Consultations Homepage || Meeting Notes: August 2003
Consultations with NSW Teachers, Anti-Racism Contact Officers (ARCOs) and Community Information Officers (CIOs), Sydney, August 2003
These notes summarise three separate consultations attended by a total of 34 staff of the NSW Department of Education and Training. The staff consisted of Anti-Racism Contact Officers, Community Information Officers and primary and secondary teachers. The meetings were organised by the Department and facilitated by Omeima Sukkarieh and attended by Meredith Wilkie or Edwina Rankin from HREOC.
Anti-Racism Contact Officers (ARCOs) are employees in NSW government schools and work places who act as the first point of contact for anyone (students, staff or parents) wishing to make a complaint relating to racism. Eleven ARCOs, most of them teachers, participated in an Isma consultation.
Community Information Officers (CIOs) assist with communication and information exchange between schools, parents and community members from language backgrounds other than English. The Department employs CIOs in School District Offices. Eighteen CIOs participated in an Isma consultation.
Seven primary and secondary school teachers, many of them Arabic language and culture teachers of Arabic-speaking background, also participated in an Isma consultation.
1. What are your experiences and understanding of discrimination and vilification?
In school
Most participants reported that racism exists in their schools, but that it was not a widespread problem. Few participants noted incidents of discrimination and vilification in schools against students of Arabic or Islamic background after 11 September 2001.
“There was one incident where Afghani children were teased. The school clamped down very quickly. Among other things they brought in an Afghan community leader who talked to the culprits and their peers.”
“I haven’t noticed racism - but there is some ignorance about Arabs and Islam. They don’t know what Islam is; they don’t know who Arabs are ...”
“There is still racism in the school. It’s buried under other things – but it’s not violent …”
Some participants felt that students from Arabic or Islamic backgrounds are not the only group affected by racism in schools, nor are they the worst affected group.
“It’s not a focus against children from an Islamic background … more often than not it is against Indian children …”
“It’s a little bit complex in primary to deal with issues like that [racism], unless it’s a very straightforward case – there have been [incidents], but they’re few and far between and it doesn’t relate strictly to children of an Islamic background. Actually, more often than not it’s against other cultures, funnily enough considering the bad press that the media gives the people of Islamic background.”
Participants flagged differences in how primary and secondary school students recognise and respond to racism. Several teachers said that primary school students are likely to report incidents they perceive as racist to teachers or ARCOs, but they are also likely to forget about the incidents quickly.
“Primary school level is a little bit different from secondary, I think, because secondary have got the competence and ability to differentiate between an expression in anger between friends, whereas in primary, it’s taken literally, even between friends, a wrong word will automatically get that child running up to the ARCO saying ‘Oh, he called me a so-and-so’. But, you know, two minutes later they’re back down playing in the bottom oval again …”
“Yeah, primary school kids get affected by it but I think they tend to forget it pretty quickly too…”
Outside school
Participants discussed the existence and impact of discrimination and vilification of Arab and Muslim students outside school. Many provided examples of how anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice was impacting on students and their families in broader society.
“I know one of the parents, I think the daughter might have been in year 1 or 2 at the time of September 11 [when] the mother had approached the class teacher and said they found it very difficult. It wasn’t so much at the school, but they found it very difficult going out places on the weekend. They found it very uncomfortable because the daughter and mother were wearing hijab… I think there was a lot of tension around the community.”
“I think it’s not happening at school because 90% of the population of the children are Arabic or Muslim, you know, from Muslim backgrounds so it can’t happen, obviously. But they had some problems outside the school.”
“Even though it’s outside the school, school children are being affected.”
“Being the Arabic teacher at school, sometimes they tell me their stories outside the school in the community or just in the shopping centre… Like at the shopping centre one day a [Muslim] lady was eating with her child and another lady was sitting next to her and she just got up, packed up her rubbish and just put it on the table and said, ‘That’s what you deserve. That’s what you are’…”
At work
Many of the teachers, ARCOs and CIOs who took part in the consultations were themselves of Arabic or Islamic background. While no participants reported being on the receiving end of students’ racism, several discussed issues of discrimination from colleagues and management in the workplace.
