

2 The School Nurse, who visits school and examines children for general growth, vision testing and cleanliness, including the hair.

3 The School Dental Officer, who visits school to look at your child's teeth and can arrange for any necessary treatment.

4 The Audiometrician, who tests your child's hearing in school.

WELFARE

The Education Welfare Officer will help and advise you on many matters including free school meals, choice of school or problems with your child either at home or school.

[page 106]

APPENDIX C

NUT Checklist for Using Books for Multi-Ethnic Education

Do not pass over or ignore a racist concept or cliché in a text book; if you have decided to use the book, point out its inadequacies and false assumptions and use it to stimulate discussion.

Do not use books which would cause offence to ethnic minority group pupils by derogatory references which suggest the inferiority of minority groups.

Point out stereotypes: do not allow them to pass unchallenged, and be ready with counter-examples which show other attributes of personality and achievement of the ethnic group in question.

Look carefully at illustrations; do they correctly represent the ethnic group depicted? Are these illustrations realistic, and not caricatures?

Check that books do not either by text or illustration reinforce the image of a power structure in which white people have all the power and make all the decisions, with ethnic minorities functioning in subservient roles. Black and brown people should be shown in all kinds of jobs, reflecting their increasingly important role in our society.

In stories about children, the question should be raised whether the non-white child has to strive harder for acceptance and, in friendships, whether he or she has to do most of the understanding and forgiving.

Check whether there are people in the story with whom black or brown children could identify, thereby enhancing their self-concept and self-esteem.

Assess whether the book is factually accurate and ensure that it does not perpetuate the myth of white superiority. Books about urban life should contain reference to minority groups.

Ask these questions: is the book written from the standpoint of a multi-cultural society? Does it recognise cultural diversity? Are its moral assumptions those of parity of esteem between people of different ethnic groups?

Could a child of any nationality retain his cultural pride and dignity whilst reading it?

[page 107]

APPENDIX D

The Following Extracts from a School Handbook set out the Pastoral Roles of the Form Tutor and Year Head:

THE JOB SPECIFICATION OF THE FORM TUTOR

This may be summarised as follows:

a. General administration and daily registration of tutor group.

b. To KNOW and be directly responsible within the school for each individual pupil within the tutor group.

c. To be the 'first line of action' in helping each pupil cope with his difficulties. Sometimes this will demand a disciplinary response, at others the offering of a listening ear or helping hand, at others the sharing of ideas and experiences.

d. To communicate essential information to the Head of Year or Deputy Head of Year.

e. To be a 'resource person' to other members of staff. The tutor has first-hand knowledge of his pupils which may be valuable to other members of staff.

f. To record ESSENTIAL information for the pupils' personal files and ensure that this record is kept up to date.

g. To coordinate the subject reports to parents and give a coherent report on the 'whole' pupil.

h. To make himself known to the family of each pupil in this group, and to interpret to the parents the philosophy and practice of the school.

The major responsibility of Heads of Year and their Deputies is the oversight of the academic and social development of pupils in the Year Group. This is effected by:

a. The leadership of a team of tutors, which includes preparation of Tutorial work for pupils, guidance to the tutors on the pupils in their care and the organisation of tutorial meetings and year assemblies.

b. Liaison with parents, including home visiting (which is seen as an integral part of the function of a pastoral unit) and interviewing parents at school. This includes supportive counselling to families where appropriate.

c. Liaison with external agencies (Child Guidance, Juvenile Bureau, Probation Service, Educational Welfare, etc) and also with Social Services through the school-based Social Worker. This liaison may lead to the organisation of case conferences where appropriate.

[page 108]

d. Counselling and educational, personal or vocational guidance to individual pupils where necessary. This includes the compilation and development of an effective record system, and development of an effective communication system within the year tutorial unit.

e. General administration connected with the year group, checking punctuality and attendance, supervising issue of daily reports, involvement in the coordination of the reports and parents interviewing evenings.

f. Organisation and coordination of year-based activities including year trips.

[page 109]

APPENDIX E

Number of Pupils Suspended/Excluded on 31 January 1980 in One Urban Multi-Racial LEA

*Approximately

[page 110]

APPENDIX F

INDUCTION PROGRAMME: Extract from school handbook

The probationary years

The probationary years are vital years of adjustment for all new teachers since patterns established now are likely to determine future success or otherwise in the teaching profession. We have all been probationers at some time in our lives and the following notes of guidance are, therefore, based on personal experience - needless to say, this has not always been pleasant!

