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Why education won't solve the BME gap
until it catches up with its sister
disciplines.
And how it could do both.
Theo Gilbert, Phd, FHEA
University of Hertfordshire
University of Kent Conference, 2016
Closing the gap: Research and Practice on
Black and Minority Ethnic Student Attainment in Higher Education
Multiculturalism
Integrating people in the wider social context focussed
on (protecting the rights of) minority groups.
• plural communities in Britain living in parallel
• not integrated
http://tedcantle.co.uk/publications/about-interculturalism/
Professor Ted Cantle, on Interculturalism and
Community Cohesion
Interculturalism
Attends to the positive interactions of diverse and
complex, human individuals (not groups), acting and
living together in collaboration (Zapata-Barrero, 2103)
Cultures can and should be entered and exited freely in “mobile and dynamic processes” (Ibid, p8) - by the
individual. These processes are not recognised nor
attended to in the more limited model of
multiculturalism (Cantle, 2012; Zapata-Barrero, 2013).
Hope Africa University - Student
discussion group on the Community
Development Masters programme
.
http://haleymccreadyfund.com/?m=20150
University of Kent, UK - Group
discussion at the second Chain
Reaction workshop April 2013
https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/sciencecomm
a/2013/05/08/workshop2/
National Union of Students’ (2009) explored why “Black students are le
likely to be satisfied with their educational experience and to attain
first-class degrees in comparison to their White peers” (p4).
A survey of 938 black students:
 “with 23 per cent describing it as ‘cliquey’…
 17 per cent as ‘isolating’…
 8 per cent as ‘hostile’…
 and respondents often speaking of ‘alienation and exclusion’”
(p5).
“spawned from inside the classroom”
“feeling left out of discussions and debates”
(p4) http://www.nus.org.uk/PageFiles/12238/NUS_Race_for_Equality_web.pdf
Separate bodies of
literature/separate battle fields for
different ‘categories’ of students.
What about what lies underneath:
students shared, similar or universal
psychosocial experiences of learning
‘communities’ – across these
categories.
“Rising numbers of stressed students
seek help”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education34354405
Compassion is:
1. Noticing of disadvantaging of others
and/or their social or physical distress
and
2. Commitment to do something to reduce
or prevent that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS3-dt5p-84
Prof Paul Gilbert presenting on compassion at the Centre for Compassion and Altruism Research and
Education (CCARE), Stanford University
1. Talking a lot so that others do not get many chances to speak.
2. Talking in silences when the shyest students are getting ready to speak.
3. Fixing eye contact with the tutor only, or just one student and forgetting to look at
all the other people in the group.
4. Using difficult language; not explaining difficult words or expressions so that
other people in the group cannot understand.
5. Not listening carefully to other peoples' ideas.
6. Not helping other people when they are getting into difficulty while they are
speaking. Instead taking control and their chance to speak away from
them. Talking over them.
7. Not inviting others to speak; not thanking others for their contribution.
8. Not speaking at all; becoming ‘too shy’ and so giving nothing to the group.
9. Not even reading a little bit in order to bring something to the discussion.
10. Letting other people talk and talk without interrupting them.
11. Letting them use difficult words or expressions. Allowing them to speak too
fast for everyone to understand them.
12. Not asking for more explanations when understanding is becoming too difficult.
13. Other: …………………………………………………………………….
Cozolino (2013) and P. Gilbert (2005)
point out, cognitive thinking capacities of
people in groups can be drained off by
having to having to attend to social
threat.
In seminars this means being seen as less
articulate than others, saying something
‘wrong’, saying something foolish.
1. After each weekly lecture,
students carry out individual,
independent research on the
topic of the lecture.
1. Speed meeting.
2. What is compassion?
3. Small group → whole group
consensus on:
a. noticing unhelpful seminar
behaviours.
b. how to address these
compassionately.
2. In small groups, students share
(present and join a discussion of)
the research they have each done.
3. Tutor facilitates students to
support each other in using the
strategies they agreed during their
work on (3a) and (3b) in Step one
- seminar one
1. The final small group
discussions, at the end of the
module, are filmed and each
student is assessed according to
criteria seen below.
Research and
critical thinking
(70%)
The research undertaken by
the candidate for the
examination topic is
demonstrated to be extensive;
it is appropriate in content,
level and relevance. (30%)
Critical perspectives - as in
questions posed, arguments
offered, analytical and or
evaluative insights into the
student’s own research and
that contributed by others are integrated relevantly and
helpfully into the group
discussion. The student helps
keep the group focussed on
task. (40%)
A B C D E F
A B C D E F
Little or no evidence is offered of
sufficient and/or appropriate
research.
Few or no critical perspectives – as in
questions posed, arguments offered,
analytical or evaluative insights into
the student’s own research and that
contributed by others – are
demonstrated during the discussion.
The student’s contributions may be
irrelevant and contributes to leading
the group off task. The student may
contribute little to the group by
remaining silent through all or most
of its task-focussed discussion.
Group Management Skills (30%)
Body Language (10%)
Eye contact and other body language is
appropriately inclusive.
