Swann (1985)

Notes on the text
Preliminary pages Membership, Contents, Introduction

Part I: Setting the scene
Chapter 1 The nature of society
Chapter 2 Racism: theory and practice
Chapter 3 Achievement and underachievement
Chapter 3 continued

Part II: Education for all
Chapter 4 Ethnic minorities and education: historical perspective
Chapter 5 Multicultural education: further studies
Chapter 5 continued
Chapter 6 'Education for all': a new approach

Part III: Major areas of concern
Chapter 7 Language and language education
Chapter 8 Religion and the role of the school
Chapter 9 Teacher education; employment of ethnic minority teachers
Chapter 9 continued

Part IV: 'Other' ethnic minority groups
Introduction
Chapter 10 Chinese children
Chapter 11 Cypriot children
Chapter 12 Italian children
Chapter 13 Ukranian children
Chapter 14 Vietnamese children
Chapter 15 'Liverpool Blacks'
Chapter 16 Travellers' children
Reflections and conclusions

Part V:
Main conclusions and recommendations

Appendices

Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Children from Ethnic Minority Groups

Chairman: Lord Swann

Cmnd. 9453

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1985
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Chapter 1 The nature of society
[pages 3 - 8]

Education and the nature of society

1. The relationship between the education offered in our schools and the broader nature of society has of course long been the subject of considerable debate and discussion in educational circles. In drawing up our terms of reference the then government set the context for our work in a society which they described as:

'both multiracial and culturally diverse.'

'Ethnic identity'

2. By birth, choice or chance we are all members of a variety of different 'groups', the members of which share characteristics which distinguish them from other groups. Our 'membership' of particular groups may be based on characteristics, such as age or gender, which are easily perceived and over which we have no control, or on less obvious characteristics, such as occupation or religion, which can derive from social circumstances and may to some extent be based on choice and which may vary over time. Membership of a particular ethnic group is however one of the most important aspects of an individual's identity - in how he or she perceives him or herself and in how he or she is perceived by others. A particular ethnic group may be characterised both by shared physical attributes such as skin colour, which are constant and which are not a matter of choice, and also by certain shared cultural attributes, which may be open to change or choice but which can also serve as powerful forces in maintaining that group's distinctiveness. We believe it would be entirely wrong to overestimate the extent to which an individual's character, lifestyle or abilities can in any sense be fully understood simply on the basis of the ethnic group to which he or she may belong. It would nevertheless be similarly naive in our opinion to deny the crucial role which ethnicity, perhaps particularly in the 'eye of the beholder', can play in determining an individual's place in this society. Whilst individuals may belong to different groups of various kinds they are in addition also part of the wider national society by virtue of a range of common shared characteristics, such as a common language and a common political and legal system, which, taken together, give that society a degree of unity and its members a form of 'corporate identity'. A democratic society can in general terms be seen to be further united by a shared commitment to certain essential freedoms and to fundamental values such as a belief in justice and equality.

Assimilation or separatism

3. In Britain today, there are members of many diverse and numerically smaller ethnic minority groups living alongside a majority group which, though far from homogeneous in its actual composition, history and origins, is nevertheless regarded as, and tends to regard itself as, sharing a common ethnic identity. A number of important and fundamental issues arise however over the relationship which can and should exist between the ethnic majority group and the various ethnic minority groups and it is on the resolution of these issues that the future of our multiracial society depends. In theory there are two extreme forms which the relationship between ethnic minority groups and ethnic majority group can take in a society. On the one hand, there is full assimilation - where the minority group loses all the distinctive characteristics of its identity and is ultimately absorbed and subsumed within the majority group. On the other hand, there is separatism - where minority and majority groups continue to live in the same society but each effectively operating within their own separate 'compartment', with the minimum interaction needed in order to coexist. In our view neither of these 'solutions' offers a just or indeed practicable basis for a multiracial society. A deliberate social policy of assimilation would, we believe, be a denial of the fundamental freedom of all individuals to differ on aspects of their lives where no single way can justifiably be presented as universally appropriate. The sense of 'ethnic identity' amongst many members of ethnic minority groups, as we have indeed found time and time again throughout our work, is very strong and there is little indication that this will simply dissolve in the face of the influence of the majority group's way of life. Even if minority groups were prepared to lose some aspects of their identity in this way, there are, as we have already observed, certain features of the ethnic identity of some minority groups, most notably perhaps skin colour, which individuals cannot change even if they so wish and which are likely therefore to continue to distinguish them from other members of society and thus prevent full assimilation. Equally we consider that a policy of enforced 'separate development' of different groups would be unlikely to offer equality or justice to the members of all groups, least of all the numerically smaller minorities. Indeed, a society based, in this way, on the enforcement of rigid divisions between different groups within it could be said to be almost a contradiction in terms, since a degree of shared experience can be seen as one of the major factors in maintaining a cohesive society.

