When I was a postgraduate at the London University Institute of Education (now part of UCL), one of the most influential lecturers was Professor Basil Bernstein, with his ideas of restricted and elaborated codes of speech, and the class-influenced communication gulf between some teachers and some schoolchildren, that he suggested was a significant educational issue that needed more research and attention.
The "Degrees of Racism" report (summary here) that has been produced by the SOAS Students' Union, takes this discussion further, from the perspective of some Black and Ethnic Minority students:
"Some BME students felt silenced also by the pressure to communicate using academic language that – for reasons of structural racism – was closer to the everyday speech of middle-class, white students than to their own. One BME student reported having their accent “corrected”. Another said they had peers who expected to be perceived as less intelligent on the basis of racist, classist stereotypes, and some felt their choice was between adopting the language of their white, middle-class peers or not speaking at all".
Degrees of racism - A qualitative investigation into ethnicity attainment gaps at SOAS
A report by SOAS Students' Union,.September 2016
A report by SOAS Students' Union,.September 2016
To read the full report, download the document here.
I have no idea whether the broader complaints about a "white curriculum" are justified, but the issue of the use of alienating/excluding, 'middle-class' "academic language" in the classroom, seminar or lecture hall is something that may be of concern to quite a few international students (in particular), as well as to those from BME families.
Let's hope that the debate proves to be productive.
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