Whistle-blowers are damn nuisances aren’t they?
Written by Sonia Elmer-Soman
Sonia Elmer-Soman has a background in both law and education. She is a qualified law lecturer and has many years’ experience working as a legal practitioner in two prestigious law firms in the City and now within a reputable law firm local to her home town in Essex. She is also a qualified primary school teacher and is a guest writer for professional journals.
– The Pitfalls of Whistleblowing in UK Schools –
Official figures from the Standards and Testing Agency revealed that 793 maladministration investigations were carried out in 2018 – a rise of more than 50% in two years according to the Independent.
Data compiled and analysed from the Teaching Regulation Agency, shows us that sexually motivated and other inappropriate conduct was the reason for a third of teaching bans between 2013 and 2018.
The charity, Protect, say that between 2020 and 2022 they received the highest number of calls about wrongdoing in the education sector than any other profession. In the majority of cases concerns will have been raised by well- intentioned individuals or, as legislation has it, – Whistle-blowers.
What is whistleblowing?
Whistleblowing occurs when an employee raises a concern about an alleged wrongdoing, including corrupt, illegal or unethical behaviours in a public or private sector organisation. The disclosure must be in the public interest and not for private gain.
Emma Knights, the Chief Executive of the National Governance Association, writes ‘Arguably the need to speak out is important in the education sector, which deals with young and vulnerable people , people to whom there is an overriding duty of care’.
What are the pitfalls faced by whistle-blowers?
In reality, many whistle-blowers say they face micro-aggressions, spurious claims of misconduct, gas-lighting and compromised or lost career opportunities.
Writing for Protect, Louise O’Neill explains how ‘gas-lighting’ involves the whistle-blower being told ‘they have not quite understood the situation’, that what they witnessed is ‘part of a bigger picture’ and that it is they who have ‘failed to fit in’.
O’Neill cites psychologist Doctor Jennifer Freyd (https/www.jjfreyd.com/about-research) when explaining the concept of ‘DARVO’ – Deny, Accuse, Reverse, Victim and Offender. So now the whistle-blower will hear comments as ‘You are intimidating and harassing me’ and ‘Your messages are harassing and hurtful to me’.
Discrimination following whistle-blowing does not end when the whistle-blower leaves the school gates. ‘Work and life intertwine in teaching’, ‘with threads running into and over other threads’.
Whistle-blowers may never have come across the term and it is not a particularly helpful one. They may not know that a school has a whistle-blowing policy and there are strict guidelines to follow.
There is no legal aid available for whistle-blowers and legal advice can be expensive. Furthermore, what falls within the arena of a protected disclosure can be confusing.
The All Party Parliamentary Group believes that legislation is no longer ‘fit for purpose’. They are seeking a revised definition of whistle-blowing to include ‘any harmful violation of integrity and ethics’, even when not criminal or illegal.
Mis-stepping.
Without access to legal advice before, during and after whistle-blowing, it is likely that a whistle-blower will find themselves having to evidence concerns, mend reputational damage and deal with resulting treatment, causing them to mis-step in the process or face detriment even when they have followed due process.
For instance, a professional couple were forced out of their jobs from a school in the south of England for exposing ‘systematic exam malpractice’. Rianna Croxford. ‘Whistleblowers: We spoke out and lost our jobs’. (15th July 2019) BBC News. (bbc.co.uk).
It is a failing in the system that claims of unfavourable treatment following whistleblowing are commonly dealt with under an internal grievance policy. This means that the organisation whom concerns have been raised against, is then in charge of determining the outcome.
In one case, a SEN teacher lost her job when a panel found she had stood on a pupil’s foot while he screamed, pushed a pupil down when he tried to get up and shouted and screamed at children. However, the teaching assistant who raised concern was ostracised and ultimately dismissed from her position.
Laura Fatah, Policy Officer of Protect writes “The problem of accessing justice when you’ve lost your job, have no lawyer, and are facing a strong armed employer is sadly all too familiar’.
Croxford reports only 3% of the 1,369 employment tribunal cases brought in connection with test maladministration between 2017 and 2018 were successful according to Government figures. A report by the University of Greenwich found that when examining employment tribunal outcomes between 2015-2018, women who whistle-blow are less likely to be represented or succeed.
What are the challenges and benefits of whistle-blowing for leadership?
School leaders perform a delicate balancing act in protecting all stakeholders including the rights of individual(s) whom claims are made against.
Dealing with concerns effectively can demonstrate an appetite for improvement, minimise the risk of more serious breaches, enhance structural practices, increase productivity, retain vital skills and encourage the best applicants.
Failing to listen and investigate concerns can result in reputational damage and time lost in defending claims and resulting legal proceedings.
Perhaps the worst injustice, however, is to the very people to whom there is an overriding duty of care and for whom the vast majority of staff work tirelessly to educate and safeguard – the children. Every child Matters. Every school day matters. Every year group matters.
Let’s Fix It.
Protect is seeking to reform the law so that whistle-blowers have access to greater legal support and guidance, while Baroness Kramer’s Bill introducing an Office of the Whistle-blower is working its way through the House of Lords. Schools which are geared up to deal with concerns effectively, will already be ahead of the curve whatever future changes in law and practice may follow.
How can leadership teams engage effectively with whistle-blowers?
- Look and interpret facts and patterns. Have concerns been raised before?
