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 9 Teacher education and the employment of ethnic minority teachers
[pages 541 - 645]

This chapter

The conclusions which we have reached and the policies which we have advocated in this report clearly place particular responsibilities on the teaching profession, since teachers are the key figures in the education process, and changes and developments in classroom practice and in the overall ethos of schools depend to a very great degree on the cooperation and support of individual teachers. We have already referred in previous chapters to the implications for teachers of our policies in specific areas such as language, and we have devoted considerable attention to the controversial and complex issue of teachers' attitudes towards ethnic minority pupils, and, more generally, towards the changed and changing nature of British society. In this chapter we look more broadly at the preparation and support available to teachers through their training in relation both to the needs of ethnic minority pupils and the wider issues of cultural diversity. As the Home Affairs Committee observed in their 1981 Report (1);

'Teachers cannot reasonably be blamed for failing ethnic minority children if they have not had access to the sort of initial and in-service training which would enable them to perform more successfully.'

I Teacher education

1. Introduction

Organisation of teacher education

1.1 Teacher education falls into two broad phases - initial (or pre-service) training, and in-service training, incorporating both the induction training of newly qualified teachers or of teachers new to a school and the various forms of continuing in-service provision available to teachers throughout their careers.

Initial teacher training is provided by universities, polytechnics and colleges and institutes of higher education. It comprises three or four year courses leading to the Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree, or one year courses for graduates leading to the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). There are a limited number of courses offering concurrent teacher training leading to a BA or BSc degree and a Certificate in Education. Initial teacher training courses offered by public sector institutions (polytechnics and colleges and institutes of higher education) are currently validated by some 14 different validating bodies - over half by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) and the remainder by 13 universities. In addition a number of universities offer their own degree level courses. Each teacher training institution and validating body has developed its own style of teacher training and a wide variety of models has evolved. The overall aim of initial teacher training can however be seen as to provide students with an awareness of the academic and professional basis of the education process and an introduction to teaching skills. On completion of a course of initial training a new teacher should have acquired a sound knowledge of the subject or subjects he or she will teach, and should be equipped with the professional skills and competence to begin a career in teaching with confidence.

Induction training. Initial training cannot however, nor is it intended to, provide teachers with a once and forever training experience. Nor, because of its generalised nature, can it hope adequately to prepare teachers to cope with every classroom and school situation. For this reason local education authorities and schools, to varying degrees, make arrangements for newly qualified teachers to undergo what is usually referred to as 'induction training', intended to provide them with specific information about the school and the locality in which they are to teach and to offer them advice, support and possibly an opportunity for further study. Induction training of this character may well be appropriate for any teacher joining a school staff for the first time and not only for newly qualified teachers.

In-service training is the umbrella term used to describe the wide variety of further training, as well as induction training, which may be available to practising teachers throughout their careers. It is, in its very nature, much more differentiated than initial training and may be provided not only by teacher training institutions but also by schools themselves and by local education authorities through their advisory staff and teachers' centres, and by subject associations, teacher unions and other bodies. It may be relatively formal and structured leading to 'named awards' or may consist simply of short courses, conferences, or workshops provided by institutions or by individual schools. In-service training is intended to be responsive to particular needs and especially to changing circumstances and situations and to promote new developments. It is generally a voluntary undertaking - teachers are not required to participate nor are schools obliged to release teachers to attend daytime courses although career advancement is increasingly dependent upon it.

Thus, as is frequently emphasised, teacher education is an indivisible process which can and should continue throughout a teacher's career.

Changing nature of the teaching force

1.2 The pattern of recruitment of new teachers has altered dramatically over recent years in the face of falling school rolls and constraints on public expenditure. DES figures (2) show the number of newly-qualified teachers obtaining full-time permanent appointments in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in England and Wales in 1982 was 9,137 (out of a total teaching force of 414,600) compared with a figure of 19,203 for 1978. Against this background of contraction, considerable emphasis in current discussions on teacher training has been placed on the in-service training available to practising teachers already working in schools. This has been seen as potentially the most effective means of directly influencing classroom practice in the short term, since the number of new entrants to the profession who have just undergone initial training is now considered too small to have any significant impact on the work of schools. Whilst we recognise the force of the argument which has led to this focus on in-service training, we believe that the role of initial training in shaping the attitudes and practices of the teaching force in the longer term must also be fully appreciated.

Academic standards

1.3 We now consider the contribution which we believe each of the stages of teacher education and training can make to the fundamental reorientation of the education system as a whole to incorporate the genuinely pluralist perspective for which we have argued in this report. We must however preface all of our comments in this chapter about the role of teacher training by emphasising our firm belief in the need to preserve and where necessary enhance the academic standard of the teaching force as a whole - as the government White Paper on 'Teaching Quality' (3) put it:

'Good teachers need to have a mastery of the subject matter they teach and the professional skills needed to teach it to children of different ages, ability, aptitudes and backgrounds.'

Overall context

2.1 Over the past decade or so the teacher training system in this country has experienced fundamental and far-reaching changes. The expansion of initial training during the 1960s has been followed by a rapid contraction of provision in response both to falling school rolls and public expenditure constraints - whereas, according to the 1983 White Paper on 'Teaching Quality', there were in the early 1970s a total of 180 initial teacher training institutions in the public sector in England and Wales, provision is currently we understand offered in some 62 public sector institutions. Alongside this major structural reorganisation, which has involved the amalgamation, diversification or closure of many institutions, there has also been the demise of the former sub-degree Certificate in Education qualification and the expansion of BEd degree and PGCE courses, often with consequent changes in validation arrangements, as a result of the government's decision to move towards an all-graduate teaching force. Against the background of these major upheavals, and in view of the confusion which exists as to the precise meaning and objectives of 'multicultural' education in schools, it is not entirely surprising that the attempts of the teacher training system over recent years to respond to the multiracial nature of society can perhaps best be seen as characterised by a confusion of aims and a lack of overall coherence.

Assimilation

2.2 During the early years of large scale immigration when, as we have recalled in Chapter Four, the aim of educational policies in relation to immigrant pupils was assimilation, the response of the teacher training system focused chiefly on developing in-service courses for teachers in multiracial schools. At initial training level, work was confined almost exclusively to those teacher training institutions actually located in areas of ethnic minority settlement, some of which began to offer specialist options for interested students dealing with what were regarded as the 'problems' presented by ethnic minority pupils. The majority of institutions made no response at all to the arrival of ethnic minority pupils, presumably because, in keeping with the thinking of the time, they believed that the difficulties being experienced in multiracial schools would be relatively short-lived. Institutions in non-multiracial areas believed in any case that any broader issues arising from changes in the composition of society were irrelevant to their students. A survey undertaken by the former National Committee for Commonwealth Immigrants in 1966 (4) indicated that only 15 per cent of institutions, mostly in areas of ethnic minority settlement, were running or intending to run even optional elements in their courses in the field of 'immigrant education'.

Integration

2.3 With the development of the integrationist view of ethnic minority needs, which attached greater importance to teachers understanding something of the cultural background of their pupils, albeit still as a basis for their eventual absorption into the majority community, specialist options which sought to cover the 'lifestyles' of different ethnic minority groups began to be offered, again primarily by institutions in multiracial areas, and largely through in-service training. The tendency was to focus on the cultures and religions of different countries and the 'problems' which ethnic minority pupils posed thus possibly reinforcing or even establishing negative stereotypes of ethnic minority pupils which could in fact inhibit a teacher's ability to respond positively to such pupils. Overall, developments were still very limited and in their 1972 study (5) Townsend and Brittan found that less than 1 in 5 probationary primary school teachers and only 1 in 16 probationary secondary teachers felt there had been any specific reference to the education of 'immigrant' children in their initial training, and the researchers observed that:

'... there is a valid argument that not all students will become teachers in multiracial schools. There is an equally valid argument that all students in colleges of education are expected to become teachers in a multiracial Britain, but this did not seem to have been reflected in the courses of the probationer teachers in the sample.'

