Introduction
The teacher is crucial in ensuring a proper learning environment for the student. It is the duty of the teacher to ensure equality for all students in the learning process without regard of their social status, class, religion, race or gender. In that perspective it is paramount that the teacher understands the methodologies that are suitable in a multi-cultural and multi racial setting (Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A. 2004).
Literature review
Over the years, racial inequality in education has been a pertinent solution (Teranishi, R. T. 2010). It has remained so and it still seems to haunt the education sector and the nation in general. According to Garland, S. (2013), the situation has been worse as it has never been. More surprisingly, it has seemed more visible in cities that we all along thought have a more multicultural setting than others nationwide “Today, gifted programs still tend to separate students by race. New York City is a case in point. There, the education department has been struggling for years to change the demographic makeup of its gifted program—which is disproportionately white and Asian—and spread access to a more representative group of students” (Garland, S. 2013). Questions as to why it has remained so have over the years remained so; questions. There have been concerted efforts to curb the inequality but the situation has not been any better (Meyers, R. 2008). Almost any other method that has been sought to help solve the issue has not only been challenged but also backfired “There are a handful of open-enrollment gifted schools in the city, but the district’s efforts at increasing diversity in the bulk of gifted and talented classrooms have largely backfired (Garland, S. 2013).” Could it be that the education system itself promotes the inequality rather than solving it? Those questions and many others have always cropped up but seemed to bear no sufficient answers that can be used to resolve the issue (Griffith, K. G., & Kritsonis, W. A. 2013). Whether the education system has enhanced stereotype ideologies remains a debatable issue but as much as the people controlling the whole system can defend it, it is clear how much harm the system has done in regard to equality. A case in point is the use of IQ tests. The question that arises is why it is used to test IQ in minority children while these children were not involved in testing the equipments “With the special status ascribed to IT tests minority children were not included in standardizing the instrument” (Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A. 2004).
Why do racial inequalities exist in our education system?
While the demographic gap between whites and non-whites has continuously decreased, the same cannot be said of the in terms of achieving equality within the education system. Currently, there are more than 44% non-white students in the education system (Teranishi, R. T. 2010). The education system has not been able to put measures that would help address the situation. In an instance, it is quite noticeable that despite this increase in number of non-white students, there has been no preparation of teachers who can effectively handle all classes, races and various groups of students (Griffith ET al.2013). For a fact, most teachers are only trained to handle students in what has been referred as ‘normal situations’ (Banks J. A., & Banks, C. A. 2004). The normal situations refer to handling only white students. It is not a crime to accept that in a multi-cultural society as the one we are living, there are ways that a teacher needs to be trained to handle different situations in and out of class so the student does not feel segregated in terms of their race or origin. This has been one of the failures that have ensured the continuity of the inequality trend (Teranishi, R. T. 2010). This has mainly occurred in suburban schools where these non-whites groups have migrated and where the systems in schools are poorly prepared if not unprepared to handle multicultural classrooms (Griffith ET al. 2013).
Garland, S. (2013) in her article ‘Ending racial inequality in gifted education | Hechinger Report’ notes that schools cannot be blamed for their failure to adequately for such changes. It is the duty of the federal government in collaboration of the state governments to ensure that schools within the national are well, adapted to dynamic changes in the current world including those that come as a result of racial differences. The funding to ensure proper training of teachers to handle multi-racial environments has not been sufficiently done and when done, no follow up mechanisms have been implemented to follow up on their usage. Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A. (2004) through their research analysis insist that funds are necessary to also change certain segments of the curriculum and set up structures that will accommodate the changes. Similarly, Rob Meyers (2008) observes that students need financial help to deal with the racial divisions through empowering them. This has come in handy and thus made the situation worse.
Another major issue has been that has put a firm foundation for the inequality to thrive has been the poor policies and laws that have been set up to tackle the issue. It has turned out that indeed it is these laws that promote the vice that is being fought (Griffith et al. 2007). The introduction of tracking systems in schools was meant to help monitor students so as to enable them thrive under their strengths. In the very end the system turned out to undermine those subjected to lower tracks and create a ceiling between them and those who are advantaged by the system (Griffith ET al. 2013). Poverty levels among non-whites is well documented and this has meant that even with the tracking system, those from poor backgrounds who are facilitated to higher tracks cannot achieve their potential due to lack of funds to fund them (Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A., 2004). There has been no program to monitor their ability to fund their education. In essence, these students fall back to their previous tracks or even lower when they cannot fund their education (Garland, S. 2013). This has indeed compromised the ability of the young children from non-white populations to compete on fair grounds with their white counterparts. Inequality has once again manifested its ugly head. (Meyers, R. 2008)
What evidence indicates the existence of these inequalities?
According to Rob Meyers (2008), in higher tracks of the gifted program, white students have always had more representation as compared to non-whites. On the other hand, in the lower tracks, non-whites have had more representation as compared to whites. “In 1982, black students were 34% more likely to be in a vocational track than white students, and they were 12% less likely to be in an academic track than white students, as the following data shows.”(Meyers, R.2008). Going by the issues in New York and elsewhere, the situation has not been any better. When students notice their representation statistics across the different level, they feel less motivated (Teranishi, R. T. 2010). They cannot go for the best and this stereotyping that non-white students are fit for lower tracks has maintained the inequality levels in the sector (Griffith et al. 2007).
What can be done to ultimately cease the practices that perpetuate these racial disparities in our schools?
The solutions to these inequalities are just as open to anyone as they have always been. What has been lacking is the will to implement them (Garland, S. 2013). The government needs to train teachers across the nation so that they can be able to interact with the multi-cultural classrooms without stereotyping any group (Teranishi, R. T. 2010). Funds are required to overhaul the curricula so that it fits a multi-cultural setting. This coupled with the need to set up structures that will be able to cater for the changes in curricula will go a long way in reducing the inequality gap (Griffith et al. 2007). Teacher interaction with the students cannot be compromised since it forms the basis upon which the student can gain or lose motivation. Therefore training teachers and providing them with structures that will support their delivery is the major approach that need be adopted (Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A., 2004). The government should also seek to eliminate all mechanisms that seem to create even the smallest of gaps among different student races (Griffith et al. 2007). It is for this reason that the curricula will require some overhaul to do away with some draconian laws that have facilitated the inequality issue.
References
Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A. (2004). Handbook of research on multicultural education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Garland, S. (2013, March 14). Ending racial inequality in gifted education | Hechinger Report. Retrieved from http://hechingerreport.org/content/ending-racial-inequality-in-gifted-education_11468/
Griffith, K. G., & Kritsonis, W. A. (2007). Griffith, K.G. & Kritsonis, W.A. The achievement gap between African-American and non-minority students: How can we close the gap?The Lamar University Journal of Student Research, 1-5.
Meyers, R. (2008, June 2). Inequality of Education - youqingshuµÄÈÕÖ¾ - ÍøÒײ©¿Í. Retrieved from http://tianya20080123.blog.163.com/blog/static/347427720085205811618/
Teranishi, R. T. (2010). Asians in the ivory tower: Dilemmas of racial inequality in American higher education. New York: Teachers College Press.
