Teaching, Achievement and Diversity

These materials are provided to support you in helping trainee teachers to meet the needs of pupils from diverse backgrounds and contribute to promoting positive attitudes toward diversity and inclusion.

Here we provide an introduction to this important aspect of their teaching, which outlines the range of diversity trainees may encounter, how these link to the QTS standards and national initiatives to promote higher achievement amongst educationally disadvantaged pupils. On linked pages we focus on

The range of diversity and the national context

Inclusion and the inclusive curriculum

Research and current developments in diversity awareness

The TDA supporting good practice for diversity awareness

Inclusion for those whose first language is not English

Resources to support diversity awareness

A paper, which is a composite of all these pages, may be downloaded below.

Original author: David Short, Park View Community School, County Durham (2004)
Revised: John Woollard, School of Education, University of Southampton (2006 and 2009)

author: John Woollard

download pdf document: "Diversity.pdf" (120K)

The range of diversity and the national context

Range of diversity
Within the education system, there has been an increase in overall levels of educational attainment. However, the following factors still affect the relative attainment and achievement of individual pupils and groups of pupils.

Social class
Race and ethnicity
Religious diversity
Multilingual learners
Refugees and asylum seekers
Travellers and Roma

A broader list of minority groups requiring sensitivity and consideration include: BME communities (black and minority ethnic), older people, disabled people, rough sleepers, migrant workers, offenders and ex-offenders and members of LGBT communities (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender).

The needs of these students often mirrors those of pupils with special educational needs. It may need to be recognised that pupils with diverse backgrounds may also have special educational needs of a temporary or long term kind.

The National Context

In meeting the Professional Standards for Teachers (TDA, 2007) for achievement and diversity trainees must ensure they:

Q18 Understand how children and young people develop and that the progress and well-being of learners are affected by a range of developmental, social, religious, ethnic, cultural and linguistic influences.

Q19 Know how to make effective personalised provision for those they teach, including those for whom English is an additional language (EAL) or who have special educational needs or disabilities, and how to take practical account of diversity and promote equality and inclusion in their teaching.

Q20 Know and understand the roles of colleagues with specific responsibilities, including those with responsibility for learners with special educational needs and disabilities and other individual learning needs.

Both internationally and within the UK there is support for the development of inclusive schooling.

The notion that ‘Every Child Matters’ (see http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk) underpins the philosophy of inclusion, which drives government thinking on educational provision. Such developments are linked to concerns about social exclusion and social justice within education systems specifically and in society at large.

In addition, specific initiatives such as the ‘Aiming High’ national strategy (see www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/ethnicminorities) put minority achievement at the heart of the Government’s improvement agenda by establishing:

a scheme set up to specifically raise standards for black pupils – one of the lowest performing groups in the country
greater transparency and accountability, including a more rigorous inspection framework and publication of achievement data by ethnic group and LEA
support for bilingual pupils which includes support for primary schools and teachers through the national primary strategy to help them better support bilingual pupils, a national qualification for EAL specialists and a nationally recognised method of assessment to monitor bilingual pupils progress from foundation stage to secondary school

The TDA supported Multiverse site (see http://www.multiverse.ac.uk) provides teacher educators and student teachers/trainees with resources that focus on the educational achievement of pupils from diverse backgrounds. Those resources include a glossary of terms, news items, direct references to the standards for teacher training, events and conferences for tutors and trainees and web links to other resources.

author: John Woollard

Inclusion
and the inclusive curriculum

All schools are charged with providing an inclusive curriculum which meets the needs of all pupils. This is a statutory requirement and a key focus for inspection of schools.

What does it mean?

Inclusion in education is one aspect of inclusion in society
Inclusion is about improving the education system for everybody, regardless of disabilities or background
It is a process of breaking down barriers to learning and participation for all children and young people
It should ensure that no group or individual is excluded or left behind.

How do we achieve it?

