Tackling discrimination
Schools can tackle discrimination by promoting democracy, respect for human rights and citizenship.
To ensure that all students’ needs are met equally, schools need to prioritise language and cultural competences, multiperspectivity in history and gender equality. In this way, students can acquire competences for democratic culture, to fulfil their potential in school as well as in society.
Facts & figures
Students with disabilities in Europe have higher early-school leaving-rates than their same-age peers.[1]
Black Caribbean students are three times more likely to be excluded from English schools than white pupils. [2]
A survey of nine EU countries showed that 33% of Roma students were in schools where most pupils were Roma, with 13% in Roma-only schools.[3]
What is discrimination?
Discrimination is treating a person badly or unfairly on account of a personal characteristic, such as national, ethnic or social origin, gender, language, religion, disability or sexual orientation.
There are two basic forms of discrimination:
- Direct discrimination – treating someone less favourably than you treat or would treat another person in the same situation, e.g., a school refusing to admit a student because they are Roma,
- Indirect discrimination – applying a provision, criterion or practice in the same way for all of a group which has the effect of unfairly disadvantaging people in the group who share a particular characteristic, e.g., a school uniform policy banning headgears for girls and boys may unfairly disadvantage Muslim girls and Jewish boys.
Discrimination can occur in almost any aspect of school life, from the attitudes and expectations of teachers to school rules and codes of conduct, selection and grouping practices, curricula, teaching methods and materials, changing facilities, career guidance, canteen food and the physical school environment.
Whatever form it takes – whether it be parallel school systems for different ethnic groups, concentrations of minority or disadvantaged children in the same school, or differential access to educational provision, it means a lower quality of educational experience for the students being discriminated against.
Why is tackling discrimination important at school?
Discrimination is a human rights violation. Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights contains a prohibition on discrimination with respect to any of the rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Convention. Article 2 of Protocol No.1 requires the state to ensure that all individuals have access to its formal educational provision.
“No person shall be denied the right to education.”[4]
“The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.”[5]
Tackling discrimination is not simply a duty laid on schools by the European Convention of Human Rights, it is also important for student well-being and educational success. Children and young people who are treated unfairly or discriminated against are more likely to have:
- negative attitudes to school
- lower levels of motivation and academic achievement
- a higher risk of dropping out of formal education
- experience of bullying
- mental health problems.
Feeling different or ‘less’ than others can be an isolating experience. Over time it undermines an individual’s capacity for participation in society, e.g., their sense of self-efficacy, openness to other cultures and beliefs, tolerance of ambiguity and flexibility and adaptability - all of which lie at the heart of the Council of Europe Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture.
Lack of opportunity due to discrimination in school also damages society. It intensifies social divisions, fuels xenophobia and intolerance and undermines social cohesion.
“States should adopt a combination of strong anti-discrimination measures and policies that promote more inclusive education systems where all children learn together. This is not a utopian project, but an achievable goal that can ensure more equal treatment of all children and, in the long term, improve social cohesion”[6]
What are the challenges?
One of the challenges facing the tackling of discrimination in schools is a lack of data. European-wide statistics specifically focused on discrimination in schools are scarce. Children with disabilities, for example, do not always appear in national statistics and may be ‘invisible’ to decision-makers, service providers and the public. Such children are particularly vulnerable to discrimination, however, and are often segregated in terms of educational provision.
These are not the only ‘invisible’ minorities in schools. For example, LGBTI students often feel they have to hide their sexual orientation at school to avoid victimisation.
Another key challenge is the existence of negative stereotypes about minority groups among teachers, parents, students and other school stakeholders. Such stereotypes are often deeply embedded in everyday school life and practice, so much so that they are taken as ‘normal’, e.g., stories and images in textbooks that reflect a stereotyped portrayal of the roles of women and men, girls and boys. Stereotypes help to fuel prejudiced and aggressive behaviour between students, lower expectations from teachers and negative attitudes from parents, e.g., refusing to allow their children to be taught alongside refugee or migrant children.
Stereotyping is difficult to root out in schools because its origins lie in wider society. This is exacerbated by the current preponderance of hate speech, fake news and conspiracy theories in digital media, especially social media.
The situation is compounded when minority groups are under-represented on school staff. Students lack role - models and teachers do not have the access to information about or insights into other cultures and ways of life that come with belonging to a more diverse profession. They lack the intercultural competences with which to create inclusive and quality learning environments, e.g., openness to cultural otherness, tolerance of ambiguity, plurilingual skills and knowledge and critical understanding of alternative cultures, religions and histories.
