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How do we address the issue of segregation in the education sector?

Elsemiek Schepers and Steijn van der Craats grew up in vastly different worlds. However, the two have developed a common passion since their studies in Utrecht: a fascination with diversity and the drive to make the Netherlands a more harmonious place. In 2019, the young alumni conducted a study on segregation in primary and secondary schools with support from the Micha de Winter Fellowship.

Elsemiek grew up in a village in Twente, where diversity wasn't exactly the norm. Almost all her classmates looked alike. Steijn grew up in very different circumstances. His school in Almere was a melting pot; in the fifth year, he was one of three children of native Dutch heritage.

‘I suppose I was living in a bubble’, Elsemiek looks back. ‘At the time, it all seemed very normal to me: “this is what the world looks like, and everyone goes to a school like mine”. By the time I started studying at the Academic Teacher Training Institute for Primary Education and renting a student room in the Overvecht area, I realised the world wasn't as I'd imagined. I realised some people had a negative image of the neighbourhood I liked so much, and I started wondering why.’

Steijn, on the other hand, went through almost the opposite experience. ‘I'd only experienced a mixed school, and never really gave it much thought. After my first week at the teacher training programme for primary education, I told my mum: Everyone has blonde hair and blue eyes here. How is that even possible? This is supposed to be a city!’

The two students conducted work placements at primary schools with very different populations, further sparking their interest in educational segregation.

Growing up in a bubble

Steijn: ‘I did my work placement in a building complex with three schools. One was mainly made up of children with a migrant background, one mainly consisted of native Dutch children, and the other had a mixed population. I thought to myself: if children literally enter this building through the same door only to sit in segregated classes and grow up in different worlds, we're really doing something wrong here. I just couldn't accept that. The experience motivated me to take a pre-Master's in Youth, Education and Society after finishing primary education teacher-training college.’

Elsemiek: ‘My work placements – and teaching experiences after graduation – also confirmed just how much children actually grow up inside their own bubble. If you don't know each other and form ideas about an entire group, it can easily lead to polarisation and conflict. Especially if you learn to see the other as inferior to your own group.’

It is of great importance that pupils from different layers of the population meet and become interested in each other

‘There have been lots of studies on the causes and effects of educational segregation, but we haven't really done much research on how to solve the problem’, explains emeritus professor of Youth, Education and Society Micha de Winter.

‘Elsemiek and Steijn tried to find ways of getting pupils from different schools and their parents to interact and work together despite the current segregation issues. While this won't solve the underlying segregation problem, it's incredibly important that pupils from different layers of society meet and start taking a real interest in each other.’

Gym and philosophize together

Steijn: ‘Two of the schools we studied are located in neighbouring districts. However, they couldn't be more different in terms of the pupils' socio-economic, cultural and religious backgrounds. The schools have set up an exchange programme in which children are paired from kindergarten age and take lessons together.’

Elsemiek: ‘It started a few years ago with a penpal programme and the occasional invitation to visit each other's schools. We've since expanded the exchange programme, and pupils in the final year of primary school now take PE classes and philosophy lessons together. We also attended those classes, and asked pupils how they felt about the exchange in general, the lessons, and whether they'd gotten to know each other yet. We asked the teachers to share their reasons for setting up the exchange, and explain whether they felt it was achieving the desired results.’

Steijn: ‘The pupils at one school told us the aim was to get to know children from other cultures. Pupils at the other school said the aim of the programme was to “get to know other children”. That might seem like a subtle difference, but ambiguity tends to result in different expectations.’

If lecturers simply stand by and let it all happen, the groups won't mix

Elsemiek: ‘I studied the role of parents at those same schools as part of my Master's thesis. I also found some subtle differences when it came to their priorities. Parents from one neighbourhood felt the exchange would help create a greater sense of equality. Parents from the other neighbourhood, on the other hand, felt it was important to help the other group. If you view the exchange programme as some sort of charity, there's no room for the sense of equality you'll need to succeed.’

Steijn: ‘It's a really complex problem and we don't have a ready-made solution. However, we do know you'll have to manage the process actively and facilitate the exchange. If lecturers simply stand by and let it all happen, the groups won't mix. As it turned out, the children hadn't really learned much about one other except their names. We saw the same thing at the secondary schools we studied. We provided feedback at various points in the process, which allowed them to keep optimising the exchange.’

Discussing differences

Elsemiek: ‘Some teachers were afraid they might actually be encouraging an “us/them” mentality, or reinforcing or even cultivating prejudices amongst the children. “We just want to let sleeping dogs lie”, they told us. They wanted to keep things light, avoid any clashes and focus on the similarities. Obviously, it's always good to underline the things you have in common. However, if you avoid children's comments and questions for fear of actual debate, you're running a serious risk. We recommended that they discuss differences between the groups, so they could then effectively counter any prejudiced assumptions.’

Steijn: ‘You need to figure out what works best as you go along. The schools have now started offering theatre classes as an alternative to philosophy in order to encourage positive interactions and eliminate prejudices. We strongly recommended that they chose themes reflecting the children's own experiences and gave the children a say in that process.’

Adults have a tendency to underestimate children

Elsemiek: ‘Make sure children are enthusiastic so that they actually want to take lessons with pupils from the other school. Let them ask critical questions. That's always going to be challenging, but that doesn't mean it should be avoided. Adults have a tendency to underestimate children. It's always great to see that they're a lot wiser than we give them credit for.’

Steijn: ‘We encourage exchanges, but there are lots of aspects to keep in mind. If you don't think things through thoroughly and effectively supervise the process, you run the risk of making things worse rather than better. I'm currently working as a substitute teacher for a mixed group of 11-year olds, so I get to see how things work out on the ground. I'd love to build a bridge between theory and practice. It's all very well doing research and developing policies from our ivory towers: you don't know how things really work or what's actually feasible if you haven't worked in a classroom.’

Blind spot

Micha de Winter has seen educational and social segregation worsen over time. ‘It's an enormous blind spot in terms of our politics and education policies, and we need to prioritise this problem immediately. If we don't, we're putting our social cohesion – which is already vulnerable these days – at risk.' Still, De Winter remains optimistic. 'Thankfully, many people in the education field do acknowledge the problem and want to address it. It gives me hope to see young academics like Elsemiek and Steijn apply their talents to address this major social problem with such enthusiasm and commitment.’

Elsemiek Schepers (1994) attended the Academic Teacher Training Institute for Primary Education in Nijmegen and subsequently completed a Master's in Youth, Education and Society at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. She taught pupils in the penultimate year of primary school and currently works as a social safety consultant at Stichting School en Veiligheid.

Steijn van der Craats (1993) completed primary education teacher-training college followed by a Master's in Youth, Education and Society at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. He also worked as a teacher and coordinator at IMC Weekendschool, a project aimed at linking children from underprivileged neighbourhoods to professionals from various fields. He currently works as an independent primary school teacher and social educator.

The Youth, Education and Society fellowship was established on the occasion of Micha de Winter's departure as Distinguished Professor of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, and focuses on strengthening the educational environment. The fellowship seeks to address these educational challenges from various disciplinary perspectives against the backdrop of broader social issues, such as the need for greater social inclusion, participation and cultural diversity, and the fight against segregation as championed by Steijn and Elsemiek. The fellowship is accessible to a broad group of UU graduates in related fields. Elsemiek and Steijn will be followed by three other fellows.

Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� also offers various Master's programmes on educational issues, such as the pre-Master's and Master's in Youth, Education and Society.

Learn more about our programmes on educational issues.

This article appeared in alumni magazine Illuster.