Waveney Bushell (born 1928) is a Guyanese-born teacher, activist and "arguably the first Black educational psychologist in the UK". She is most notable for her role in exposing racism and inequality in the British educational system.

Early life

Waveney Bushell was born in 1928 in

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state fro ...

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. Her mother died when she was six and she was brought up by her aunt. Bushell trained as a teacher after leaving school. In the 1950s, she travelled to Britain to teach, after applying for teaching work through the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

Training and early career

While working as a teacher in London, Bushell trained and then qualified as an

educational psychologist An educational psychologist is a psychologist whose differentiating functions may include diagnostic and psycho-educational Psychological evaluation, assessment, psychological counseling in educational communities (students, teachers, parents, ...

, earning a psychology degree from

Bedford College, London file:Bedford College in York place - photographer is unknown but guess 1908.png, Bedford College was in York Place after 1874 Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for education of women, women in th ...

, before earning a postgraduate qualification in educational psychology from the Child Guidance Training Centre (the sister school to the

Tavistock Clinic The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health trust based in north London. The Trust specialises in talking therapies. The education and training department caters for 2,000 students a year from the United Kin ...

). Bushell was "the first black female psychologist to be admitted to the Child Guidance Training Centre" and graduated in 1965. From 1965 to 1967, she worked as an educational psychologist for Surrey local education authority. In 1967, she began work for the School Psychological Services in Croydon, where she stayed for the next twenty two years.

Criticism of intelligence tests

As a psychologist in Croydon, Bushell found it odd that large numbers of Black children were being classified as " educationally subnormal" and then sent to Educationally Subnormal (ESN) schools. Bushell argued that the

IQ tests An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term ''Intelligenzqu ...

given - such as the Stanford-Binet and

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) is an IQ test designed to measure intelligence and cognitive ability in adults and older adolescents. The original WAIS (Form I) was published in February 1955 by David Wechsler, as a revision of the ...

tests - were not fair assessments as they were built upon European cultural specificities. As such, the tests "were stacked against Black Caribbean children".

Caribbean Education and Community Workers Association

Along with fellow campaigners such as

Jessica Huntley Jessica Elleisse Huntley (née Carroll; 23 February 1927 – 13 October 2013) was an African-Guyanese-British woman, a political reformer, prominent race equality campaigner, the pioneering British publisher of black and Asian literature, and a ...

and

John La Rose John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, Bushell was a founding member of the Caribbean Education and Community Workers Association (CECWA). Bushell was also the first Chair of CECWA. CECWA became "the initiating and co-ordinating body of black education issues". In 1971,

New Beacon Books New Beacon Books is a British publishing house, bookshop, and international book service that specializes in Black British, Caribbean, African, African-American and Asian literature. Founded in 1966 by John La Rose and Sarah White, it was the fi ...

, on behalf of CECWA, published '' How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Sub-normal in the British School System'' by

Bernard Coard Winston Bernard Coard (born 10 August 1945) is a Grenada, Grenadian politician who was Deputy Prime Minister in the People's Revolutionary Government (Grenada), People's Revolutionary Government of the New Jewel Movement. Coard launched a coup ...

, which drew national attention to the issue of ESN schools. In the book, Coard acknowledges Buhsell's support in his research and writing. Bushell was interviewed in the 2021

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

documentary film ''Subnormal: A British Scandal'', which describes the events surrounding the racism of a leaked school report that led to the publication of Coard's book. CECWA was also key to the development of independent black

supplementary school A supplementary school is a community-based initiative to provide additional educational support for children also attending mainstream schools. They are often geared to provide specific language, cultural and religious teaching for children from ...

Later career and retirement

In 1975, Bushell completed a master's degree at the

Institute of Education IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) is the education school of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior to m ...

in Child Development. However, despite working for Croydon School Psychological Services for more than two decades, she was never promoted to a senior role, which she believes was directly related to her view on intelligence testing and race. On her retirement in 1989, Bushell began a consultancy service, which continued her work on the educational and emotional needs of black children in care.

Early life

Training and early career

Criticism of intelligence tests

Caribbean Education and Community Workers Association

Later career and retirement

References

Further reading