Pressures On School Standards Are Fuelling A Rise In Pupil Segregation
When policies and pressures interfere with teaching, our classrooms become segregated. And it’s disadvantaged students who suffer, say Mel Ainscow, Alan Dyson and Lise Hopwood…
Last October, an urban primary school admitted a girl of Pakistani heritage into Year 6. She had previously lived for four years in Poland, where she had learnt the language. She has now picked up English too, and is doing well academically and socially. However, she struggles with attendance as her journey to school relies on two bus routes.
On that journey she passes three other schools that refused to admit her because they were ‘full’. Teachers told us that this has happened before in their district, saying that some schools don’t want newly arrived migrants in Year 6 because of the tests.
Complex and sometimes perverse
Stories like this illustrate the complex and sometimes perverse ways in which national policies impact on what happens in our schools. In particular, they point to how the pressures to raise standards through the publication of test scores and inspections can distract teachers from their instinct to do the best for all of their children. In a recent review of research evidence, commissioned by the Cambridge Primary Review Trust (CPRT), we concluded that current national policies are limiting the capacity of the English primary education system to respond to pupil diversity. In so doing, they are failing to build on many promising practices that exist in our schools. All of this tends to create further levels of segregation within the system, to the particular disadvantage of children from minority and economically poorer backgrounds. Despite these barriers, there are primary schools that find creative ways of responding to diversity, demonstrating that pupil differences not only needn’t get in the way of school performance, but might actually be a catalyst for improvement.
Challenging assumptions
Moving beyond the narrow policy focus on attainment, many choose to respond to diversity by working within a framework of explicit values, such as formalising their commitment through UNICEF’s Rights Respecting Schools Award. Schools can apply to register for this award and – over a number of years – work through three levels, gathering evidence to demonstrate how children᾿s rights have been embedded in their practices and ethos. In terms of classroom practice, schools that take advantage of learner diversity use collaboration to encourage colleagues to develop new, more inclusive approaches. Our own research shows this can be stimulated through an engagement with the views of different stakeholders; bringing together ideas of practitioners, pupils, families and academic researchers in ways that challenge assumptions – not least in respect to vulnerable groups of learners. All this gives birth to new thinking within a school, encouraging experimentation with alternative ways of working. Our research has also led us to conclude that closing the gap in outcomes between those from more- and less-advantaged backgrounds is only possible once what happens to children outside, as well as inside, schools changes. This means ensuring that all children receive effective support from their families and communities.
Partnerships beyond the school
In this respect, we have documented many splendid examples of what can happen when what schools do is aligned in a coherent strategy with the efforts of other local players – employers, community groups, universities and public services. This does not necessarily mean schools doing more, but it does imply partnerships beyond the school, where those involved multiply the impact of each other’s efforts. In order to build on these promising developments, there is a need for a new policy context that will encourage greater collaboration and experimentation across the education service. This requires a recognition that differences can lead to innovation and have the potential to benefit all pupils, whatever their personal characteristics and home circumstances.
In terms of national policy, we need to move way from narrow definitions of the purposes of education. There is also a need to create a system in which schools are no longer divided one from another, and from their local communities.
Professor Mel Ainscow, Professor Alan Dyson and Dr Lise Hopwood work at the University of Manchester Institute of Education; their CPRT research report, ‘Primary Schools Responding To Diversity: Barriers And Possibilities’, is available to download here