2.4 As doubts began to be expressed about the desirability of assimilation, some attempts began to be made in the teacher training field in the 1970s to broaden the concept of 'ethnic minority needs' to 'multicultural education'. It began to be recognised that the multiracial nature of society might be of relevance to all teachers and thus all teacher training institutions. The National Committee for Commonwealth Immigrants had been very much ahead of the general trend of thinking when it had stated in 1967 (6) that:

'No teacher training institutions can now contract out from this problem (the multiracial society and the education of immigrants) and retain an easy conscience ... All students should be given the opportunity to study this problem during their training ...'

'We would like to see every college of education in the country teaching its students something about race relations and the problems of immigrants. To say that there is no need to educate all students about such matters because, as one college has said, "very few of our students go into schools where they are likely to meet mixed classes" is to miss the point ... Teachers should be equipped to prepare all their children for life in a multiracial society.'

'... the proportion of newly qualified teachers likely to meet substantial numbers of immigrant children in their first teaching posts is small, possibly as low as 15 per cent, and ... many training establishments ... are remote from areas of immigrant concentration and cannot easily arrange for their students to have contact with immigrant children during teaching practice or otherwise. Many complex demands are made on the training course and it would be impracticable to attempt to ensure that all newly qualified teachers had received a training which would equip them to take charge of classes including a substantial immigrant population immediately on entering schools.'

'... an understanding of the multicultural nature of society should feature in any general (teacher) education.'

'All students on initial or postgraduate courses can and should be made aware that, wherever they teach, they will be doing so in a multicultural society. This should be reflected not so much in special courses but throughout the training.'

2.5 1974 saw the publication of a joint report (11) prepared by the then Community Relations Commission and Association of Teachers in Colleges and Departments of Education which went into far greater detail than previous publications in considering the implications for teacher training of 'an ethnically and culturally diverse society'. This has remained one of the most important and influential documents in this field up to the present day and its findings have been constantly updated and reiterated by the successors to the original sponsoring organisations - the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE). This report changed the terms of the debate quite markedly even in its unequivocal starting point that:

'What happens to (ethnic minorities) in our schools is crucial to the development of a racially just society. The training of teachers and other professionals should equip them to work towards such a society.'

'Wherever students eventually teach, regardless of age range or type of child, they will be involved in making curriculum choices. Therefore, all students need to be given an opportunity to consider carefully the inherent attitudes and assumptions contained in the subject matter they teach and its manner of presentation. Highly ethnocentric and implicitly biased views may be transmitted to children, both in obvious ways such as in relation to history or geography teaching about countries from which migrants have come, and also less directly but nevertheless damagingly through the attitudes communicated by other subject specialists. Such teaching can both confirm prejudiced attitudes in all-white classes and aggravate difficulties of identity and confidence for children from minority groups. On the other hand, the curriculum can provide excellent opportunities for presenting other cultures and highlighting the achievement of all human groups. It is therefore important that teachers become sensitive to this function of the curriculum.'

'There is nothing new in asking teachers and teacher-trainers to re-examine their work in the light of social change. What is new, however, is the urgent challenge presented by the recent emergence of a society which contains not only the seeds of racial disharmony but also the potential for immense cultural and human enrichment. This is the situation which schools and colleges have to face. Far too many students are inadequately prepared to cope with it. Unless studies are updated to meet it they will become increasingly irrelevant and anachronistic.'

2.6 In their evidence to this Committee, NATFHE, reflecting on developments since the 1974 report, observed that:

'... the original Report was more tempered and sanguine than subsequent trends have justified. Worse, the response by institutions to the Report was extremely disappointing.'

- The HMI Report on 'Developments in the BEd Degree Course' (12) published in 1979, based on a study of provision in 3 polytechnics and 12 colleges, identified the educational implications of our multiracial society as:

'... an important area where treatment had been superficial or non-existent.'

'The compulsory elements of most courses did not ... bring students towards much awareness of the special needs of certain categories of children, in particular those with a cultural background different from that of the majority.'

- During 1979/1980 HMI undertook an inspection exercise of the coverage of multicultural issues at initial and in-service level in a sample of 46 out of the (then) 69 public sector teacher training institutions in England. Again, because the findings of this study do not appear to be widely known, we reproduce a paper summarising the findings as Annex B to this chapter. The overall picture revealed by this study in relation to initial training was, in the words of HMI:

'... not a particularly bright one.'

'The fact that a third of all the institutions train BEd students who, like the great majority of PGCE students, need take no account, during their preparation for teaching, of education in a multicultural society must be a matter for concern.'

'Only 15 replies out of 67 indicated that all students in training would receive some lectures or other form of input to their course which would give them information relevant to teaching in a multicultural society, and even fewer replies mentioned a compulsory element. It is therefore still possible for many teachers to emerge from their training without having covered the subject at all, though a wide range of optional courses and lectures are provided in various College and University departments.'

*In the questionnaires the teachers were asked to rate their views on a scale of 1-5: 1 if the statements in the left-hand column reflected their view and 5 if the statements in the right-hand column reflected their view, with the other markings to reflect views between these two extremes. - A more recent government survey (16) has reported that in 1981/1982 some 72 per cent of initial teacher training establishments in the UK included tuition about the particular needs of ethnic minority children in their courses. A further 5 per cent were considering introducing such provision.

The survey undertaken in 1983 for this Committee by Professor Craft and Dr Atkins on the provision for training teachers of ethnic minority community languages, (see Annex F to Chapter Seven) while reporting a dismal picture in that respect, also found that a large majority of institutions now include work on language repertoire and English language support across the curriculum in their courses.

2.7 Thus, looking at the situation overall, as Dr Richard Willey has put it in a draft report on teacher training (17):

'Such limited evidence as is available suggests that many schools and teacher education institutions are responding only slowly to the DES's stated pluralist, multicultural aims; there appears to be growing inconsistency between DES rhetoric and the content of much teacher education.'

Dual themes

2.8 What is perhaps most immediately apparent from this consideration of the various recent studies of the 'multicultural' aspects of teacher education, apart from the general paucity of provision, is the continuing confusion of two distinct forms of provision - on the one hand, course provision designed specifically to give student teachers the particular knowledge and skills needed to teach in a multiracial school, and, on the other hand, the preparation of all students in initial training for teaching pupils in a multiracial society, irrespective of whether the students concerned will be teaching in an 'all-white' or multiracial school. The confusion of these distinct perceptions of multicultural education, as relating either to the immediate multiracial situation in a particular school or to the broader multiracial social context, has of course contributed to much of the misunderstanding and lack of progress in this field up to now. As we have already emphasised, we regard a concern for both these complementary elements as equally crucial to our philosophy of 'Education for All'. Just as we believe however that rather different approaches to the curriculum will be called for in different schools, so within teacher training, distinct approaches will also be needed to cater for different sets of circumstances. There are nevertheless a number of broad principles which we feel must underlie the development of an appropriate teacher training response to the needs of today's society.

