BY: W. Shadid, 28-10-2008

School segregation based on religious denomination is known since long ago and is characteristic for the Dutch educational system. School segregation that is now central in the contemporary educational debate however is ethnically based and is caused by several factors such as housing segregation, social economic background and the “white flight” due to ethnic rejection and avoidance of educational and behavioral problems existing in black schools.
For educational and social reasons, promoting mixed “grey schools” scored high on the political agenda in the last three decades. Unfortunately however, the realization and effectiveness of such schools are overestimated and are based on a number of inaccurate assumptions.

The first inaccurate assumption is that such schools are more effective in realizing integration of minorities and social cohesion in society. In such schools migrant children will have more practice in Dutch language and will create a more ethnically mixed network of friends.
However, the similarity attraction theory teaches that people prefer to interact with those who have comparable attitude, interests and culture. Research also indicates that pupils, natives included, mainly select their friends from within the own ethnic group, even for a short chat on the schoolyard. This needs not be problematic as long as such behavior is not motivated by ethnic rejection. Because of this general tendency, the pursued effects of mixed schools can hardly be realized.
A second inaccurate assumption concerns the belief that mixed schools will improve the school achievements of pupils from migrant origin. Because social economic background plays a crucial role in school achievements and migrants’ children in the Netherlands mainly originate from lower social economic backgrounds; it can be expected that the effects of mixed schools on their achievements will be minimal. However, it must be mentioned that in this regard the effect of social economic background is of temporary nature. The gap between low and high educated migrants is decreasing, and the outlines of a migrants’ elite group are becoming increasingly visible. Besides, ‘black schools’ are better equipped regarding special teaching methods in order to handle educational deficiencies of these pupils.
Moreover, because of the fact that the average pupil will be taken as the norm at mixed schools, pupils with learning disabilities will be disadvantaged in the end. Mixing will decrease the average score of mixed schools, but at the same time the score will not go beyond the acceptable level, resulting in the increase of the so-called and much hated ‘sixes culture’.
From the above mentioned discussion it should not be concluded that school segregation is an acceptable phenomenon and should not be tackled. It is totally reprehensible being the result of the existing division in society into ‘we’ and ‘they’ groups, while at the same time perpetuating its existence.
Nevertheless, mixed ‘grey schools’ cannot be instantly created, even if the freedom of education principle is completely abolished. American experiences show that white parents can easily avoid such desegregation obligations by moving out of the neighborhood, or by registering their children at private schools. Eventually, mainly pupils from weak social economic backgrounds will remain at the segregated schools.
Other desegregation strategies such as enlightenment, using waiting lists and fixed enrollment moments for which the government has earmarked 4 million Euros will also tend to be mainly experiments in the margin and will not provide worth mentioning results in the aimed direction.
Increasing mixed ‘grey’ schools may best be realized indirectly by implementing a two tracks policy. First of all, intensive investments in the quality of education, school climate, pupils counseling and in intercultural competence of teachers at black schools are required. In other words, intensive investments in so-called ‘nice schools of Dijksma’, that are similar to the ‘splendid neighborhoods’ of minister Vogelaar. Additionally, investments should be made in a serious and society directed campaign for correcting existing prejudices against minorities and in order to pull the idea of the multicultural society out of its present taboo status. Implementing both tracks simultaneously might decrease the flight behavior tendency of both native and migrant parents living in so called concentration neighborhoods. In its turn this will gradually lead to an increase in ethnic diversity of schools’ population. Fighting against school segregation is of utmost importance in realizing a livable multicultural society, a society in which the total social capital is more than the sum of its separate parts.

Prof.dr. W. Shadid is professor of intercultural communication. For more info: see page “About”