Exhibition - Mollie Hunte and The Black Parents Movement
The BPS History of Psychology Centre would like to thank the London Metropolitan Archives for the use of the images from the Mollie Hunte collection and for collaborating on this exhibition.
Mollie Hunte (1932-2015) was an essential part of the Black parent’s movement and the education movement in the UK during the 1960s onwards.
She worked closely with parents and schools throughout London, particularly Brent and Ealing, and helped young children both in their home lives and at school.
Mollie was a vocal advocate for the betterment of young Black children and their families. This was connected strongly to the organisations she founded and cofounded.
Mollie viewed education as a necessity and encouraged higher academic attainment for the Black community where she worked.
She contributed to several committees and projects including the Primary Curriculum Development Project who developed resources for the Caribbean community such as providing books from Black bookshops in the UK and providing an anti-racist and multicultural education for students.
Image: Mollie Hunte at a social gathering (1980s) - © London Metropolitan Archives, City of London, from the Mollie Hunte collection
Early life & education
Born in Guyana in 1932, Mollie was from the beginning surrounded by education and academia.
Her brother-in-law, Dr Anthony Phillips, was the first appointed History Lecturer at the University if West Indies Cave Hill Campus in 1963 and was also instrumental in organising programme offerings in History.
Image: Photo of Mollie Hunte © London Metropolitan Archives, City of London, B16/151, from the Mollie Hunte collection.
She began her career as an assistant teacher and then immigrated to London in 1961 to pursue a career in education.
Mollie was unable to finance herself through university full-time and studied part time for twelve years whilst teaching in various schools to achieve an Advanced Diploma in Education from the University of Birmingham. Showing her passion to be actively involved in the community throughout her education, Mollie was already in various educational groups by this time.
Mollie would later get her MSc in Child Development and Education Psychology from the North East London Polytechnic, now the University of East London in 1980.
Image: Mollie Hunte Teaching Exercise Book from her time as a Teacher in Guyana (1954) - © London Metropolitan Archives, City of London, LMA/4774/F/01/01/001, from the Mollie Hunte collection.
British Education System
Mollie Hunte worked as an educational psychologist in the Brent School Psychological Services from 1982 to 1988. Mollie's role included assessments and consultation with medical teams, as well as producing reviews and assessments of children liaising with teachers, schools, and health authorities and aftercare services.
At this time, 'educationally sub-normal' (ESN) schools had been sent up for children with learning difficulties, but Black children who were of average and above average ability were placed there disproportionately compared with their White counterparts of the same ability.
IQ tests were often used to determine whether Black students should be sent to ESN schools. Because of differences in culture and language, newly arrived West Indian children would often score poorly on these tests. Psychologists administered the tests (such as The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence) and children with a low score were sent to an ESN school. This would have devastating repercussions on the children who were wrongly placed in these schools.
Image: The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (1963) - © BPS History of Psychology Centre, BPS/005/05/04.
As an educational psychologist, Mollie made sure that the Black children she assessed were tested fairly. She campaigned and worked with multiple professions within the local education system to stop Black children being sent to ESN schools unfairly. Mollie also worked with the parents of Black children to inform them of the racism within the educational system.
Caribbean Parents Group
Mollie helped set up several groups to advocate for young Black children and their parents who were dealing with the British education system. One of these was the Caribbean Parents Group (CPG) and the Caribbean Parents Supplementary School which were set up in July 1975.
Image: CPG Annual Report (2001-2002) & CPG Constitution - © London Metropolitan Archives, City of London, B16/151 7, from the Mollie Hunte collection.
The CPG was set up in response to Ealing council's 'bussing' Black and Asian children outside of their own neighbourhoods so they could be spread out over multiple schools. This was a common practice at the time as, in 1965, the Department of Education recommended that only 30 per cent of a single class could come from an immigrant background.
The CPG worked as a pressure group against racist practices in the educational system, promoted good relationships between teachers and Black parents and raised the academic attainment of Black students. From the beginning the CPG were well-organised, with meetings eight times a year, holding annual conferences and producing annual reports.
