Make training for teachers on race equality and unconscious bias part of core training

Part of the Ealing's race equality guidance for educational settings.

Aim: to ensure staff have the racial literacy to effectively identify and tackle disproportionality within the school or setting and create a truly ant-racist learning environment

A key foundation of anti-racist education is ensuring the racial literacy of all staff, at all levels within the school or setting. It is strongly recommended that as a first step school leaders access whole-school training around race equality.

Each member of staff has a different lived experience and understanding of race equality and racism. High quality training is therefore needed in order to develop the racial literacy of all staff so that they have the knowledge, skills and awareness to have positive conversations about race and to move forward together.

The No Learner Left Behind (Black Caribbean Achievement) programme has had a significant focus on staff training and as a result the following two-phase approach to whole staff training is recommended:

Phase 1: Awareness-raising training

Training that raises awareness of unconscious bias, micro-aggressions and racial identity and the impact on the life chances of Black children and young people.

Phase 2: Knowledge-gaining training

Training that aims to fill the knowledge gap that many people educated in the UK have in regard to Black history and Black contributions to society, starting with African civilisations through to Modern Britain. This training will begin to address racial biases as well as encourage critical analysis of how to reflect Black history and contributions in the curriculum.

It is important that school leaders consider how all staff and the rest of the school community, including school governors, will be able to receive the training input, and to experience their individual and collective journey of reflection and learning.

It is also recommended that training around racial literacy is repeated on annual basis for all staff and that racial literacy training is part of the induction to the school/setting for all newcomers.

Further information to develop racial literacy:

• Glossary of terms
• Support open, honest and uncomfortable conversations about race
• Examples of racial miroaggressions

Details of training that can be accessed through ELP can be found in the ELP Support section. Alternately, schools and settings may wish to commission their own staff training. There are many providers who offer training around racial literacy, unconscious bias etc. The following providers have delivered training for Ealing schools:

• Orlene Badu, Leadership Consultant, www.orlenbaduconsulting.co.uk
• Young People Aim Higher www.youngblackleaders.org
• Oshun Education www.oshuneducation.co.uk
• Educating for Equality www.educatingforequality.co.uk

Further recommended resources to develop racial literacy

Books

• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge
• Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire - Akala
• How to be an Anti-Racist - Ibram X Kendi
• White Fragility – Robin DiAngelo
• Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging - Afua Hirsch
• Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain - Peter Fryer
• Black and British: A Forgotten History – David Olusoga
• Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools – Monique W Morris
• People Like Us – Hashi Mohamed

Podcasts

• About Race - Reni Eddo – sign up to Spotify for free
• We Need to Talk About the British Empire – Afua Hirsch (BBC Sounds, 10 minutes)
• Nice White Parents – Chana Joffe-Walt (Episodes on Spotify)
• Becoming Anti-Racist – Dr Muna Abdi (Episode 26 on Spotify, 1hr 8 mins)

Programmes

• Black & British: A Forgotten History, David Olusoga - BBC
• The School That Tried to End Racism – Channel 4
• Subnormal: A British Scandal - BBC

Websites

• Anna Freud Institute Anti-Racism and Mental Health in Schools resources Anna Freud Anti-Racism Resources