- Containing a situation is not the same as dealing with it.
- Do not make the whistle-blower do your job. Whistle-blowers are witnesses/messengers, not investigators.
- Maintain confidentiality.
- Avoid impromptu, unrepresented meetings.
- Avoid polarising individuals, as this serves only to distract from the original concern.
- Create a safe environment in which stakeholders can voluntarily disclose mistakes/breaches.
- Roll out training on your School’s whistle-blowing policy.
- Embed a culture of honesty.
- Imagine potential harm if an individual turned the other cheek to something they knew to be wrong, because they have seen how a previous whistle-blower was treated.
- Consider whether it is appropriate to have staff and Governors as eg, Facebook “Friends”, who have access to and are commenting on every aspect of your personal life.
- Look around your School. Who sits on your leadership team and at the table of the Board of Governors? Is diversity reflected anywhere? Lack of such can lead to conformity of thought and exclusion in dealing with concerns.
What can whistle-blowers do to mitigate loss?
- Consult with a Solicitor, the CAB, ACAS or speak with Protect or WhistleblowerUK before you raise the concern and harness that support going forward.
- Read the whistle-blowing policy before raising a concern.
- Be clear what and why you are raising a concern.
- Ensure meetings are scheduled, recorded and you are represented.
- Be realistic. Potentially harmful cultures are rarely remedied by one person/small group particularly if lower down in the hierarchy.
- Avoid Colluding with other colleagues/witnesses. Others may speak up or they may not. Be prepared to go it alone.
- Be patient. Potentially harmful cultures will take time to unpick if found to be present.
- Do not sign any document (eg, NDA) without getting legal advice.
- Check in with your mental wellbeing. The institution will stand long after you have gone. If there isn’t the vision for change, you alone are not responsible for it.
‘Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching’ (C.S. Lewis)
Against the backdrop of a system that is largely autonomous and results driven, structures and procedures can become ethical quagmires and a perfect storm for conflict.
Protect asks us to hold each-other to account courageously. Indeed, there is a moral imperative to do so.
‘School leaders can find themselves in uncomfortable positions’, but by working together ‘the best leaders will use the experience as a catalyst for change’.
Conversion therapy is a safeguarding issue for educators
Written by EJ-Francis Caris-Hamer
Mx EJ-Francis Caris-Hamer is a PhD student at the University of Essex within the Department of Sociology. Ze has worked, as a qualified teacher, within the education sector for 20 years, working in both 11-19 sector and Higher Education.
I woke up this morning to read the news that a leaked document shows the government decided to U turn on their commitment to ban conversion therapy. In 2018 the conservative government pledged to ban the practice (Government Equalities Office, 2018) and this was confirmed in the Queen’s speech in 2021 (ITV News, 2022). My heart truly sank hearing this news because it felt as though the U turn was a decision based on political interests rather than an evidence-based health decision (Cramer et al, 2008; Independent Forensic Expert Group, 2020). Fast forward to the BBC News, 46 minutes ago, the updated stance reads that the conservative government now does plan to ban conversion therapy practices in England and Wales for sexual orientation identity, but will remain legal for transgender identities (BBC News, 2022).
What is Conversion Therapy (CT)?
Conversion Therapy (CT) is also known as ‘Cure’ therapy or ‘Reparative’ therapy. It is any “form of treatment or psychotherapy which aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or supress a person’s gender identity” (Stonewall, 2021). These therapies are both unethical and harmful to the person undergoing such treatment and have been condemned by the World Health Organisation and NHS (The Guardian, April 2021) and the United Nations in June 2020 (Stonewall Survey, 2020).
Why is CT a safeguarding issue for educators to be aware of?
The charity Galop surveyed 5000 LGBTQIA+ people in February 2022. They found that 1/3rd of those surveyed suffered abuse from a relative due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity and for 2/3rds this started when they were under the age of 18, worryingly 30% were under the age of 11 (Galop, 2022). If you identify as trans or non-binary, you are more likely to be subjected to abuse (43%). Abuse includes verbal threats, harassment, facing threats or actual homelessness, and even physical violence. 5% reported relatives subjecting them to conversion practices and the statistic increases to 11% if the person identified as trans or non-binary. Thus, it is essential that the government should also include gender identity when considering a ban of CT.
As educators, it is essential to have an awareness of these statistics and practices, just as we perceive FGM, we should be perceiving the findings from Galop and CT practices as coercion and abuse. As Leni Morris, CEO of the charity Galop, states:
“Anti-LGBTQIA+ abuse from family members is often misinterpreted by statutory services as ‘generational differences’ or having ‘different values’ rather than seeing it for what it is really is – domestic abuse” (Brooks, 2022).
Thankfully and rightly so, today we would never accept such justifications in relation to domestic violence. We need to consider Anti-LGBTQIA+ abuse in the same sense.
What can we as educators do to support young LGBTQIA+ people?
As part of safeguarding, we need to demand from school leaders the time and space to understand the potential harm that families and CT practices can cause the students we teach. We need to recognise the signs of students who could be vulnerable. It is important to recognise that identifying as part of the LGBTQIA+ community is not a safeguarding issue per se, but Anti-LGBTQIA+ abuse including CT practices is a safeguarding concern and the harmful impact it has on students. Even more importantly, students need to be empowered to spot the signs for themselves, or their peers (in support of the ‘no bystander’ agenda). This can only be achieved through awareness.
