C HR ISTOPHER H E ATHCOTE
How the ABC Teaches
Kids Racism
M
y younger brother had to change schools
due to racism. As the only boy from an
English-speaking background in a large
class, he was targeted by some of the boys for a
hard time. It wasn’t only his freckle-faced, auburnhaired difference. He was keen, scoring top marks
in each subject, so those classmates set to taunting
his performance. They did this openly, calling him
spiteful names in class.
What his teachers then did beggared belief.
They saw my brother as a problem because he was so
far in front academically; besides, disruptive behaviour from some multicultural youngsters broke out
whenever he participated in class discussion. So the
teachers began excluding him from classes. By his
second year at high school in suburban Melbourne
he was exiled to the library for hours each day—
to all intents, the teaching staff had joined in the
abuse.
My memories of that episode returned in
September when ABC television screened The School
That Tried to End Racism. Hosted by Marc Fennell
of SBS’s Mastermind quiz, this locally-produced
three-part documentary followed a group of Year
6 pupils at an unidentified government school in
Sydney. The children participated in a trial project
intended to raise their racial awareness and to prevent prejudice. It was designed and supervised by
Professor Fiona White, a social psychologist at the
University of Sydney, and delivered by three of the
primary school’s teachers led by Hayley Campbell,
an assistant principal.
T
he ABC ran quite a beat-up, saturating its
advertising breaks with promotional clips. It
promised absorbing television, being based on a
show run in 2020 on Britain’s Channel 4 which
followed a trial project at a secondary school in
London.
Halting the spread of racism is a pressing issue,
and the public doesn’t hear how this is tackled
via the classroom. However, it was evident once
20
the documentary was screened that neither Marc
Fennell nor his scriptwriters are teachers. They
were unfamiliar with the overarching curriculum,
and seemingly ignorant even of acceptable teaching
practice.
Like the efforts to make Caucasian pupils feel
guilty for being white. You don’t do that to children.
Then there were activities which disconcerted the
impressionable nine-to-eleven-year-olds, upsetting
all, and reducing some to tears. Any professional
educator—indeed, any sensible person—would
worry about emotional harm. One confronting
presentation shook the teachers and had the assistant principal weeping.
Oblivious to the unsettled youngsters, Professor
White was fixated with social engineering. Her
enthusiastic talk smacked of A Clockwork Orange,
as she explained throughout how she was programming these children with correct ideas. Whether
this may be psychologically damaging to children,
let alone whether it was forced indoctrination, not
responsible education, did not seem to cross White’s
mind: although these are questions British educators, parents and journalists debated over the trial
program there.
F
irst came tests said to measure existing racial
attitudes. In the British documentary, selected
images of coloured and white faces had been displayed and pupils told to describe them. Teachers
at the London secondary school assessed whether
words used were positive or negative, then ranked
pupils on their “racial bias”. This and other purported checks drove one sensitive thirteen-year-old
to flee the class crying. Viewers swamped Channel
4’s switchboard with calls over the incident.
The ABC did not use these same tests. The
younger Australian children had to nominate
their close friends then complete a questionnaire
with multiple-choice answers. Their friends were
checked for ethnic diversity, although the questionnaire’s content was not detailed. After results were
Quadrant December 2021
How the ABC Teaches Kids Racism
checked it was declared that most children exhib- their parents speak English at home? Take another
ited “racial bias”. Prejudice percentage levels were step forward. Were they the same skin colour as
charted across the primary school class, and pupils the Prime Minister? And so it went before the race
individually scored on latent racism. This would be could begin. Those stuck at the back line were getrepeated at the end of the last program, with some ting agitated as questions mounted. Then an adult
children shown their “improved” scores on racial explained that this demonstrates “White Privilege”,
bias, much like marks for maths or spelling.
