How the West Indian Child Is Made Educationally Sub-normal in the British School System
AuthorBernard Coard
Cover artistErrol Lloyd
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SubjectEducation
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherNew Beacon Books
Publication date
May 1971
Media typePrint
Pages51 pages
ISBN9780900415005
OCLC490662569

How the West Indian Child Is Made Educationally Sub-normal in the British School System: The Scandal of the Black Child in Schools in Britain is a non-fiction book by Grenadian author Bernard Coard published in May 1971 by New Beacon Books in the United Kingdom.[1] In the book, Coard examines educational inequality and institutional racism[2] in the British educational system through the lens of the country's "educationally subnormal" (ESN) schools[a]—previously called "schools for the mentally subnormal"—which disproportionately and wrongly enrolled Black children, especially those from the British Caribbean community.[4] These students rarely advanced out of ESN schools and suffered educationally and economically. Coard also intentionally made a "critical decision"[5] to write specifically for an audience of Black parents.

The book was first prepared by Coard as a paper he presented at a Caribbean Education and Community Workers' Association (CECWA) conference in early 1970; after positive reception, he expanded and completed the book during that summer. Figures such as Jeff Crawford, Jessica Huntley, John La Rose, Waveney Bushell and Andrew Salkey lent their support towards publicity and publication, as did Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications. New Beacon published the book in 1971, printing 10,000 copies and following that up with a second run in 1974. On the book's release day, Coard appeared on primetime news in a discussion with the chief education officer of the Inner London Education Authority, Ashley Bramall.[5] Following publication, Coard claimed that he and his wife were being followed and that his phone was being tapped.[6]

The text is also prominently featured in Tell It Like It Is: How Our Schools Fail Black Children (2005), edited by Brian Richardson.[7][8]

The 2021 BBC One documentary Subnormal: A British Scandal describes the events surrounding the racism of a leaked school report, leading to the publication of Coard's book.[9][10] Produced and directed by Lyttanya Shannon, with executive producers including Steve McQueen,[11] the film features interviews with people who were put into ESN schools, and with activists, academics and psychologists and others who worked to expose the scandal at the time, such as Gus John, Waveney Bushell and Coard.[12][13][14]

See also

References and footnotes

  1. ^ Coard, Bernard (September–October 1971). Interviewed by Bergman, Carol. "Making Black Children Subnormal in Britain". Equity and Excellence in Education. 9 (5): 49–52. doi:10.1080/0020486710090509.
  2. ^ Firth, Danny (21 December 2005). "Schools still failing Black children". Institute of Race Relations. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  3. ^ Norwich, Brahm (16–18 September 2004). "Moderate learning difficulties and inclusion: the end of a category?". British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Manchester. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  4. ^ Okolosie, Lola (15 November 2020). "Discrimination at school: is a Black British history lesson repeating itself?". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b Coard, Bernard (5 February 2005). "Why I wrote the 'ESN book'". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  6. ^ Smith, Godfrey (11 October 2020). "The Assassination of Maurice Bishop". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  7. ^ Shand-Baptiste, Kuba (12 January 2020). "UK schools have targeted black children for generations – the education system is overdue for a reckoning". The Independent. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  8. ^ "How the West Indian Child is made Educationally Sub-normal in the British School System (1971)". George Padmore Institute. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  9. ^ Weale, Sally (13 May 2021). "Film-maker lauds black parents who toppled 'subnormal' schools". The Guardian.
  10. ^ "Subnormal: A British Scandal". Black History Month Magazine. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Subnormal: A British Scandal". Rogan Productions. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  12. ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (20 May 2021). "Review | Subnormal: A British Scandal review – the racist nightmare that scarred black children for life". The Guardian.
  13. ^ John-Baptiste, Ashley (20 May 2021). "The black children wrongly sent to 'special' schools in the 1970s". BBC News. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  14. ^ Arboine, Niellah (18 May 2021). "Steve McQueen's New Doc Champions The People Who Shut Down ESN Schools". Bustle. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  1. ^ One of eleven special education categories introduced in 1945, "educationally sub-normal to a moderate degree" (ESN(M)) schools persisted until 1978, which saw the release of the Warnock report.[3]
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