Racism in Secondary Schools: The effect on students' education

The definition of racism according to the Oxford Dictionary is the ‘discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against people on the basis of their racial or ethnic group, which is a minority.’ UK secondary schools have recorded more than sixty thousand racist incidents in the last five years. Many studies have been conducted to determine the success rate in the students affected for their important exams, such as GCSE and A levels. In addition, studies also consider the student’s chance of excelling in several types of universities. This essay will go through different opinions such as whether racism builds the child’s learning ability or if it does the complete opposite.

Racism is usually associated with abusive and offensive language used in a derogatory way against a person from a different race or ethnic background. An article published by the guardian written by Freia Schulz states ‘racism is indeed a problem within our schools.’ (Schulz, 2021). She then goes on to write, ‘school policies and beliefs about norms and values stereotypically only reflect the dominant culture- that of white British people.’ From this quote, we can infer Schulz believes the education system is failing those of an ethnic minority. These experiences can then be related to a lower self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Having a high selfesteem is necessary for students to be able to take risks in their learning. With low self-esteem, students are hesitant to engage in learning or take appropriate academic risks. A research project in 2020 by Nerys Roberts and Paul Bolton (Roberts & Bolton, 2020) contains data to back up this evaluation. The data shows that black pupils have the lowest pass rate for GCSE Maths and English combined. Based on the research, the authors argue that reforms must be made to the national curriculum ad associated exam content and racism ‘still plagues our society and schools’ Paul Bolton. In addition, the study also calculated the number of students who achieved a first or upper second-class degree. The results show white participants being the largest at 82% and Black students being the lowest at 60%. Asian students came to a total of 72% and Mixed students obtained 75%. Some of the disparity can be explained statistically by disparities in entry qualifications; nevertheless, even after accounting for other characteristics, there is still a difference between White and ethnic minority graduates. Using the statistics, it is possible to infer that racism has an effect on student’s results in their exams. However, we are unable to measure how large of an effect it has on one’s ability to learn.

Moreover, the NEU commissioned research, Place and belonging in school, (Kathryn Riley, 2020) suggest a feeling of being accepted is a good predictor of academic achievement, and it's typically lower among pupils from disadvantaged ethnic groups. The study confirmed that Black Caribbean adolescents are far more likely than their peers to be excluded. Exclusions can impair a child's learning and cause them to lose interest in school. Some individuals incorrectly attribute this to cultural or racial differences, while there are a number of factors at play, including institutional racism. A sense of belonging has been linked to improved academic achievement and increased student motivation.

To develop the argument, The Guardian gives examples from students who have been affected by racism and how it changed them eventually. Naomi Bakare shares experiences that happened almost ten years ago, but the effects of them are still clear, ‘I really struggled with insecurity and anxiety due to how I was treated… schools really need to work harder so that children don’t suffer like I did.’ (Parveen & Thomas, 2021) According to a study Bakare participated in, the vast majority of young Black British people have experienced racism at school, with one in every two believing that racial stereotypes impede their academic success. This helps conclude the argument that racism can affect a student’s education. School-based racial discrimination has a particularly negative impact on academic participation. Schools are places where adolescents spend a large deal of their time taking part in educational, extracurricular, and social activities. As a result, how students think about themselves as learners, as well as their motivation and engagement, is influenced by their interactions with teachers and classmates at school. Stereotype-based behaviour and overt harassment in the classroom erode childrens' personal feeling of worth and belonging, raising the risk of school disengagement. (Leath, Mathews, Harrison, & Chavous, 2019)

Lastly, a 2020 report by Runnymede says that ‘racism is deeply embedded in schooling’. This is shown in the views of 49% of young students who felt that racism is the biggest barrier to reaching success at school. (Swiszczowski, 2020)

During my research, I found no evidence that racism in schools motivates students to work harder. This emphasises the impact of racism on students throughout their life. To close the achievement gap between ethnic minority and white children, more efforts must be taken. In addition, it will improve children' mental safety and security at school.

To conclude, racism in secondary schools has an effect on the student’s education and ability to succeed in further education to a great extent. Statistics from a variety of reports/studies, as well as real-life situations, can be used to illustrate this. This demonstrates the size of the effect on students and why racism has to start to be taken seriously and treated with the right consequences.