'We want to use the archive to constructively address this harmful part of UK psychology’s history'

The damaging legacy of intelligence testing in UK schools – which saw thousands of children of the Windrush generation wrongly labelled as 'educationally subnormal' – has been explored in a new teaching resource. Created by the British Psychological Society's History of Psychology Centre (HoPC), alongside the British Educational Research Association (BERA), BPS members and academics, the resource has been piloted at secondary schools in the Midlands.

The children of Caribbean migrants who arrived in the UK between the late 1940s and early 1970s experienced systemic racism – particularly in the school system. The use of culturally biased IQ tests during this time – developed and administered by psychologists – alongside ingrained prejudice, led to a disproportionate number of Black Caribbean children being labelled as 'educationally subnormal'.

Many of those children were placed in ESN schools (Schools for the Educationally Subnormal) which offered a limited curriculum resulting in reduced progress in education and life more broadly as well as lower self esteem. Some of these children's stories were highlighted in the BBC documentary, Subnormal: A British Scandal, produced by Steve McQueen.

BPS Archive Manager Sophie O'Reilly said HoPC has an aim to open the archives and bring new life to the history of psychology. 'Alongside Professor Elizabeth Hurren, Chair of the HoPC Advisory Committee, we were looking into areas of the archive which lend themselves to engaging with new audiences. Our psychological test collection was an obvious choice – the tests are tactile, interesting to look at, and also have a fascinating and troubling history. The IQ tests used on the children of the Windrush generation were very culturally biased – they asked mathematics questions based on UK currencies which these children did not use, they would use terms the children weren't familiar with. This was all on the background of these children having experienced the massive cultural shock of moving to the UK from the Caribbean.'

The Caribbean community in the UK fought back against these racist practices. A teacher in London Bernard Coard, originally from Grenada, realised the disproportionate number of Black Caribbean children being placed in ESN schools and published a groundbreaking book in 1971 How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Sub-Normal by the British Education System which shed light on the way the educational system in Britain was failing Black Caribbean children.

As well as opening up the archive, O'Reilly said the BPS wanted to use the material held within the archive to address more troubling aspects of psychology's history. 'We want to use the archive to constructively address this harmful part of UK psychology's history and how psychology and psychologists enabled this racist, discriminatory practice within the education system.'

O'Reilly and members of the HoPC Advisory Committee decided to create and pilot a teaching resource for secondary school students in the Midlands with support from Academy of Social Sciences Equality, Diversity and Inclusion funding. Members of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) also supported the project with ideas for how the information could be developed into a lesson plan and feedback on the teaching resource.

The resource includes a lesson plan covering the history of intelligence testing and eugenics, the Windrush generation, ESN schools and the British Caribbean community's activism in the face of racist educational practices, as well as reproductions of two IQ tests used in schools at the time – the Stanford-Binet Intelligence test and the Weschler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Three schools around the Midlands ran six lessons with Key Stage 4 pupils which also asked students to think critically about intelligence testing and the experiences of children of the Windrush generation.

Michelle Satchwell, a teacher at John Port Spencer Academy in Derby delivered many of the lessons and helped to develop the resources said she felt honoured to be involved in the project. 'Sometimes as teachers we get caught up in following a scheme of work to prepare students for the exams and lose sight of why we want to be educators. This lesson was one of those that will stick with me, due to the significance and relevance of psychology to real lives. The students were able to empathise with the stress these Black Caribbean children must have been under, and the impact scoring low would have had on their self-esteem, but also their long-term opportunities. The GCSE Psychology students said it had been their favourite lesson of the year and the most memorable.'
The teachers involved in delivering the lesson plan were asked about their experiences in a survey – the results of which were overwhelmingly positive both from the teachers' and students' perspective. O'Reilly said HoPC is looking into making the resource available digitally for any school to use.

'The survey we did with the teachers who used this resource just showed that teachers really want to explore these topics but sometimes it can be hard to know how to approach them. Students also really love nuanced topics and enjoyed the interactive, tactile elements of it.'

O'Reilly concluded: 'We'd really like to go back to square one now and develop other similar resources based on the wealth of material we have in the BPS archive.'