The concept of pluralism

4. We consider that a multiracial society such as ours would in fact function most effectively and harmoniously on the basis of pluralism which enables, expects and encourages members of all ethnic groups, both minority and majority, to participate fully in shaping the society as a whole within a framework of commonly accepted values, practices and procedures, whilst also allowing and, where necessary, assisting the ethnic minority communities in maintaining their distinct ethnic identities within this common framework. Clearly the balance between the shared common identity of society as a whole and the distinct identities of different ethnic groups is crucial in establishing and maintaining a pluralist society, and it must be recognised that such a society places obligations on both the minority and majority groups within it, if it is to offer them all a full range of benefits and opportunities. In a democratic pluralist society, we believe all members of that society, regardless of ethnic origin, have an obligation to abide by the current laws of the country and to seek to change them only through peaceful and democratic means, but there is also an obligation on government to ensure equal treatment and protection by the law for members of all groups, together with equality of access to education and employment, equal freedom and opportunity to participate fully in social and political life, both locally and nationally, equal freedom of cultural expression and equal freedom of conscience for all. The ethnic majority community in a truly pluralist society cannot expect to remain untouched and unchanged by the presence of ethnic minority groups - indeed the concept of pluralism implies seeing the very diversity of such a society, in terms for example of the range of religious experience and the variety of languages and language forms, as an enrichment of the experience of all those within it. Similarly, however, the ethnic minority communities cannot in practice preserve all elements of their cultures and lifestyles unchanged and in their entirety - indeed if they were to wish to do so it would in many cases be impossible for them then to take on the shared values of the wider pluralist society. In order to retain their identities when faced with the pervasive influences of the lifestyle of the majority community, ethnic minority groups must nevertheless be free within the democratic framework to maintain those elements which they themselves consider to be the most essential to their sense of ethnic identity - whether these take the form of adherence to a particular religious faith or the maintenance of their own language for use within the home and their ethnic community - without fear of prejudice or persecution by other groups. It is important to emphasise here free choice for individuals, so that all may move and develop as they wish within the structure of the pluralist society. We would thus regard a democratic pluralist society as seeking to achieve a balance between, on the one hand, the maintenance and active support of the essential elements of the cultures and lifestyles of all the ethnic groups within it, and, on the other, the acceptance by all groups of a set of shared values distinctive of the society as a whole. This then is our view of a genuinely pluralist society, as both socially cohesive and culturally diverse.

Variance with reality

5. In looking at the relationship which exists in Britain today between the ethnic majority and the various ethnic minority groups, which are now an integral part of our society, we believe that the pluralist ideal which we have put forward is far from being realised. Many within the majority community appear to be largely oblivious to the significance of the multiracial nature of society, tending to regard the members of ethnic minority groups very much as 'immigrants' and 'outsiders' even though almost all have either been born in this country or belong to groups which have been established here for many years. Where the ethnic minority communities are accepted as belonging here it frequently seems to be very much on the understanding that there is an onus on them to adapt their lifestyles to conform to the traditional British way of life so as to cause as little disruption as possible to the lives of the majority community and even the suggestion that the presence of these groups might have a bearing on the lives of the majority community appears to be dismissed. Thus in many respects the majority community appears to favour the development of a multiracial society along assimilationist lines in which the ethnic minority communities in due course merge with an unchanged ethnic majority group. As we have already pointed out however, such a 'solution' is, in our view, both unrealistic and unjust and would make quite unreasonable demands on the ethnic minority communities. In contrast to, and to some extent in consequence of, these views within the ethnic majority community, there are growing signs within some ethnic minority communities of a trend towards a separatist philosophy - a tendency to begin to look inwards to reinforcing their separate group identities at the expense of looking outwards to the wider community which, having rejected them, they are now in turn choosing to reject. We believe that unless major efforts are made to reconcile the concerns and aspirations of both the majority and minority communities along more genuinely pluralist lines, there is a real risk of the fragmentation of our society along ethnic lines which would seriously threaten the stability and cohesion of society as a whole.

Diversity within unity

6. It is essential, we feel, to acknowledge the reality of the multiracial context in which we all now live, to recognise the positive benefits and opportunities which this offers all of us and to seek to build together a society which both values the diversity within it, whilst united by the cohesive force of the common aims, attributes and values which we all share. In advocating the development of our society along ethnically pluralist lines we are conscious that Britain can in principle be seen as already pluralist in other respects, for example in terms of the regional variations and various cultural groupings which are readily accepted as part of the overall British 'way of life'. We are not therefore seeking a radically different social structure, but rather looking for an extension of this existing pluralism to embrace ethnic minority communities. We realise that some people when faced with our aim of a more genuinely pluralist society may challenge this as in some way seeking to undermine an ill-defined and nebulous concept of 'true Britishness'. The identity of our society however represents an amalgam of all the various forces which have been and indeed are still at work within it and the many influences which have impinged upon it from outside. Thus to seek to represent 'being British' as something long established and immutable fails to acknowledge that the concept is in fact dynamic and ever changing, adapting and absorbing new ideas and influences. As put in evidence to us:

'Britain has always been a multi-cultural society. Over four centuries of Empire and Commonwealth it has become a multiracial society. This process is irreversible - a legacy of British history.'

'It is no longer appropriate to speak of the ethnic minorities in this country as immigrants. Already almost half of Britain's population whose origins lie in the New Commonwealth or Pakistan were born here. Many more were brought up in this country and, for practical purposes, know no other. Britain is their home. They belong here; they are here to stay and to play their part in the life of their country.'

Influence of racism

7. This then is our view of the kind of pluralist multiracial society for which we believe the education system should help to lay the foundations - a theme which we go on to develop further in this report. Before doing so however it is essential to discuss the influence of the racism faced by many ethnic minority communities, both in terms of its influence on individual attitudes and behaviour and its less obvious but in many respects more pervasive influence on institutional policies and practices - which can be seen as the major obstacle to the realisation of the kind of society which we have envisaged here. We devote our next chapter therefore to considering this controversial and difficult area of concern.

Reference

(1) Speech at the Hindu Cultural Centre and Temple, Bradford. 22 July 1983.