INTRODUCTION
This paper was written a few years ago and updated a few months ago prior to the recent meeting in Sheffield re: Funding crisis in Adult Education at the Friends Meeting House (Quaker House), Sheffield on 1st March 2008, addressed by: MP David Blunkett (former Shadow Secretary of State of Education); Alan Tuckett (Director of National Institute of Adult and Continuing Education (NIACE) and Ann Walker (Regional Secretary of WEA – Yorkshire and Humber region). The outcomes of this meeting will hopefully be reported & updated on as soon as possible.
BACKGROUND
Adult Education Provision (AEP) in Sheffield for Black Communities has been ongoing since for over thirty years since the late 1960s and the late nineties under Sheffield Local Education Authority Education (LEA) and under Sheffield Colleges after re-organisation 1992 and hence moving out of LEA control due to government legislation.
The AEP provision for Black communities has tended to focus on:-
•Providing educational provision for inner city residents who don’t make use the range of formal (further education, higher education, university/college part-time courses; provision by Workers Education Association (WEA); classes at local community centres run by the college).
•To provide appropriate provision to meet the learning needs of Black and Ethnic Minority (BME) learners within the inner city areas.
•To regularly review changes in learning needs and service provision.
THE CONTEXT
The AEP throughout Sheffield is designed to support the learning needs of local inner city residents, in an area characterized high deprivation and unemployment both amongst men and women, with almost out ( Total unemployed persons classified a long-term – more than one year out of work). By 1988-91, the city as a whole had an unemployment rate of 25-30%. In the inner city wards, the rate of adult unemployment was almost twice. The figures are as follows:-
(%Total Black) (%youth) %(Black women)
Burngreave 30% – 34% – 35%
Darnall 27.8% – 23.5% – 31%
Sharrow 18% – 19.5% – 20%
(These figures have changed since 2002). On average 18% white people (men or women) unemployed. The figures of the National average unemployment rate were around 16% and the average adult Black was 38%. The figure for Black youth (male) including Asians was around 55%.Around 33-34% of Muslim working population aged over 16 had no qualifications (2004 figures) ‘focus on religion’ – based on the National Census. In 1999-2000, the male unemployment figure in Burngreave – North area of Sheffield (BCAF – community Audit, 1999) as 30-39% and on ethnicity the BME unemployment was estimated to be nearly 4 times to that of the white population.
In reality, the statistics reveal that only two male of BME population out of ten being in paid work and multiply that by hundreds; then think of families and other dependants. The inner city wards, in general have a low levels of owner occupation, low level of car ownership, levels of single parent families and poorer levels of economic performance than in the city as whole (NfDC reference document).
APPROACH AND STYLE
The work of Adult Education Workers (AEW) has revealed that ‘inner city residents’ often means working class background, BME, most frequently unwaged women and single women with children. The adult education classes emphases on facilitating and enabling inner city residents to:
i) determining their own learning needs ii) to carry out that learning need iii) and then to assess both their progress and learning needs
The AEW have utilized the ‘network approach’ by using the skills; ideas and collaboration with paid workers; youth workers; teachers; social workers; health workers plus similar Human Resources within individuals and groups they work with. The early adult education approach and practitioners of this way of working was to canvas a range of identifiable educational needs among a clear target (or constituency groups). These included BME communities and women with young children; young unemployed people; members of community groups; management committees and tenants groups.
A wide-range of work in different setting had been developed and organized with and for those groups which includes:-
•Developing and facilitating local education classes; training sessions for the elderly and creative writing with young people and adults using school buildings. •Training sessions for community members; community work courses and IT skills. •Other cultural or arts activities relevant to the educational & spiritual aspect of education.
This short paper has characterized the range and style of this work as non-formal Education as argued by work done by Chris Elphick and research by P. Flynn & P. Kitchen within Newcastle in 1986:
…The learning needs and demands of each individual is different and a variety of key factors need to be taken into consideration and these are of paramount of importance – to which educational programme planning and strategies are developed. The issue of fees, enrolment procedures; length and timing of provision are usually flexible. In addition, Nursery/Crèche provision is of great importance as is the intended encouragement of non-formal relationship with learners. The existing wealth of knowledge and experience of learners/participants is valued highly and is utilized; whenever it is appropriate; to further develop the individual learning needs. The choice/subject is usually influenced by the expressed interest/demands and needs of potential students/learners on courses or sessions. This does not ignore the individual tutors (or part-time workers, support assistants) from identifying a need and investigating any new approach or opportunities to meet (‘new’) learning needs…”
This can in most cases result in wide range of curriculum/topic/subjects being covered, some of them are also provided within the current formal provision – craft subjects, keep fit, self-defence, dress-making for example. However, in comparison with the formal system, non-formal education has tended to show:
"..a greater bias in favour of subjects which help people to tackle, either individually or collectively… The problems they face in their daily lives, or are designed to enable greater understanding of their environment and culture.” (P.Flynn and P. Kitchen, Newcastle, 1986).
