Conference Agenda

The aftermath of the unlawful killing of George Floyd and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people have prompted educational leaders to make commitments to decolonize curricula, address attainment and remuneration gaps, and prioritize Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in higher education. However, despite the increasing ethnic diversity in UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), recent data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency reveals persistent disparities for BAME staff in terms of permanent contracts, senior leadership positions, and higher renumeration bands (AdvanceHE, 2021).

In this study, the researchers explored institutional racism in HEIs, focusing exclusively on the perspectives of White university staff. The study aimed to shed light on the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to White (PCRW) university staff, an area that is relatively unexplored in UK-based HEIs.

The concept of White people experiencing psychosocial costs of racism (PCRW) was introduced by Kivel (1996), who suggested that awareness of institutional racism could lead to feelings of guilt and shame among White people, particularly if they benefit from unfair privileges. This emotional turmoil may result in isolation and decreased social interactions. Additionally, PCRW can have economic consequences, as some White people may feel compelled to maintain their standing within hierarchical organizations, and as such, they may perpetuate historical inequalities. This can lead to White people’s lack of interest in the welfare of disadvantaged communities and cognitive dissonance, characterized by mental discomfort from conflicting beliefs.

Goodman (2001) expanded on this idea, by presenting a comprehensive framework addressing personal and systemic consequences of racism. Her study with White students revealed that racism disproportionately benefits them by providing access to resources denied to non-White students. The negative consequences for White students included reduced empathy, guilt, and feelings of internalized oppression. Indeed, McGhee (2021) argued that racism's harms extend beyond direct targets (i.e., racially minoritized people) and affects society as a whole.

When Spanierman et al. (2009) examined PCRW behaviours in White university freshmen, they found that empathic guilt evolved over time. Some students became anti-racist, while others grew more insensitive, possibly due to cognitive dissonance and the adoption of a White superiority perspective. Then, in a more recent exploration, Exum (2022) used mixed methods to explore the perceived costs of being a Black person. White students envisaged negative consequences, such as mental distress and loss of respect, in a hypothetical situation where they appeared non-White. Furthermore, White participants anticipated economic losses without White privilege.

Despite these insights, a gap in research exists concerning the psychosocial costs of racism to White university staff, particularly in the UK. The current study addressed this gap by contributing to the understanding of racism's effects on university staff. This is significant because historically, White university staff members have benefited from their positions of power, privilege, and influence. The researchers supposed that, given the persistent and widespread nature of institutionalized racism in HE, White university staff members may be better placed (compared to BAME people) to bring about tangible change.

Between 2016 and autumn 2023 more than 850 schoolchildren have been forcingly or “voluntarily” deported from Hamburg (Hamburgische Bürgerschaft, Parlament of the City of Hamburg). The number of schoolchildren threatened by deportation is far above that figure. How do pedagogues handle the deportation (threat) of their students? To answer this question, in context of a PhD thesis, I research the actions pedagogues take in relation to the deportation and deportation threat of their students enrolled in five Hamburg schools.

Uncertainty about if, how, when and where a threatening deportation is going to take place influences every aspect of a schoolchild’s life, including his or her access to formal education. An example of how formal education is affected by the threat of deportation is the fact that Vocational Education and Training secures a specific kind of temporary suspension of deportation, in German called Ausbildungsduldung (§60 of the Aufenthaltsgesetz, Act on Residence), while the schooling path pursuing access to a university degree does not offer a formal protection per se (Weiser 2017).

The position of teachers in this situation can be regarded as a dilemma (Meyer, 2003). On the one hand, teachers are responsible for the inclusion, well-being and education of children and teenagers in schools, while on the other hand, being part of the public system that excludes these students by limiting their chances in formal education (Neumann et al., 2003, p. 23) and enforcing their deportations. Theory on the antinomies of pedagogical professionalism (Helsper 2021) serve as a frame to analyze the way teachers navigate the deportation (threat) of their students. From that frame, the borders between teacher’s interpretation of their role as a pedagogue, their own self-reflection as a person and possible arising antinomies are explored.