Entry into school life affects people differently but most would agree that this is the time to bring theory out into the open and face the practical teaching situation. 'Realism' must be brought into analysing one's own particular strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, prejudices etc, as equally it must appraise the classroom situation coherently. Children in the classroom do not act from laws laid down in textbooks. They are unique, their inter-reaction is unique and their inter-reaction with each teacher is similarly unique. Realism and practical common sense needs to be supported by other qualities, all of which will be developed by a 'good' teacher eg fairness, consistency, perseverance, high expectation from pupils, sound personal standards or, in brief, the creation of a secure relationship structure within which pupils can develop. A 'good' teacher does not need 'to be popular'. Dealings with pupils must be determined by the needs of the child or of the group (occasionally these may conflict) and not by any desire to satisfy one's own personal inadequacies. The 'good' teacher is usually the well adjusted teacher and the pupils are quick to detect this.

We accept that the first year can be full of traumatic experiences for some, whilst others will pass through it apparently unconcerned. Our aim is to ensure that we provide a framework within which you can develop both your teaching skills and assist the emotional and social growth of pupils in your care. Above all, we want you to enjoy teaching and your work with young people. We hope that you will not hesitate to draw on the cumulative experience of all staff and that despite temporary crises you appreciate that we are all human and that we all have teaching problems even if for some they are not apparent at the moment.

THE SYSTEM:

There are two broad themes to our support system - formal and informal. In brief, formal support will be given through group meetings of all probationers, whilst informal support will be by individual discussion sessions with Mr X, Mr Y, Mr Z or myself. No system is infallible neither must it become a straitjacket, so it is important to ask for help when you need it and not only when it is offered as part of the support system.

a. 'Formal' Programme - September to April

Session I

Theme: 'The Probationary Year - Coming Down to Earth!'
A session on the basics of teaching including classroom control.

[page 111]

Date: Wednesday 12 September at 3.45 pm.

Venue: Headmaster's Room.

Session II

Theme: 'The Child in School - The Tip of the Iceberg!'
A session on the pastoral organisation of the school; understanding the 'whole' child, home and school and record system - The practice - a session with Heads of Year.

Session III

Theme: 'The Child in School - The Tip of the Iceberg!'
A session on the pastoral organisation of the school; understanding the 'whole' child, home and school and record systems - The Theory Session.

Date: Tuesday 2 October at 3.45 pm.

Venue: Headmaster's room.

Session IV

Theme: 'Our School - How it Works behind the Scenes'
A session with Heads of Faculty on aspects of school organisation: timetable, options, finance etc.

Date: Monday 15 October at 3.45 pm.

Venue: Headmaster's room.

Session V

Theme: 'Them and Us' (myth exploded) - working with parents, reports, parental contact. A session in preparation for parents' evenings and report writing.

Date: Wednesday 7 November at 3.45 pm.

Venue: Headmaster's room.

Session VI

Theme: 1. 'The school and the wider community'
2. 'Remedial Education'
A session with (1) Mr X, Head of Community Education and (2) Mrs Y, Head of Remedial Education.

Date: Wednesday 14 November at 3.45 pm.

Venue: Headmaster's room.

[page 112]

Session VII

Theme: 'Half-way house! (nearly!)'
An appraisal: constructive look back over five months of teaching. This session will also hope to assess the value of the probationary support system with a view to future modification.

Date: Tuesday 15 January at 3.45 pm.

Venue: Headmaster's room.

Starting times: (3.45 pm) will be strictly adhered to and meetings will not normally last longer than 1 hour.

Attendance: All probationary staff are asked to make attendance at these sessions an absolute priority in view of the importance of the subject matter.

b. 'Informal' Programme from September

During the year probationers will be attached to the Headmaster or one of the Deputy Heads for the purpose of regular consultations. These sessions (about half hour) will be structured as follows:

Term 1 (1st half) SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER - one weekly session
(2nd half) NOVEMBER-DECEMBER - one fortnightly session
Term 2 JANUARY-APRIL - one monthly session
Term 3 MAY-JULY - sessions as required.

Probationer attachments to Senior Staff will be as follows:

List of probationers/List of staff attachments

c. The Authority and the Adviser

All probationers are invited to an induction day by the local authority prior to the commencement of the autumn term. Each probationer is attached by the authority to an adviser who is usually a specialist in the probationer's subject. The adviser will give guidance and, together with the school, makes the assessment required to determine the outcome of the probationary period.

d. Others to consult

Heads of Faculty/Department and Heads of Year in this school are always keen to discuss with you any of your concerns. We believe we need to help and support each other and no doubt you, too, will play your part.

We hope you will find this scheme a support to you and that your career in the teaching profession will be rewarding and successful in every way.

