Addressing barriers caused by the intersectionality between RACE and SEND in UK Education. An urgent call to action.
Frances Akinde
LA SEND Adviser & Inspector/AT trainer/Art Advocate/Anti-racist schools coach/ND Champion. Former advisory teacher (SEND/SLCN) and Secondary Special Headteacher (Autism).NPQH, MAEd, NASENco, PGCE. Artist:Art is for life!
?By Frances Akinde
Let us start with a warning, explore why these issues exist and offer some solutions.
We must address the structural barriers and discriminations that are at the heart of inequalities in Education. If these issues are not addressed and actions not enforced at government level, students from marginalised backgrounds who are also SEND, will continue to face disadvantage and discrimination. We know that inequalities experienced in school continue into adulthood and impact on outcomes and inclusion.
As recently as 2022 in a study for the British Educational Research Association (BERA) , Professor Denise Miller found that ‘higher education students with overlapping intersectional identities (that is BAME and SEND) are much more likely to encounter specific forms of interpersonal and micro-aggressive discrimination simply because of their BAME identity.’
In 1971, Bernard Coard published a report entitled ‘How the West Indian child is made educationally subnormal’. In it, Coard explores the history of Black Caribbean pupils and the fact that they were more likely to be placed in ‘remedial’ schools or classes.
( Added after original publication) In 1999 M’gadzah and Gibbs produced a themed journal of the British Psychological Society’s Education and Child Psychology entitled ‘Challenging Racism and Inequality in Education and Child Psychology; in the editorial they called for educational psychologists (and schools) to critically review their practice. In 2015, Williams et al in another themed?journal, ‘Race, Culture and Ethnicity in Educational Psychology’ highlighted the slow progress made in this area and the need to “reflect on our effectiveness in acknowledging and addressing the experience of minority communities within educational psychology practice.
So, what has changed in that time?
We could argue that not much has changed over the last 50 years since the book’s release. Yet, despite the more urgent calls for increased awareness around racial inequalities following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Education in England does not seem to have moved forward very much.
In fact, exclusion rates are now 5 times higher for Black Caribbean boys than their white counterparts and they are more likely to be diagnosed with SEMH (social emotional mental health) needs as their primary SEND need.?
The SEND review: right support, right place, right time - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), was due to be published in the summer of 2017. A green paper is meant to detail pertinent and pressing issues, and then point out courses of action in terms of policy and legislation. By the time, the SEND green paper was eventually published in March 2022, the issues of intersectionality around race and SEND had become a prominent topic, but there was not one mention of this in the green paper.
In England, standardised baseline tests on entry are widely used to test academic ability but these are not used not so much to identify SEN needs. There is an argument now for SEN tests to be included as baseline tests on the entrance to both primary and secondary schools.
We do know that children from all backgrounds are most likely to present with Speech and language (SLCN) as their biggest area of need in primary schools, so ensuring that all children have a speech and language test on entry to school would ensure that interventions are started early.
By the time, a child is of secondary school age, SLCN needs often present as SEMH as the highest area of need.
Are schools trying hard enough to remove the barriers which exist?
Could it be that unmet need around expressive and receptive language difficulties has resulted in challenges that present as behavioural difficulties? Rather than a child being assessed as having a speech, language and communication need as the first reaction to their behavioural difficulties, they are more likely to be excluded instead. Speech and language support often stops in year 6 so there is less chance of support in secondary.
Strengths-based approaches focus on ‘what’s strong rather than what’s wrong,’ looking at an individual’s strengths (including personal strengths and social/community networks) and not focusing on their deficits. By including a child/young person in devising their support plan needs and involving wider networks, a child with SEMH needs is more likely to succeed.
To get an accurate diagnosis of needs, schools should make a referral to an educational psychologist (EP) as soon as possible. The EP will conduct a series of assessments to ascertain learning needs and barriers to learning; to gain a detailed understanding of the child’s strengths, investigate why a child is not reaching their potential and why the child may have specific issues such as concentration, attention and focus difficulties. However, EP services are stretched so a school may not see an EP assessment as a priority for a child who displays behavioural difficulties as the most visible area of need.
EP’s use a range of tests including the WISC (Wechsler intelligence scale). These tests not only measure IQ but are a wider assessment of strengths and difficulties. Concerns have been raised about the suitability of IQ tests in understanding the needs of black and ethnic minority children- these mainly focus on biases inherent within the tests.
Whilst discussing differences in IQ test scores among socioeconomic groups, Weschler himself said “The cause is elsewhere and the remedy is not in denigrating, banishing the IQ but in attacking and removing the social causes that impair it” (Wechsler, 1971).
So, typically, tests are used to measure an individual’s intelligence and discover if they have any specific skills or abilities. By using these tests, we are meant to be able to assess how well someone understands and interprets the world around them.??In his book ’Ungifted: Intelligence redefined.’ Kaufman describes his own personal experiences in special education classes in school and the emotional impact of this.
Kaufman argues that all children should be given opportunities to share their strengths, and this cannot be done fairly if our first measure of strengths is through an IQ test.
In America, where there has been more research around this topic, decades of research have proved that Black, Latino and Native students, as well as students from some Asian groups, experience bias from standardised tests administered from early childhood through college.