which is how the world runs: in their future lives the
Next step was to put pupils in “affinity groups”. Caucasian pupils will have a big head start, whereas
This is jargon for running the class like a counsel- others can expect to be handicapped no matter the
ling session for adults with behavioural problems. effort they make. Dismayed, the pupils all proProfessor White explained it enabled children to claimed this unfair, with the Caucasians expressing
speak freely among their racial peers. Caucasian shame and regret for their racial membership.
pupils were segregated, and the rest gathered in
The Sydney teachers were delighted at this reaca multi-ethnic Otherness group. A white teacher tion, especially the white pupils being upset. Again
then asked the Caucasian group, “How do you feel the children watched obvious signs of adult approval.
about being white?”, while an ethnic-background One youngster then grumbled, “White people have
teacher asked the Others how they
more rights”, and another stated
felt about “not being white”.
only white people sit in Australia’s
The older British pupils had
parliament. Instead of correcting
he teacher then
cottoned on to what was happenchanged the query, them, the teachers agreed!
ing here, although the younger
asking, “Do some of
he School that Tried to End
Australian children were baff led
Racism is a lesson in the hazby the questions. You could see you feel uncomfortable
ards of pressing on children mateconfusion on little faces. So they
were silent. They were asked again. being white?” This is rial they are not developmentally
One Caucasian child shyly said
a leading question. ready to handle. Educational psywas ignored. Guidelines
she didn’t understand. The Sydney
It begs affirmation. chology
which underpin education in this
teacher then changed the query,
When a girl very
country, and are drummed into
asking, “Do some of you feel uncomfortable being white?” This is a leadhesitantly said yes, every trainee teacher in their unistudies, were broken quite
ing question. It begs affirmation.
the teacher responded versity
recklessly.
When a girl very hesitantly said yes,
positively.
There are important reasons why
the teacher responded positively.
Western countries order schooling
Looking to teacher for approval,
into primary and secondary levels.
others joined in and said they felt
uncomfortable too, tentatively suggesting emotions. They are linked with cognitive and psychological
The teacher not only praised those who expressed development, “children” being different mentally
shame at “being white”, but reported to Professor and behaviourally from “adolescents”. It isn’t that
teenagers have hormones kicking in: they conWhite that they had higher levels of “insight”.
This segment in the ABC’s documentary made ceptualise in a sophisticated, increasingly complex
for astonishing television. It showed how an adult manner. Personal identity is largely shaped during
can manoeuvre vulnerable children into giving a adolescence; pre-teens do not yet possess a firm
desired answer. What the teacher did on camera sense of self. Education is structured sequentially to
is termed the “observer effect” in anthropology and assist these changes to equip youngsters with necespsychology, the researcher compromising their own sary skills and aid their psychosocial development.
In Britain the anti-racism project was trialled
observations through negligent procedure with
human subjects. Thank goodness those young ones at a secondary school, whereas Australia used a
weren’t being asked if their parents touched them primary school. This led to a participant age difinappropriately. They could have been tricked into ference of at least eighteen months. The conceptual
level of the Sydney children was evident when they
saying yes.
Both the Channel 4 and ABC documentaries struggled with questions about identity. Watching
next moved to a sports ground, with pupils advised them on television, one saw what is described
they were to race each other. All stood on the at length in educational psychology textbooks.
starting line and were told to move to other lines Lacking the maturity needed, many children did
if they answered yes to given questions. Did they not understand, indeed, they could not yet concephave blue or green eyes? Step forward if yes. Did tualise that way.
T
T
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How the ABC Teaches Kids Racism
When the Sydney children were asked how they
felt about either being white, or not being white,
they did not initially answer because they were too
young to comprehend the question. Identity in the
sense intended by their adult teachers was conceptually alien to them. When answers were offered,
the children were visibly trying to please teacher,
following her observable responses so as to say what
she seemed to want to hear.
Their incomprehension was confirmed later by
an activity where adults of different races stood
before the class, and pupils had to pick from a list
each person’s occupation. The children ignored race
and went on what clothing the adults wore. When
careers were revealed, pupils pointed out where
clothing didn’t meet dress conventions.