The task for teacher education

2.9 We have already made clear that we see all schools having a responsibility to offer their pupils an education which reflects the realities of life in today's multiracial Britain. We regard 'Education for All' as essentially synonymous with a 'good' education, since an education which is not based on sound educational principles and which fails to take account of the variety of cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds which now make up British society, and, more broadly, which fails to incorporate a global perspective, would be anachronistic and would prepare pupils, both those from the various minority and the majority communities, for an unreal world. Similarly a curriculum which does not acknowledge and seek to challenge manifestations of racism at both individual and institutional level, through enhancing pupils' political literacy and particularly their appreciation of how power is exercised, and by whom, in this society, would, in our view constitute a fundamental mis-education and would certainly fail to lay the foundations for the kind of genuinely pluralist society which we envisaged at the opening of this report. If a genuine pluralist approach to education is thus justified as desirable and indeed essential on educational grounds, then it is clear that in order to be equipped, in professional terms, to offer their pupils a full and balanced education all teachers must be given the appropriate knowledge and skills for providing such an education. As Dr Richard Willey has again put it in his draft report:

'... it is the teachers and teacher educators working in the different curriculum areas who must undertake the type of review which follows from the assumption of a multicultural objective, and who face the complex decisions about detailed objectives and priorities. Teacher trainers in particular have a key role to play; in the forum provided by the courses which they already teach, they can stimulate and lead consideration of the implications of cultural pluralism for existing teaching strategies and content ... The objective of a multicultural society is in the process of closer definition ... Teachers have a central part to play in this process and they must be given the opportunities to play it. If they are not, not only will minority ethnic and cultural groups become increasingly disillusioned with an education system which is failing to respond adequately to their presence, but there will be a widening gap between society's theoretical aspirations and the reality of what is happening in schools.'

'No teacher should lack understanding of the purposes of the curriculum and its relationship to the wider society; nor should a teacher lack understanding of the ways in which society and schools are inter-related, ways in which the background of pupils' lives influence what they bring to their learning, and the expectations which they, their families and their teachers have of education. The student's course of training should enable him to place his work within this broader framework of educational meaning and purpose.'

'We (teachers) accept the responsibility of fulfilling society's demands on us, without accepting responsibility for the nature of those demands. We have to accept that society is the product of the education system and we are the custodians of the future. What we are doing in schools today will be reflected in the society of tomorrow. We cannot wait for the world outside school to change, the change begins with us. Tomorrow's multicultural Britain is the pupils we have in school now. The future will be what our pupils make it, and we give them the tools.'

a. It is a teacher's responsibility to know and understand the children he teaches to the best of his ability - in particular to know and understand those social and cultural elements of an individual child's upbringing and experience which contribute to the formation of his distinctive personality, and to accept and to value these distinctive characteristics, so that his understanding of them informs the content and method of his teaching of each child.

b. It is also a teacher's responsibility to develop his understanding throughout his career, of the complex and changing nature of society, and of the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed by children growing up in such a society - so that his understanding of these informs the content and methods of his teaching of all children.

'a.' implies a special responsibility for any teacher who is teaching a child of ethnic minority background (such children are by no means peculiar to the obviously 'multiracial' schools in inner urban areas); 'b.' implies a responsibility for all teachers of all children to prepare those children for life in a multiracial society. Thus these statements entail a common set of objectives for the initial vocational education of all teachers.

a. Affective

On completion of their initial vocational education, all student teachers should accept and understand the practical implications for teachers of:

1. the uniqueness of each human being

2. the elements of common experience shared by all human beings.

3. the principles of equal rights and of justice.

4. the value of the best achievements of all nations, cultures and civilisations.

5. diversity and strangeness as sources of interest and stimulus rather than fear and threat.

6. the cultural diversity and complexity of British society in the past, the present and the future.

7. the dynamic and constantly-evolving character of all living cultures.

b. Cognitive/propositional

On completion of their initial teacher education, all student teachers should know, and understand the practical implications for teachers of:

1. the meaning in scientific usage of the terms 'race', 'culture' and 'community'.

2a. the historic reasons for the cultural diversity of modern Britain, and in particular, the reasons for immigration of various ethnic groups during the 20th century.

2b. the identity and main distinctive characteristics of major cultural minorities in present-day Britain, including their religious and social customs. the character and status of their languages, and their moral and cultural values.

2c. the ethnic composition of the area served by the college.

2d. the ethnic composition of their home areas.

3. the influences which contribute to the development of attitudes towards self and others in a growing child, and in particular, the special factors influencing the sense of identity of an ethnic minority child. and the factors likely to implant or reinforce hostile attitudes towards groups different from his own in any child, and to cause racial discrimination in practice.

On completion of their initial teacher education all student teachers should be able to:

1a. recognise, and constantly reassess his/her own attitudes, beliefs and understanding.

1b. participate in rational discourse, argue for or against a case, change his/her mind in response to evidence, argument or experience.

1c. communicate effectively with adults and children whose range of cultural and social experience differs from his/her own.

1d. understand and apply the principles of equal rights and justice in his/her dealings with adults and children.

1e. evaluate objectively the achievements of any individual, cultural group, nation or civilisation, irrespective of whether s/he identifies with it or not.

2a. will be intelligible to each child in terms of his own experience and upbringing.

2b. will enable each child to draw on the resources of his experience and upbringing in a positive way.

2c. will provide all children with accurate information about the world as it is at present, and in particular the character of British Society.

2d. will encourage all children to value the diversity of humanity, and in particular, the cultural richness of a multicultural society, as sources of stimulus and interest.

3a. factual inaccuracy, especially in the presentation of information about racial and cultural differences.

3b. stereotyping, especially in the presentation of information about distinctive cultural groups (in Britain and overseas).

3c. bias, especially in the interpretation of the values, beliefs and cultural achievements of other nations and civilisations.

4a. is helped to overcome specific learning difficulties, in particular, difficulties in the use of English.

4b. has opportunities to communicate with the teacher and with other children, drawing upon his/her own experience and expressing his own ideas, attitudes and beliefs, in the expectation that these will be received with positive interest and valued in their own terms.

4c. has opportunities to hear and read about the experiences, attitudes and beliefs different from his/herself.

2.11 The response of the initial teacher training system to 'multicultural' concerns has tended to take three main forms - compulsory 'core' studies, specialist optional courses, and, more recently, attempts to develop an implicit 'multicultural awareness' in all aspects of a course, through what has come to be termed 'permeation'. We believe that each of these approaches has an essential role to play in preparing all students, whether entering teaching through the BEd or the PGCE route, to fulfil their professional responsibilities in today's society and they should be regarded as inter-related and complementary aspects of an overall training process.

Permeation

2.12 The concept of permeation was heralded as long ago as 1974 when the CRC/ATCDE Report argued that the training of students to teach in a multicultural context:

'... cannot be mechanistic, involving merely adding a little here or taking away a little there, whilst leaving the main body of the student's educational experience untouched.'

'it is plainly desirable that all teaching should be as broad-minded as possible and so should reflect the diversity of modern Britain, and we recognise the advantage that would accrue to racial harmony were all children made to realise that Britain is a multiracial society. Teacher training courses should be permeated by this understanding ... We recommend that every initial teacher training course should be examined to ensure that it accurately reflects the society in which those who follow the course will be working.'

