Ethnic Minority Pupils in Indonesian Schools: Some Trends in Over-Representation of Minority Pupils in Special Educational Programmes at the Vocational

Soetyono Iskandar 
(Makassar State University, Indonesia)

Abstract: The way categories, labels, and taxonomies are used depends upon national ideologies and nationally specific conceptions of citizenship and normality. Ethnicity, differences, disability and deviance are social constructions. Underachievement or overachievement in social (cognitive) performance or overrepresentation in special educational placements of certain groups of students is as much the product of categorization or definitional processes as it is the workings of institutional procedures, patterns, and intransigence. In particular (Vocational), schools’ inability to accommodate difference and diversity causes exclusion and alienation. Globalization and hegemonic neo-liberal ideology make it difficult to create a genuinely inclusive society, to produce complete citizens, and to promote equity. This study analyses the placement of ethnic minority students in special education programmes. It begins with a review of empirical reports that problematise the phenomenon of overrepresentation of students with immigrant background in special schools for intellectually disabled students. The analysis that follows is conducted through the prism of a number of perspectives, including sociocultural/historical theory, the inclusive education movement, multicultural education, and critical pedagogical theories. While there is no evidence to suggest that such overrepresentation is nationwide, the phenomenon can be identified in large cities where there are concentrations of immigrants. Analysis demonstrates that the problem is related to, among other factors, unreliable assessment procedures and criteria for referral and placement; lack of culturally sensitive diagnostic tools; the static nature of tests, including embedded cultural bias; sociocultural problems, family factors, and language problems; lack of parental participation in decision-making; power differentials between parents and school authorities; institutional intransigence and prejudices; and large resource inequalities that run along lines of race and class.

Key words: ethnicity, differences, disability and deviance are social constructions