Styles of LEA Policy Intervention in Multicultural/A ntiracist Education

Abstract

This article discusses the gradual ‘racialisation’ of Local Education Authority (LEA) policy statements in the UK since the 1981 civil disturbances and focuses on one particular style of policy intervention; namely, the monitoring procedure initiated by a growing number of LEAs. Our contention is that such procedures are an unnecessary evil at the present time and that, in the context of central government's prevailing educational philosophies and trends, are likely to have a deleterious impact on the relationship between LEAs, teachers and their unions. We conclude by suggesting that the demand for monitoring multicultural/antiracist procedures in schools should be held in abeyance.