1. TEACHING RACE QUESTIONS IN BRITISH SCHOOLS.
- Author
-
Banton, Michael
- Subjects
RACE relations ,EDUCATION ,TEACHING ,DISCRIMINATION in education ,SCHOOLS ,EDUCATIONAL sociology - Abstract
The article discusses issues related to teaching race questions in British schools. In February 1961 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization invited the author to promote and supervise a pilot inquiry to assess the usefulness of Cyril Bibby's book "Race, Prejudice and Education" as means of eliminating race prejudice in the schools of Great Britain. The survey was conducted in the spring and a report submitted in the autumn. The present article is a synopsis of that report. The account of the survey, the question asked and the responses has been drastically condensed to allow for discussion of the conclusions at greater length. "Race, Prejudice and Education" can be strongly recommended as a teaching aid for use in British schools, in association with other measures, in a programme of the type envisaged. The arguments for and against the teaching of race questions in schools have not received sufficient attention in British educational circles. Many teachers maintained that it was inadvisable to teach such topics, on two grounds. First, they considered that much of the material dealt with matters of opinion rather than matters of fact. Secondly, they thought that race as a biological phenomenon was only incidental to inter-group relations and that to emphasize the racial factor was often to create a problem where none existed before.
- Published
- 1962