HEADMASTER

[page 113]

APPENDIX G

IN-SERVICE PROGRAMME

Aims and Objectives of the Curriculum Development Team

Aims

1. To develop language across the curriculum.

2. To make the curriculum accessible to all pupils.

3. To develop in pupils a healthy attitude to themselves and to enhance their self-esteem.

4. Through developing an awareness of other cultures to promote a respect and toleration for other cultures.

5. To foster within school the concept of the 'caring community'.

6. To foster home/school liaison.

7. To develop social, cultural and educational links with the community.

8. To foster those skills/attitudes which will enable every individual to take his place in society.

9. To promote in-service training for staff.

10. To develop criteria and techniques for the measurement of the programme's progress.

1. To develop an awareness in staff of the following:
a. The special nature of language used in their subject.
b. Differences in children's competency in linguistic skills.

2. a. To influence the preparation and selection of material of a nature suitable for real mixed ability teaching.
b. To ensure learning and understanding through internalisation and personalisation of knowledge.

3. To encourage within the school the opportunities for every child to develop a knowledge of himself and his background.

4. a. To encourage every child to feel that his culture is important.
b. To widen horizons; and to help the child question certain assumptions within his own culture.
c. To show how cultures develop; their relationship to the environment.
d. To minimise prejudice.
e. To prepare our pupils for life in a multi-cultural Britain.

[page 114]

5. a. To promote within the school a warm, colourful, friendly atmosphere.
b. To develop 'caring' in all its meanings.

6. a. To encourage parental interest in education.
b. To support the school's pastoral role through a fuller knowledge of our pupils.

7. a. To encourage students to become active, useful members of their community.
b. To develop social skills in dealing with people outside of the school community.
c. To develop a concern for others.
d. To encourage community spirit through closer school/community links.

8. a. To develop an interest in, and understanding of community politics.
b. To foster an understanding of the religions of the world.
c. To foster an awareness of mass communication techniques.

9. a. To create a sympathetic climate amongst our staff towards multi-cultural education and its implications for the curriculum.
b. To develop an awareness of the nature of different cultures within the school.
c. To develop teaching skills, methods and materials which will facilitate curriculum accessibility.

10. a. To make staff aware of the value of performance and diagnostic testing.
b. To establish a system of recording the progress of individual pupils.

A Brief Survey of Involvement to Date

The team spent the first half term (September-November 1979) in a careful determination of their aims and objectives and methods of operation. A systematic input from the specialist staff of the Language Centre for ESL was greatly appreciated.

Half-termly programmes were to operate with the coordinator making himself available to cover the lessons of staff wishing to work with the team. Briefly, the priorities for the team's work lay in three areas:

a. Influencing curriculum accessibility through a language across the curriculum policy.

b. To establish an ESL provision in school.

[page 115]

c. To influence the general ethos of the school towards a recognition of its multi-cultural population through displays - assemblies, speakers etc.

1. 3rd Year Chemistry - consultations over one term working with language concepts, work sheets, mixed ability approaches.

2. Integrated Studies - 1st year - work towards the production of a!l integrated topic on transport embodying the concepts discussed.

3. A systematic rewriting of Lower School Science Units for language, concepts, information, mixed ability classes.

4. Mr X is producing work on Afro-Caribbean culture for Lower School Humanities.

5. Mr Y is working on a multi-cultural approach to Upper School History with Mr Z of X Polytechnic.

6. The Head of Lower School has received an input from the team.

7. Upper School and a Lower School ESL groups have been identified and established.

8. Upper School Geography is to receive an input from March 1980.

9. A book exhibition of multi-cultural books was held for one day in school and a substantial order placed by many staff.

10. An in-service day was held entitled 'Towards a multi-cultural curriculum'.

11. Displays representative of ethnic groups have been held in school. Examples of children's work in these areas have been displayed in school.

12. Speakers in assemblies have represented ethnic minority views and different religious standpoints.

13. In the summer term a counselling conference is planned for deputy Year Tutors.

[page 116]

APPENDIX H

Three Year Part-time Course Leading to the Degree of BEd (Multi-cultural Studies)

The Course

The general aim of the course is to promote the professional competence of practising teachers in multi-cultural situations and to increase their knowledge, their analytic skills and their understanding of the educational implications of social processes in a multi-cultural society. By achieving this aim it is felt that the development through education of Britain's multi-cultural society will be enhanced.

Course Content

Part 1. Foundation

Section A Historical backgrounds and present situation of ethnic minorities in Britain.

