Reform, Racism and the Centrality of Whiteness: Assessment, Ability and the "New Eugenics"

Autor/in	Gillborn, David
Titel	Reform, Racism and the Centrality of Whiteness: Assessment, Ability and the "New Eugenics"
Quelle	In: Irish Educational Studies, 29 (2010) 3, S.231-252 (22 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0332-3315
Schlagwörter	Racial Discrimination; Blacks; Intelligence; Foreign Countries; Track System (Education); Secondary School Students; Disadvantaged; Stereotypes; Profiles; Young Children; Educational Policy; Child Development; Talent; Outcomes of Education; Equal Education; United Kingdom (England) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Racial bias; Rassismus; Black person; Schwarzer; Intelligenz; Klugheit; Ausland; Leistungsgruppe; Leistungsdifferenzierung; Sekundarschüler; Klischee; Charakterisierung; Profilanalyse; Frühe Kindheit; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Kindesentwicklung; Begabung; Hochbegabung; Lernleistung; Schulerfolg
Abstract	The Nobel Prize winning scientist James Watson was vilified when his views on the supposedly inherent deficiencies of black people became public. The scientific establishment, mainstream media and politicians joined a chorus of disapproval that would seem to evidence a widespread rejection of the old myths of racially ordered intelligence. Unfortunately, the English educational system behaves as if Watson is correct. This paper considers the impact of the various forms of sorting, selection and separation that characterize the use of "tracking", "setting" and "tiering" in secondary schools. These processes amount to a new eugenics whereby black students are systematically disadvantaged but blamed for their own failure by assessments that lend racist stereotypes a spurious air of scientific respectability. The paper documents a key example of these processes through the introduction of the "Foundation Stage Profile" (which claims to quantify the "development" of 5-year-olds). These trends look set to expand through a policy platform built on pseudoscientific notions of "talent" and "potential" that threaten to abandon a substantive concern with equality of outcome. (Contains 8 figures and 11 notes.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10