Racism in Education Field
Student’s Name
Institution
Racism in Education Field
How are cultism, peer pressure, corruption and nepotism realities in the education sector differ from racism realities in the education field? It is an inquisitive question that lingers in many people mind and may take longer to come up with the correct facts. There arise distinct differences between the target realities which include cultism, peer pressure, corruption as well as nepotism and the non-target truth, racism in the learning institutions. In many instances, racism is subtle as is precise and challenging to describe compared to the other realities that are significant points of focus when it comes to unethical values in the education forum. The Africa-Americans, Asians and the minority groups in the United States community become the most affected victims when it comes to issues regarding racism. The humiliating reality does not only affect the students but it also significantly impacts the tutors as well as the community at large (Troyna & Williams 2012). In the discussion below, racism reality in the education sector is explained into a profound extent as well as its juxtaposition with the peer pressure, corruption, nepotism, and cultism realities in the same field.
The education sphere is enormous as it involves all the members of the community starting from the students, teachers, parents and guardians, the government as well as the public. At long last, the skills and knowledge acquired by the learners will not only be used for individual benefits but will also be essential in community development and enhancement of social-economic as well as political stability. All of the members mentioned above can be a victim of unethical reality either directly or indirectly, and it significantly hurts. Many refer to racism in the learning institution as unintentional or an unconscious deed that the participant commits unaware (Leonardo, 2013). However, to a to an extreme extent I tend to disagree with it as everyone in the field tends to have cognition hence end up determining the demoralized act through ignorance.
The racial reality has negatively impacted the society as the victims either end up as failures or performing less than their capability. It is a significant source of the achievement gap that hinders many from going for their potential goals at the millennium age. Let us take an example of a black student who is discouraged by her professor who teaches her mathematics that she is not capable of achieving better grades as her white counterparts in the subject. The student will feel inferior as well as have a fear of approaching that particular tutor when she comes to a challenging point when studying the issue and at the end, the manifested failure comes into reality. Why discriminate others while one does not know the potential capability of the other person? Racism reality in school may not be directly portrayed. For example, the tutor may be avoiding to ask the black and minority group student questions assuming that they do not know the answer. Another instance may be the case of tutors knowing the names of all white pupils in a class while he or she does not have the interest of identifying the black and other minority students in the same category. Such a tutor will only be bothered by the success and whereabouts of the whites leaving aside the others to incur low performance in the related course (Ladson-Billings & Tate 2016).
How are the target realities faced in the education sector in the nation? It is inquisitive that the government and the community at significant tries to find the practical solutions now and then. Peer pressure, corruption, nepotism, and cultism are the everyday realities that are faced in the learning institutions where in some sound measures have been put in place while the others are yet. These realities are contradictory with racism in various ways. At first, the target realities are inclusive of all the people involved in the sector sphere which is not the case with racism which only touches the minority and isolated groups to a broad extent. For instance, cultism consists in being a member of a devoted group, and this can be inclusive of every student whether white, black, Asian or from the minority group. Cultism leads to the involvement of the young people to immoral vices such as alcoholism, rape, early sexual activities, burglary and exposure to abuse of illegal substances. It is a direct influence which the participant has to choose of whether taking the oath or not getting involved with the group’s activities. Cultism misconduct depends on the individual cognition, and the case is the same when it comes to peer pressure, nepotism and corruption activities (Harper 2012). Therefore, the contrast between them and racism is vibrant as with racism the victim has no chance to choose as the person is segregated with regards to the skin color, ethnicity or the social status.
When one dictates racism to a victim, it is inevitable for the casualty to reject as it is unintentional and nothing more can be done. For instance, take the example of the act of the government paying the Africa-American, Asian and minority group tutors lower salaries than other white teachers with the same qualification level. It is disgusting and discouraging but nothing can be done out of the fear of being regarded as a troublemaker, and the result will be an act of getting fired. According to the research, the Africa-American, Asian and minority group tutors only takes around ten percent of the tutors in the nation. Therefore, they do not have the majority force in the education sector that may be effective to fight for their equal rights. The best option remains to be keeping silence and secure the job opportunity than talking and getting dismissed. When it comes to the other realities in the education field such as corruption and nepotism, it is evident that the teaching staff of the particular institution join hands, demonstrate and efficiently pass their views to the government agents for significant actions to be put in place in settle the issues.
Who will be the advocate to fight for the rights of the Africa-American, Asian and minority groups in the nation? As seen above the racism reality significantly affects the marginalized group tutors as they incur act of underpayment which is against their will. However, the case is not different in the learning institutions like the black and marginalized groups do not have the freedom of airing their views to the teachers and other institution leaders. The number of African-American and other minority groups students being suspended from schools is high than that of the white students in the same institutions (Grubb & Leonardo 2013). It has been revealed that probability of a white student being dismissed regardless of the fault is three times less than the possibility of a black or minority student being suspended.
For instance, consider the example of the white student who was a witness of a racism reality involving the head of school, a group of white students and a group of black students in the same institution. The principal on his regular duties came across the group of white girls walking along the hallway during the class time, but she alters that they are not supposed to be loitering around at that time. They were left to go on with their concerns with the intervention that they had performed well with high-grade point aggregates. At the same time after walking for a distance, the principal spotted the group of black boys loitering around the dormitories, and they were shattered and ordered to go back to the class immediately. The White student was touched by the principal’s act of racism claiming that there was a possibility of the black boys having higher grade point aggregate than hers. The African-American boys could not argue with the tutor as the next step could be their dismissal from the learning institution. It is a relevant example of how the minority groups and blacks are forced to swallow the painful deeds of racisms in the education sector with no response as well as efforts to fight for equity.