1. Study of one ethnic group. (Muslims, Hindus/Sikhs, Caribbean people.)

2. Society and social change in Britain since World War II.

1. Approaches to the multi-cultural society.
a. Philosophical approaches.
b. Sociological approaches.

2. Approaches to education in a multi-cultural society.
a. Psychological approaches.
b. Curriculum studies.

3. Comparative Studies

4. Race and cultural relations - theoretical approaches.

Section A Teachers and children in Multi-cultural Schools.

1. Teachers in a Multi-cultural Society.
2. Children and their expectations.
3. Learning Theories.
4. The Social Psychology of the classroom.
5. Processes of Assessment.
6. Grouping Practices.

[page 117]

Section B Language and Minority Groups in a Multi-cultural Society.

1. Theoretical Introduction; Socio-Linguistics.
2. Structure of minority group languages.
3. Language within minority communities.
4. Place and function of language within the school curriculum.
5. The Teaching of English as a second language.

1. Analysis of current curriculum.
2. Curriculum change-with comparative perspective.
3. Curriculum design for a multi-cultural society.

[page 118]

APPENDIX I

Sources of Information and Advice on Multi-cultural Education and the Education of West Indian Children

The following list is by no means comprehensive but is simply intended to provide some initial contact points and to illustrate the range of advisory services available. Not listed here are the many parents' groups, supplementary schools, black church organisations and other community organisations which exist in almost every town where there are West Indians, many of which are concerned with education.

National Advisory and Information Centres

Centre for Multi-cultural Education Institute of Education, Bedford Way London WC1 0AL Tel 01 636 1500

Commission for Racial Equality, Elliot House 10-12 Allington Street London SW1 Tel 01 828 7022

Commonwealth Institute, Kensington High Street London W8 Tel 01 602 3252

National Association of Community Relations Councils*, Mary Ward House 5-7 Tavistock Place London WC1H 9SS Tel 01 388 3368

National Association for Multiracial Education, 86 Station Road Mickleover Derby DE3 5FB Tel 0332 511751

Runnymede Trust, Victoria Chambers 16-18 Strutton Ground London SW1 Tel 01 222 0701

Schools Council for Curriculum and Examinations, 160 Great Portland Street London W1 Tel 01 580 0352

West Indian Information Centres and Local Centres for Multicultural Education (with particular reference to West Indians)

AFFOR, 1 Finch Road Lozells Birmingham B19 1HS Tel 021 523 8076

Afro-Caribbean Education Resource Project, ILEA Centre for Learning Resources 275 Kennington Lane London SE11 Tel 01 582 2771

Coventry Minority Groups Support Services, South Street Hillfields Coventry CV1 Tel 0203 26888

Haringey Multicultural Curriculum Support Group, St Mary's Primary School Rectory Gardens Hornsey London N8 Tel 01 348 2827

*NACRC can supply a list of all local CRCs.
NB. A number of the main teacher unions should also be able to offer advice on multi-cultural education.

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Association for Teaching of Caribbean and African Literature (ATCAL), 113 Bedford Court Mansions Bedford Avenue London WC1

Black Peoples Information Centre (BPIC), 301-303 Portobello Road London W1O Tel 01 969 9825

Caribbean Communications Project (CCP), Elimu Centre 470 Harrow Road London W9 Tel 01 289 0151

Centre for Urban Educational Studies, 34 Aberdeen Park London N5 Tel 01 226 5437

Manchester Support Service, Ducie High School Denmark Road Manchester Tel 061 273 4241

Multicultural Education Panel, Brent Teachers Centre Ealing Road Alperton Wembley Middlesex Tel 01 903 0661

Waltham Forest Supplementary Service for West Indian Pupils, Kirkdale Centre Kirkdale Road London E11 Tel 01 556 0406

West Indian Teacher Organisations

Caribbean Teachers Association (CTA), 8 Camberwell Green London SE5 Tel 01 639 6599

Afro-Caribbean Teachers Association, 50 Richmond Road Bearwood, Warley West Midlands B66 4ED

Afro-Caribbean Teachers Association, 164 Derby Road Beeston Nottingham

West Indian Bookshops

Walter Rodney Bookshop (run by Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications), 5a Chigwell Place London W13 Tel 01 579 4920

Grass Roots Storefront, 61 Golbourne Road London W10 Tel 01 969 0687

New Beacon Books, 76 Stroud Green Road London W4 Tel 01 272 4898

Headstart Books and Crafts, 25 West Green Road London N4 Tel 01 802 2838

Sabarr Books, 378 Coldharbour Lane London SW9 Tel 01 274 6785

Harriet Tubman Bookshop, 27-29 Grove Lane Handsworth Birmingham Tel 021 554 8479

The Bookplace, 13 Peckham High Street London SE15 Tel 01 701 1757