If you scan the academic literature from the last 70 years you will quickly see that questions of race, racism and teaching are not new, and have been debated for decades. And yet, it was interesting to see the surge of emotion and the subsequent urgency to take action from the education sector following the murder of US citizen, George Floyd, at the hands of police in May 2020.
I am one of the co-founders of the grassroots anti-racist charity The BAMEed Networ. I also work as a coach on the Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality's Anti-Racist School Award and a doctoral researcher at Leeds Beckett University exploring unlearning racism in a school context.
The BAMEed Networkn working with schools for nearly five years on issues around representation, diversity, staff progression and anti-racism in the education sector.
Our inbox is always busy, but since last year especially, it has been inundated with requests for support from every level, be that CEOs of major education organisations, leaders of teacher unions, senior staff at local education authorities, multi-academy trusts or diocesan boards of education. We also hear from headteachers and leaders from individual schools, individuals from within the junior ranks of school staff, or parents, governors and even young people themselves.
Across the board, people are looking for answers and seem ready and willing to take steps to ensure that their own practice is inclusive and actively anti-racist.