• All elements in the course are purposefully directed towards the development of the pupils for whom the teachers in training will ultimately be responsible as citizens of a racially just, pluralist democracy.
• Teachers in training come to appreciate the fundamental values of Britain as a pluralist democracy, and can face with confidence the particular professional challenges of teaching in the schools of such a society.
• The fundamental norms within education which students are being trained to present are not those seen to be exclusively based on 'white' ethnocentric traditions and values, but are universal in character, being drawn from many cultures and being accorded equal respect as manifestations of the variety of human responses to environmental circumstances.
• The language of 'differentiation' on racial grounds would be considered and rejected and the various concepts of 'racism': intentional, unintentional, institutionalised, would be understood, and the student equipped to combat such phenomena, as well as the manifestations of personal prejudice in him/herself, in colleagues and in pupils.
• The implications of citizenship of a pluralist society are brought to bear upon the content of the subjects and curriculum areas that the students intend to teach.

'If there is a contradiction between the theory advanced in a separate course (on multicultural education) and students' experience in most of their other studies, there may be misunderstanding of the need to include multicultural education as a compulsory part of training and a negative reaction or even resentment from some students ... There is a danger that ... the theories expounded in specialist multicultural courses, both optional and compulsory, bear little relation to the education provided by the institution's major teaching departments ... If the principle of permeation is accepted, it follows that all the subject areas and disciplines contributing to teacher education will need to consider the particular relevance to their own specialisms of a positive attitude to cultural diversity.'

'Whilst the Union wholly supports the concept of "permeation", and considers that education for a multicultural society should be an integral part of all training courses, there is a danger that it may be possible to pay lip service to ideals which have become fashionable or to respond to growing concern and criticism without much tangible evidence that the ideals are put into practice. This strategy of "permeation" may be effective where the level of awareness and commitment amongst course tutors is high, but without specific, detailed plans for compulsory input to initial courses, backed up by specialist options for those who wish to pursue the issues in more depth and widen their expertise, it may be just a paper promise.'

Core studies

2.16 If our view of 'Education for All' as relevant to every school in the country, whether multiracial or 'all-white', is accepted, it is clear that every student teacher must have at least some opportunity in the course of their training to consider the issues involved. If all initial training courses were already permeated with the broad principles discussed above this would of course ensure that this was so, but it is clear that even if the policies which we have advocated are adopted immediately, it will still be some time before all initial training courses are fully and effectively permeated by a pluralist perspective. We therefore believe there is a strong case in the immediate future for some reference to be made to pluralist issues within the central and compulsory 'core' of the initial training received by all teachers, as an essential 'staging post' and catalyst to overall permeation. Such a core element can also be seen as justified on the grounds of enabling teachers to fulfil their responsibilities in relation to the reality of British society and indeed the modern world today. As the 1982 HMI discussion document on initial training put it (our underlining):

'An effective course of training should include for all students practical experience and knowledge of class management and control: knowledge of the variety that constitutes the full range of pupils in terms of ability, behaviour, social background and culture: experience and knowledge of the level of expectation appropriate to the performance of children of differing ages, abilities, aptitudes and backgrounds: awareness of the ethical, spiritual and aesthetic values of society as well as its political, economic and legal foundations: respect for and understanding of the cultural heritage which belongs to the children growing up in our society: sensitivity to the diversity of cultural background in today's school population. This list, while not comprehensive, includes those aspects of the teacher's skill which relate to our multicultural society, the recognition of children with special needs in the ordinary classroom and the preparation of pupils for their working and adult lives. While some students may wish to pursue further specialist options in these concerns, they should be part of the basic professional preparation of all teachers in relation to the subjects they will teach to the children of any "normal" classroom.'

Needs of ethnic minority pupils

2.18 We regard an equally important aspect of 'Education for All' as meeting the needs of all children in a positive manner, which would include catering for any particular educational needs which some ethnic minority pupils may have as a result of their cultural or linguistic background. It has been argued that, since such needs can, by definition, arise only in a multiracial school, the preparation of teachers to cater for them can only be achieved through in-service provision if a teacher joins a multiracial school or through specialist options at initial training level in those institutions whose students are likely to be teaching in multiracial areas. This argument overlooks two important points - firstly, the increasing mobility of the ethnic minority communities which prevents such a rigid dividing line being drawn between multiracial and 'all-white' areas, and secondly, the present teacher employment situation, where it is increasingly difficult for new teachers to choose their first teaching post and to 'predict' therefore that any teacher will never teach in a multiracial school. Multi-racial schools can no longer be regarded as unique to urban areas such as Manchester or Bradford since schools in many other parts of the country now have pupils of ethnic minority origin. On the question of teacher employment, as the Home Affairs Committee observed in their 1981 Report:

'Most young teachers will find themselves teaching in a multiracial school either on starting their teaching career or within 5 years of their induction. Nor are those who train in the West Country or East Anglia any less likely to be teaching in the West Midlands or ILEA than those who trained at Walsall of Goldsmiths. In a mobile and contracting profession, there is every reason why teachers trained at Exeter, for example, may obtain their first teaching post in Leicester, and find themselves unprepared for the experience of teaching Asian children.'

'... initial teacher training should not skimp on providing more specialised instruction on the skills needed for teaching English as a second language (E2L); for offering second-stage support for E2L learners, for recognising and coping with other language differences, and for understanding social patterns which may be different from accepted norms ... it is evident that such instruction is too often regarded as ... suitable for only those teachers who are likely to be seeking posts in multiracial areas. Nothing could be more misleading.'

2.19 As an illustration of the various ways in which the areas of work discussed above have been incorporated into the core studies of their BEd courses by various institutions, we attach as Annex D to this chapter two examples of course outlines, taken from the evidence which we have received. Whilst many educationists would accept that the inclusion of the kind of core courses we have advocated is feasible within a 3 or 4 year BEd course, it has been suggested that the time constraints of a PGCE course, even when extended to 36 weeks, are such as to preclude anything other than a very superficial consideration of 'multicultural' issues. The view has therefore been expressed that it is preferable to look to either specialist options at initial level or in-service provision for PGCE-trained entrants. We believe however that the kind of core provision which we have discussed above is equally valid and essential for the overall reorientation of all initial training courses in the immediate future, whether through the BEd or PGCE route. It is important to recognise that the current trend is for an increasing proportion of new teachers to enter the profession through the PGCE route and this adds urgency to the need to incorporate a pluralist perspective within the core studies of such courses. It is likely that few degree courses will have given consideration to issues related to today's multiracial society and specific questions relating to the role of education in this context will rarely if ever have been raised. The risk that PGCE students will regard specialist optional courses in this field as irrelevant and superfluous is perhaps therefore even greater than for other students, unless a general introduction to the issues involved is provided for all students in their core studies. Whilst we recognise that time for the core of a PGCE course is limited, we believe that given appropriate skill and sensitivity it should be possible to avoid creating or confirming stereotypes of ethnic minority groups or focusing only on 'problems' and 'difficulties', and instead to discuss issues such as the influence of racism and the need for a broader approach to the curriculum for all pupils which may lead some students to pursue such questions further through optional studies. Whilst again we would not seek to put forward a 'model' PGCE core course, and we have indeed had some difficulty in finding examples which fully reflect our viewpoint, we include in Annex D details of the approach adopted by one university department of education which, whilst we would not endorse it wholeheartedly, gives some indication of the range and kind of considerations we have in mind.

