Racism and education: coincidence or conspiracy?

272 Pages·2008·1.54 MB·English

by  David Gillborn

Racism and Education
Education policy is not designed to eliminate race inequality but to sustain it at
manageable levels.
This is the inescapable conclusion of the first major study of the English education
system using ‘critical race theory’.
David Gillborn has been described as Britain’s ‘most influential race theorist in
education’. In this book he dissects the role of racism across the education system; from
national policies to school-level decisions about discipline and academic selection.
Race inequality is not accidental and things are not getting better.
Despite occasional ‘good news’ stories about fluctuations in statistics, the reality is
that race inequality is so deeply entrenched that it is effectively ‘locked in’ as a
permanent feature of the system.
Built on a foundation of compelling evidence, from national statistics to studies of
classroom life, this book shows how race inequality is shaped and legitimized across the
system. The study explores a series of key issues including:
• The impact of the ‘War on Terror’ and how policy privileges the interests of
White people;
• How assessment systems produce race inequality;
• How the ‘Gifted and Talented’ programme is a form of eugenic thinking based on
discredited and racist myths about intelligence and ability;
• The Stephen Lawrence case, revealing how policymakers have betrayed earlier
commitments to race equality;
• How ‘model minorities’ are created and used to counter antiracism;
• How education policy is implicated in the defence of White power.
Racism and Education: Coincidence or Conspiracy? takes critical antiracist analyses to a
new level and represents a fundamental challenge to current assumptions in the field.
With a foreword by Richard Delgado, one of the founders of critical race theory.
David Gillbornis Professor of Education at the Institute of Education, University of
London, and editor of the international journal Race Ethnicity and Education.
Richard Delgado is University Distinguished Professor of Law and Derrick Bell
Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh.

Racism and Education:
Coincidence or Conspiracy?
David Gillborn
First published 2008
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USAand Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2008 David Gillborn
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Gillborn, David.
Racism and education : coincidence or conspiracy? / David Gillborn.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Racism in education—Great Britain. 2. Discrimination in education—Great Britain. 3.
Race discrimination—Great Britain. I. Title.
LC212.3.G7G453 2008
371.82900941—dc22 2007042195
ISBN 0-203-92842-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0-415-41897-6 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-415-41898-4 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0-203-92842-3 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-41897-3 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-41898-0 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-92842-4 (ebk)
To Joyce and Jim for their love and inspiration

Contents
List of exhibits ix
Acknowledgements xi
Foreword by Richard Delgado xv
1 Introduction 1
2 Critical Race Theory: a new approach to an old
problem 20
3 Inequality, inequality, inequality:
the material reality of racial injustice in
education 44
4 Policy: changing language, constant inequality 70
5 Assessment: measuring injustice or creating it? 90
6 The Stephen Lawrence case: an exception that
proves the rule? 118
7 Model minorities: the creation and significance of
‘ethnic’ success stories 146
8 WhiteWorld: Whiteness and the performance of
racial domination 162
9 Conclusion: understanding race inequality in
education 183
viii Racism and education
Appendix:notes from the author: some thoughts on
Whiteness, critical scholarship and political struggle 197
Notes 204
Bibliography 224
Index 250
Exhibits
2.1 ‘It was just a tragic mistake’, Daily Express 24
2.2 Critical Race Theory: a conceptual map 41
3.1 Comparing ‘percentage point’ and ‘proportionate change’
calculations: Gorard’s ‘ethnicity’ example 48
3.2 Measuring inequality with the percentage point method 50
3.3 Visualizing progress: the proportionate change method 51
3.4 Educational inequality by class, race and gender: England and
Wales, 1989–2004 52
3.5 Educational achievement by race, class and gender: England,
2006: 5+ A* to C 54
3.6 Ethnic origin and GCSE attainment, 1989–2004 58
3.7 Ethnic origin and permanent exclusions from school: England,
1996–7 to 2004–5 62
3.8 Gap Talk 66
3.9 When will the Black/White gap close? 67
4.1 Phases and themes, 1945–1997 73
5.1 Top set placement by ethnicity and gender: mathematics, 2004
and 2005 95
5.2 Tiering and the grades available in GCSE examinations
(England) 96
5.3 Foundation Tier GCSE entry by ethnicity and gender: mathematics
and English, 2004 and 2005 98
5.4 Black performance relative to LEA average at selected ages,
1999 100
5.5 Black performance relative to national average at age 11 and
age 16: ten LEAs, 1998 101
5.6 The Foundation Stage Profile 102
5.7 Foundation Stage Profile 2003: language for communication
and thinking, by ethnic origin 103
5.8 FSP assessments by ethnicity and gender in one LEA, 2004 105
5.9 Widening gaps in the FSP, 2004–5 107
5.10 Gifted and Talented by ethnic origin 115
6.1 Stephen Lawrence timeline 136