Winners and Losers

Well now, today has been a red letter day in education in England and a, what, black letter? day in my classroom. First, the good news. After the debacle of the marking fiasco in the summer from which we have still to get our results, the Government has decided that England is scrapping SATs at age 14. Thank the Lord. It was a ridiculous test in English, artificial and absolutely no use as preparation for GCSE in that absolutely no coursework was required, whereas 5 pieces are needed for GCSE language and literature. In addition, two of the GCSE exams (out of three) have a poetry section and a prose section. Students could have reached this stage in their education with a Level 7 (the highest grade available) never having read a poem or a book, let alone been examined on their analysis of them. Also. Shakespeare study, which is a coursework element in GCSE, consists of comparing two scenes from one play in a one hour exam at SAT level. It takes for ever to prepare the kids for 45 minutes writing about two scenes. There is no Shakespeare question on the final GCSE exam, but there are questions on two modern poets, a bank of pre-1914 poetry and Poetry from Different Cultures, assuming that everyone who does the exam is English, white and middle class. Stupid.

Speaking of which, the black letter day revolved around a Year 10 girl who spoke of John Agard, whose picture I had on the board, as 'that Paki'. 'What you got a picture of that Paki on the board for?' John Agard is a renowned performance poet of Afro-Caribbean descent. Not according to this girl. He had no business living in this country 'cos he's not English. Another girl expressed her hatred of Poles. A boy remarked that black people looked like monkeys and why shouldn't we call them niggers; they called us milk bottles. It's just as insulting to be a milk bottle apparently. Not as bad as white trash though. They are incapable of understanding irony of course.

Where we live is primarily white. There are two girls of mixed race in a school of 700 students, no Asians, no one from the Middle East and no 'Pakis'. So where does this hatred stem from? All blacks are criminals was the common belief. I now have to try to teach these children about cultures which have struggled to leave slavery behind; who are still dealing with the legacy of apartheid and civil war; who have settled in countries alien to their culture and have tried to hang on to their roots or at least try to work out where their roots lie. I have taught these poems for 6 years with no trouble after an initial shock. I have no idea how to combat the racism and intolerance of these ignorant students; students who in year 9 are treated to a multi-cultural day exposing them to races, creeds and colours from all over the world. We are all one, as long as we are white and English. Everyone else is just inferior. I despair.

Winners and Losers

Well now, today has been a red letter day in education in England and a, what, black letter? day in my classroom. First, the good news. After the debacle of the marking fiasco in the summer from which we have still to get our results, the Government has decided that England is scrapping SATs at age 14. Thank the Lord. It was a ridiculous test in English, artificial and absolutely no use as preparation for GCSE in that absolutely no coursework was required, whereas 5 pieces are needed for GCSE language and literature. In addition, two of the GCSE exams (out of three) have a poetry section and a prose section. Students could have reached this stage in their education with a Level 7 (the highest grade available) never having read a poem or a book, let alone been examined on their analysis of them. Also. Shakespeare study, which is a coursework element in GCSE, consists of comparing two scenes from one play in a one hour exam at SAT level. It takes for ever to prepare the kids for 45 minutes writing about two scenes. There is no Shakespeare question on the final GCSE exam, but there are questions on two modern poets, a bank of pre-1914 poetry and Poetry from Different Cultures, assuming that everyone who does the exam is English, white and middle class. Stupid.

Speaking of which, the black letter day revolved around a Year 10 girl who spoke of John Agard, whose picture I had on the board, as 'that Paki'. 'What you got a picture of that Paki on the board for?' John Agard is a renowned performance poet of Afro-Caribbean descent. Not according to this girl. He had no business living in this country 'cos he's not English. Another girl expressed her hatred of Poles. A boy remarked that black people looked like monkeys and why shouldn't we call them niggers; they called us milk bottles. It's just as insulting to be a milk bottle apparently. Not as bad as white trash though. They are incapable of understanding irony of course.

Where we live is primarily white. There are two girls of mixed race in a school of 700 students, no Asians, no one from the Middle East and no 'Pakis'. So where does this hatred stem from? All blacks are criminals was the common belief. I now have to try to teach these children about cultures which have struggled to leave slavery behind; who are still dealing with the legacy of apartheid and civil war; who have settled in countries alien to their culture and have tried to hang on to their roots or at least try to work out where their roots lie. I have taught these poems for 6 years with no trouble after an initial shock. I have no idea how to combat the racism and intolerance of these ignorant students; students who in year 9 are treated to a multi-cultural day exposing them to races, creeds and colours from all over the world. We are all one, as long as we are white and English. Everyone else is just inferior. I despair.