Most telling was when the class visited a room
with a map of the world on the floor. The children
were told to stand on the country they considered
“home”. Few chose Australia, most standing on
other lands. The teachers were taken aback, quizzing
children on their answers. Repeatedly Australianborn children nominated another country as
“home”. The Sydney teachers did not know what to
make of this, and how the youngsters were giving
their parents’ place of origin. It looked very much
that the children still lacked a sufficiently evolved
personal identity, and therefore took the question
to mean “Where does your family come from?” If
the question about home were put to adolescents a
few years older, and thereby with a maturing sense
of self, the answers would have been very different.
W
hy didn’t the organisers bring in a specialist
from an education faculty at one of Australia’s
universities? This country has an abundance of academics expert in primary and secondary school
education, including internationally ranked authorities in educational psychology.
Professor Fiona White, who supervised the
project throughout, is from another field. As
the head of Sydney University’s Psychology of
Intergroup Relations unit, she is well published
and what she has written on racial and gender bias
is firm; but her work is mostly with adults. She is
the social psychologist to consult if an organisation needs to address prejudice or group tensions,
remedying detrimental attitudes among adults in a
workplace, a community service provider, a sports
setting, or a social club. Professor White’s points
about diversity and inclusion are familiar terrain to
executives who have completed professional management courses. But educational psychology is
very different territory.
Every parent will spot the elementary flaw in
Professor White’s theories when her first test misin22
terprets pupils’ friendships. If left up to themselves,
children form friends according to temperament
and common interests. The ethnicity of those
friends is not an indicator of latent bias. Often
youngsters are unaware of race, and do not perceive
close friends as being different from themselves.
Likewise most parents will disregard race, being
pleased simply if their children find friends with
a pleasant nature while avoiding rough or naughty
children. (Awareness of ethnicity will usually come
into play with adolescence, as individuals develop a
sense of their own and others’ personal identities.)
Besides misattributing race to childhood friendships, the project uses improper questionnaires. A
multiple-choice format is unreliable for children
because those unable to comprehend will tick random boxes, giving a false result. Many secondary
schools have pupils entering from primary level
complete questionnaires to check their learning.
Each question requires a single word or short statement as written response. This ensures the child
grasps the question: those unable to do so give an
inappropriate response or leave the space blank. As
for the ABC’s show, it was apparent from subsequent talk in the Affinity Groups that many children did not fathom what they were quizzed about.
Affinity Groups are employed for counselling
adults, often within an organisation. A moderator
enables participants to discuss problem behaviour,
such as bullying or harassment. In working through
this, one or more individuals eventually admit to
wrongdoing and accept feelings of shame. In keeping with this method, the Caucasian pupils were
coerced into expressing shame for being white, and
also guilt at what white people have collectively
done to other races. Teachers mustn’t do this with
young children—educational psychology vetos it.
The core text used in most Australian teaching degrees, Educational Psychology for Learning
and Teaching by Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner &
Krause, stresses how children from seven to twelve
years of age should be acquiring basic skills and the
social tools to participate in society. “The dominant task for children at this stage,” it explains, “is
to appreciate the value of industry and productive
activities while avoiding an excessive sense of inferiority.” Potential sources for feelings of inferiority
that teachers must counteract include “racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination. If children
believe that success is related to ‘who you are’ rather
than to how hard you try, they will begin to think
‘Why try?’.” Professor White’s program disregards
this cardinal rule, as was apparent with a class
treasure hunt. Afterwards the four prize-winners
faced the rest as Marc Fennell told the class how
unfair this was. Alluding to White Privilege, he
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How the ABC Teaches Kids Racism
pointed out that all had made the “same effort” yet in The School That Tried to End Racism, such as those
only a few got prizes.