Language (10%) is graded (it is international
English and it is appropriately paced). It is
also mindful in other aspects when:
 Disagreeing and/or critiquing
 Questioning
 Enacting inclusivity skills (see below)
Group management strategies (10%)
 Eliciting , encouraging, acknowledging
 Accommodating reasonable
hesitations/silences while less
confident speakers are engaging the
group’s attention
 Checking understanding of the group
when speaking
 Intervening proactively and
compassionately in the excluding
behaviours of others, e.g.
monopolising
A B C D E F
A B C D E F
A B C D E F
Body language is signalling little interest or
engagement with what is being said by
others; or, may focus repeatedly on some
students to the exclusion of others.
Student may:
 speak too fast; or too quietly
 use excluding, localised English
 use inappropriately individualistic or
disrespectful language when challenging
or questioning others, or when enacting
some group management strategies.
Student may:
 tend to monopolise discussion or speak
over others
Student may make little or no attempt to:
 check the group’s understanding (of
his/her own research) e.g. when
presenting an unfamiliar term/concept
 get clarification when it is needed
during presentations
 listen to and respond relevantly to
others
 proactively support the efforts of others
to contribute effectively to group task
“I often used to get quite
annoyed…when we got people
who were so shy that they
wouldn't talk. And ….you
realise, "Well no, we’re also
responsible for making sure
other people have things to
say and want to talk."
S13 White, local Humanities Post graduate,
female
“I felt not as one person but I
felt as a person within an
entity and the entity was my
group. .. . I felt that I was
part of the group …I didn’t
feel like an individual at that
point. It didn’t make me feel
like I’m focused on it. It
made me feel like we’re all
focussed on it. “
S29 Local ethnic minority male,
Business undergraduate.
Interculturalism or
multiculturalism in the
seminar room?
S28: When I go into seminars I find any other
Muslim people there…. Most of the others, I’m
probably not gonna talk to them to be honest.
So I was thinking, ‘Oh my God. What if no-one
talks to me?’ But as soon as I got into a group I
was fine, I was fine. … I did the research so I was
really lucky [sic]. We just got into the discussion
and took it from there. It flowed really well.
S28 Local ethnic minority female, Business
“I was worried being the oldest
person and the only non –
native English person… [But]
they made me feel like an
equal.. ..Having ten years of
working experience with many
people from different cultures
and backgrounds, I never found
it as smooth as this time.
Outside of university, we’re still
hanging out together.”
S99: Mature International Male,
Computer Science Undergraduate.
Interculturalism or
multiculturalism in the
seminar room?
“It would seem to me almost inhuman to
let someone else fail or do badly in their
studies due to having trouble with
something that I myself knew or
understood, so I tried to always share my
ideas with and teach other members of my
group.”
S161: Computer Science student,
Undergraduate
“I most like[d] when team members gave
me eye contact when I spoke. I felt more
confident, and inclusive eye contact where you look at everyone in the group
[when you speak] as the whole group
was just one person.”
S89 Computer Science Undergraduate
“I challenged team members’ ideas,
even if I agreed with them.”
S79 Computer Science undergraduate
In the UK, the degree attainment gap
between local white students and BME
students, is 18% nationally and about
that also at the host University of
Hertfordshire. Broeke and Nicholls’
(2007) study of many possible
contributing factors found no good
reason for this gap.
Summary of Means of Percentage Marks for
Critical thinking in the module’s assessed Essay:
Student Categories
Local Black
% age marks
(n= 8)
56.25
Local Ethnic Minority (n=17)
53.35
International
(n= 5)
67.00
Local White
(n = 8)
70.93
Differences in % marks for Critical Thinking between local ethnic
and internationals for essay and for CfP seminar discussions
Essay
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Local Black (n=8)
Local Ethnic Minority
(n=17)
International (n=5)
Local White (n = 8)
Summary of Means of Percentage Marks for
Critical thinking in the module’s assessed Seminar :
Seminar: Critical
thinking
Student Categories
Local Black
% age marks
(n=8)
66.25
Local Ethnic Minority (n=17)
International (n=5)
Local White (n = 8)
65.41
68.50
69.62
Differences in % marks for Critical Thinking between local
ethnic and internationals for CfP seminar discussions
Seminar: Critical Thinking %age Marks
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Local Black (n=8)
Local Ethnic Minority (n=17)
International (n=5)
Local White (n = 8)
Differences in % marks for Critical Thinking between categories of students: Essay and
CfP seminar discussions, compared.
Essay
80
Seminar
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Local Black (n=8)
Local Ethnic Minority
(n=17)
International (n=5)
Local White (n = 8)
The report NUS report recommends that FE and HE
work harder “to promote social cohesion and better
integrate their student bodies” (p61).
It states that “social inclusion” and “social cohesion”
(p61) “could be achieved by increasing discussion and
interactive work within the classroom” (p61).
http://www.economist.com/news/britain/216
47303-why-britains-universities-produce-somany-radical-islamists-studying-jihad
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news india/hyderabad-students-suicide-/
http://www.mtv.com/new
s/2288514/a-completelist-of-the-142-schoolshootings-since-sandyhook/
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