ABSTRACT
Attempts to describe the black educational experience have been characterised, in the main, by research designs ideologically disposed towards the latter perspective, with early studies investigating the causes and effects of negative black self-esteem. Employing the notion of the self-fulfilling prophecy and the mechanism of labelling, these studies focused on the effect a teacher might have on a pupil's own self-image. This chapter analyses some of the attitudinal characteristics found among staff in the schools, and assesses the outcome of their specific beliefs and values on the black female pupils in their classrooms. Five general teacher responses were identified. These were grouped as the 'Overt Racists', the 'Christians', the 'Crusaders', the 'Liberal Chauvinists' and the 'Black Teacher'. The staff's negative response to the Working Party's suggestions was largely directed towards the ILEA and what was considered to be its interfering insistence that racism is a problem for schools in London.