One participant reported that a [Muslim] trainee teacher at his school was abused in the classroom by her supervisor and told, ‘Why don’t you do your prac with people of your own kind?’ However, most participants felt supported by their colleagues and supervisors, or at least not directly attacked.
“ I had very good support from the principal… after September eleventh, the next day the principal wasn’t there and the deputy principal came to me and said ‘If anything happens or… just come and let us know’. And I said ‘Why’s he so worried about it? It’s nothing to do with me’. I mean I didn’t realise the impact at that time… After two weeks the principal came back and she just got me and said ‘Look, if you are having any problem, if anyone approaches you or anything happens to you – any staff members or parents – you just come straight to me’. So just these wordings, I mean, it was great… and luckily I haven’t come across anything.”
“I haven’t had immediate discrimination or racism, but I can feel when I come to the staff room, you know, sometimes they are talking about something that happened and immediately it’s quiet when I come in… I mean you can’t blame them with all what’s happening, with all the media and all the bombing – maybe they have this fear themselves of Arab people or Muslim people.”
In the media
Most participants had strong opinions about the impact of negative media portrayals of Muslims and Arabs on students and more broadly on the effectiveness of anti-racism training and school harmony.
“You’re fighting a losing battle against the media. You’re getting exposure from the media all day everyday in a negative way…”
“To me it seems like it’s one step forward, two steps backwards…. We make a little gain and then we get beaten down… Something happens in the news and all of a sudden it’s front-page and it’s over and over - the parents have discussions at home and the children hear the parents…”
“I can see the students coming nearly every day to school and what they want is to let out their feelings to me in the classroom about what was news or on the front page… ‘Look, they are blaming the Muslims again’ or ‘They are doing this’ so they are all angry. I try to change the subject and say ‘Look what happens outside, let’s change it, don’t get upset, it’s the media’… I can see the children being so angry. And it’s really wrong because anger breeds anger and then violence and then that’s what happens on both sides and you don’t know how to treat it…”
“Every time there is a big news [story] like in Lebanon or South Lebanon - you know, most of my students are from South Lebanon – they are really angry the next day and they want to talk to me especially, especially when they come to my classroom like they bottle it up and they start… you don’t know if you should keep them quiet or let them get their anger out… sometimes I don’t know what’s my role, what I should do in that case.”
Other issues
Although not specifically related to the topic of discrimination, many teachers expressed concern about the academic performance of students from Arabic-speaking backgrounds. Teachers felt that problems stemmed from low socio-economic backgrounds or difficulties with language for newly arrived Arabic-speaking students and their parents.
“A lot of Arabic students are in the bottom group.”
“Arabic children are not academically very good in schools. I think it’s not related to Arab or Islam; it’s related to social class. The parents are of course very interested in the well-being of their children. They want their children to be the best – as every parent does. But the children are not doing very well. As a teacher I see that. Some of them are doing well. [But for many] language adds to the problem. The children are not good at English – especially from the newly arrived families.”
“The Lebanese who came here at the end of the 1970s are the parents of the children we have going through schools now. Some may have been reasonably well-educated in Arabic or French. But the bulk of them are not particularly well-educated and don’t speak English very well. This has always been a very strong factor. If the parents at home don’t speak English, they don’t read English books, they don’t watch English news programs and basically they don’t read much at all, then naturally you expect their children will really follow suit. The prime source of motivation and encouragement for the children is going to be from the parents – the children model their parents and see what the parents do. The children, even though they’ve been born here, can share the same learning difficulties that recent arrivals have. That’s always been a significant problem.”
The Arabic language teachers stressed the importance of providing community language programs to young people from Arabic-speaking backgrounds, not just to help them develop and maintain their first language but to help them master English.
“The main culture here is English…English language is very important in this culture. You can’t survive without it. But some people have a phobia about the Arabic language. They think when we teach Arabic language we are taking the children away. But we are teaching Arabic for the sake of improving their English. When your Arabic is good, your English can be better.”
2. What is being done to fight anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination in schools?
Crisis response
In response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, many schools arranged assemblies or organised condolence books to express sympathy for the victims and help students resolve feelings generated by the event. Such activities were at the discretion of individual school principals. The Deputy Director-General (Schools) in New South Wales issued a memorandum to all school principals in NSW on 13 September 2001 asking them to “exercise discretion and care in relation to the constant broadcast and availability of these disturbing images” and reminding them to provide counselling to students if they showed signs of distress. No participants reported any major disruptions or problems in their schools following the terrorist attacks.