Research on how pedagogues react to deportation or deportation threat of students is scarce in the German speaking countries (Meyer, 2003; Stern, 2017). Some studies in the US show how school staff focus on the needs of the students and their families affected by migration policies: organizing professionalized psychological counselling (Gallo & Link, 2016; Macías & Collet, 2016, p. 180;), organizing social support through peer groups (Gallo & Link, 2016, p. 191), helping find legal counselling, looking for financial support, or helping in finding a safe place to stay when the family goes underground (Macías & Collet, 2016). A common ground with the German publications is the importance of building trusting student-teacher relationships (Crawford et al., 2019, p. 120; Gallo & Link, 2016; Meyer, 2003).

A few studies show how teachers act within the school level and allow their students to draw on their experiences “for academic purposes, such as personal narrative and descriptive writing” (Gallo & Link, 2016, p. 193). However, many teachers explicitly decide not to include topics on immigration in their classes (ibid.). When deportation is unavoidable, some authors recommend enabling a space to say goodbye. An example of this would be throwing a farewell party (Foitzik et al., 2019, p. 90).

Finally, some publications point to the pedagogues´ actions directed to the public opinion and political actors, mostly when supporting the initiatives of the classmates of the affected student (Stern, 2017). They take different forms, such as online petitions, applications to the commission for cases of hardship (Härtefallkommission) or press releases (Foitzik et al., 2019). At times, school projects have been involved, such as composing a song and sending it to a political song contest (Stern, 2017), or putting political knowledge into practice through legal, political, and civil disobedience measures (Stein, 2016).

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is particularly important in early childhood, as it serves as a basis for the learners’ development, helping them function effectively at school and in life in general (Cline, 2019). This is all the more so in a diverse and segregated society where the need for developing awareness of others and enhancing skills for their acceptance is acute (Weissberg & Cascarino, 2013).

While designing SEL programs, the learners’ sociocultural background is important (Kopelman-Rubin, 2020). Israel is a highly diverse and segregated society. The relations between its various cultural communities are characterized by inequality, a lack of dialogue, and mutual denial. This is particularly so regarding the Jewish majority and Palestinian-Arab minority (Smooha, 2010). Recent recommendations from an expert committee called for the Israeli educational system to foster SEL to address these cultural tensions (Benbenishty & Friedman, 2020).

Given the dearth of studies in this area, it is important to examine the effectiveness of programs based on children’s literature in establishing socioemotional skills in the Israeli education system, as well as compare Arabic and Hebrew books in this regard. Examining children’s books included in government programs is particularly important, as they serve as major socialization agents and are accessible to large populations (Haj Yahya, 2021). Accordingly, the present study examines the following question: How are social-emotional skills reflected in Arabic and Hebrew children’s books included in two government programs for Jewish and Arab schools, respectively?

The current study focuses on Hebrew children’s books included in the educational program “March of Books," intended for Jewish schools, and its sister program for Arab schools. From the different age groups participating in this program (1st–3rd, 4th–6th, 7th–9th, and 10th–12th), this study will focus on the 50 books intended for the 1st–3rd age group for the 2020–21 school year (25 each from the Arabic and Hebrew programs).

The findings indicate that world literature works translated into either Hebrew or Arabic have established socioemotional skills more than the original works in either language. Moreover, Hebrew works have established such skills more than Arab ones. Finally, whereas the Hebrew works have established individual skills such as self-management, in addition to social awareness skills designed to strengthen individuals’ attachment to their country, the Arab works have established interpersonal skills designed to strengthen individuals’ attachment to their immediate social environment. These differences suggest that the determination of skills to be provided by children’s books is affected by external, sociopolitical factors and by divergent cultural perceptions of childhood.

According to Desai et al. (2014), SEL should contribute to equality and social justice. While not applied to the most crucial area of the Jewish-Arab conflict in Israel, this is applied in the Hebrew program in the context of equality between different Jewish ethnic groups (two titles), between the genders (15), and across ages (20). This is done by granting space and power to characters identified with marginalized population. Thus, the Hebrew program attempts to establish a pluralist and multicultural approach within Jewish society, but not beyond. Similarly, the Arabic program tries to establish equality and social justice using different strategies, including protesting against injustice or resisting threatening external elements (7). This finding supports Agbaria’s (2020) conclusion that indigenous minorities often experience racism and discrimination, which become integral to their collective identity.