Creating inclusive cultures
Producing inclusive policies
Evolving inclusive practices

Create an inclusive culture

A secure, accepting, collaborating, stimulating community in which everybody is valued
Build a community of collaboration
Establish inclusive values, with high expectations of all regardless of ability

Produce inclusive policies

Make sure inclusion permeates all of the institution’s policies
Develop the ‘Institution for all’ where everybody is valued
Organise support for diversity and challenge to ensure learning opportunities are matched to the particular needs of students
Develop procedures for education and rehabilitation to reduce pressures for drop out and/or exclusion

Implement inclusive practices to help trainees and teachers to be inclusive

Acceptance of value of all students regardless of background
Availability of sufficient and suitable teaching support
Awareness amongst all staff of the particular needs of students and understanding of practical ways of meeting them in classrooms and elsewhere
A curriculum for all, with sensible allocation to teaching groups and careful modification of the curriculum, timetables and social arrangements
Availability of appropriate materials and teaching aids
Classroom and extracurricular activities that encourage all students to take part and lessons which are responsive to student diversity
Assessment, recording and reporting procedures which can identify the progress of students who make only small gains in learning and personal development
Involving parents in decision making, keeping them informed about their child’s progress and giving them support
Developing and using training opportunities which support understanding of these issues
Distribute resources fairly

Trainee activity: in a group of 3 or 4 go through the checklist above identifying or suggesting examples and opportunities within the ICT classroom, curriculum or teaching.

Further examples of good practice contained within Ofsted reports available at www.ofsted.gov.uk

author: John Woollard

Research and current developments
in diversity awareness

The inclusion website (see http://inclusion.ngfl.gov.uk) offers a search facility linking to a range of referenced resources aimed at individual educational needs and an “ask an expert” support facility.

Recent research and government reports suggest that raising achievement amongst students from diverse backgrounds is most successful in schools that create an inclusive community. (See Resources to support diversity awareness in this section.)

A TDA survey of newly qualified teachers in 2006 showed that only 36% thought themselves well prepared to teach children from minority ethnic backgrounds and only 32% in relation to children with English as an additional language. The 2008 report shows a positive trend in teacher awareness but diversity awareness scores lower than other comparable items in the questionnaire. 2008 Survey

Trainee teachers need help to appreciate the effects the diverse backgrounds of students have on learning so that they can develop better strategies that are more inclusive.

In England, 10% of pupils are learning English as an additional language.

In the classroom, ITT students need to develop an understanding of the following:

The learning needs of students from diverse backgrounds
How their learning needs may be recognised and met
The teacher skills and knowledge they need in order to raise the achievement of these pupils
The teaching, learning and assessment strategies that are likely to be most effective
How to adapt teaching and differentiation strategies to take account of the evolving learning needs of students
The potential barriers to achievement they need to consider and overcome

The Multiverse website continues to be a most useful resource for all aspects of diversity and inclusion areas of education. The research page continues (2009) to be current and developing.

http://www.multiverse.ac.uk/browse2.aspx?selectedId=11939

author: John Woollard

The TDA supporting good practice
for diversity awareness

The TDA has developed an on line ITT professional research network (IPRN) designed to help teacher trainers equip trainees with the skills needed to maximise the achievement of pupils from diverse backgrounds. The Multiverse website provides a professional knowledge base with exemplars of effective practice from around the world and a breadth of high quality ITT resources. In addition, it provides opportunities for the interchange of ideas and collaboration between ITT providers, through contributions to research and participation in conferences and seminars.

The Multiverse website (www.multiverse.ac.uk) contains the following resources:

Academic papers
Articles from the media
Case studies
Teaching and Learning resources
Surveys/Reports
Video clips
On line discussion facilities

From the search page of the website, tutors can use the drop down menu to access materials relating to specific topics. These topics or ‘strands’ are

Race and ethnicity
Social class
Religious diversity
Bilingual and multilingual learners
Refugees and asylum seekers
Travellers and Roma

Within each strand tutors can view current issues arranged under themes:

Key debates and ideas
Legislation, policy and statistics
Diverse communities
Pupils perceptions
ITE pedagogy
Parents and Communities

Of particular interest to the ITT tutor and trainees will be the topics contained within the ITE pedagogy theme. These are

Monitoring achievement at school and classroom level
The role of assessment in achievement
Classroom cultures and equality strategies
Challenging racism and stereotyping
Addressing issues of diversity in mainly white classrooms
Teacher expectations
Inclusive education
Resources for teaching and learning
Gender and achievement in school
Mentoring and supporting pupils’ needs

author: John Woollard

EAL

Inclusion for those whose first language is not English

The National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC) website (see http://www.naldic.org.uk) provides excellent information relating to the teaching of pupils for whom English is an additional Language.