As a PhD researcher addressing queer inclusion in education, I have heard stories of teachers explaining how students have been threatened with CT by their parents or other authority/guardian figures. As a qualified teacher myself, I also recognise the time constraints that educators have when trying to find the time to research and become increasingly aware of the issues surrounding abuse for LGBTQIA+ young people. As a result, I attach two resource documents as a starting point:
Document one – This is for all staff working in education. This document is to inform you regarding the impact of CT practices and support organisations for young people. This document can be used to inform you as an educator to discuss with students and can be converted into a CPD session under the umbrella term safeguarding.
Document two – Lesson plan which can be delivered to students as part of PSHE/RSE and Citizenship. This increases their awareness and helps them to maintain safeguarding for themselves and their peers regarding CT practices. As educators, we should be campaigning to ensure that such lessons are taught within PSHE.
Sometimes to ensure effective safeguarding practices, we have to embrace our roles as trailblazers, reaching beyond the limitations of current legislation. The right thing to do is always the right thing to do.
References:
BBC News (2022) Conversion Therapy: Ban to go ahead but not cover trans people. Available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60947028 Accessed: 01/04/2022.
Brooks, L. (2022) Third of British LGBTQIA+ people experience abuse by relatives. The Guardian. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/01/third-of-young-british-lgbtq-people-experience-abuse-by-relatives Accessed: 01/04/2022.
Cramer, R.J. Golom, F.D. LoPresto, C.T. Kirkley, S.M. (2008) Weighing the Evidence: Empirical Assessment and Ethical Implications of Conversion Therapy, Ethics & Behavior. 18(1), 93-114. DOI: 10.1080/10508420701713014
Galop (2022) LGBTQIA+ Experiences of Abuse from Family Members. Available: https://galop.org.uk/resource/lgbt-experiences-of-abuse-from-family-members/ Accessed: 01/04/2022.
Government Equalities Office (2018) LGBT Action Plan. Available: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_da ta/file/721367/GEO-LGBT-Action-Plan.pdf Accessed: 27/09/2021.
Independent Forensic Expert Group (2020) Statement on Conversion Therapy. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. 72 Available: https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S1752928X20300366?token=8C9A2BA4EA68E779A55552541F25EF74A6AC11D3BD64468097DE1C0B9C2A010FAA1064483ABF807884D555610390F27B&originRegion=eu-west-1&originCreation=20220402095216 Accessed 01/11/2021.
ITV News (2022) Exclusive: Government ditches ban on conversion therapy, according to leaked document. Available: https://www.itv.com/news/2022-03-31/exclusive-government-ditches-ban-on-conversion-therapy-leaked-document-shows Accessed: 01/04/2022.
Stonewall Survey (2020) Conversion Therapy and Gender Identity Survey. Available: www.stonewall.org.uk/system/files/2020_conversion_therapy_and_gender_identity_survey.pdf Accessed: 08/09/2021.
Stonewall (2021) Conversion Therapy. Available: www.stonewall.org.uk/campaign-groups/conversion-therapy Accessed: 07/09/2021.
The Guardian (April, 2021) Why are gay conversion practices still legal in the UK? Available: www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2021apr/02/why-is-gay-conversion-therapy-still-legal-uk Accessed: 07/09/2021.
A Call for Action
Written by Esther Mustamu-Daniels
Esther Mustamu-Daniels has 20 years of teaching experience working in London and the Middle East as a Class teacher, Education officer, Middle Leader and DEI Lead. Currently working at British School Muscat, Esther co-leads the DEI work across the whole school.
I read the most horrific story of a child being sexually assaulted by police in her school. Her teachers did nothing to protect her. Her parents were not called. She was strip searched while in the middle of an exam while on her menstrual cycle. She was not allowed to clean herself after. She was not checked upon to see if she was ok and then she was sent back to her exam to continue it. All by people who are supposed to protect and look after her. All I kept thinking about was what if this was my child? This happened two years ago and the conclusion of the investigation is that ‘racism was likely to have been an influencing factor’.
Unacceptable. The child is now in therapy traumatised by these events and now self harming.
What if this was your daughter? What would you do?
I have been thinking about the reports of Ukraine. How our children feel hearing these reports. Not only of the African students who have been denied entry on to trains and through borders but also of the reporting. How black and brown lives are deemed lesser and how this is normalised in our media. What impact is this having on our children? On all of them? How wars in certain countries are acceptable but in others ‘horrific’. How western media is more sympathetic towards a ‘type’ of refugee. What are we sharing with our children? With all of them? What are we teaching them? What kind of world are we showing them exists?
There are so many stories in the media that show our children the unjust and prejudiced way of the world; how can we counteract this? How can we show them that they are all important? That their lives matter? Put yourselves in their shoes and think about the messages that they are receiving. Think about what you can do to counter that.
If you are a teacher, what do you show your children? The stories and images you choose to share have a huge impact. The authors you share and the lessons you teach that include positive role models, narratives and histories will all have an impact. Are you considering the impact that current events are having on your children? What are you doing to support them? Are you calling out if you see racist or biased behaviour?
If you are a leader, what are you doing to counter these messages? Are you holding spaces for people to share and raise concerns with you? Are you actively trying to ensure that your establishment does not reinforce these messages? What policies do you have in place? What training do you have in place? If you are not aware or are not sure how to navigate these situations, are you seeking support and advice from those who do know?