Optional courses

2.20 Much of the provision at initial level in relation to multicultural education has been in the form of optional courses, concerned either with specific topics, such as the language needs of ethnic minority pupils, or more general themes such as race relations. If such issues feature however as simply one or two options in competition with a number of others, students may well feel their career interests are better served by choosing other optional courses - as the HMI survey described in Annex B observed:

'The usefulness of a course on slow learners, audio-visual aids or some such topic may well override a student's interest in multicultural issues, as the anxieties of teaching practice draw near. Faced with some sets of options students may feel they have very little choice.'

2.21 This is not to suggest that there is no place for specialist optional courses in initial training. On the contrary, providing such optional courses develop from and build upon a basic understanding of teaching in a culturally pluralist society, received through a student's core studies and ultimately from a fully permeated course, they will continue to play an important role in catering for the particular needs and interests of certain students. The form which such optional courses may take can clearly vary widely from those relating explicitly to the particular linguistic needs which some ethnic minority pupils may have, to those concerned more broadly with the opportunities available to any teacher teaching in a multiracial school to broaden and enhance their teaching and the need for all teachers to reflect a pluralist perspective in their work. We attach at Annex E some examples of optional provision offered within BEd courses, drawn from the evidence we have received. Such options are however, by no means limited to BEd courses and we received a number of examples of similar options offered within PGCE courses. We attach as Annex F to this chapter a paper prepared by the tutor of such an optional PGCE course on multicultural education, discussing the range of issues covered and raising some interesting points about the reactions of students.

Practical experience

2.22 Up to now we have focused primarily on the 'taught' elements of initial training courses. However if students, especially those from 'all-white' areas, are to be given a genuine awareness of the complexity of British society, it is clear that such course provision should be complemented by appropriate practical experience. As the evidence we received from one teacher training institution put it:

'... a genuine synthesis of educational theory, practice and experience needs to be developed in programmes of initial training, and ... the perspectives of multiracial education offer a genuine and practicable opportunity for such development to be realised. We would therefore urge that as many students as is possible should have experience of working in schools of cultural and racial diversity during their period of training in order that this experience might both inform and benefit from college or institute based programmes.'

'Whilst one would expect a student's experience of multi-ethnic schools ... to be related to the proximity of training institutions to areas of settlement by immigrant communities, this was by no means universal. One third of the institutions offering courses on education in a multicultural society did not bring students into sustained contact with multi-ethnic schools or communities, even though some were in areas of substantial ethnic minority populations.'

Our view

2.23 Thus, to sum up, we would regard core studies, optional courses and permeation as having equally important and complementary roles to play in an overall initial training process which provides students with the essential knowledge and professional skills needed to teach in a pluralist society and to offer their pupils an education which is relevant to the world as it is today. We would envisage permeation setting the appropriate context for all students' work, core studies providing all students with an introduction to the broad issues relevant to a pluralist society as well as developing a basic understanding of the nature of and response to the particular educational needs which may arise in a multiracial school, and specialist optional courses offering the opportunity for further in-depth study. It is clear that it is the process of permeation that has the most wide-ranging implications for institutions and it is therefore here that we believe the greatest efforts should be directed, through institutions reviewing and evaluating their course provision to incorporate a pluralist perspective throughout. We would endorse the view taken by Dr Richard Willey in his draft report that:

'If the permeation of teacher education programmes is to be made a reality, the teacher education institutions must formally consider the implications of cultural pluralism for the professional training they provide and adopt appropriate policy objectives ... It is only determined initiation of such a process which can eventually produce effective teacher education for a culturally plural society.'

Role of CATE

2.24 One major current initiative in the field of teacher training which we feel could accelerate the pace of progress towards the incorporation of a pluralist perspective in all initial training courses is the establishment of a Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (CATE) to advise the Secretaries of State on the approval of initial teacher training courses in England and Wales (19). The new Council has been asked to review all existing approved courses of initial training and to scrutinise proposals for new courses in the light of specified criteria designed to ensure a consistent standard of training commensurate with the professional qualities required of a teacher. Since we have argued here that, in order to be professionally equipped to fulfil his or her teaching responsibilities, a teacher must have acquired both the knowledge and skills needed to prepare all pupils for life in a pluralist society, and must also have a basic understanding of the particular educational needs which some ethnic minority pupils may have, we believe it is essential that these considerations are taken into account by the Council in its assessment of course provision. We are encouraged therefore that the criteria laid down by the government include the following reference to the implications of cultural diversity and to the need to guard against the possible influence of racism:

'Students should be prepared ... to teach the full range of pupils whom they are likely to encounter in an ordinary school, with their diversity of ability, behaviour, social background and ethnic and cultural origins. They will need to learn how to respond flexibly to such diversity and to guard against preconceptions based on the race or sex of pupils.'

'Students should be made aware of the wide range of relationships with parents and others - which teachers can expect to develop in a diverse society, and of the role of the school within a community ... They will also need to have a basic understanding of the type of society in which their pupils are growing up, with its cultural and racial mix ...'

Selection of students and qualified teacher status

2.25 One of the main messages of the government's recent pronouncements on teacher training has been a desire for a more stringent selection process of candidates for admission to teacher training, coupled with a wish to ensure that qualified teacher status should not be awarded to any student who, although he or she demonstrates the necessary academic ability, lacks the 'professional competence' required of a teacher. Throughout this report we have highlighted the need for all teachers to have positive attitudes towards teaching in a pluralist context and, by extension, this means that we would wish to see such attitudes manifested and developed amongst student teachers. As long ago as 1971, the DES Education Survey 13 stressed that:

'A student should honestly examine the premise that a multicultural society in twentieth century Britain is both right and natural. If his attitude to a racially mixed class is wrong, no amount of knowledge, no mastery of techniques will make him effective as a teacher of immigrant children.'

'Selection of the right students is the first step in providing the right kind of teachers.'

'In assessing the personal qualities of candidates, institutions should look in particular for a sense of responsibility, a robust but balanced outlook, awareness, sensitivity, enthusiasm and facility in communication.'

Validation

2.26 It is clear that if the developments advocated here are to take place, a leading role must be played by the various validating bodies to exert their influence to encourage all initial training institutions to reappraise and revise their provision. With the ending of college validation by a number of universities a considerable responsibility in this respect falls on the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA), and we have therefore been encouraged by the initiatives taken since the establishment of the CNAA Working Group on Multicultural Education. In particular we were impressed by the positive stance adopted by the Working Group in a discussion paper, produced in July 1984, with the following emphasis on the skills needed by student teachers to fulfil their role in a pluralist society:

'Given the wider role that teachers in schools and in further education have to play in (the) recognition of the importance of multicultural and antiracist education, there is a need to consider the implications for their education and professional preparation. In designing courses of teacher education, institutions should bear in mind the following. Teachers need to:

i. be equipped to prepare all young people for life in a multicultural and racially harmonious society

ii. have an awareness and understanding of racism both historically and in contemporary society and to be conscious of the various forms in which racism can manifest itself

iii. have an awareness of intercultural relations and of their social and economic contexts

iv. be able to teach with skill and sensitivity in schools and further education institutions recognising any particular needs of ethnic minority pupils and students.

v. interact effectively with colleagues in the institutional framework in relation to these issues.'

3. In-service training

3.1 We now turn to the varied forms of further training which are offered to teachers in the course of their teaching careers - what can collectively be termed 'in-service' provision. This can broadly be divided into, on the one hand, the training offered to newly qualified teachers on taking up a teaching post, or to teachers who are new to a school, and, on the other hand, the bewildering variety of other forms of further training which may be available to any teacher in the course of his or her career. We consider each of these types of in-service training in turn.

