White privilege, not all it's cracked up to be

[Gob]

When Sir Brian Thwaites set up a scholarship for "poor white boys" it was rejected as racist. When the rap "artist" Stormzy set up a scholarship for poor black boys, he was hailed as a hero.

CHILDREN from white working-class backgrounds have been "let down and neglected for decades" by the UK's education system, a report by MPs has said.

The report, by the Commons Education Select Committee, said disadvantaged white pupils have been badly let down by “muddled” policy thinking and the Department for Education (DfE) has failed to acknowledge the extent of the problem.

A strong network of family hubs should be introduced across the country to boost parental engagement and mitigate the effects of multi-generational disadvantage, the report said.

It said funding needs to be tailor-made at a local level, initiatives should focus on attracting good teachers to challenging areas, and vocational and apprenticeship opportunities should be promoted.

The report highlights that 47 per cent of free school meal-eligible (FSM) white British pupils did not meet the expected standard of development at the end of the early years foundation stage in 2018/19 – around 28,000 children.

In 2019, just 17.7 per cent of FSM-eligible white British pupils achieved at least a strong pass (grade 5 or above) in English and maths at GCSE, compared with 22.5 per cent of all FSM-eligible pupils. This equates to nearly 39,000 pupils.

The committee found these disparities particularly striking because white people are the ethnic majority in the country – and yet FSM-eligible white British pupils are the largest disadvantaged group.

During its inquiry, MPs heard of many factors which combine to put white poorer pupils at a disadvantage, but they were not convinced by the DfE’s claim that the gap can be attributed to poverty alone.

The report also says the use of terminology such as "white privilege" could have contributed to "systemic neglect", a take which has been criticised by teaching unions.

Committee chairman Robert Halfon said: “For decades now white working-class pupils have been let down and neglected by an education system that condemns them to falling behind their peers every step of the way.

“White working-class pupils underperform significantly compared to other ethnic groups, but there has been muddled thinking from all governments and a lack of attention and care to help these disadvantaged white pupils in towns across our country.

“If the Government is serious about closing the overall attainment gap, then the problems faced by the biggest group of disadvantaged pupils can no longer be swept under the carpet.

“Never again should we lazily put the gap down to poverty alone, given that we know free school meal eligible pupils from other ethnic groups consistently outperform their white British peers.”

The Tory MP accused the DfE of being “reluctant” to recognise the specific challenges faced by the group and urged it to address the issues.

Mr Halfon added: “We also desperately need to move away from dealing with racial disparity by using divisive concepts like white privilege that pits one group against another. Disadvantaged white children feel anything but privileged when it comes to education.

“Privilege is the very opposite to what disadvantaged white children enjoy or benefit from in an education system which is now leaving far too many behind.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We’re not quite sure why the committee has chosen to enter the debate about the widely discredited report from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, and the term ‘white privilege’.

“This does not seem helpful and is likely to divert attention from the rest of the report.

“Schools are well aware of their responsibilities and do a very good job in providing opportunities for discussion around

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This Government is focused on levelling up opportunity so that no young person is left behind.

“That’s why we are providing the biggest uplift to school funding in a decade – £14 billion over three years – investing in early years education and targeting our ambitious recovery funding, worth £3 billion to date, to support disadvantaged pupils aged two to 19 with their attainment.”

issues in a sensitive, balanced and measured way.”

https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/ ... on-system/

[Burning Petard]

Seems to me your are citing a condition which, on this side of the pond, usually summed as "equal opportunity". The education system for Brits has regarded working class children of all races and ethnicity as bad investment prospects ands they have have been "let down and neglected for decades" by the UK's education system.

We have similar problems here, but it usually shows up as 'gifted programs' or 'advanced placement classes' which show a strong bias toward the wealthier families. It is common assumption of the education system that 'children tend to meet expectations' and the system has the lowest expectations for the lowest economic stratum. It is the default position of the education system that children of color come from impoverished families full of criminals and druggies. Unless they are from East Asia (pc for Korea, China, Japan) then the children are expected to be top one percent scholars.

snailgate

[Big RR]

I think the biggest problem is that educational institutions and teachers don't take their responsibility of educating ALL (not just some) students all that seriously In the 60s the schools usually tried to meet this by lowering the standards (a bad idea, as it proved to be), but ignoring this responsiblity is worse.

When I was an adjunct professor, I felt it was my responsibility to assure every student got through my course and passed by offering sufficient opportunities and help a needed. I took any failure of a student as a failure on my part also (because it was my job to teach the students the material), and the only students who actually did fail were those who just gave up and refused to do the expected work. And, rather than react negatively to it, I found the students respected that position and worked to meet the standard (indeed, at the end of the class I found that even the students who barely achieved a passing grade rated my classes very highly.

Now I won't argue that my circumstances were very different from primary and secondary schools, as I taught mainly graduate students (although some were away from school for quite some time), but I think that a similar approach can be taken with regard to these students. In any event, if the schools and teachers took their responsibility seriously, they would come up with ways to meet it and take their failure to do so very seriously (and not just an opportunity for making up excuses). I certainly don't have the answers, but I do think someone who has the experience and educational qualifications to teach in these schools must, and the schools should give them leeway to implement the changes. No one wants to fail, students or teachers, but many have just given up.

[TPFKA@W]

The woman who gave us the dog is a middle school math teacher. She told us she is done and is applying to work at a credit union for $16 an hour. She said she is done being abused. She’s 45 with 20 years experience. I feel her pain and have long held that female dominated professions are targeted for abuse.

[Big RR]

You're likely correct, and this leads to the frustration and eventual disillusionment of the teachers who get little input on curricula or teaching methods. And so they leave the profession or just become worker bees who do the absolute minimum required. One would think the administration would avoid this and seek the input of those who are trained in educational methods, and have significant experience in what works, but like typical middle managers, they just don't want to make waves. It's part of the problem that needs to be solved.