categories said to shape privilege. Teenagers in the
Worse came when two indigenous men, both upper years of school would point out that social
members of the “stolen generation”, addressed the privilege is connected with family wealth, attendclass. One had a wrenching performance rehearsed. ing a private school, having parents who are profesHe displayed a doll’s house with wooden kokeshi- sionals, and so on, not the colour of your eyes.
like dolls inside, then, speaking with a strong voice,
Some classes in Professor White’s program serihe revealed how he was taken from his parents and ously misled the children. A lesson on systemic
put into care at seven years of age. He reached racism stood out. Many cultures practise systemic
across and took a small doll from the house. He racism, discriminating against social minorities
then added that numerous siblings had also gone most appallingly. Modern democratic countries,
into care. More dolls were dramatically removed like Australia, have legislated to prevent it, impleand counted off, each representing a brother or sis- menting laws and regulations to guarantee equalter, leaving only his parents and eldest siblings. The ity—which is why many people wish to settle here.
speaker then said that for the next nine years he had Ignoring this political reality, the youngsters were
been “flogged” several times each
informed that the modern world
week and systematically “starved”.
practises systemic racism. This is
He was most insistent: flogged and
dishonest.
he speaker then
starved. The camera turned to the
And the coverage of Aborigines
stricken class, revealing tears run- said that for the next in school history units was highning down children’s cheeks.
lighted. Contrary to Marc Fennell’s
nine years he had
voice-over, most secondary schools
n inference suggested through- been “flogged” several have indigenous material in their
out the ABC’s show is that
studies—it is a recurring point of
times each week
Australian schools are not addressat teaching conferences
and systematically discussion
ing racism. This is wrong. It also
and workshops. What teachers are
“starved”. He was concerned about is balance. The
does an immense disservice to
teachers, co-ordinators and princi- most insistent: flogged School That Tried to End Racism suppals, even the education unions. In
plied a prime instance of this. The
and starved. The
classrooms and on school grounds
class met the academic Dr Anna
they have been quietly tackling
Clark at the statue of James Cook
camera turned to
racism, sexism and prejudice for
in Hyde Park. She spoke of Cook’s
the stricken class,
decades. And they use appropriate
landing at Botany Bay, telling the
revealing tears
means matched to a child’s level of
children the first thing the navigadevelopment.
tor did was fire a shot over the heads
running down
In contrast, The School That
of Aborigines on the beach. Dr
children’s cheeks.
Tried to End Racism takes young
Clark complained that Australian
pliable children and, disregarding
history is biased and selective, with
educational psychology, proceeds
revealing facts like that shot edited
to program them. Professor White even talks of out. Curiously, she did not explain to the children
“intervening at primary school age” to engineer a that the warning shot was defensive, because the
better society. Classes were quick and each deliv- Aborigines were throwing spears at Cook’s landing
ered a clear, simple message. They did not require party.
sustained thinking.
rumming in a blunt message about white privTake the short talks on a range of topics given to
ilege, the ABC’s program never mentioned its
the class. Guest speakers looked at humour on television, assumptions about beauty in glossy maga- inverse: white trash. You can’t work in government
zines, the use of images in media sports reports. schools, especially in urban regions of high disadThere was nothing remarkable in this material. All vantage, and miss children labelled white trash. The
of it is already covered over Years 8 to 12 in second- Caucasian families they come from have endured
ary schools, mostly within the English curriculum. hardship for generations and have been a permaBut adolescent students handle these matters in nent presence on social housing estates, in hospital
depth and undertake analytical assignments. They outpatient clinics, in job-seeker programs, in all
must intellectually work through the issues, reason- divisions of the welfare state, and, of course, in the
courts.
ing out what is involved.
Children from these clan-like families do not
Adolescents would also challenge certain lessons
T
A
D
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How the ABC Teaches Kids Racism
always stand out in a classroom. They are not necessarily bad or disruptive. But the adults behind
them expect nothing of education, let alone see
it as a step towards a potential career. Often parents didn’t themselves complete secondary school,
and are either perpetually unemployed, or in and
out of dead-end jobs. So no one at home is prodding the kids to make an effort, while schools push
them through regardless at year’s end. It’s a dismal
cycle. Despite being capable, the children remain
under-achievers.
