Seeking Equity in a World in Crisis: Critical Engagements through Educational Research (ACRE)

Abstract:

Black men are stigmatized in several ways by politicians, the media, the education system as well as the police. According to Goffman, stigma is an “attribute that is deeply discrediting” (1963:3) and can be attributed to skin colour, body size. It can be hidden but is nonetheless discreditable if revealed.  Stigma impacts on macro and micro-level interaction and those who are stigmatized may be wary of and even work harder to manage their stigmatized identities and cope with discrimination that they attribute to their stigma. This presentation will examine how black males in education navigate and manage their stigmatized identities, the strategies they deploy, and the rationale proffered for doing so.  The presentation will highlight the complexities of black male educators as they establish, reinforce and maintain their professional identities whilst simultaneously resisting and rejecting forms of courtesy stigma (discredit directed toward people who are closely associated with a stigmatized individual or group) and structural stigma (inequities that are manifested through rules, policies and procedures within organizations and society at large).

Bio:

Dr Christine Callender is an Associate Professor in Education at UCL Institute of Education, London. She has worked in schools, colleges and in the higher education sector for over 20 years and has undertaken consultancies nationally and internationally. Christine is as Associate Editor of the British Educational Research Journal (BERJ), the co-convenor of the BELMAS Race and Leadership Research Interest Group and co-convenor of the Race, Ethnicity and Education SIG for BERA. Her research interests are in the areas of race, equality and diversity in teacher education, the experiences of BME males in teaching, race and leadership, and the use of critical race theory as a theoretical, methodological and analytic lens for examining race in education.

Abstract:

I will present the context and rationale for this study, which is that national reviews about school education typically involve expert panels. Though they often incorporate stakeholder consultations involving children and young people (CYP), such reviews are neither representative nor deliberative practices. There has been a review of SEND policy in England culminating in a Green Paper in 2022 and a recent SEN Improvement Plan. The centrepiece of this new national plan is to design National Standards for the SEN, with some general statements about a ‘more inclusive SEN/D system’

This project carried out what is believed to be the first citizen panel (CP) about improving the English school system. It was about how English schools could be designed to be more inclusive for children and young people (CYP) with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The talk will summarise how the project team worked; that is Dr Rob Webster (Portsmouth University) and myself as project leads, with a disability specialist and researcher to evaluate the project. Initially we worked with Sortition Foundation to recruit the 30 person panel in the Portsmouth area which was representative  of YP, parents/carers and teachers in the Portsmouth-Southampton area. We then worked with Involve Foundation who are experts at running citizen assemblies/panels. The project was funded as 1 of 9 pilots funded by UKRI-RSA Innovating Public Dialogue programme. The interim conclusions from this project will be summarised and its wider significance for using deliberative approaches in policy formation in school education will be discussed too.

Bio:

Brahm Norwich is Professor of Educational Psychology and Special Educational Needs, Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter . He was previously Professor of Special Needs Education, Institute of Education, London University. He has worked as a school teacher, professional educational psychologist and university teacher and researcher.

His broad areas of interest are special needs and inclusive education: for example, policy and practice issues, concepts and values, emotional and behaviour difficulties, moderate learning difficulties,  inclusive targeted interventions, pedagogic issues and professional learning. His research interests include applying psychology to education, including psychology applied to special needs and inclusive education.