Induction training

Background

3.2 Specific programmes aimed at introducing newly qualified staff to an organisation, preparing them for their specific responsibilities and offering them general advice and practical help and support are a feature of most professions. On the face of it the teaching profession is no different from any other in this respect. It has long been accepted that newly qualified teachers in their probationary year can benefit from a programme of professional initiation and support - usually termed 'induction training'. The James Report emphasised the vital importance of the induction year and this was endorsed by the then government in their 1972 (20) White Paper:

'There is no major profession to which a new entrant, however thorough his initial training, can be expected immediately to make a full contribution. The government share the view of the James Committee that a teacher on first employment needs, and should be released part-time to profit from, a systematic programme of professional initiation, guided experience and further study.'

3.3 A survey undertaken by the DES in 1979 (21) found that:

'In maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special education about 90 per cent of teachers taking up first full-time permanent appointments in 1978-1979 were involved in some sort of induction programme.'

A survey undertaken by HMI in 1981 detailed in the Report 'The New Teacher in School' considered in detail the provision made by schools and LEAs for induction training for probationary teachers in a sample of 294 schools, both primary and secondary. In relation to the school's role in induction, HMI found that:

'In most cases schools had thought out their role vis-à-vis new teachers in the light of their level of expectation, and this had led to a range of policies from non-intervention to over-protectiveness. Between the two extremes there was evidence in very many schools of a sincere and honest endeavour to incorporate new teachers into the staff team and to help them in their professional development ... There was wide recognition of the importance, for this, of the "right, happy atmosphere in which to work", and a general background of support and encouragement from the staff as a whole. In some schools, both primary and secondary, this was envisaged as a wholly informal and unplanned state of affairs. In others, induction was considered a more purposeful process requiring some level of structure, sometimes a designated member of staff with responsibility for the new teachers, and a clear objective such as "the continuation of the probationer's professional training" or "building on the work of the initial training institution".'

In relation to the LEAs role in induction, HMI found that in over half of the schools, the probationers attended planned induction programmes provided by their LEAs and in over 85 per cent of cases, the probationary teachers attended meetings organised by the authority. Reporting on the views expressed by the heads of the schools about LEA provision for induction, HMI found:

'A number of heads commented on the abandonment, no doubt in part for financial reasons, of programmes formerly organised by LEAs, while others suggested that current provision was less extensive than it had been. Some authorities had appointed so few probationers in the current year that previous patterns of induction were no longer suitable.'

• introductory meetings with officers, advisers and sometimes members of education committees;
• visits by LEA advisers or inspectors to observe the new teacher at work and to offer advice and help;
• attendance at conferences, courses and workshops; and
• an authority handbook or guidelines on the LEAs work.

'... the inadequacies of as many as a third of those (schools) in the sample may lead to the new teachers failing to achieve their potential - or at least in their doing so more painfully and more slowly.'

General conclusions

3.4 We believe that a comprehensive and structured programme of induction training provided jointly by the LEA and the school is an essential phase in the career development of a newly qualified teacher providing a 'bridge' between the more generalised emphases of initial training courses and the specific demands of a first teaching post. We are concerned therefore that, in the face of financial constraints, the scale of provision at induction level is declining and we hope that steps will be taken to seek to ensure that adequate and effective induction training is offered to all newly qualified teachers. Induction training is clearly important for new teachers who have entered through the PGCE route in view of the shorter time which they will have been able to devote in their training to developing their practical teaching skills, in comparison with BEd students - as HMI concluded in 'The New Teacher in School':

'... a programme of induction, desirable as it is for all new teachers, is particularly necessary for the PGCE-trained teachers, with their much shorter base of training, if they are to acquire an early mastery of a range of teaching skills.'

3.5 Induction training can play a crucial role in preparing teachers to incorporate a pluralist perspective in their work and to educate their pupils for life in today's multiracial society. Where initial training may have failed to devote sufficient attention to this aspect of a student's development, induction training can, in part at least, serve to set a teacher's work within a school within a broader context. A newly qualified or equally an experienced teacher entering a multiracial school for the first time, will, in our view, need substantial induction training to provide them with the background knowledge needed to offer all pupils an appropriate and relevant education, free from stereotypes of particular minority groups, and to recognise the opportunities offered in a multiracial situation. It must be emphasised that some new teachers joining multiracial schools may not have taken a specialist option concerned with the needs of ethnic minority pupils in their initial training and so may be especially in need of such specific provision. Even where a teacher has undertaken such specialist study or where the core of his or her initial training course has incorporated some reference to ethnic minority needs, it is clear that neither of these forms of 'introductory' provision can, taken by themselves, have adequately prepared that teacher to teach effectively in a multiracial school, unless followed up and supported through induction training. At a specific level, any teacher who finds him or herself faced for the first time with a class which includes a number of pupils for whom, for example, English is not a first language, or whose cultural 'frame of reference' is substantially different from their own, will need particular help and support in responding to the needs of these pupils. Induction training should also help a 'new' teacher to respond positively to any manifestations of intentional or unintentional racism which may occur within the school, including matters such as racist name-calling or graffiti, and to take account sensitively of the variety of backgrounds and experiences of pupils in the actual teaching situation, for example in the choice of textbooks or course materials. The 1974 CRC/ATCDE Report on 'Teacher Education for a Multicultural Society' (see paragraph 2.5 above) set out three broad areas of concern which the induction training of a new teacher working in a multiracial school should cover. We reproduce these below, since, although some of the materials referred to have since been overtaken, these still summarise the major issues which we too believe should be included in induction training:

i. an opportunity to examine and discuss material that may be of use. e.g. SCOPE Stages one and two. CONCEPT 7-9, Breakthrough to Literacy, or any material evolved in the locality. This material could be discussed with experienced teachers who are actually using it; the local colleges could provide consultants on language and on particular questions, for example the adapration of the material to different ages and background.

ii. an opportunity to study the local social and demographic situation. This will mean looking at the numbers, composition and the movement of immigrant groups and will involve personal contact with the leaders of these groups and those who work with them e.g. community relations councils and youth and community workers. For those working with older pupils the formation of links with detached youth workers may be particularly important. It would be useful for the young teachers to be given insights into patterns of family discipline and religious and socio-political beliefs.

iii. an opportunity for these young teachers to discuss their problems of discipline and class management in small groups with skilful experienced teachers and tutors present. Perhaps the greatest need in the first year is for more counselling on how to handle explicit incidents of racial hostility, how to win the confidence of minority group pupils who tend to form groups and support each other.'

• how to avoid ethnocentrism within particular subjects;
• how to handle manifestations of racism amongst pupils;
• how to relate to pupils from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences;
• how to meet the particular needs of some ethnic minority pupils, for example in terms of language;
• how to support, and be sensitive to any cultural and religious factors which might influence their lives (but without 'stereotyping' or placing undue emphasis on 'problems');
• how to utilise positively the range of pupils' experience within a class.

3.7 We now consider the range of other forms of in-service training available to teachers in various contexts in the course of their careers. Although we believe that in the longer term we must look to fundamental changes in initial teacher training to bring about the reorientation of education which we have advocated, in view of the limited number of new teachers entering the profession it is clear that in-service training can influence the education offered to pupils now in school in the most direct and immediate way. As HMI has observed (22):

'Certainly the influence of newly trained teachers is highly important, but they will form only a small minority of the teaching force until well on into the 80s. The quality of work in the secondary schools throughout that period will depend largely upon those who are already teaching. Yet the combined effects of falling rolls and economic stringency will make their task the more difficult. Closure or amalgamation of schools, reduction of promotion prospects, an imbalance of staff specialisms within schools may all put strain upon teachers' morale, dampen their vitality and enthusiasm for change and development, and strengthen the tendency towards traditional styles of teaching. Yet new demands will continue to emerge, as changes in society are mirrored by changes in schools, in the curriculum, and in the subjects which contribute to it. In these circumstances further training becomes a necessity rather than a luxury.'

