The events of the last few weeks have led to the largest public outpouring of anti-racism that I can recall. I’ve received a large number of messages/comments and my social media posts are now being shared on a scale that dwarfs anything I have done since I started posting in 2008. Racism is bad. We all seem to agree on that.
Yet, when this moment of revolutionary fervour will pass, and it will, what will be left? We will, as educators and school leaders be able to point to substantive and tangible things that have changed as a result of this historic moment?
- Will our history curricula be British history, showing that rather than an add-on, ‘black’ history is British history?
- When you sit down for your leadership team/governor/trustee/executive team meetings in twelve-eighteen months, will there be a different look to the team, one that reflects modern Britain and the communities that you serve?
- Will your recruitment practices change to ensure that bias is reduced and that you attract, develop (including promote) and retain colleagues from diverse backgrounds? Will you track this and report the figures to the executive/board as this will now be a key part of their strategic work?
- If you employ a recruiting firm, will you ask them to discuss what they do around reducing bias/increasing diversity in their candidate searches? Will they have diverse teams working on this?
- Will the school associations provide mandatory training for governors and leadership teams and institute programmes to ensure that there is a leadership pipeline of diverse talent?
- Will you sit down with students and listen when they tell you that they face treatment that is subtle in appearance, but brutalising in its effect?
Recent events have revealed, again, that the systems we inhabit and use as educators are perfectly designed to get the results they get. The stated desire is there to change the systems we use. Let’s be able to look back to this point in two years and say that we have made a genuine difference.
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