For the guidance of the classroom teacher, NALDIC suggest that in addressing the needs of pupils, particularly those with English as an additional language, teachers should:

Activate prior knowledge. Within ICT students may have practical experience of using the computer and so knowledge and skills may be transferable to the new context for learning they now face.
Promote language learning alongside academic content learning, drawing on pupils’ bicultural and bilingual experience and incorporating first language knowledge where appropriate to the benefit of learning.
Provide a rich contextual background to make input comprehensible. The potential for work to be presented visually and language free may greatly improve content learning for EAL learners. Graphic and visual display support the development of conceptual and language knowledge. ICT also provides opportunities for pupils to engage in active learning experiences.
Encourage comprehensible output. Teachers need to encourage learners to produce spoken and written language, promoting greater consciousness of language use and identifying those aspects of language in need of additional support.
Develop learner independence through the selection of planned activities that encourage students to become self-reliant. Opportunities within an ICT lesson are many.
Be able to assess pupils’ understanding of curriculum content, comprehend issues relating to progression in second/additional language, and use this knowledge to inform lesson planning.

Some practical ideas for the ICT classroom

Use computer software that uses text, voice and pictures to help pupils learn concepts
Use voice output systems to enable pupils to check their own text
Use e-mail or video conferencing to increase social contact and enable pupils to participate with others from similar backgrounds
Use computer software to assess pupils ICT strengths and weaknesses

A section of the NALDIC site, ITTSEAL, focuses specifically on ITT issues and contains a host of useful information (see http://www.naldic.org.uk/ITTSEAL/ittseal_reg.cfm).
Guidance on ICT and EAL learners is gradually emerging through conferences, papers, case studies etc. The current position can be explored at: http://www.naldic.org.uk/docs/resources/ICT.cfm and NALDIC’s statement on ICT and EAL teaching and learning is available at:
http://www.naldic.org.uk/docs/research/teach_learn.cfm

NALDIC are keen to share and develop ideas.

A further source of information and resources can be found on the Ethnic Minority Achievement website http://www.emaonline.org.uk

author: John Woollard

Resources
to support diversity awareness

Improving Practice: A Whole School Approach to Raising the Achievement of African Caribbean Youth is a little dated but this paper identifies a number of pertinent issues, includes some graphics that could be the focus of discussions and is citable in trainees' academic writing. It is available online accessed via http://www.runnymedetrust.org Improving Practice: A Whole School Approach to Raising the Achievement of African Caribbean Youth. Runnymede Trust, 1998

Making the Difference: Teaching and Learning Strategies in Successful Multi Ethnic Schools is research conducted by the Open University in 1998. The report is available on the DCSF website. The project was designed to identify the issues to enable all young people to develop and to equip themselves with the skills, knowledge and personal qualities needed for life and work. The study asks “What do we know about the characteristics of successful multi-ethnic schools?” Blair, M. and Bourne, J. with Coffin, C., Creese, A. and Kenner, C. (1998) Making the Difference: Teaching and Learning Strategies in Successful Multi Ethnic Schools The Open University

Tackling Black and Minority Ethnic Underachievement by Carol Adams and Shiraz Chakera for the General Teaching Council for England, published in 2004. Black and minority ethnic underachievement in our schools came into sharper focus as a result of the amended Race Relations Act 2000. It places quite specific duties on schools to monitor, evaluate and act on data covering most areas of school policies and practices to tackle racial inequality. In the education sector there is evidence that particular groups of black and minority ethnic pupils are achieving significantly lower academic results than their white peers. This paper concludes that the Race Relations Act can help challenge the inequalities between some ethnic groups through giving informed teachers the opportunity to challenge underachievement in all its complexities. “Teachers are able to address underachievement that stems from socio-economic disadvantage, or from prejudiced attitudes towards another’s ethnicity, gender or disability (and underachievement that arises from the interaction between these factors).” Accessed through the GTC http://www.gtce.org.uk/documents/publicationpdfs/policy_0904_bme.pdf

Educational Inequality: Mapping race, class and gender is a synthesis of research evidence examining the roles of different groups in raising achievement. D. Gillborn and H. S Mirza (2000) Educational Inequality: Mapping race, class and gender London: Ofsted.