Early provision

3.8 When the emphasis of educational policy-making in relation to ethnic minority pupils was on assimilationist objectives, the main, and often the only, response of the teacher training system was to offer short in-service courses in multiracial areas focusing on the 'problems' experienced by ethnic minority pupils and intended chiefly for those teachers, especially in the language or 'remedial' fields, who were working with these children. Even the provision of such courses, which were often the only support available to teachers who found themselves faced with large numbers of immigrant pupils many of whom spoke no English at all, was relatively limited. Although the available data are at best somewhat patchy, since many of these courses were arranged on an informal, ad hoc basis, DES Education Survey 13 in 1971 found that only one per cent of teachers in English County Boroughs had attended specific courses related to 'teaching immigrants' between September 1964 and August 1967, and also reported the findings of an HMI survey undertaken in 1968 that in only half of the 40-50 LEAs with a high concentration of immigrants had such courses been organised.

3.9 In-service provision continued to expand gradually however and Townsend found, in his 1971 survey of LEA support for multicultural education (23), that 41 of the then 146 LEAs claimed to be offering in-service courses in this field, although the majority of these were short, part-time courses. LEA-organised courses on the teaching of immigrants in the academic years 1967-1970 were found to have catered for some 5,760 teachers (including of course some 'multiple attendances' by the same teachers). The complementary study by Townsend and Brittan in 1972 of practice in multiracial schools, found that only a total of 7 per cent of staff in the 230 schools studied had attended relevant in-service courses in the three years prior to the survey as shown in the following table:

3.10 At this time the majority of in-service courses offered were still aimed at specialist teachers and tended to recruit only those teachers who were working directly with 'immigrant' pupils such as E2L teachers, rather than their colleagues who were also working in multiracial schools. Indeed Townsend's 1971 survey of LEA provision referred to:

'... the considerable difficulty of interesting secondary school teachers in courses on the education of immigrant pupils other than teachers from English or remedial departments.'

'... the absence of a concerted drive by DES to get courses set up and attended ... first of all (through) a serious attempt to persuade the institutes of education and, through them the colleges, to set up courses; and secondly, some effort to impress upon local education authorities that they should release teachers to attend courses.'

Research studies

3.11 There are no comprehensive and up to date data relating to the provision of in-service training relating to the needs of ethnic minority children or encouraging a broader view of the curriculum for all pupils. There have nevertheless been some studies in this field and we summarise the main findings below, before setting out our own views on the role of inservice training.

The HMI inspection exercise undertaken during 1979/1980 and detailed in Annex B found:

'... fairly scant treatment of social and cultural issues within inservice provision generally.'

a balanced programme of long and short in-service course provision in close cooperation with its Local Authority's advisory service in multicultural education.'

'A very disturbing feature of our survey was the number of institutions which reported a drop in the take-up of in-service courses for serving teachers in multicultural education; this was blamed on the lack of possibilities for secondment by LEAs.'

'... only 4 out of some 80 institutions in England and Wales specifically mention a multicultural element in their programmes for the in-service BEd degree. But many institutions offer courses in the sociology of education, language, urban and community studies, ethical, philosophical and political issues, and curriculum studies in this award, and multicultural perspectives might occur here or elsewhere. As regards advanced Diplomas, only 10 out of 320 currently listed are specifically related to multicultural education ... As to higher degrees, no single MA/MEd taught course anywhere in England and Wales appears to be devoted to multicultural education.'

'... of 91 courses to be mounted in England between April 1981 and March 1982, only five are to be devoted to topics such as 'teaching and learning in multicultural primary schools.'

'The difficulty most often mentioned by other authorities was that of attracting to in-service courses teachers who were thought most to need them. Several authorities said that they were concerned that their courses in practice involved "preaching to the converted".'

The DES Memorandum on Compliance with the EC Directive on the Education of Children of Migrant Workers (referred to in paragraph 2.6) reported that:

'... in 1981/1982 over half (53 per cent) of the establishments providing in-service training made specific provision on meeting the needs of ethnic minority children. A further 7 per cent were considering introducing such provision for the first time.'

'Our investigations have left us in no doubt about the fragmentary and incomplete picture of in-service teacher education for a multicultural society. Indeed it appears non-existent in many areas and in none does it seem wholly adequate.'

'... the range or provision and its distribution largely arise by the chance incidence of local and even personal initiatives rather than through coordinated policy.'

'... a substantial potential demand for in-service courses for preparing teachers to work in a multicultural society.'

'... despite the encouragement from HMI and the teachers' organisations the recruitment of teachers from schools and local authorities with relatively few children from minority groups is largely non-existent.'

'It is important that courses should not leave participants with any impression of total understanding, rather an informed position which they can maintain and develop. The diverse and changing aspirations among and between sub-groups within each minority are such that participants can almost never be fully in touch with the complexities involved. Courses should also always caution teachers about the danger of encapsulating children within their own perspectives and perceptions, however sensitive. Courses should also encourage participants to explore alternative styles to learning which may be appropriate to particular children, and to observe successful experiences outside their own classroom which may be incorporated in curricula which develop particular skills. Finally, we reiterate that all those who are concerned with the determination of content and course provision should remember that a keen and sensitive awareness of the needs of all children may be as essential as an awareness of the needs of children from specific ethnic minorities if a sound and well balanced in-service educational provision for a multicultural society is to be developed.'

'Although there is a clear need for further specific courses of inservice education for multicultural situations both at the award-bearing and short course level, this provision should not be seen as an end in itself. These courses can be regarded as but one essential contribution to the fulfilment of a more pervasive need: to make the consideration of multicultural issues more widely available in the general provision of in-service courses for teachers. It is difficult to believe that any in-service course being offered at the present time could properly avoid some consideration of multicultural education. Obvious cases are courses in educational management, guidance and counselling and curriculum development. A multicultural dimension is an inescapable component of the fabric of contemporary educational provision. Indeed we would hope that such a dimension will come to pervade all courses and equally importantly, that all course tutors will have a proper sensitivity and awareness of the area.'

'Teachers in their classrooms have found themselves responsible for an increasing part of society's response. Their need for assistance has never been greater. Yet recent studies continue to demonstrate the dearth of detailed consideration of multicultural issues in most schemes of initial training. And since the flow of recruits to the teaching profession has slowed and, in some schools, has ceased altogether, the response becomes more and more the responsibility of the existing teaching force.'

3.12 The central message of 'Education for All' is that the education offered to all pupils should reflect both the diversity of British society and, beyond this, the interdependence of the world community today. It will be clear therefore that just as we see initial teacher training having a major role to play in offering all new teachers the skills and background knowledge needed to fulfil their professional responsibilities in a genuinely pluralist context, so we would see in-service training as having an equally important and complementary role to play in relation to those teachers already teaching in schools.