The adult education practice in Sheffield has clearly shown that the inner city residents are not apathetic toward continuing education but are willing to learn if they are given the right conditions and are keen participants/learners in developing community education approaches to suit their learning needs and are able to control that need. The so called word: apathy has been overused term and is usually due to bad experiences of individuals in past learning or educational experiences and is a backlash to it. The Adult Education (Community Education) practitioners need to spend more time in analyzing their practice & delivery of community development then the trust and involvement of participants/community members will increase. Hence this will be clear indication that access to continuing education is right for the particular student/learner/participant and people often seize the opportunity to learn in a flexible environment.
MULTI-CULTURAL FACTORS IN COMMUNITY EDUCATION
Over the last three decades the approach of Adult education (Community Education) and work practices, in common with many other agencies within Sheffield, was almost wholly white. That is, most people worked with groups they found on the network – community groups, self-help groups, Women, After School Clubs, Luncheon Clubs, Tenant groups, Single-issue Campaign Groups, Health projects and so on.
The BME communities were of course often part of such groups but not in any especially visible numbers.
As it was common practice with other white practitioners they never stopped to question the absence of Black people from their affirmative action – in terms of class and disadvantage – that so they colluded in the institutional racism, ignorance, and stereotype. Although current legislation after recent (from 2000 onwards) the McPherson Report on institutional racism and the amendments to the 1976 Race Relations Act coupled with the European Legislation of Human Rights Act and the 2003 Religious Discrimination in Employment has made it easier for BME communities to get redress.
Even so, it would be good practice for white community development practitioners to conclude that with a list of ‘anti-racist good practices’. However, it is possible for Black community education/development practitioners and activists from all races/creeds/colour for shaking up some of the ideas and joltings of Eurocentricism.
Key staff from BME communities has been influential in making other staff within Sheffield’s Adult Education via Sheffield College more aware of the responsibility to question their thinking and practice. It would be useful for other employees and practitioners to look at curricular, publicity and ethos with a clear vision to recognize the need for them to acknowledge that their perspectives are not necessarily those of Black people.
DEVELOPMENT OF ANTI-RACIST APPROACH & PRACTICE
This approach /perspective accept that Black people should be supported in meeting their educational needs in the same way as the laws against physical attacks anti-racist discrimination. This approach usually reflects the nature of racism that – we live in a racist society and this has been so for centuries: The adult education fieldwork approach to countering racism should concentrate on the institutional racism and increased anti-Muslim sentiment ‘Islamaphobia’ in light of the Macpherson Report (Steven Lawrence Case); and the global atrocities on 9/11 and 7/7 attributed wholly to Muslim communities and the covert nature of racial prejudice along religious lines.
Sheffield College (as we understand it is running adult education services – following the re-organisation and Polytechnics and Technical Colleges moving out of local authority control around 1990-91) has a duty to develop good anti-racist and anti-oppressive practice.
CONCLUSION & FUTURE STRATEGY
The anti-racist approach of Sheffield College’s AEP should accept the premise that racism is CAUSED BY, and is NOT CAUSE OF unjust structures and procedures. However, we must also avoid the shortcomings of the Doctrinaire Anti-racist approaches and method in combating racism. As the findings and conclusions of the MacDonald Inquiry into racism and racial violence in Manchester schools, following the stabbing to death of an Asian student, Ahmed Ullah by a white pupil at Burnage High School in South Manchester. This report provoked a national debate on anti-racism in education.
In conclusion, the adult education services should involve the common effort of whole communities in struggle against what is seen a threat to all, not the province of experts, projects or agencies. The recent upsurge of anti-Muslim sentiment after the 9/11 and 7/7 atrocities – should not mean that the common effort against “terrorism” should be just limited to the so called ‘Islamic Fundamentalists’ within the Islamic faith – which in the majority of cases is the reality of Islamaphobia.
MATLOUB HUSAYN ALI KHAN
(Free-lance Journalist/Management Consultant) (Written 16th December 2002 & updated in 2004-2007 & March 2008)
© MCPR