One who sits in my memory was a fourteenyear-old I encountered when filling in at a school
in Melbourne’s west. He had a cheeky sense of
humour. I got him crafting short poems, much
to the surprise of the English co-ordinator, as he
hadn’t submitted written work for two years. On
my last day he came up after class and said he’d
enjoyed what we’d done, then confided he’d take
the poems to show his mother, adding she was in
prison “again”.
This is a world away from the children participating in The School That Tried to End Racism.
Bright, polite, articulate and attentive in class,
these are beaut kids any teacher would be delighted
to instruct. It’s obvious they were cherry-picked for
the television program.
These children from assorted cultures are living evidence of a harmonious society where peoples
intermingle. Some are offspring of this nation’s ethnic melting pot. One boy claims descent from Irish,
Italian, English and Scots migrants. A girl says
her forebears came from Turkey, Kosovo and the
Levant. And there are two mixed-race pupils who
identify as indigenous, the boy with striking blue
eyes declaring himself a “pale-skinned Aborigine”.
Of course, there are confused non-Caucasian
faces among those bundled into an affinity group
and asked, “How do you feel about not being white?”
Many don’t understand. How long silence lasts, and
if answers are coaxed, is masked by an editorial cut.
We jump to a Chinese-descent boy relating how
his family was once abused in their car by a passing driver. And we skip to another boy talking of a
friend wanting to use black pigment for face painting. Those are the only incidents to emerge when
children are questioned; although both clips were
shown several times across the ABC’s programs.
Seeking stronger proof, the children’s parents
were quizzed about encountering racism. One father
tells his boy about unfair overtime allocations in a
new workplace; but, he contended, once he settled
in all was straightened out. Then there is the tearful
24
mother who recalls being ostracised in her teens by
the daughters of Syrian migrants, because her own
mother came from Kosovo. No narrator’s comment
from Marc Fennell on this.
The thrust of the classes is to drum into the
children how some have bleak prospects due to
ingrained racism. Not all are passive recipients.
Told about past mistreatment of Aborigines, one
girl protests that you can’t hold what happened in
history against people living today. Then there is
the boy of Bangladeshi descent who, after hearing
Captain Cook accused of stealing the continent
from Aborigines, responds we wouldn’t today be
sharing in this prosperous beneficial society without the explorer. Later the same boy objects to the
tone of classes, saying that modern Australia is fair
and based on equality. Displeased at his egalitarian
outlook, teachers suspect the boy’s migrant parents
of sheltering him.
A
n elephant enters the room soon after the
ABC’s documentary begins. The assistant
principal at the school is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed
Caucasian, while both the teachers under her are of
Asian descent. Why did Marc Fennell not discuss
this? Might the children see here white privilege
in an Australian workplace, with systemic racism
influencing staff advancement at their own school?
Beyond this puzzle, The School That Tried to
End Racism had me reflecting on my own early
schooling. Preventing prejudice was high on the
agenda, especially after Martin Luther King gave
his “I Have a Dream” speech. It was all over our
news media. King said he dreamt of the day when
his children—my generation—lived in nations
“where they will not be judged by the colour of
their skin but by the content of their character”. We
absorbed those spirited words as we grew up. They
shaped how we lived and worked, especially those
of us who embarked on careers in education.
Professor Fiona White now wants to throw out
Martin Luther King’s dream. Her vision for our
schools is focused on judging children not by the
content of their character, but by the colour of their
skins. Each young child is to be told they bear a
lifelong racial stigma for either not being, or worse
still being, Caucasian. The Sydney University
academic would even have teachers police who
children mix with, formally marking pupils on
their friends’ races. I eagerly await a parliamentary
debate on her proposed curriculum changes.
Christopher Heathcote lives in Melbourne.
Quadrant December 2021
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