This is a call for action to break these biases. Are you aware of what some of your children and colleagues may be facing? Are you aware of some of their experiences? Could you even be responsible for some of their experiences? Imagine it was you? Imagine it was your family? What would you do? What will you do? What action will you take? What will you do today to support our future generations and all of our children and adults who are impacted and continue to be impacted by the traumas they witness?
Take action for what is right in whichever area you occupy. We all have the power to take this action and make a difference so that the bias stops. So our children and our communities are safe; psychologically and physically. What will you do?
Teachers Working from Home - Working Hard or Hardly Working?
Written by Lindsay Patience
Lindsay Patience is the co-founder of Flexible Teacher Talent. She is a Teach First Ambassador, a School Leader and a mother.
A recent TeacherTapp question asked how people felt about heads, senior leaders and teachers having a regular day to work from home. Here are the results:
Should HEADTEACHERS be allowed a regular day to work from home?
13% Strongly agree 30% Agree (43%)
22% Disagree 22% Strongly disagree (44%)
Should SENIOR LEADERS be allowed a regular day to work from home?
11% Strongly agree 30% Agree (41%)
27% Disagree 22% Strongly disagree (49%)
Should TEACHERS be allowed a regular day to work from home?
14% Strongly agree 33% Agree (47%)
30% Disagree 14% Strongly disagree (44%)
Obviously, given my love of all things flexible working, these responses left me perplexed and frustrated. Why shouldn’t heads, senior leaders and teachers work from home one day a week? What if they would do a better job if they worked from home? What if that meant we had better retention, recruitment, motivation and productivity in the education sector? Why do more people disagree that senior leaders should be allowed to work from home than they do for heads? What could it be that made people disagree with this?
Is it because they think school staff need to be in school?
Of course, they do. But all the time? Not all of our working time is in front of out pupils. In fact, heads have the least contact time in the classroom or elsewhere with students, so they have the greatest opportunity to work from home. Similar for senior leaders. Working from home is more possible for them because they don’t have so many face-to-face lessons.
The lockdowns showed us (in a very unplanned and unexpected way) that a great deal can be achieved away from the school site. It obviously was not an idyllic situation and outcomes and working conditions were often inferior to what we could have achieved in school, but there were some aspects that showed us we didn’t need to all be on site, all of the time. Staff communication, briefings, CPD, parents meetings, using software for assessment and for meetings and many other things. If we could make some of those things work when we were thrown with no warning into such an unprecedented situation and some of them were effective, just imagine how successful they might be if they were planned and utilised strategically. Working from home is one of those things.
Is it because the more senior you are, the more important it is that you are in school?
Heads and senior leaders often have administrative or strategic work to do that would be better conducted privately, quietly, uninterrupted in a work environment that suits them. This may not be in school. This might also be true for teachers, why does PPA have to be on-site? I have never been able to plan effectively at school. My best planning is when I am at home with time and space to reflect and I find it more conducive to creativity. I mark best in cafes, in fact it is the only place I can productively mark away from distractions at school and home.
Maybe those who disagreed just did so because it doesn’t seem possible?
Full time teachers with 10% PPA get half a week out of class, not one full day. So maybe they interpreted the question as one day a week and immediately said no as they assumed it meant time away from classes?
Or maybe there is something else going on here as mentioned in the Teacher Tapp blog on the findings. They mention the “phenomenon that people typically don’t like it when their colleagues are given a benefit which won’t be extended to them.”
Why did more people disagree about senior leaders than heads? Is it something about the job role? You have to be present and in school dealing with issues as they come up? More important as a senior leader than as the head?
Is it because we just don’t trust people to work from home?
Media coverage of the pandemic showed that there is a sentiment that those working from home rather than the office are not working as hard. There are images of people lounging around in their PJs, looking after their kids at the same time, generally not working hard. But really this just boils down to lack of trust in people as professionals. So what if someone works in their PJs if they still get the work done, maybe they are more productive in their PJs. Accountability is important but it doesn’t disappear when people work from home. They still have to do the work and get the results. Some managers just find it problematic if they can’t heavily supervise and monitor workers and so don’t trust them to work from home. Echoes of this are shown again with Teacher Tapp data from the following week suggesting only 15% of teachers are allowed to have their PPA time off site. Why is this figure so low? Why can’t teachers do their planning, preparation and assessment time outside of school? It is dedicated time when they are not to be scheduled for contact time or other commitments so why can’t they have more autonomy in where and how they use this time?
The positives of working from home
Well, here is why I was strongly agree that some time working from home would be good for teachers, senior leaders and head teachers:
Working from home is more productive
A study by Standford of 16,000 workers over 9 months found that working from home increase productivity by 13%. This was attributed to a quieter more convenient working environment and fewer breaks and sick days. Workers also reported improved work satisfaction, and the rate of employees leaving was cut by 50%.
77% of those who work remotely at least a few times per month show increased productivity, with 30% doing more work in less time and 24% doing more work in the same period of time according to a survey by ConnectSolutions.
A study conducted by Ask.com found that 86% of employees prefer to work by themselves when they are trying to be as productive as possible. There are many tasks that would be much easier without constant interruption. Schools are noisy, busy places by their nature. They are also not always particularly well kitted out or designed as staff work spaces.
And in schools, better productivity, means better outcomes for our pupils, but also better use of public money.