Permeation of in-service provision

We have argued for the permeation of all initial training courses with the principles underlying a genuinely pluralist approach to education; we also believe that all in-service courses, irrespective of level or subject matter, or the character of the area or institution in which they are provided, must reflect the multiplicity of cultures, faiths and languages in contemporary society. All in-service courses should be informed by the broad principles which we would wish to see underlying all initial training courses and which we set out in paragraph 2.13 above. As the Assistant Masters and Mistresses Association has observed (28):

'In the same way that we believe that multicultural perspectives need to inhere in the whole of the school curriculum, they must inform a very wide spectrum of INSET (in-service training), whatever its main purpose. Subject based, pastoral and management courses all need to take account of how their own particular aspects of the education service need to respond to the issues of multicultural living. This is an important way of seeing that (a multicultural) approach ... really does begin to underpin the whole of the school, and also to reach the ears of some teachers who would not choose to go on the more specifically multicultural courses, in the hope of awaking their awareness.'

Training of heads and senior staff

3.13 We should perhaps single out for particular emphasis here the courses to be offered by the National Development Centre for School Management Training at Bristol, since it is clear that the attitude and general level of awareness and understanding of heads and senior staff influences greatly a school's response to this area of development. As the Secretary of State himself observed (29), in announcing the setting up of the National Centre:

'The standards of our schools - academic, moral and cultural - are set by the heads and the senior staff within them. It is essential that they should be fully equipped for the difficult tasks that face them.'

Specialised in-service provision

3.14 There is also a range of in-service training provision which is concerned specifically with the educational needs of ethnic minority pupils and the general development of a broader approach to the curriculum.

Award-bearing courses

This provision takes a wide variety of forms, ranging from long award-bearing courses leading to higher degrees, options within in-service BEd or MEd degrees and advanced diplomas and certificates offered by universities, polytechnics and colleges, to locally organised short courses and workshops and various school-based activities. Each of these types of provision has a contribution to make in enhancing the knowledge and overall awareness of practising teachers to the implications and opportunities of teaching in a culturally diverse society. However we believe that the area of in-service provision with the greatest potential for influencing the largest number of teachers in the most immediate and practical sense is without doubt the wide range of school-based and school-focused activities which have developed in recent years and which we discuss in some detail later in this section (see paragraph 3.22 below). High level, award-bearing courses, especially at MEd level, which include options relating to 'multicultural education' can however we believe also be valuable in attracting senior post-holders from schools including heads and deputies and indeed from other teacher training institutions or from LEA advisory services, who, as we have already observed, can play such a major role in influencing their own institution's or organisation's policies. Such individuals can themselves then act as agents of change in bringing about a fundamental reappraisal of policies and practices in their own institutions in accordance with pluralist principles and thus accelerate the pace of the reorientation of educational provision and teacher training which we have advocated. Advanced diplomas and in-service BEd courses can be equally valuable for senior teachers and heads of departments. At present few institutions offer taught Master's degree courses or in-service BEd courses which incorporate specific major or minor options in multicultural issues. The issues covered by these options range from those relating specifically to the multiracial school - whether in the form of the particular linguistic needs of children for whom English is not a first language, or the approach which can be adopted to certain subject areas in a multiracial classroom situation - or more broadly to the way in which teaching in any school in this country can and must take account of the multiracial social context. We would therefore wish to see a general expansion of provision at this level in order to extend the capacity of the teacher training system to influence the senior, key figures within the education service in the manner which we have outlined here. We believe that there is also scope for the further development of Master's degree courses specifically concerned with the broader concept of 'Education for All' which we have advocated, rather than simply incorporating options in this field, and we would hope therefore that institutions will give consideration to developing such courses in response to this report.

Centres of specialism

3.15 There are already a few teacher training institutions, such as Bradford College and the University of London Institute of Education, which have developed particular expertise in the multicultural field in relation to the needs of certain ethnic minority groups and which offer a range of long and short in-service courses. Such centres of specialism will clearly continue to attract those practising teachers who wish to acquire particular skills related directly to the character of their own schools, and can offer advice and support to other institutions wishing to develop their provision in this field. Such institutions may also be able to foster curriculum development and support research initiatives in this field. We would hope to see other institutions developing similar expertise in relation to aspects of 'Education for All' in the future - for example, the findings of Professor Craft's research project on the capacity of institutions to offer provision relating specifically to ethnic minority community languages, summarised in Annex F to our Language Chapter, drew attention to a number of potential 'centres of growth' which we would hope to see develop their provision further.

Short courses

3.16 A range of specialist short courses has been developed mainly by LEAs and often in collaboration with teacher training institutions to meet the particular needs of teachers working in multiracial schools. It must be recognised that a course which may last for perhaps only one term part-time can only be regarded as of limited value in itself and should properly be seen as part of a continuing in-service training and curriculum development process. Nevertheless, where a practising teacher wishes to gain further knowledge or skills in a particular aspect of his work, such short courses can be of considerable value. We have already discussed in earlier chapters of this report the particular educational needs which some ethnic minority pupils may experience, and how we feel these needs should best be catered for. For example, we believe that all teachers in schools with substantial numbers of pupils for whom English is not a first language should recognise and accept their responsibility for supporting the linguistic development of these pupils rather than simply regarding this as the role of the language 'specialist'. Apart from such specific issues, there is also a need for teachers in multiracial schools to have a particular level of knowledge and understanding of the religious or cultural character of the community or communities which they serve in order to be able to respond sensitively and positively to any 'pastoral' needs which may arise and to fulfil their responsibilities in relation to home/school relationships. This would of course be true for any teacher in any school in the country, whether 'all-white' or multiracial, but where the cultural 'frame of reference' of a substantial part of a school's pupil population may be markedly different from that of all or most of the staff, it is clear that there may be a particularly pressing need for relevant inservice training of the teachers, and this need can often be met through short course provision. In view of the risks of such 'background' courses establishing or reinforcing negative stereotypes of ethnic minority communities, it is essential that great care and sensitivity is exercised in developing such provision. The majority of LEAs now have advisory committees with the specific task of coordinating and facilitating inservice provision and we hope that these bodies will be particularly responsive to the need to ensure a recognition of cultural diversity. Since in-service short courses, by definition, need to be related directly to a particular area or school, it is difficult to put forward a 'model'. Nevertheless there are three broad principles which we believe should inform provision of this type:

• every effort should be made to involve members of the different ethnic minority communities themselves to talk about their lifestyles, attitudes towards education and aspirations, to avoid the risks inherent in attempting to 'define other people's realities' for them;
• the emphasis should be primarily on the experiences of the communities in this country rather than in their countries of origin, since this is the context in which the ethnic minority youngsters now in school are being educated and will be living;
• whilst it is clearly necessary for teachers to gain an understanding of the cultural and religious beliefs and traditions of different communities, it should also be recognised that many British-born ethnic minority youngsters are now developing their own distinct 'identities' which may incorporate the central elements of their parents' lifestyles but with a rather different emphasis: it cannot be seen as the task of the school to 'enforce' a particular cultural identity on any child, but rather to help him or her evolve their own identity.

Racism awareness training

3.17 It is important to mention here the limited but increasing number of short in-service courses which have been organised by certain multiracial LEAs and educational organisations in the past few years concerned with what has generally been termed 'Racism Awareness'. Although the diverse activities which have been organised under this broad heading have varied widely, they have generally derived from the Racism Awareness programmes originally devised in the United States, particularly the programme devised by Judy Katz, whose handbook of 'Anti-Racism Training' - 'White Awareness' - was published in the USA in 1978. An example of the type of course which has been organised in this country was the Racism Awareness Workshop organised by the National Union of Teachers in March 1983, the aims of which were set out as follows:

'The workshop is designed for teachers who wish to develop an awareness of the operation of racism in society in general and in the education system