The 2003 OFSTED report The Education of Asylum-Seeker Pupils describes the quality of teaching and of support for the great majority of the asylum-seeker pupils as at least satisfactory and often good. The teaching was at its most effective where there were close collaboration, planning and support between class teachers and staff responsible for diversity/inclusion education. Many asylum-seeker pupils made good progress in relatively short periods and almost all made at least satisfactory progress. The combination of their determination to succeed and the strong support of their parents provided a potent recipe for success. The report is available online from http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications The Education of Asylum-Seeker Pupils,, HMI 453 (2003), Ofsted .

In the article Supporting asylum seekers in schools Lucy Clarke provides us with a 'hands-on' view of her work with the East Oxford Schools Inclusion Project where she is a project worker supporting asylum seekers. Lucy gives an inspiring view of working with asylum seekers and clearly articulates the challenges as well as the rewards. Clarke, L. (2003) Supporting asylum seekers in schools in Support for Learning 18 4 177-183, Wiley-Blackwell.

The book Inclusive Education: Learners and Learning Contexts is an edited collection of papers by academics and professionals engaged with a diversity of learners and learning contexts within the sphere of inclusive education. It explores questions such as how to respond to children at risk of exclusion and what we can learn from each other in enhancing inclusion. It includes an examination of issues of gender, ethnicity, class, culture, sexuality and disability and an examination of inclusive practice in different schools and different classrooms. Nind, M., Sheehy K. and Simmons K. (2003) Inclusive Education: Learners and Learning Contexts Fulton.

Traveller Children in Education is a really useful collection of resources and information regarding traveller education. In particular, it identifies different traveller groups and their different educational needs. http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/learning/supporting-children/travellers_education

The Refugee Council provides good practice guidance and is available at http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk The Information Service contains over 240 pages of relevant policy information, best practice and illustrative case studies, as well as current lists of useful services, resources and organisations. The resource covers a wide range of topics giving an in-depth analysis of what services refugees and asylum seekers are entitled to from the NHS, social services and local authorities and councils as well as examples of good practice and useful links.

The research project Accessibility and Inclusion Survey: A Training Needs Analysis was published in June 2007. The survey identifies the training needs of managers and practitioners responsible for learning support. This report of their findings is of interest to those concerned with the use of eLearning to support students with special needs. http://inclusion.ngfl.gov.uk/index.php?incLUAudBeneficiaryId=12&incLUSubjectMulti=5&incLUPhaseId
=3&ri=2&ti=121&i=121

The following resources are available from the TTRB website.

Addressing working class underachievement - L.Gazeley & M. Dunne (Dec 2005) reports on the research of the impact of social class on educational achievement. It includes ITE activities, slides and research materials. http://www.ttrb.ac.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?contentId=11862

The educational achievement and experiences of British-Chinese pupils - B. Francis & L. Archer (2006) includes a look at the racism and problematisation that British-Chinese pupils encounter in spite of their generally high achievement. http://www.ttrb.ac.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?contentId=11820

Remaking Multiculturalism After 7/7 - T. Modood (2005) reviews the concepts of assimilation, integration and multiculturalism in the aftermath of the London bombings in July 2005. http://www.ttrb.ac.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?contentId=11802

Diversity and global citizenship: Lesson plans (Oxfam) designed for Foundation Stage, KS1 and KS2 on the theme of diversity and global citizenship. Useful examples of diversity teaching for student teachers and trainees in predominantly white areas. http://www.ttrb.ac.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?contentId=11635

Friends, Families and Travellers website provides a range of useful information for Travellers and for those who wish to learn more about these communities. http://www.ttrb.ac.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?contentId=11005

Responding to the Education Needs of Asylum Seekers and Refugee Children - M. Parker-Jenkins, D. Hewitt, S. Brownhill and T. Sanders (2004) provides an introduction to the educational needs of asylum-seekers and refugee children citing information from recent publications in the field, and highlighting potential strategies for practitioners. http://www.ttrb.ac.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?contentId=535

author: John Woollard