Tackling discrimination is more challenging when there is a lack of dialogue between schools and parents. Often this is on account of language difficulties, but it is also a problem where students’ parents work abroad leaving their children in the charge of elderly relatives or others.
How can schools get active?
Ensuring all learners of any age are provided with meaningful, high-quality educational opportunities alongside their peers requires a whole-school approach.
It begins by schools understanding who might be at risk of discrimination, what they can do to minimise discrimination and how they can support students at risk of discrimination. A good place to start is with an assessment of the current situation, identifying the strengths that exist in the school, but also needs and priorities. Consulting with school stakeholders is essential, especially students and, where possible, parents – e.g., using surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, etc. Given the sensitivities involved there is argument for collecting information on individuals’ experiences of discrimination anonymously.
Based on an assessment of the current situation it is possible to identify immediate priorities for policy development. Priorities will vary with the school, but might include, for example:
- language development
- gender equality
- accessibility of the physical environment
- intercultural competences.
The setting of initial priorities should go hand in hand with professional development for senior leadership teams as well as teaching staff. An element of personal as well as professional reflection is essential to the tackling of discrimination in school. In particular, it is important for school staff to be able to consider their own beliefs and values with regard to discrimination, including their own unconscious biases and prejudices.
Schools can then turn to the longer-term aspiration of creating a culture of non-discrimination. Central to this process is the challenging of negative stereotyping, both in classrooms and around the school. This can be done in a variety of ways, including:
- challenging stereotypes when they are heard
- discussing stereotypes with students
- identifying stereotypes in the curriculum
- highlighting stereotypical images and roles in textbooks
- allocating posts of responsibility equitably
- choosing different ways of dividing up students
- providing a range of role-models
- setting up mechanisms for monitoring incidents of discrimination.
Challenging stereotypes goes alongside the promotion of inclusion and an appreciation of the benefits of diversity in school life. This can take different forms, including:
- using inclusive language
- including human rights, democratic citizenship and intercultural education in the curriculum
- encouraging the discussion of controversial issues
- promoting student voice
- involving students in peer education and peer mediation activities
- welcoming parents and involving them in school decision-making
- forming partnerships with different organisations and groups in the community.
[1] Education section of the The European Disability Forum
[2] Article: UK: Racial discrimination is a reality in schools and classrooms. Education International
[3] EU Fundamental Rights Agency, “Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS II) Roma – Selected findings” (2017).
[4] ECHR, Article 2, Protocol No.1
[6] Position paper: Fighting school segregation in Europe through inclusive education by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
Resources on Tackling discrimination
Related schools projects
Address: Via Toscana n.10/a - Parma
Country: Italy
Project: The Human Rights: from the Declaration to the peer education in school
Working language during the project:
- Italian
Themes of the Council of Europe campaign “FREE to SPEAK, SAFE to LEARN - Democratic Schools for All” covered:
- Making children’s and students’ voices heard
- Preventing violence and bullying
- Tackling discrimination
- Improving well-being at school
Competences from the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (CDC) addressed and where / how they were integrated:
- Valuing human issues and human rights
Human rights were studied and their effective importance was considered in real life and in different contexts. - Co-operation skills
Students learnt to work together and to share their work with other students. They also learnt to communicate in an appropriate way (language and empathy). - Knowledge and critical understanding of the world
Students demonstrated their knowledge of the different meanings attributed to human rights throughout the world and they tried to understand connections between these differences and different cultures.
Target group age range:
- 15 - 19
Level of education:
- Upper secondary education
Short description of the project:
This is the general description of the project written by a student who participated in it:
“The project represents a long and demanding journey, which owes its roots to the Bertolucci Scientific High School in Parma. Each year the school presents different volunteer projects to students of each class, various charitable activities which bring together for peace purposes a group of young people composed of new and former high school students, and in so doing, create a moment of union and solidarity.
This strong spirit of solidarity has inspired our class to commit itself to deepen its knowledge of the UN Declaration of Human Rights in honour of its 70th anniversary, starting with Article 19 on freedom of opinion and expression. This was made possible thanks to the school’s membership of the "rights and responsibilities" programme promoted by the National Coordination of Local Authorities for Peace and Human Rights, by the Human Rights Center of the University of Padua, by the National Network of Schools for Peace and from the Table of Peace in collaboration with the Directorate General for Students, Integration and participation at the Ministry of Higher Education and Research (Ministero dell’istruzione dell’università et della ricerca - MIUR), under the Memorandum of Understanding of 28 April 2016. These associations are committed to keeping alive the importance of " education and training in human rights ". The invitation to celebrate the 70th anniversary and to remember the importance of the Declaration was extended to several schools.