“We did have a system running before so Sept 11 was pretty quiet at our school. We had the big screen up in the hall and anyone that wanted to go and watch could, and they were excused to go to class and they could go and watch what was up there for 2 days. And if they needed to talk to someone, they could.”
“Students were asked, if they had any problems, to please speak to people – we’re all here to help you and so on. But as far as I could see, and I asked a lot of the Muslim students how things were going, they said there were no problems. About 10% of the school is Muslim – Arab and Indian subcontinent mostly. And everything seemed to go reasonably well.”
“We had to get the kids and speak to them as well – telling them that everything’s still going to go on as normal, you’re still going to get homework.”
Another teacher described how pro-active planning by the school management before the war in Iraq helped to allay potential problems in the school.
“Our principal got together a committee before the Iraq War to plan what they could do if the war did go ahead and to forestall any potential problems that might arise at school. Luckily we didn’t encounter many difficulties at all. We’d made it very obvious that the war was likely to go ahead (everyone knew that), that people may be upset as a result – Muslim and Arab students in particular because they may be directly affected because of families in the region; and secondly of course because of discrimination coming from other people at home. We were very open telling people we were working to make sure we maintained harmony at school. This, I think, helped to alleviate things…”
In March 2003, the NSW Director-General of Education and Training, Jan McClelland, issued a memorandum to all Principals, District Superintendents and Institute Directors in NSW government schools and TAFE colleges providing them with the document, Supporting students in times of international conflict: Advice to schools. The document was developed to help schools assist students who may be directly or indirectly affected by international conflict. It provides practical strategies to support students and staff during times of international crisis including: trying to maintain routine; acknowledging the situation and students’ emotional responses in a culturally sensitive way; monitoring students for signs of distress; encouraging group discussion in which students can be made aware of existing support structures; reminding staff of appropriate policies and actions to address violence and harassment.
Anti-racism policy
The NSW Department of Education and Training has a mandatory anti-racism policy which clearly rejects racism and sets out responsibilities in relation to the implementation of the policy. The policy is seen as an essential counterpart to other education policies and initiatives which affirm cultural diversity and uphold basic human rights. There is also an accompanying complaint–handling policy, Responding to Suggestions, Complaints and Allegations.
Strategies to implement the policy are a matter for individual schools. Participants felt the policy was most effective in schools where the principal and senior staff exercised strong leadership in enforcing this policy.
“In schools with good anti-harassment and anti-racism statements, we don’t get problems of racism against NESB students. Some schools are problematic even though they only have a 2% NESB population.”
“There is a very strong anti-racism policy at our high school that came from the principal right down, so when teachers and students see her setting an example they don’t take it lightly rather they take the issue seriously...”
“At my school really it’s been very good, you know. I have no complaint about discrimination. The teachers have been wonderful…our school is made up of like 90% NESB and mainly from Arabic background and the principal has been very supportive. He always tells the teachers during the meetings that we have on a weekly basis to be sensitive to Arab students’ needs…”
Anti-Racism Contact Officers (ARCOs)
ARCOs are employees in every NSW government school and worksite who act as the first point of contact for anyone (students, staff or parents) wishing to make a complaint about racist incidents they have experienced or observed in the school or workplace. Newly appointed ARCOs undertake a one day training course to familiarise them with their responsibilities and to develop their understanding concerning anti-discrimination laws and policies. The program also covers the Department’s Responding to Suggestions, Complaints and Allegations document. ARCOs also receive general cross-cultural awareness training in their induction and refresher courses.
The ARCOs who participated in one consultation did not report an increase in the number of students or staff coming to them with complaints about discrimination after September 11. However, they did report sporadic increases in complaints and queries whenever they publicised their role to school members.
