Two US charter school chains that formed some of the biggest inspiration for the growing “no excuses” behaviour culture in England’s schools are reviewing their tough discipline policies in the wake of the George Floyd killing.
Uncommon Schools is ending its policies of silent corridors, the SLANT classroom behaviour management technique, and will relax the use of detentions. Meanwhile, the KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) chain is dropping its famous “Work hard. Be nice” motto as it “ignores the significant effort required to dismantle systemic racism”.
Katharine Birbalsingh, the head of Michaela School, West London - often dubbed Britain’s “strictest head” - accused the two charter chains of falling to the “pressure of progressivism which destroys the lives of disadvantaged kids”.
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Uncommon Schools, a chain of 54 charter schools founded by Doug Lemov - an inspiration to traditionalist teachers in England - announced last week it would be changing its behaviour policies as part of a “commitment to becoming an increasingly anti-racist organization that continues to advance social justice”.
Uncommon Schools will no longer use a technique known as SLANT - Sit up; Listen; Ask and answer questions; Nod your head; Track the speaker - to ensure pupils are listening, a statement from Uncommon Schools’ chief executive Brett Peiser announced.
The schools will also no longer enforce silent corridors and will eliminate “detention for minor infractions”.
And they plan to incorporate further steps before students are suspended.
“To become an increasingly anti-racist organization, we must consider how our disciplinary processes, student culture, and academic approach can lead to stronger student-teacher relationships and more equitable outcomes, particularly for black and Latinx students,” the statement says.
KIPP has also announced a review of behavioural policies. In a statement, KIPP said it would retire its national slogan of “Work hard Be nice” as it “ignores the significant effort required to dismantle systemic racism, places value on being compliant and submissive, supports the illusion of meritocracy, and does not align with our vision of students being free to create the future they want”.
“We are committing to the review and elimination of inequitable discipline practices in all our schools,” a statement from KIPP read.
“Moving forward, we want employee offer letters to include language that requires a commitment to anti-racism as a condition of employment because everyone who works at KIPP must be committed to anti-racism in their beliefs and in their behaviour,” it added.
Some prominent educationalists have praised the decision. Sam Freedman, chief executive of the Education Partnerships Group and the former director of Teach First, said the decision made “complete sense” to him.
Seen some unhappiness among UK teachers that KIPP + Uncommon schools have released statements adjusting some of their practices in the light of BLM. Have to say it makes complete sense to me in the context of mainly white teachers and almost entirely black/minority pupils.
- Sam Freedman (@Samfr) August 20, 2020
“It’s been a while since I’ve visited schools in the US but I’ve said before that some of the practices I saw in Uncommon schools made me uncomfortable - and I’m generally not someone who objects to tough behaviour policies,” he added.
He said there was a big difference between “compliance to a specific rule - which they will of course still have - and being told to be a compliant and submissive person in a nation that is extremely racist”.
But Ms Birbalsingh said that Michaela School would not be following suit.
Another Titan in education, KIPP, goes the way of Uncommon.
They have fallen to the pressure of progressivism which destroys the lives of disadvantaged kids.
Michaela will never succumb.
Not on my watch. ✊? https://t.co/ZFLa7g6RDi
- Katharine Birbalsingh (@Miss_Snuffy) August 20, 2020
In a statement from Uncommon Schools’ president Julie Jackson in July, she said that having closed the schools “for a day to allow our community to process in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, she had written an essay regarding how the school network had been founded to challenge racism and “advance social justice”.
“Upon reflection, I know that we still have a long way to go to truly fulfil our mission, and in order to do so, we must resolve and work to be an anti-racist organization,” she said, announcing that there would be an internal review of school policies, systems and discipline practices.
Expanding on why KIPP was scrapping the “Work hard. Be nice” slogan, Dave Levin, the chain’s co-founder, wrote: “Too many of our students work incredibly hard and get into the college of their dreams-only to face a massive tuition bill, the need to work multiple jobs and a lack of paid internships in most career tracks.
“And once they enter the workforce, they will still earn significantly less than their white peers, be twice as likely to be killed by police and, now, be disproportionately hospitalized or die from Covid-19.
“In a world where our students confront anti-blackness and systemic racism at every turn, KIPP’s slogan needs to reflect the importance of identity, excellence and the boldness needed to create a more just world.”
