Teaching racism - or tackling it? - Russell Jones

How do beginning teachers in white areas come to understand issues of equality and particularly of 'race'? This book reveals the findings of research into two university providers of initial teacher education, one traditionally faculty-based and the other school-based. Russell Jones worked alongside students in 24 primary schools and he tells the stories of some of the students during their placements in primary schools over three counties. They are stories of a drive towards meeting National Curriculum demands and inspection criteria obliterating issues of 'race' equality.The tactics by which Black and Asian children are made 'white by proxy' so that teachers can avoid recognising their ethnic status are catalogued in a typology of disappearance. These beginning teachers' stories illustrate patterns of helplessness, confusion and denial even in the face of overt racism. The author highlights the pitfalls in the teacher education process and indicates how universities and schools can face up to diversity in ways that will be positive for both the teachers and their pupils.