“We’ve got a very high non-English speaking population – almost 80% at the moment: Asian, Arabic, Macedonian, Greek backgrounds. [After September 11] there wasn’t an increase [in complaints about discrimination], but I think there was an increase once you made the position of ARCO publicised…”
“I advertise that I’m the ARCO about once a term publicly - there are signs all over the school. When I get up at the assembly and on the mic and everything, I drum up business for the next week and then it fades down again. So it just seems to go in one ear and out the other…”
“Sometimes the presumption with some students is the ARCO didn’t advertise their role…but they actually did. I think we sometimes have a tendency to listen to pieces of information that are important and relevant at the right time... An incident happens six months down the track and the kids don’t know what to do. So I think maybe a way to deal with that would be maybe an ongoing reminder… I got to the stage where I put up a picture of me with the position (ARCO) at the bottom…”
In one consultation, participants described how ARCOs from three school districts got together and presented a workshop to Arabic-speaking parents to explain their function and advertise their role specifically and encourage people to use the ARCOs and CIOs. Some participants felt that more publicity was necessary to alert students and parents to the existence and role of ARCOs. One person felt that it was also important to appoint ARCOs from Muslim or Arabic backgrounds to encourage Muslim and Arab students and their parents to report incidents of discrimination or vilification.
“Our school, I feel, is not willing to assist the kids in any way. Nobody is really trained or qualified or knows enough information about Muslims in order to talk with them about how to open up and do something about what’s happening to them. We do have the Anti-Racism consultant or whatever they’re called in our school who, sad to say, is a very unapproachable person because she is Anglo-Saxon so the kids feel they cannot approach her in that situation…”
Community Information Officers (CIOs)
The NSW Department of Education and Training employs full and part-time Community Information Officers (NESB) to assist with communication and information exchange between schools, parents and community members from diverse cultural and language backgrounds. They work with communities from language backgrounds other than English and assist schools to understand the diverse cultural and language backgrounds of their students’ families and communities. CIOs often deliver workshops and cultural awareness training for teachers in partnership with Anti-Racism Contact Officers (ARCOs). CIOs who participated in the consultations described their role as follows:
“The role of a CIO is to promote understanding between schools, parents, the State and the community. Those of us in rural areas fill the position very, very differently from metropolitan CIOs. Not only do we work with schools to support students but we also work very closely with welfare agencies to support parents…”
“We promote parents’ participation in their kids’ education through a number of workshops such as to how to help with homework, how to retain the first language and Families in Cultural Transition.”
“We are there to filter the problem [of discrimination], not there to solve it.”
“There is a language barrier between the parents and the school so they feel shy or reluctant to come and talk about their children. They think it’s here like the Middle East or Lebanon where the parents do not go to the school. We need to teach the parents to approach the school…”
“Recently we had an Arabic parents evening where they came up to discuss what they thought were issues that the school needed to deal with.”
NSW DET programs and initiatives
Cooling
Conflicts
The ‘Cooling Conflicts’ program involves the
use of drama techniques to examine identifiable stages of conflict and
to offer participating students ways of managing their own conflicts and
those of their school and its community. The program deals with issues
of cross-cultural conflict and involves the peer teaching of younger students
by older students.
Racism.
No way!
Racism No Way! Project is an innovative anti-racism campaign
which targets young people and the Australian community. It was developed
in the mid 1990s under the initiative of the Chief Executive Officers
of education systems across Australia. The NSW Dept of Education and Training
currently manages the project on behalf of education systems nationally.
The campaign includes a guide for Australian schools and a website, www.racismnoway.com.au.
The website features online interactive games and activities; interviews
with well-known Australians; online discussion forums; a timeline of key
events of Australia’s development as a culturally diverse nation;
facts and figures on Australian cultural diversity and information on
Australian and international law relating to racial discrimination. It
also includes fact sheets and teaching lesson ideas. Fact sheets on terrorism
and An Introduction to Islam in Australia are downloadable from the website.
Prejudice.
No way!
The project aims to develop foundation knowledge and skills
for anti-racism education programs targeting students in Years K-3. This
project provides links with teaching and learning materials aimed at stages
1 and 2.
Multicultural
Perspectives Public Speaking Competition
This competition aims to heighten awareness of multicultural
issues among primary school students while developing their public speaking
skills. Students give two speeches - one prepared and one impromptu -
on multi-cultural issues. The competition has two divisions: Years 3-4
and Years 5-6.
Calendar
for Cultural Diversity
Published and distributed annually, the calendar includes
contributions of student artwork celebrating cultural diversity as well
as information regarding significant events from Australia’s diverse
communities.