Working from home attracts and retains a diverse staff
What if your heads, senior leaders and teachers can’t work full time? What if they don’t want to work full time? Without flexible working, you miss out of candidates, you miss out on diversity, you miss out on experience and perspective and the opportunity for effective succession planning and development.
Working from home makes us happier
Another US study reported that 82 percent of telecommuters said their overall stress level was lower, while 80 percent reported higher morale because they worked remotely. Other reported benefits of working from home include: less commuting time and more time for wellbeing. Time spent working from home can mean more time for hobbies/pets/time with family/exercise. We are better teachers if we are happier, which is better for students, and relationships, and retention etc.
Also, just give the people what they want! 91% of the UK’s office workers would like to work from home at least part of the time. I know teachers aren’t office workers as such but such overwhelming positivity about working from home must be somewhat reflected also in out staff bodies. It is also worth considering that if office jobs continue to offer hybrid work environments but schools do not, it will be harder to recruit career changers and those currently working in schools who are looking to leave may find more attractive working conditions in other industries.
So that turned into quite a long essay in support of working from home! But I feel strongly that if the education sector doesn’t embrace flexible working and make changes to facilitate it then our schools are missing out on diversity, retention, motivation and productivity that is crucial for our children. Working from home doesn’t mean never being on site, flexible working doesn’t mean teachers walking out on a class in the middle of the day. Our traditional school structures don’t lend themselves well to flexible working but more importantly neither do our attitudes and the cultures in our schools. Flex can work in schools, there is a growing evidence base of case studies showing this, but we need to change how we think about flexible working. Embrace the benefits and make changes to allow them to be taken advantage of.
Working from home reads/references
Has the use of VAK changed at all since 2018? – Teacher Tapp
Surprising Working From Home Productivity Statistics (2022) (apollotechnical.com)
How Working from Home Makes People Happier – Remote.co
The productivity pitfalls of working from home in the age of COVID-19 | Stanford News
Ten Facts You Should Know About Telecommuting (baselinemag.com)
Coronavirus: Why some people want to keep working from home – BBC News
The Need for Equity in Education for Those Trying to Conceive
Written by Caroline Biddle
Consultant, fertility coach and fertility advocate. Founder of Fertility Issues in Teaching.
The journey to parenthood isn’t always straightforward, with assisted conception being a route for many couples and individuals.
1 in 6 people in the UK are infertile, and in the last 10 years there has been an increase in women in same sex relationships looking to assisted conception for support to grow their families, as well a significant rise in those deciding to head down the route of fertility treatment to become a solo parent.
Female employees need time out of work to access fertility treatment
Male infertility accounts for 50% of infertility, nevertheless it’s women who require the time out of work to attend clinic appointments for scans and surgery.
The Teachers’ Fertility Treatment Survey is the first ever survey of its kind, gathering data from female teachers (including those who have left education) that have accessed assisted conception in the past 10 years. Data collected from the survey will provide an accurate insight of what is happening in schools in England and Wales as we unearth:
- How career progression of these women has been affected
- The percentage of schools that have fertility policies in place
- The impact of the support and the lack of support on female staff accessing assisted conception
- The wellbeing of staff members receiving fertility treatment
Employees can be surprised to learn that assisted conception in most school HR policies is referred to as ‘elective treatment’, meaning they find themselves compared with someone who wishes to have a breast enhancement during term time.
Categorising fertility treatment as elective is outdated.
The word ‘elective’ implies that fertility treatment is a lifestyle choice. This is discriminative terminology towards those with the disease of infertility and also to those in same sex relationships and who need assisted conception to have a biological child, or women who require treatment to become a solo parent for reasons such as having no partner, or having recently come out of a long term relationship.
Why we need assisted conception policies in the workplace
We need assisted conception policies in every workplace. In schools this policy will ensure that all teachers who are trying to conceive, no matter what their circumstance, are included, protected and supported.
Thousands of teachers are leaving the teaching profession every year, due to burn out or a change in personal circumstance. Some of these teachers leave education due to a dip in ambition following a lack of support following fertility treatment.
How to make policy inclusive and equitable for all employees
When writing your fertility workplace policy consider the following to avoid discrimination:
- Use non-gender specific language
- Allow partners (or those supporting someone who has no partner) to attend all fertility appointments.
- Be cautious not to discriminate against relationship status
- Be mindful of the sexual orientation of colleagues when writing a workplace fertility policy
- Be inclusive of the ages of those opting into assisted conception
- Avoid putting a limit on time off per cycle, everyone will need a different amount of time dependent on their personal circumstances—no two fertility journeys are the same
Life beyond the policy
A workplace fertility policy is a great starting point for schools wishing to be supportive of their staff who’re trying to conceive. There is however still work to be done from here.
To find out about the work Fertility Issues in Teaching offer, you can get in touch through the website, where you’ll also find helpful blog posts and information around free upcoming webinars.
Section 28 is still hanging over us – but you don’t have to be a LGBT+ expert to make your school inclusive
Written by Dominic Arnall
Chief Executive of Just Like Us, the LGBT+ young people's charity.
One in five (17%) teachers in the UK are uncomfortable discussing LGBT+ topics with their pupils, our new research at Just Like Us has found.
It may have been 18 years since Section 28 was repealed in England and Wales but clearly things have not changed as much as we like to think. Growing up LGBT+ is still unacceptably tough, as a result, and huge challenges also remain for LGBT+ school staff who are often afraid to come out in their workplace or to pupils.
Just Like Us’ latest research also found that only a third (29%) of teachers are ‘completely comfortable’ talking about lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans topics in the classroom, despite government guidance of course reinforcing the need to include LGBT+ topics.
We found that primary school teachers are even less comfortable with discussing LGBT+ topics at school, with 19% saying they are uncomfortable and only 25% ‘completely comfortable’, despite OFSTED requiring primary schools to include different types of families – such as same-sex parents – in lessons.
The survey, commissioned by Just Like Us – the LGBT+ young people’s charity – and carried out independently by Teacher Tapp surveyed 6,179 primary and secondary school teachers across the UK. So we know this is sadly not an anomaly.
Why does this matter? Well Just Like Us’ report Growing Up LGBT+ found that having positive messaging about LGBT+ people in schools is linked to all students having better mental health and feeling safer – regardless of whether they’re LGBT+ or not. The evidence is there: LGBT+ inclusion in schools really is beneficial for everyone’s wellbeing.
When so many teachers say they’re uncomfortable discussing LGBT+ topics, such as mentioning that some families have lesbian mums, this has serious knock-on effects for LGBT+ young people’s wellbeing and mental health, who are currently twice as likely to be bullied and have depression. Having silence around LGBT+ topics only results in shame, stigma and students feeling that they don’t belong in school.
We don’t blame teachers for feeling uncomfortable. Some school staff simply may not have had the resources or personal life experiences – but all you need is a willingness to support your pupils and Just Like Us can help provide lesson plans, assemblies, talks and training so that you feel confident discussing LGBT+ topics with your pupils.
It’s also essential that we get the message out that teachers don’t need to be experts on LGBT+ topics to support their LGBT+ pupils.
You also don’t need to be LGBT+. Often we see in schools that this vital inclusion work falls to staff who are LGBT+ themselves rather than all school staff taking on the responsibility of making their school a safe, happy and welcoming place for all of their young people. This work doesn’t need to be done by LGBT+ staff – in fact, how amazing is it for students to see adults in their lives being proactive allies?
One incredible teacher, who is an ally, and a brilliant example of this is Zahara Chowdhury, who teaches at Beaconsfield High and the Beaconsfield School, in Buckinghamshire. She says it’s a “human responsibility” to include LGBT+ topics in the classroom and has been the driving force behind School Diversity Week celebrations at her schools.
It all starts with a willingness to support your students or simply diversify your lessons using our free resources – sign up for School Diversity Week and you’ll get a digital pack of everything you need to kickstart inclusion at your school.
Already doing this work? Let a colleague or fellow educator at another school know by sharing this blog – the more we share resources and reassure staff that you don’t need to be LGBT+ nor an expert, the sooner and better we can ensure all young people feel safer and happier in school.
Diversifying the Curriculum, A Perspective
Written by Diana Ohene-Darko
Assistant Head, Pinner Park Primary School; Interim Deputy Headteacher, Holy Trinity Primary School, Finchley; Senior Consultant, Educating for Equality.
Currently, I work in a large London primary school as an Assistant Headteacher. I am a champion for, and have worked extensively on, equality education and children’s rights. We are in a great time of momentum in advocating for racial justice in education. I want to see a curriculum that reflects all the children and families we serve so that there is an inherent sense of identity and belonging.
Introduction
This article aims to shed light on the current situation with regard to race relations in education and diversifying the curriculum. Is diversifying it enough? Considering key documents and events, the article outlines what can be done in order for diversification of the curriculum to take place, or even before it takes place. I offer a perspective on celebrating and appreciating the pupils and staff we serve, rather than ‘tolerating’ each other. In essence, diversity needs to go mainstream.
In May 2020, George Floyd was brutally murdered, and the world was watching. His death sparked a global movement for change, not just for equality but also for equity of outcomes for Black people and people of colour—the global majority1.
In the UK, over 92% of Headteachers are White (DfE, 2021) serving a nationally diverse population. Before even thinking about diversifying, or indeed decolonising the curriculum, there has to be groundwork done in so far as personal reflection for unconscious bias across educational institutions as a whole and for practitioners individually. Time, hard work and commitment are needed to address issues of bias towards the global ethnic majority here in the UK, other disadvantaged groups and those belonging to protected characteristics. Race relations are at a pivotal point in education. Addressing biases is vital to ensuring at least a reasonable understanding of, and appreciation for, all people—and it is about time. By addressing unconscious biases and diversifying the curriculum, education can create a culture of belonging where each individual is celebrated for who they are, rather than being tolerated.
A call for change
It is not enough to say that there are ‘negative calls for decolonising the curriculum’ (Sewell, 2021). No longer can racism be tolerated. No longer can discrimination go unnoticed. No longer can micro-aggressions go unchallenged. Protected characteristics are protected for a reason- they safeguard who we are, our very core of being. Being protected by law carries weight and should be upheld.