[ex-khobar Andy]

The woman who gave us the dog is a middle school math teacher. She told us she is done and is applying to work at a credit union for $16 an hour. She said she is done being abused. She’s 45 with 20 years experience. I feel her pain and have long held that female dominated professions are targeted for abuse.

I assume it's not a salary issue. $16/hour works out at $32,000 a year (give or take) and the average starting salary for a teacher in US is $38K and mean salary is $59K. Depends very much on the state so your friend is taking a big salary drop: and the pension and health benefits will add to that financial hit.

I'm speculating that it's more to do with having to deal with little shits who have no interest in learning.

[Big RR]

I'd also bet it has to do with dealing with administrators who have no interest in educating anyone, as well.

[TPFKA@W]

It is heavily the little shits in this case.

[rubato]

The expression "white privilege" is deceptive and leads to confusion. There are many types of privilege and race is only one of, and not the most important or determinative.

Someone who is born with the genes for athletic ability, grace, or attractiveness is privileged compared to someone who is not so fortunate. A 20 yr old is privilegedeged compared to a 70yr old. A black child who is born to parents with BAs, PhDs, MDs &c is privileged compared to white children born to highschool dropouts. The most privileged of all are those born with higher intelligence. You cannot remediate "DUMB".



yrs,
rubato

[Scooter]

deleted because life is too short to be arsed

[rubato]

But being poor and unintelligent will have a greater effect on the outcome of their life.
and being poor and unintelligent is not a risk of a kick in the teeth. It is a kick in the teeth.

Your argument is hopeless. Give it up while there is still some dignity in doing so.


yrs,
rubato

[Scooter]

deleted because life is too short to be arsed

[rubato]

deleted because life is too short to be arsed

Deleted because you got nothing and are too dishonest to admit it.

The Emperor is bare-assed naked and you lack the intellectual honesty to admit it.

yrs,
rubato

[Scooter]

Is the term ‘white privilege’ leaving working-class white kids neglected?

Every week in Fact/Fiction, The Big Issue examines spurious claims, questionable studies or debatable stories from the press to determine whether they are fact or fiction. This week a report looking at how using words like “white privilege” held back young working class white British school kids caused a stir. The Big Issue investigates.

How it was told

Log in to social media for more than five minutes and you’ll be familiar with the culture wars.

The never-ending world wide web wars over the woke, the white privilege and the rest are a point of division on Twitter, Facebook and more.

A report released this week by MPs in the Education Select Committee was accused of stoking these culture wars with its findings.

The study, titled ‘The forgotten: how white working-class pupils have been let down, and how to change it’, was put together by a committee of 11 MPs – seven of them Conservative and four of them from Labour.

Part of the group’s findings focused on the use of the term ‘white privilege’, described as the “idea that there is societal privilege that benefits white people over other ethnic groups in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances”, according to Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities.

The report said MPs were “concerned that the phrase may be alienating to disadvantaged white communities, and it may have contributed towards a systemic neglect of white people facing hardship who also need specific support”.

Several news outlets covered the story, which sparked fevered debate on social media. Alongside The Big Issue, ITV, Sky News, the BBC and others covered the story.

But is there any truth to the claims?

Facts.Checked

While the news outlets did a good job of covering the story on the whole, there is little evidence that using the term “white privilege” in schools has an impact beyond the “belief” or “concern” mentioned in the report.

The report focuses on white British pupils who receive free school meals, which was described as an “imperfect measure” by the committee but chosen for “pragmatic reasons”. 

The committee concluded ethnic minority groups receiving free school meals frequently outperformed white British pupils in the same position.

But this is not true. Official government statistics for children receiving free school meals show White British children are ahead of Gypsy/Roma children and Irish Traveller for English and maths when it comes to achieving a grade 5 for above. Around 23 per cent of White British pupils hit that target, amounting to 55,375 children out of the 88,666 on free school meals, compared to 5.4 per cent for Gypsy/Roma children and 10.1 per cent of children from an Irish Traveller background. The rate for Black Caribbean children is similar to White British pupils – a quarter of children (2,039 pupils) from that background made the grade.

Also, ironically considering the focus on the term ‘white privilege’, there are issues with the terminology used to describe the ‘working class’. In the Runnymede Trust’s evidence submission, the race equality charity stressed that “around 60 per cent” of the population view themselves as “working class”. This is “misleading” as the committee focuses on a lower proportion of the population, according to the Runnymede Trust, and “dangerously inflates the issue”.

Even one member of the committee has disowned the report’s findings. Liverpool Riverside Labour MP Kim Johnson instead identified “rocketing child poverty and a lack of investment in jobs and opportunities” as key drivers of hitting left-behind communities.

Around 500,000 children were pushed into poverty between 2015 and 2020, according to End Child Poverty Coalition figures, with 4.3 million children living in poverty ahead of the pandemic. 

Meanwhile, councils have seen funding decline in the last decade of austerity. The Local Government Association estimated English councils had a funding gap of £7.4bn in the summer of 2020 and Institute for Fiscal Studies analysts found school spending per pupil in England fell by nine per cent in real terms between 2009–10 and 2019–20.

There is no doubt that white British pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and economically deprived areas do face an uphill struggle with their education. But this report misrepresents the scale of the issue in relation to other ethnic groups and does not back up its claim that using the term ‘white privilege’ is a big contributor to the issues these pupils face today.

Worth repeating

Spending per pupil in England has fallen nine per cent in real terms between 2009-10 and 2019-20 (Institute of Fiscal Studies)

English councils faced a £7.4bn funding gap by summer 2020 (Local Government Association)

4.3 million children live in poverty (Department of Work and Pensions)