Our first task was to understand Article 19 from a variety of angles, analysing it above all from a social point of view. This was the beginning of our learning process with regards to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We read it, studied it and above all understood it with the help of our teachers. Following this study, we investigated the topic of "denied human rights", as we realised that the freedom we were investigating was not necessarily respected the world all over and sometimes not even close to home.
This analysis resulted in several presentations on various topics from freedom of opinion to censorship, from neo-colonialism to globalisation, from harassment and cyberbullying to cyber-harassment, from rights denied to the right to life.
Our work, however, had a clear objective: to be shared and made widespread. We were invited therefore to present our work to some of the classes over the two-year period as part of the peer teaching method, which consists of the exchange of ideas and notions between students. The school relies heavily on this type of teaching because it leads to two important advantages: the lessons become lighter and more pleasant because the students recognise themselves in their peer educators, creating a climate of mutual collaboration. The students also learn how to give presentations and to express themselves clearly.
Once we had learned the theory, we needed to put it into practice. We were looking for a conclusion to our project that could allow us to demonstrate what we had learned. As a result, we participated in the Perugia-Assisi peace march because we wanted to make our own contribution and make it known that in some countries of the world human rights are often still denied. It is much easier to violate a right than to respect it. We are frequently the first to take their value for granted as they are considered inviolable by our country. This is not always the case in other parts of the world. It is important to know what really happens, to be able to improve the situation. We must open our eyes to those who have become anaesthetised by our safe and secure daily life and remember that elsewhere others find it difficult to say what they think. With this in mind, we welcomed the idea of participating in the March, which was to be held from 5 to 7 October 2018, from Perugia to Assisi, and would also invite you to participate in similar great gestures of solidarity.
Finally, we would like to offer you a brief résumé of this journey by showing you two videos that show clearly what we produced.
The realisation of this long but important project has opened our eyes and thanks to this study we were able to become "active and aware citizens" interested in the events concerning all women and men and what is around them.”
Aims/objectives
The objectives of the project are:
- Acquisition of greater awareness of the concept of peace and rights;
- Development of one's own critical reflection linked to the theme of identity and the complex relationship between us and them;
- Acquisition of skills for reflecting on the complexity of contemporary global scenarios;
- Ability to understand the different issues connected to the denial of human rights in some areas of the globe;
- Awareness of the problem of cyber bullying and harassment;
- Ability to present the problems analysed to younger students;
- Appropriate general skills for dealing with work in the class.
Expected results/outcomes
Organisation and participation in the Schools for Peace Network of Parma, at a training linked to education for peace and citizenship and to the denial of the right to life, starting with a viewing of the documentary film "Human flow" by Ai Weiwei, which was followed by speeches by agencies dealing with the rights of refugees and migrants.
Work on the Project “Rights and Responsibilities” promoted by the Italian Coordination of Peace Organizations with reference to the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Participation in in-depth studies on the issue of cyber bullying and harassment.
Research and production of presentations on topics related to the two events mentioned above, in particular colonialism, neo-colonialism, case study on Sankara, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, globalization and glocalization, specific analysis of Article 19 of the Declaration (denial of this article: harassment, cyber bullying, restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression).
Presentation of the path developed in peer education to students from six different school classes .
Presentation on 10 December 2018 in an institute assembly (70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) to all school students of the work carried out on this project.
Outcomes: documents on the studies carried out on the Declaration, Article 19, the denial of human rights in different ways (e.g. cyberbullying); videos of the presentations given; videos on topics of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Changes
Thanks to the interest and commitment of the students involved, the project has grown considerably compared to its original design. In particular, peer education, implemented in the classes at two different times, took on a new direction that proved to be very educational.
Challenges you faced
The organisation of the various activities was very complex and multifaceted, and this represented a real challenge. In the end, however, the entire course was successful and the logistical difficulties that occurred during the course were resolved without too much worry.
Time-frame of the project:
March 2018 - December 2018.
Council of Europe materials on citizenship and human rights education used while preparing or implementing your practice:
- Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture
- All Different – All Equal
- Human Rights and Democracy Start with Us – Charter for All
- Freedom(s) - Learning activities for secondary schools on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights
