According to government figures in 2019, 86% of all teachers were from a White British background, compared to 65% of pupils. Three recent reports on diversity look at how likely pupils are to find a teacher, a member of senior management or even learning materials that reflect them and their lives.
It is of course not just about race, though that is often one of the more visible signs of diversity. Two of the reports cover protected characteristics including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
Teachers as role models
The Trust Leaders CEO Conference 2021 in Nottingham on September 29th 2021 discussed research findings and recommendations from the first national research report into equality, diversity and inclusion amongst CEOs in the Academy Trust sector. This was published by Forum Strategy.
The report identified areas where the Trust sector has made some progress but also picked out areas for improvements. Many found this challenging. An unnamed Head of HR at a Trust in the West Midlands said: 'With quality diversity and inclusion, it does take a lot of courage, you do have to be very brave. It's not easy stuff.'
An Executive Principal in London said: 'We need more research, to explore any structural or cultural barriers that are maintaining workplace inequality… perhaps it’s a national body that might be able to provide that information.'
There are experts out there, from the Equalities Commission to the Embedding Race Equality Steering Group led by Naheeda Maharasingam who featured in an earlier edition of the Inclusion Journal. In fact, many would argue that we have the stats, the research and evidence of the scale of the problem but still fail to address the issues.
Two recent posts on Twitter show that in terms of race, disability, gender and sexual orientation things have barely moved on. There may be policies but it is left to individual teachers to address prejudice and accept the challenge of educating children about what diversity looks like in action. On October 1st a teacher called Matt posted
I came out to my class today. There was an incident of a child using 'gay' as an insult. We had a discussion as a class which led to me talking about the fact it insults some of the parents of children in the class. I then said it also insults me because I'm gay too.
There were a few homophobic comments but mostly replies were supportive and a teacher who had recently started to wear hearing aids posted: 'was unsure about whether to say anything, but once I got in the classroom I knew I needed to tell the children. They were fantastic & I hope it will normalise hearing loss & disability for them. '
White, middle aged and middle class
Perhaps with rank and file teachers speaking out when they are still class teachers there will be more diversity in the top tier in years to come. But in the meantime, the overwhelming perception, backed up by figures, is that the majority of CEOS are white, middle aged and middle class.
Children whose families do not fit this profile can easily feel alienated from the school system from early years and are unlikely to see teaching as a future career. And so, the cycle continues.
The report on equality, diversity and inclusion amongst CEOs in the Academy Trust sector focused on three key questions
● What is the current level of diversity among trust CEOs and those aspiring to the role?
● What drives diversity and inclusion issues?
● What are some potential solutions to these diversity and inclusion issues?
The report recognises that levels of diversity amongst trust CEOs and aspiring trust CEOs is poor, but there is also optimism that things are getting better, particularly on gender. In fact, in any gathering of primary CEOs, the current demographic is likely to be white, middle class and female.
Another barrier to diversity is the business model with one named CEO. This seems to make the role more daunting to those who do not routinely see people like themselves in such jobs and who may see themselves as a leader but in a less totemic role.
A Chief Executive at a Trust in the South East commented: 'I don't want to generalise too much because it's far more nuanced than that. But people from different cultures and different sexualities bring different things to the table, they're more collaborative, but here we have that very old model of leadership.'
Diversity needs to extend to governing bodies too. A Chief Executive at a Trust in the East of England said: 'When I became CEO, we had a predominantly white male board, the average age was probably about 75. It did not at all reflect our communities… What we've wanted to do is attract good people to apply to be interviewed. And so consequently, we changed quite a lot, and our board is now just over 50% from a mix of backgrounds, which is brilliant.'
Some schools suggested solutions such as anonymising job applications to ensure inclusion. However, this does not solve the problem of increasing the diversity of applicants. Unless there is a pool of staff from diverse backgrounds in teaching posts, there will not be a ready source of suitable applicants for senior posts. This means there is a danger that promotions become tokenistic and are not necessarily based on merit.
Recruitment is easy, retention is harder
UCL published a report in July 2021 called What makes minority ethnic teachers stay in teaching, or leave? While efforts to recruit new teachers from minority ethnic backgrounds are important, these alone will not resolve the shortage.
Nationally, retention is lower for minority ethnic teachers than for White British teachers (DfE, 2018). Understanding the retention of minority ethnic teachers is vital in addressing the imbalance between the proportion of teachers and pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds in teaching.
The report is based on interviews with 24 teachers: 14 Black teachers, two mixed White and Black heritage teachers and eight teachers from different Asian backgrounds. Nine participants worked in primary and 15 in secondary schools. Thirteen of these teachers were in the profession for over five years and nine for five or less years. The report found that:
1 Racism in the form of microaggressions takes a toll on teachers’ wellbeing, progression and job satisfaction, more than high workload. One teacher said: 'It has nothing to do with workload. It has everything to do with me being a person of colour and the issues that mattered to me, and the voice that I wanted to have as a leader made people uncomfortable.' (Primary female teacher, Pakistani)
2 Minority ethnic teachers are motivated to teach in ethnically diverse urban schools, often with disadvantaged intakes, because they relate to pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and value diversity in the workplace. This teacher referred to unique and satisfying relationships with minority ethnic students as a reason for staying in an otherwise unsupportive school: 'I do feel like I owe it to kids to be in the room and have my perspective.' (Secondary female teacher, Black African)
3 The ethnic diversity of senior leadership teams (SLT) in urban schools with high-minority pupil intakes is important for the overall retention of minority ethnic teachers. Figures from the Mayor of London in 2019 showed that across the UK 86% of teachers and 93% of headteachers were white British. Being seen as a minority is uncomfortable, but research shows that racial congruence between school leaders and staff improves minority ethnic teacher retention
4 Stalled opportunities for career progression are the key retention factor for experienced minority ethnic teachers who felt unfairly passed over for senior posts, leaving many in pursuit of alternative roles outside of the state school sector: 'I look at the people at my school that have been promoted above me or given opportunities to learn, and they’re all White British which I find interesting.' (Primary male teacher, Black African)
5 The SLT plays the key role in creating a supportive organisational culture within ethnically diverse schools. This includes making a conscious effort to develop the racial literacy of SLT to enable a dialogue about ‘race’/ethnicity and equity in school, to support culturally relevant teaching, and to end stereotypical approaches to minority ethnic staff development
Recommendations
- High-quality mentoring
- Improved working conditions
- Opportunities for career development, especially beyond middle leadership roles
- SLT need to have conversations with minority ethnic teachers about their career aspirations and progression
- Beware encouraging teachers to take on roles based on stereotypes, such as pastoral roles for Black teachers
- All staff claims of racism (both overt and covert) should be investigated and reported
- Schools need to identify practices that have negative effects (unintended or otherwise) on minority ethnic teachers and pupils
Celebrating different cultures
Pearson surveyed 1,003 teaching staff via online surveys between 10-17th December 2019 and 1,000 teaching staff between 31st July - 17th August 2020 to capture their views on education. Teaching staff include school leaders, middle leaders, classroom teachers and teaching assistants working in UK primary and secondary schools. The results were issued to coincide with a series of events.
Drawing on the views of 2,000 UK teachers during 2019 and 2020, Pearson's Diversity and Inclusion in Schools Report reveals that four in five (80%) UK teachers believe that more can be done to celebrate diverse cultures, people and experiences in UK education. This suggests that limited progress has been made.
However, on the up side, two in three (66%) agreed that the Black Lives Matter movement had made them evaluate what they teach in schools and question the diversity of the curriculum.
The majority of teachers also feel confident talking to their students about topics such as gender equality, the Black Lives Matter movement and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Younger staff members and those who work in secondary schools tend to feel more comfortable discussing LGBT+ and non-binary definitions than their older colleagues or those teaching at a primary level.
Why schools need to reflect diversity
Aside from issues of equity, wellbeing is key area of concern right now and as the charity Mind has noted, loneliness and feelings of isolation can be associated with an increased risk of certain mental health problems, including depression, anxiety and low self-esteem. While there are many different causes of loneliness, the charity believes that individuals are more vulnerable to loneliness if they:
- Belong to minority groups and live in an area without others from a similar background
- Are excluded from social activities due to mobility problems or a shortage of money
- Experience discrimination and stigma because of a disability or long-term health problem, including mental health problems
- Experience discrimination and stigma because of gender, race or sexual orientation
Josh Garry, a teacher, reflected on the limitations of the history curriculum: 'The first time I encountered someone like myself in the history curriculum was the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. I hated it. It was so painful because for such a long time I had been presented with figures who are powerful and made significant changes and then I was suddenly presented with people who looked like me, but were nameless and who seemed like they had no agency or power. It didn’t give me anything to be proud of.
Way before we teach our students about the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade, we explore African civilisations like Mansa Musa and the Mali Empire. We also look at how BAME communities contributed to the development of Britain. Migration is a key topic, as it helps students to understand that being British isn’t inextricably linked to being white. There were Africans in Britain before the English came.
It’s not just about race though, I feel that women, working class and LGBT+ communities could also be way more represented in the history curriculum.' Diversity and Inclusion in Schools Report
How diverse is education today?
Three in five (61%) leaders, teachers and assistants believe that the education provided in UK schools today reflects the diversity of pupils and the world around them. However, the report noted a rise in the number of teachers who think otherwise. Where a quarter (26%) of teaching staff felt that education did not reflect the diversity of their students in the December 2019 survey, fast forward to August 2020 and this increased to one in three (32%).
More than half of UK teaching staff say that non-binary and LGBT+ groups are not represented in the resources, topics and materials that are taught in schools. Around a third say the same for disadvantaged groups and those with SEND or additional needs. At the other end of the scale, the most represented groups in school resources, topics and materials are white British; women / girls and men / boys.
Only two in 10 (20%) teaching staff who completed the December 2019 survey felt that Black, Asian and minority ethnicities were ‘very represented’ in the content that is taught in schools. Indeed, more than a third (34%) of senior and middle leaders went as far as to say that BAME groups were not reflected in school topics, resources and materials.
Many argue that education today is about teaching to the test as schools are primarily rated on exam success. However, it is also about preparing young people for adulthood. This involves promoting a 'greater understanding and acceptance of different cultures, abilities, families, and people.'
Our society has changed but the public face of schools, from management to the teacher workforce to the curriculum, no longer accurately reflects the world outside. Perhaps it is time to stop gathering evidence and to focus on projects and initiatives that might just redress the balance.
References
Forum Strategy -the first national research report into equality, diversity & inclusion amongst CEOs in the Academy Trust sector.https://forumstrategy.org/forum-strategy-publish-the-first-national-research-report-into-equality-diversity-inclusion-amongst-ceos-in-the-trust-sector/
UCL July 21 What makes minority ethnic teachers stay in teaching, or leave? Looking at the retention factors affecting teachers from minority ethnic groups and implications for schools.
Materials Pearson Diversity and inclusion in schools report https://www.pearson.com/uk/educators/schools/issues/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-and-inclusion-in-schools-report.html