When it comes to the other realities, all the students regardless of their ethnicity has the right and capability of airing their views and making decisions. Taking an example of corrupt school staff, the students, in general, will be considerate in gaining a sound conclusion which can be reporting the case to the institution’s head or another leader. In the fact of peer pressure, ethnicity is not a fierce vice as when it comes to joining the specific group and making them friends is a personal decision whether white, black or belong to the minority group. Therefore, the issues regarding racism are sensitive and a threat to the well-being of significant components of the education field as its root have been dug deep in the society leaving the victims helpless. The participants need to understand that it is by nature and not a personal choice to choose which ethnicity that one belongs to as well as the social status as it will significantly influence them to stop the mischievous conducts or segregation (Gillborn 2016).
Many learning institutions as well as other education-related perpetuates the racist ideology and becomes a threat to their performance and development in general. Integrity differs from one individual to the regarding personal cognition, but the differences are not determined by the race or the social status that one belongs to. It is evident that a significant number of students who performs better in the nation are from the needy families as well as the Africa-Americans and the Asians. This signifies that with conducive learning environment all the students are capable of performing better to their capability levels. Also, when it comes to the tutors and other members of education forum from the black and minority groups their performance is pleasing as in consideration of their experience and skills level, they are capable of delivering services to the same extent as their white counterparts. Therefore, it is depicted that all people are equal and are capable of achieving their goals if postulated to the conducive environments free from the racism that degrades personality as well as demoralizing the victims from putting extra efforts in the involved field.
In alleviating racism as a worker in the education sector, various methods such as educating the teaching staff on the ways to avoid unintended racism, teach students on equity ideologies as well as seeking government’s intervention in improving the salary of the black and minority group teachers as well as their working conditions will be applied. In educating the tutors about racism avoidance techniques, I will put into consideration the three principles which include rigor, relationships and relevance. To start with is relationships. It is an essential element in determining the performance of both the students and the teacher. As a tutor relate friendly with all the students in such a way that they are free to approach and participate in the class sessions. Do not justify or ignore any student regardless of the ethnicity as it will bring embarrassment and later affect the overall performance of the particular student. Also, it is vital to incur some fear to the students in such a way that they will adhere to the instructions given and they will not hesitate to do assignments as well as participating in class (Flintoff et al. 2015). Discipline is a critical factor in their performance, and it is employed to them through punishment as well as guidance and counselling.
The other element vital in teaching is relevance. As a tutor use relevance examples in class and avoid the use of the ones that portray racial segregation and diversity. Significance also enhances better understanding of the point put in place by the students, and they significantly stick in their minds. Furthermore, rigor is an important aspect that depicts that a teacher should demand a lot from himself or herself as he or she requires from the students. If the students fail, their tutor is also at an equal extent part of the failure. Therefore, it is the urge of the teachers to avoid racism as well as other vices that may lead diversity among the students in the class. For instance, group discussion works well towards students’ performance, and with cohesion, in the class, all of them will be active improving the results. Also, tutors should get into close contact with the parents and guardians so that they are capable of informing them about their children’s performance, for instance through phone calls.
Teaching students the ideologies regarding racism is the next step to take in eradicating the reality in education forum. The subjects regarding human ethnicity and equality should be put as general focusses in learning institutions. Tutors have to be significantly used in spreading the importance cohesion and unity among the students regardless the racial bias. The other pace involves seeking government’s intervention in improving the teachers working conditions as well as enhancing their salaries. The government should strengthen equity when it comes to the payment of the teaching staff whether one is white or belongs to the African-American and other minority groups. Salary is the motivation and reward after work hence its increment will improve the tutor’s incentive as well as performance. Finally, the government should ensure that there is a conducive learning environment in the nation regarding the students’ hygiene and security measures. Also, the number of teachers per school should be significant in consideration of the population (Capper 2015).
As discussed above, it is evident that racism is there in the education field and it is much sense that the peer pressure, corruption, nepotism, and cultism realities. Therefore, it is not the government’s role to eradicate this diminishing vice but every community member responsibility as it significantly affects the whole society. In consideration of the discussed techniques of alleviating racism, the reality will be curbed and brought to an end in the nation.
References
Capper, C. A. (2015). The 20th-year anniversary of critical race theory in education: Implications for leading to eliminate racism. Educational Administration Quarterly, 51(5), 791-833.
Flintoff, A., Dowling, F., & Fitzgerald, H. (2015). Working through whiteness, race and (anti) racism in physical education teacher education. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 20(5), 559-570.
Gillborn, D. (2016). Critical Race Theory beyond North America: Towards a Trans-Atlantic Dialogue on Racism and Antiracism in Educational Theory and Praxis. In Critical race theory in education (pp. 97-122). Routledge.
Grubb, W. N., & Leonardo, Z. (2013). Education and racism: A primer on issues and dilemmas. Routledge.
Harper, S. R. (2012). Race without racism: How higher education researchers minimize racist institutional norms. The Review of Higher Education, 36(1), 9-29.
Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate IV, W. F. (2016). Toward a critical race theory of education. In Critical race theory in education (pp. 21-41). Routledge.
Leonardo, Z. (2013). Race frameworks: A multidimensional theory of racism and education. Teachers College Press.
Troyna, B., & Williams, J. (2012). Racism, education and the state. Taylor & Francis.
