Transcendence over Diversity: black women in the academy

Universities, like many major public institutions have embraced the notion of ‘diversity’ virtually uncritically- it is seen as a moral ‘good in itself’. But what happens to those who come to represent ‘diversity’- the black and minority ethnic groups targeted to increase the institutions thirst for global markets and aversion to accusations of institutional racism? Drawing on existing literature which analyses the process of marginalization in higher education, this paper explores the individual costs to black and female academic staff regardless of the discourse on diversity. However despite the exclusion of staff, black and minority ethnic women are also entering higher education in relatively large numbers as students. Such ‘grassroots’ educational urgency transcends the dominant discourse on diversity and challenges presumptions inherent in top down initiatives such as ‘widening participation’. Such a collective movement from the bottom up shows the importance of understanding black female agency when unpacking the complex dynamics of gendered and racialised exclusion. Black women’s desire for education and learning makes possible a reclaiming of higher education from creeping instrumentalism and reinstates it as a radical site of resistance and refutation

The re-emergence of the 'black spectre': minority professional associations in the post-Macpherson era

This article reflects on the forging of a collective black identity among professionals working within the criminal justice field in the aftermath of the Macpherson Report (1999). Drawing on interviews with the Chairpersons of 'black' and 'Asian' professional associations, it describes the familiar tensions associated with mobilizing against racism and discrimination in the workplace. These include the viability of an inclusive black political position and the challenge of 'fighting from within' or being a 'critical friend' of criminal justice services. The political backdrop is one in which the policy goal of eliminating 'institutional racism' has given way to a discourse of 'promoting race equality and embracing diversity'. Despite the obstacles, these professional associations provide a safe and supportive network for members which is grounded in a powerful, shared history of occupational racism

Using mobile devices to help high school students improve their oral presentation skills

Video review is a useful tool for formative assessment in higher education settings. However, not much is known about the impact of video review as a tool for bringing about better student outcomes in oral presentation in a school setting. This paper examines the effectiveness of using video review in student learning of English oral presentations in both in-class and out-of-class settings for Grade 11 Research Education students in a Singapore high school. Three conditions were: (a) in-class video review (n = 21), (b) out-of-class video review using mobile devices (n= 18), and (c) no video review (n = 19). We used both parametric and non-parametric analyses to determine whether inclass video review and out-of-class video review had an impact on student outcomes in terms of (a) fluency and clarity of speech, (b) audience awareness, (c) response to questions, and (d) effectiveness of group presentation. The findings indicate that having in-class video review of students’ presentations in English results in significantly higher scores for effectiveness of group presentation