Other projects and initiatives
In addition to the projects mentioned, the NSW DET provides additional funding to nominated schools to support the planning and implementation of anti-racism education programs at a local school level.
Inter-school
visits and exchanges
Participants felt that exposing students to various cultures
as well as opportunities for inter-school visits has been a very successful
strategy.
“International students from Armidale University were invited by us to visit the school and talk to students. At the end of the day, you can hear comments from kids who would normally hear things from mum or dad and they would know that what mum and dad were saying about these people is not really true. More of these exchanges should happen.”
“A cross-community conversation is very important. The program between Wiley Park Girls [principally Muslim students] and St Joseph’s College [Roman Catholic] has increased understanding between these young people. The conversation is two way.”
Goodness
and Kindness Campaign
The Goodness and Kindness campaign was initiated by the
Chabad House of the North Shore in cooperation with the Forum on Australia’s
Islamic Relations (FAIR) in the wake of September 11 to foster the compassion
within school communities. The project involves joint visits to schools
by representatives from Islamic, Jewish and Christian faiths who encourage
children (primary school Years 3-6) to discuss how they will make a difference
to their school community through an act of kindness. The first program
was conducted in a state primary school in June 2002. Since then, over
1,000 children have participated in the project.
Seminars
& talks
Several participants explained how they had recruited
representatives from community groups to come and address students about
specific cultural issues. For example, one teacher described how the arrival
of a Kurdish family to the school community prompted her to arrange for
a speaker from a local Muslim women’s association to come and speak
to her students about Islam and the significance of the hijab.
“We don’t have overt racism, but I sensed there was a lack of understanding underneath - that’s why I initiated the women’s organisation to help…I think I would like our kids to have not just a food and dance day but something with a little bit more depth … you don’t fear or criticize something you understand and I think some of our kids perhaps lack understanding…”
Arabic language teachers
often fulfil the function of cultural ambassadors and role models in speaking
to broad groups of students about Arabic language and culture.
One of the Arabic language teachers who participated in a consultation
spends half an hour each week in the kindergarten at each of the schools
he works with. At one of these kindergartens, the majority of students
are Vietnamese while at the other the student population is more mixed,
including Bosnians, Arabs and Asians. He teaches them greetings and songs
in Arabic with the aim of giving them a positive image of Arabs.
“Our main role as Arabic teachers is to be a positive role model in the school and to reinforce confidence in the kids. As an Arabic teacher you can make a very big impact on the kids’ life because they want to see that positive role model. They want to see their language being spoken in the school and the community and being accepted as an individual.”
‘Showing
the Way’
One teacher described a local initiative ‘Showing
the Way’ which developed in a school district with relatively low
proportions of NESB students. The project involved pulling together a
group of 30 students in an ‘anti-racism roll call’. This group
coordinates a range of multicultural and interfaith activities.
“We have the food day and a multi-faith day. These are regular things. We have cultural days where we have dancing and singing and it’s from all the groups at our school. We had someone from the Greek Orthodox, a Buddhist person comes in arranged by one specific group, we’ve had a Muslim Imam, and we had a Christian person from the Protestant religion and they all addressed the kids…”
Festivals
Many participants discussed a variety of different festivals
and multicultural events, including Harmony Day, in which students participate.
“Once a month we would have a morning tea with parents who are a group like Pacific rim nationalities, Asian nationalities, Western and the children of that background put on a little show and show their work and the food’s out and the parents mix with the teachers. That’s sort of fallen by the wayside because we felt like we were segregating special groups…”
“In our school we have Arabic Food Day, for example. People love to have these days. They always come up and ask when is our next Arabic Day – the teachers, the students, everybody. We do it two or three times each year. We also have French Days… It’s better than nothing.”
Programs
for newly arrived students and parents
Several participants mentioned specific programs initiated
by their schools which assist newly arrived migrant and refugee students
and their parents helping them to settle into the school and broader community.
One teacher described a ‘Settling-In Program’ in which new
students who have been through war (such as Serbians and Bosnians) are
encouraged to discuss their experiences in a group setting. Another participant
described how, as the former Principal of an Islamic school, he had run
classes for parents to teach English and to provide them with information
about Australia that would help to address the stereotypes about Australians.
