HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Discussion Paper No.10 Enduring a lot: the effects of the school system on students with non-English-speaking backgrounds Prepared by: Colin Henry with Brian Edwards Date: September 1986 This is the tenth of the Human Rights Commission's Discussion Paper series. Discussion Papers are issued by the Commission from time to time as a means of generating public discussion and comment on various issues or subjects. Accordingly, the Commission invites general or detailed comment to be submitted to the Commission at the following address: Human Rights Commission GPO Box 629 CANBERRA A.C.T. 2601 The views that may be expressed or implied in the Discussion Paper series are not necessarily those of the Human Rights Commission or its members, and should not be identified with it or them. Human Rights Commission Discussion Paper Series ISSN 0816-1992 Discussion Paper No. 1: Corporal punishment in schools and the rights of the child, March 1983. Discussion Paper No. 2: Payment of award wages on Aboriginal reserves in Queensland, August 1983. Discussion Paper No. 3: Proposed amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act concerning racial defamation, September 1983. Discussion Paper No. 4: Ethical and legal issues in guardianship options for intellectually disadvantaged people, November 1983. Discussion Paper No. 5: Rights of relinquishing mothers to access to information concerning their adopted children, July 1984. Discussion Paper No. 6: Guardianship and the rights of intellectually disadvantaged people, November 1984. Discussion Paper No. 7: The aspirations of Aborigines living at Yarrabah in relation to local management and human rights, March 1986. Discussion Paper No. 8: Prostitution and Human Rights: a Western Australia case study, June 1986. Discussion Paper No, 9: Refugees' experience of anti-Asian sentiment in the Brisbane area, July 1986. FOREWORD It is the responsibility of the Human Rights Commission to promote the observance of the full range of human rights set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rfghts and in the Declarations of the Rights of the Child, on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons and on the Rights of Disabled Persons. Among the human rights articulated in these major international instruments is the right of children to education; in the case of children of racial, ethnic or other minority groups, this includes the right to be educated on terms of equality with others and with due respect for their own languages and cultures. Principle 7 of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child states:' The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free and compulsory, at least in the elementary stages. He shall be given an education which will promote his general culture and enable him, on a basis of equal opportunity, to develop his abilities, his individual judgement, and his sense of moral and social responsibility, and to become a useful member of society. The rights of members of minority groups to have the integrity of their cultures respected is stated in they International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 27): In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language. Discrimination which would have the effect of disadvantaging a person on the basis of racial or ethnic background is prohibited under 3.9 of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cwlth): It is unlawful for a person to do any act involving a distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of any human right or fundamental freedom in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public 1ife. iv Section 9 goes on to state that the rights and freedoms referred to here include those rights and freedoms set out in Article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. That Article imposes on signatories an obligation 'to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, 'colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law', in the enjoyment of rights which include 'the right to education and training'. In February 1984 the Human Rights Commission made a decision to sponsor a number of separate but related studies on the existence of structural prejudice in schools against students from non-English-speaking backgrounds (NESB) and the implications of such prejudice for the human rights of students. Within this general framework individual studies would examine particular aspects of the school system and its operation, such as daily classroom practices, curriculum design and course options, and sporting and recreation activities. Enduring a Lot is the first report which results from that project. It records an action research strategy devised and supervised by staff of the Deakin Institute for Studies in Education, Deakin University, in which NESB students at secondary schools in the Geelong area were given the opportunity to explore and to analyse, with only minimal adult guidance, what it means to be an NESB student in an Australian school. In keeping with this focus on student participation, much of the report consists of the views of the students themselves, their perceptions of what it means to be 'different' in school, what the educational and social implications are and what is to be done to ensure that NESB students will have somewhat less to endure in the future. A study of student perceptions of prejudice in the school system, consisting as far as possible of the reflections and analyses of the students themselves, struck the Commission as an imaginative venture made all the more relevant by the fact that 1985 was to be the International Year of Youth. The participation of young people in research attempting to come to grips with the problems they faced was a valuable initiative. That the Commission sees value in enabling students to explore the problems they experience within the school system does not mean, of course, that the Commission necessarily endorses all the opinion and recommendations articulated in this report. But whatever reservations might be felt about individual statements or recommendations, the views of students recorded here are universally expressed with candour and conviction. The views they present will prove illuminating for all those involved in schooling, whether as leachers, parents, or students. The whole report has been edited, and a number of sections of it written by Colin Henry of Deakin University, with the assistance of Brian Edwards. Mr Henry was also responsible for the design and implementation of the action research program. The Commission is greatly indebted to him for his hard work and sensitive response to students, both in the course of research supervision and during the compilation of the report, and for the quality of the final document. Finally, the Commission would like to express its gratitude to the students who took part in the study, giving so freely of their time and going to such pains to provide insightful comment on what is a most complex issue. Peter Bailey Deputy Chairman June 1986 vii CONTENTS Page Foreword iii PART A THE REPORT 1 Preface Colin Henry A History of the study Colin Henry 9 Recommendations for improving non-English- Colin Henry (ed.) 20 speaking students' access to educational opportunities Reviewing the report Colin Henry 33 PART 8 THE SOURCE MATERIAL 61 Significant effects of having a non-English- Student researchers 6Z speaking background: a sounding Personal histories Student researchers 65 School reports Student Research Teams 145 References 196 . PART A - THE REPORT 'There's seven deadly sins,' Rudy said. 'Deadly? What do you mean deadly?' Francis said. 'I mean daily,' Rudy said. 'Every day.' 'There's only one sin as far as I'm concerned,' Francis said. 'There's prejudice.' 'Oh yeah. Prejudice. Yes.' William Kennedy, Ironweed, p.9. Having a name like Guiseppe was another reason for others to make fun of me. But this 'fun' didn't start until the second half of my time at primary school. Then all I ever heard being said day in, day out, was, 'Papa Guiseppe. Joe Pino, 'Too much of a barrier'. PREFACE ORIENTING THE READER For three months from about mid September to the middle of December, 1984, significant issues concerning the effects of schools on students with non-English-speaking backgrounds exercised the minds of a substantial group which became associated with this project. Among those closest to the action, the student researchers and their supporting teachers from Bell Park Technical School, Clonard College, Corio Technical School, Geelong West Technical School, and North Geelong High School probably had the most to think about. But the gentle waves they made as they dipped deeper into their own school experiences and explored more carefully the school lives of other 'ethnic' students, have touched others not directly involved in the project. The members of the families of the student researchers have been touched; so have other members of their ethnic communities, and so have additional students and teachers within their schools. The members of staff of the Geelong Migrant Resource Centre who participated from time to time in the study, principally Toni Spanic and Jordan Mavros, but also a number of their co-workers, have also had the issues that relate to being 'ethnic' and being in school, reviewed or refocused for them. They, in turn, provoked new ways of thinking about ethnicity and schooling as they contributed their insights to the project team's deliberations.