Why The Department of Education Is Not To Blame

For Negative Attitudes Towards ‘The Other’

In the aftermath of the George Floyd tragedy in the US city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the 25th of May last, the one question frequently asked is: where do negative, or even hostile, attitudes towards other people, especially those we consider different from us, come from?

‘Race‘ and the perennial subject of race relations was at the centre of the debate, and the reason given for the actions of the police officers involved during the arrest and subsequent death of George Floyd.

While acknowledging that ‘race’ has been a significant factor in this specific incident, it must be remembered that there are other factors which influence a person’s behaviour or attitude towards another person or other people.

Negative attitudes are also  usually directed at what could be referred to as 'the other', and the person with the darker skin is only one category of 'the other'.

What do we decide to say about each other? How do we decide to see each other?

There are many reasons why a person would adopt a negative attitude towards another person, but rather than listing these, we probably already know when and why one might decide to take a negative attitude towards another person.

This is the challenge which must be taken up if society is to address the prevailing negative attitudes towards certain groups in the country.

The one institution questions are frequently directed [in this discussion] is formal education. The reason for this being that, outside the home, formal education, through the schools our children attend, is where they are taught and receive information about other places and their inhabitants.

Indeed, the classroom in the school is certainly one of the earliest influences on children, second only to the home environment.

Getting into the classrooms at an early enough age to teach about ‘the other’, not as an outsider and / or a stranger to be fearful of, but as people who are as human as us, and who can be useful members of their communities must be a positive thing?

So, what do we teach our children about Africa and Africans in Irish classrooms? Have we also reflected on how what is taught (or said) shapes attitudes towards Africans and people of African descent in general, including those living in Ireland?

Many have questioned the contents of the curriculum; some have also suggested an ‘anti-racist education’ approach as an answer. 

It must be pointed out that this is not the first time ‘anti-racist education’ has been proposed, with the production of accompanying resources.

This current discussion will reserve any comments on this ‘anti-racism education’ proposal or any other ‘adjectival educations’; no doubt, there will be opportunities to discuss these at a later time.

Furthermore, any proposed approach would also need background knowledge, and which can only be provided by the units and topics in Geography, History, the Literatures of Language subjects (English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, etc) as specified in the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment’s curriculum.

Indeed, an excellent document addressing education for international understanding is the Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in Paris on the 19th of November, 1974.

This is an educational approach (among others) linked to global perspectives in the curriculum, and which was analysed by David Hicks and Charles Townley in their book discussing the subject (please, see below). A chapter by Roger Morgan, African Studies: issues of course development, might be worthwhile looking at.

David Hicks, Charles Townley (eds.) Teaching World Studies: An Introduction to Global Perspectives in the Curriculum. London; New York: Longman, 1982.

The Department of Education and the NCCA

Whatever the arguments are, whether or not people think enough is being done to address the situation of negative or resentful attitudes towards ‘the other’, the Department of Education is not to blame.

To explain why this is the case, we need to consult the Department’s statutory body, responsible for overseeing the curriculum, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).

A look through the contents of the NCCA’s curriculum will confirm that units and topics aimed at giving children an international view have been designed for pupils from the age of eight years (third class).

The NCCA has, therefore, produced what should be seen and acknowledged as an excellent, progressive and thoughtful curriculum to teach and learn about ‘other’ people from a reasonably appropriate early age.

It has addressed the question of teaching children about other people through the SESE History and Geography curricula at first level, as can be seen below:

 

The curriculum at second level has also been designed to provide opportunities for students to learn about people and places outside their own country through the subject units and topics in Geography and History.

The next part will examine in detail, the People and Other Lands Strand Unit of the Human Environments Strand in the SESE Geography syllabus at Primary level.