How will each child leave school better than when they came? What ‘suitcase’ of learning will they leave with, having spent years in education, ready to travel the world with? How does a child of faith feel represented in the curriculum, for example? What about those from a disadvantaged background? A one-parent family? Those with same-sex parents? How does the curriculum seek to represent the broader population of Britain in all its glory of cultures, ethnicities, traditions, languages and families? Where do children belong? How do educational settings foster a sense of belonging that sees children and young people feel completely at home and at peace with who they are to erase the question of, ‘Where are you from?’ Or worse in response to ‘I was born here’, ‘No but where are you really from?’ In order to demonstrate that we, as practitioners value our learners, the curriculum needs to be ‘truly national’ (Alexander et al. 2015).
The current picture
Some schemes have already sought to address the issue of wider representation, such as the Jigsaw PSHE scheme (2021) and the Discovery RE (2021) programme. In their provision, they offer examples of different families and scenarios that are inclusive of wider society. Some schools are already making headway by creating their own learning journeys for children and young people. They offer urban adventure curricula, for example, and use the new [EYFS] reforms as a basis by which to advance already good practice with a specific focus on what exactly they want children to experience and achieve in order that they become well-rounded individuals, including talking about race. One example of this is Julien Grenier’s extensive work on curricular goals which see children learning to sew a stitch, ride a balance bike and bake a bread roll in Nursery. All aspirational, real-life outcomes for children, no matter their race, background or socio-economic class. On the face of it, there seems no link to race. However, by setting the bar high for all children at the same time, education is, in fact, providing an equality-first experience for our young ones where no learner is left behind.
Consideration of history
The National Curriculum of 1999 (Key Stages One and Two) sought to allow,
‘schools to meet the individual learning needs of pupils and to develop a distinctive character and ethos rooted in their local communities,’ (1999, pp.12).
Then came the (Primary) National Curriculum of 2014 which called for a curriculum that was ‘balanced and broadly based’ (2013, pp.5) promoting the development of the whole child and where teachers were to ‘take account of their duties’ (pp.8) where protected characteristics were concerned. The difficulty is, there are so many unconscious biases at play that even before a diverse curriculum can be devised, attitudes and unconscious biases must be addressed in the first instance as part of initial teacher-training and as part of the wider continuing professional development provision in schools.
The murder of Stephen Lawrence in April 1993 sparked a national debate around race and the impact of structural and institutional racism here in the UK, namely in the police force. As part of its findings, the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report (1999), stated that education should value cultural diversity and prevent racism ‘in order better to reflect the needs of a diverse society’ (Macpherson Report, 1999 pp. 382).
With a curriculum that spans British history across both primary and secondary phases, the representation of a generation of Commonwealth workers, including the Windrush generation, who came to help re-build our country post war is barely, if at all, represented. The ‘broad and balanced’ curriculum is one of a vastly colonial view, rather than the narratives of those enslaved as well as those who enslaved others. The same is true for the British rule in India and the impact for Indian citizens and the thousands of soldiers of colour from the Commonwealth who fought for Britain in the Second World War. There is gross under-representation of people of colour and their significant contribution to the British Empire as a whole.
Bringing education into the 21st century
More than twenty-eight years on from Stephen Lawrence and with the brutal murder of George Floyd on 25th May 2020, there is now widespread debate in education once again about the curriculum on offer and how to diversify it. But is diversifying it enough? It seems that colonial attitudes need to be addressed perhaps before diversifying the curriculum. Tackling unconscious (or even conscious) bias, white privilege, micro-aggressions and direct racism may come to be more effective, in other words, decolonising attitudes before decolonising the curriculum.
In the book, ‘I Belong Here, A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain’, the author writes openly about belonging and the ‘deep loneliness and isolation that can affect mental health’ without that sense of belonging (Sethi, 2021). This is in reflective reference to a racist attack she suffered in public as well as countless micro aggressions. Deeply engrained and entrenched racist attitudes need to be challenged. Micro-aggressions need to be challenged. Why? Because it is the right thing to do. The book weaves a narrative that calls for the work needed to be done in order to address micro-aggressions and the wider, long-lasting impact these have on those individuals who suffer them. Equality is everybody’s responsibility.
Imagine how children feel when they do not see themselves reflected in the curriculum- in books and resources, in texts and images, in the learning. There is a deep cavity indeed for children and families of colour. Despite being a global ethnic majority, their experience of the curriculum is all too often white Eurocentric; more specifically that of white, middle-class men, ‘male, pale and stale voices that need to be banished’ (Sperring, 2020 pp. 3).
In order to foster a deep sense of belonging in children, the curriculum needs to address issues of race, in the first instance, as well as other protected characteristics more widely. We are living in a multi-national society with a vast array of languages, cultures and traditions. Even in areas of which can possibly be described as mono ethnic, there still needs to be a national educational commitment to addressing the racial discord that currently exists. Difference should be both appreciated and celebrated. It is not enough to simply ‘tolerate’ other faiths, traditions, beliefs, cultures, customs or backgrounds. Tolerance is such a low bar.
The Black Curriculum Report (Arday,2021) highlights the drawbacks of the current curriculum, more specifically the history curriculum, which distinctly omits Black history, ‘in favour of a dominant White, Eurocentric curriculum, one that fails to reflect our multi-ethnic and broadly diverse society.’ (pp.4). It goes further to make several recommendations, in more detail than the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report, for example:
‘conventions of Britishness will always require reconceptualising to incorporate all of our histories and stories. Our curriculum requires an acknowledgement of the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity that comprises the tapestry of the British landscape and the varying identities associated within this.’ (pp.5)
What it calls for is an evaluation of the curriculum to include Black history in order that there be, ‘greater social cohesion and acceptance of racial and ethnic difference’ (pp.4).