The Supplementary School was created specifically for Black children to help teach them about their culture and heritage which they wouldn’t have learnt in mainstream British schools.
These schools were run by the Black community themselves to help get Black immigrant children up to speed when they arrived in Britain and to help counteract the regular racism Black children experienced in British schools.
Image: Association of Black Supplementary Schools poster (1982) - © London Metropolitan Archives, City of London, from the Mollie Hunte collection.
Campaigning
As well as being an educator, Mollie was also a community activist and was a constant fixture in several committees and projects which campaigned for a more multicultural education and trained teachers in various techniques and policies against a racist education system.
One of these was the Caribbean Communications Project, a group which aimed to promote literacy and other communications skills among adults of Caribbean origin and other people with similar needs.
Mollie was also a member of the Afro-Caribbean Education Resource (ACER).
ACER was founded in 1977 by Len Garrison a historian, poet and educationalist and the co-founder of the Black Cultural Archives.
ACER was set up to provide diverse teaching resources for schools in Britain which related to African, Caribbean and Asian students.
The project was supported by the Inner London Education Authority.
Image: African-Caribbean Educational Resource (ACER) resource and information guide (c.1970s) - © London Metropolitan Archives, City of London, LMA/4774/C/03/04/002, from the Mollie Hunte collection.
Mollie co-founded the Westphi Academy and was formed in July 1988 and launched June 1990 at Acton College.
The Academy provided educational training and consultancy within the College.
Mollie’s main area of expertise rested on special educational needs of children as well as parental involvement in their children’s education.
The Academy provided in-service training: interviewing techniques, workshops on educational reforms, school policies as well as training for professionals working with children and schools.
Image: Westphi Academy Leaflet (1996) - © London Metropolitan Archives, City of London, LMA/4774/D/01/03/002, from the Mollie Hunte collection.
Psychology
Mollie set up the PEV consultancy in 1989.
The organisation was set up to facilitate psychological education and vocation services. Mollie was a consultant and assessor and provided assessments and consultancies for young Black children and adults. The services offered included 'training, consultation, assessment, tutoring, advice, counselling, C.V. preparation, mock interviews and therapy'.
Mollie's role related to not only the consultation being focused on academia but also bridging the gap between schools and through regular correspondence with these schools. She liaised with racial equality departments in the various boroughs, which her clients were a part of.
The consultancy was a significant organisation for children and adults who had not been formally diagnosed as neurodivergent. Her consultancy was a key part of many children's and adult's lives as she was able to provide reassurance and testing where many individuals had not had access to before.
Mollie was a member of the Thomas Coram Research Unit at the Institute of Education within the University College London.
She was on the Advisory Committee between 1984 – 1989, along with Barbara Tizard (1926-2015) who was the Director of the Thomas Coram Institute during the 1980s.
As part of the committee, Mollie would review and consult books which featured topics around the Black community and their children.
The committee included consultations on publications and contents of various interviews and planning initiatives and studies on young children in various cities in Britain.
Image: Introduction to Afro-Centric Counselling course booklet (1994) - © London Metropolitan Archives, City of London, LMA/4774/D/04/001, from the Mollie Hunte collection.
Legacy
Mollie Hunte was integral in making sure young Black children gained the education they deserved. She stopped countless Black children being incorrectly sent to ESN schools due to their race.
Mollie's presence as a Black female educational psychologist during the time provided the expertise which was desperately needed within the Black community.
Having Mollie as a supportive woman who took the time to work with families who were dealing with these issues allowed them to gain a better understanding of the British education system and how best to advocate for themselves and their children.
Not only did Mollie make sure organisations which she co-founded would continuously advocate for the better treatment of Black educators, but also made sure that the language used by wider society was not prejudicial to Black people.
Further resources
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Search the BPS History of Psychology Centre collections online
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Search the Mollie Hunte collection at the London Metropolitan Archives
Want to find out more about the ESN school scandal? Watch the BBC documentary Subnormal: A British Scandal.