As the teacher explained, “this strategy grew from recognition
that children will model their learning behaviours on those of their parents.”
3. What more could be done to fight anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination in schools?
Participants made suggestions for achieving some of the objectives identified by the Isma project.
Promoting
positive public awareness
Some participants expressed the desire for more education
in schools about Islam. However, they were aware of the difficulties in
providing such instruction.
“We do not have religious instruction at the school, which is very sad. The school has been approached a number of times but it hasn’t happened for various reasons… another program is just too much to squeeze in…”
“You can’t teach about a religion unless you understand it yourself.”
Most participants felt that the various anti-racism and cross-cultural programs taught in schools help to promote broad public acceptance of cultural difference. Many teachers felt that the best approach to promoting understanding and acceptance of cultural difference among students is to integrate different cultural perspectives into all aspects of the curriculum.
“It should be part of the curriculum from the word go. I mean whether you have readers sort of introducing different cultures and understandings and so on so it’s part of the whole system of education…”
“You have to include it in your teaching. How you do it is up to the teacher and hopefully they’d be culturally inclusive by choosing suitable texts and exploration of issues.”
One participant was strongly opposed to singling out specific cultures and religions for attention in cross-cultural and anti-racism programs arguing that such a focus fosters rather than challenges prejudice by emphasising difference rather than commonalities.
“They are making the situation worse because they are treating the cultures as separate. To say these are the characteristics of being an Arab is wrong because all Arabs are not like that. The same with Greeks etc. If you’re going to start singling out that these are the characteristics of these people, then you’ve already divided the line between the people. Knowing that Lebanese food is different from Asian food is not going to bring those two people together. It’s going to put them further apart…”
Challenging
stereotypes
Teachers felt strongly that providing students with positive
role models was the key to challenging stereotypes in schools. Participants
discussed the practical difficulties in securing well known role models,
such as sportspeople and politicians, to come and speak to students in
schools.
“A lot of those people cost an awful lot of money. And schools just can’t afford it…”
“It’s all very good to say we’d like these people to come to the school, but a) you’re restricted by finances and b) you’re restricted by the time it takes to create a curriculum.”
Participants offered solutions to overcoming stumbling blocks in finding and attracting well known spokespeople to schools. Several teachers suggested that the Department should compile and distribute a list of suitable role-models who are available for speaking engagements and that any speaking expenses be drawn from a central ‘bank’. Another participant suggested that making and distributing a video of appropriate role-models speaking about racism was a cheaper and more practical option.
Encouraging members of the local community, including teachers from neighbouring schools, to speak to students was yet another alternative strategy recommended by one participant who felt that local people were just as effective, if not more so, as role-models.
“Seek members from your own community. It’s a hard find when you’re starting off the first time, but once you make it a tradition, the contacts will flow. For example, the model that we use, it’s the traditional multicultural day, we’re trying to make it a ‘My school, my community day’ adopting the name from the 2004 Multicultural Calendar. The idea is for community members to appear - we’re inviting teachers from Cabramatta, the language teacher, to come and lead sessions…”
Strengthening
relationships between communities
Many participants stressed the need to improve relations
and build links between schools, parents and the broader community. One
participant felt that more Community Information Officers would enable
them to encourage the parents of newly arrived students to participate
better in school decision making processes. Another participant felt that
community organisations need to be more pro-active in approaching schools
and offering teachers assistance in developing and delivering cross-cultural
programs.
“Getting hold of people is a real, real problem… you can’t even make a phone call out of the school these days. In many cases, I’ve thought, you know, ‘I’m trying to do something good by you, you really need to come and give us a hand here’ and things will fall by the wayside…”
Ensuring
complaints are taken seriously
One participant felt that advertising the consequences
of transgressing anti-discrimination law and policies in schools was necessary
to ensuring that students themselves take the complaints process seriously.
“I think generally that the general public is not aware that to discriminate actively, verbally, and harass and vilify is against the law and is punishable as a crime…the kids come to me and say ‘Well, this happens outside and no-one goes to jail or anything’ and I go ‘Well, it is against the law’. They need to see, and I think the general public needs to see, that it’s not just up there or written down, it is acted on. That doesn’t seem to reach the media or be known…”
