David Gillborn on British Education

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the way Gillborn views Britain's school system. It points out that Gillborn concludes that, as a result of political neglect, students of racial and ethnic diversity remain a marginal concern at the national level in schools and are still systematically excluded from their own schools. The paper discusses how Gillborn gives a hopeless forecast for the future, ultimately, implying that the increasing concern among teachers about social justice and equality issues are still at popular odds with the social concerns of the people. The paper concludes that the real question Gillborn leaves remaining is to the nature of his address and at whom it is focused; ultimately, policy makers, educators, academics and students should be well-versed in it, if any of the systematic failure he addresses should change.

From the Paper:

"The refusal of the British government to directly address policy to the ethnic and racial discrimination occurring in the school systems worsened not only the system, but also the lives of millions of children, Gillborn concludes. Unlike the direct and explicit policy of American schools to address these demographic discrepancies, the British system, instead, amorphously moved around the issue, approaching it with a meta-interest that extended no further than a special group appointed to address multicultural education in the National Curriculum. This work, however, was never published. (Tomlinson 1991.) Gillborn critiques the government for its construction of not only its system but its attainment of education reforms as well, which he says that, without ever actually addressing race, clearly construct a particular version of a nation, its heritage ,and traditions, excluding any real debate over the treatment and forecast for specific groups. (Gillborn, 1999, pg. 14.)"

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