"We still think there’s something wrong with the kids rather than recognizing there is something wrong with the tests…. Standardized tests have become the most effective racist weapon ever devised to objectively degrade Black and Brown minds and legally exclude their bodies from prestigious schools."
- Ibram X. Kendi author of How to be an Antiracist, October 2020.
In the academic paper ‘Cultural Issues in the clinical use of the WISC-IV,’ the authors state-
Culturally sensitive assessment requires an understanding of how children from different cultures typically approach and respond to standardized testing, a knowledge of the child’s cultural background and how this can impact test scores and interpretation, and in many cases an examiner who is familiar with the child’s language, dialect and culture.
It is well known that there are differences in mean IQ scores between socio-economic and ethnic groups. Less well known is “why” these differences exist, and how much of the difference is explained by the (?) environment.
Parents of children from marginalised backgrounds often report that schools are dismissive or unsupportive of their requests for information and help. Unless they understand their rights as parents and how to push for support, their requests are often ignored and concerns minimalised. At the same time, schools often sight a lack of engagement from parents and families of children from marginalised backgrounds as a barrier to progress.
Many schools struggle to communicate with parents whose first language is not English. But does the fault lie with families or with schools?
So, an inaccuracy in testing, along with the lack of support in school, coupled with the lack of access to services leads to a whole raft of inequalities.
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The DFE Green paper does call for better relationships between schools and families, which is backed up by a study by EEF (Education Endowment Foundation). The study found that-
'Parental engagement has a positive impact on average of 4 months’ additional progress. It is crucial to consider how to engage with all parents to avoid widening attainment gaps'.
A survey by Special Needs Jungle Ltd (SNJ), also published in March 2022 at the same time as the green paper, highlighted that ‘racial discrimination and unconscious bias are everyday experiences for disabled children and their families from ethnic and marginalised communities. Parents say they, and their children, are visibly less well-treated, and their needs and culture are disregarded by schools, where there is also a lack of representation of non-white staff and leaders.’
This also highlights another matter. Does the lack of representation of education staff from marginalised backgrounds contribute to both the misdiagnosis and mistreatment of pupils from Black, Asian and minority backgrounds? If families cannot make connections with staff, staff are less likely to communicate with them.
We know that we are facing a crisis in the recruitment and retention of Education staff across all levels in general. In addition, research by 英国伦敦大学学院 found that 46% of schools do not have a teacher from an ethnic minority background and this figure is likely to increase as more and more teachers are leaving education.
‘Making Progress? Employment and retention of BAME teachers in England- UCL Discovery
?Also, survey results published by the teaching union Chris Weavers in May 2022, entitled ‘systemic and inequalities are exasperating teacher recruitment and retention crisis’ states that 'Black and ethnic minority teachers, across the UK, are being driven out of the profession by significant pay-erosion, stifled career progression and discrimination at work. Nearly 3 in 4 Black and ethnic minority teachers are seriously considering leaving their job’.
The NASUWT’s general secretary, Patrick Roach, states?“The evidence is clear: at every stage of their career, Black and ethnic minority teachers are under-represented and undervalued. The lack of support for these teachers is a major concern, leading to isolation and mental health problems."
If Black and ethnic minority teachers are not represented in education, particularly those who are neurodivergent themselves, it is more likely that cultural understanding around Black and ethnic minority students with special needs will also be lacking. Families may not feel comfortable or confident to discuss their concerns with adults that are not from their communities or cultural backgrounds due to a number of historical trust factors.
Solutions-
This article has set out the key issues in this area. The next step is for us to take a proactive rather than reactive approach to finding solutions. We can minimise the likelihood of inequalities continuing by taking these important steps.
Firstly and overarching all this, to ensure change, we must have a government that understands the urgency of taking action and proper investment in Education.?
In addition, we must insist on antiracism training for teachers and educational psychologists to better understand the issues of bias and explore the ways in which professionals may inadvertently discriminate ( Dr Shungu Hilda M'gadzah , 2022)
More specifically to address the intersectionality between RACE and SEND-
1.??????????Ensuring that baseline assessments are unbiased by using a wider range of cognitive ability tests that include a strengths-based framework.
2.??????????Ensuring that assessments and interventions are in place early and that exclusions, if they insist must happen, cannot be agreed if a child/young person’s SEN needs have not been fully assessed and supported.
3.??????????Increasing diversity amongst Educational Psychologists and other wider multi-disciplinary services. Ensuring an appropriate level of support continues into secondary.
4.??????????Improving communication between parents/families and schools with schools making more effort to include all their communities and making a conscious effort to remove barriers to effective communication.
5.??????????Improving representation in schools at all levels, particularly in the classroom and at decision-making levels.
Thank you for reading
About the author-
Frances Akinde is a former headteacher of a Secondary Special School (11-19) for learners with Autism and associated difficulties and a qualified SENCO. Over the last 20 years, she has worked in a variety of roles across primary, secondary, special/Alternative Provision and local authority, from Art/Design Technology teacher to an SLCN advisory teacher liaising with speech and language therapists across the borough.
In January 2023, Frances co-launched the BAMEed SEND hub as part of the The BAMEed Network . Network,?a diverse network for Educators which aims to ensure diversity and address racial inequities in Education.
Further reading below-
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3 个月Frances, thanks for sharing! How are you doing?
Frances, thanks for sharing! How are you doing?