By offering a ‘broad and balanced’ curriculum that is tailored to the demographics of the school population, you are reinforcing a deep sense of identity and belonging. Children and young people will feel seen, valued and understood for who they are, not just as individuals, but as a part of their communities. How empowering for our children and young people of today!
Rather than continuing the old-fashioned approach of British history, we should be teaching children and young people to be critical thinkers, to assess and appraise the evidence and different perspectives so that they can come to their own conclusions. No longer is it adequate enough to have diversity days or Black history month; to teach just one perspective. People of colour do not just exist for one day or one month of the year. There are countless scientists, historians and academics of colour who have made huge contributions to society as we know it. For example, although Thomas Edison may have invented the lightbulb as we know it, Lewis H. Latimer made a considerable contribution towards this. However, in those days it was rare for a person of colour to be attributed with such distinguished achievement. Another example is Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, known for her environmental activism in Kenya, ‘It’s the little things that citizens do. That’s what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.’ (Wilson, 2018). Where are they in the national curriculum?
In the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, ‘national’ is defined as ‘connected with a particular nation; shared by a whole nation’ (Oxford Learner’s Dictionary). If education seeks to indeed connect the nation, and if it wants education to be a shared experience as a nation, then there is more work to be done. Diversity needs to go mainstream.
Young people need to know that who they are makes a difference. Not who they are because of an out-of-date system that continues to advance the privileged few, rather, who they are without the labels that are thrust upon them. They are not their labels. They are ‘humxns’2(Ricketts, 2021) who make a valid and significant contribution every day. Diversifying the curriculum should reflect this. Decolonising attitudes is the right thing to do- creating safe spaces to open up dialogue, offering long-term quality staff training, enriching the curriculum with a broader representation of different communities, making equality training mandatory for initial teacher training.
Data from the Department of Education shows that 92.7 per cent of headteachers and 89.7 per cent of deputy and assistant headteachers in the UK are white (DfE,
2 Humxn is the gender-neutral term for human. Urban Dictionary: humxn (2021) Urban Dictionar. Available at: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=humxn. 2021). These figures show that all-white leadership teams run the majority of schools in the country, which is not necessarily reflective of the communities they serve, or even our nation as a whole.
More needs to be done to actively recruit and retain professionals from ethnically diverse groups. For example, anonymising applications for name, age, gender and university to name a few categories; randomising responses to scenario questions and eliminating the personal statement response so that colleagues can show what they would do as opposed to what they have done, thereby showing their potential against their experience and expertise, skills and qualifications.
Conclusion
These are just a few starting points. Essentially, good, quality equality work means hard work. It means making the uncomfortable comfortable. It means braving being vulnerable. It means addressing racism head on so that attitudes can change, as well as behaviours. ‘In this world there is room for everyone’ (Chaplin, 1940). Children should leave with a rich tapestry woven from learning and experiences that celebrate who they are, that give them every chance of further success in life, that elevate them in their sense of self-worth and identity. When a child asks, ‘Where do I belong?’ you can confidently say, ‘Here.’
References
Alexander, C., Weekes-Bernard, D., & Chatterji, J. (2015) History Lessons: Teaching Diversity in and through the History National Curriculum. London: Runnymede Trust. http://www.runnymedetrust. org/ uploads/History%20Lessons%20-%20Teaching%20 Diversity%20In%20and%20Through%20 the%20
History%20National%20Curriculum.pdf.
Arday, J. (2021) The Black Curriculum, Black British History in the National Curriculum Report 2021. pp.4-5.
Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator speech, taken from the film, The Great Dictator (1940) available at: https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/articles/29-the-final-speech from-the-great-dictator
Department for Education (2013) The National Curriculum in England: Framework Document. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/
uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/ file/210969/NC_framework_document_- _FINAL.pdf (pp.5, pp.8)
Department for Education data available at: https://www.ethnicity-facts figures.service.gov.uk/workforce-and-business/workforce-diversity/school-teacher workforce/latest
Discovery RE Scheme Of Work | Discovery RE (2021) Discovery Scheme of Work. Available at: https://discoveryschemeofwork.com/ (Accessed: 16 September 2021). Primary and Secondary PSHE lessons fulfilling RSE | Jigsaw PSHE Ltd (2021) Jigsaw PSHE. Available at: https://www.jigsawpshe.com/ (Accessed: 15 September 2021).
Macpherson Report (1999), as part of The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach ment_data/file/277111/4262.pdf pp.382
Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, ‘National’ definition, available at:
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/national_1?q=national
Ricketts, R. (2021) DO BETTER, SPIRITUAL ACTIVISM for Fighting and Healing from WHITE SUPREMACY
Sethi, A (2021) I Belong Here: A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain. Bloomsbury, London. ISBN 9781472983930.
Sewell, T. (2021) Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities: The Report, can be found at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach ment_data/file/974507/20210331_-_CRED_Report_-_FINAL_-_Web_Accessible.pdf
Sperring, K. (2020) Decolonising the curriculum: male, pale and stale voices that need to be banished. Available at: https://uclpimedia.com/online/lets-banish-the hierarchy-topped-by-male-pale-and-stale-voices-and-decolonise-the-curriculum
The Equality Act 2010 guidance, can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance
The National Curriculum 1999 available at:
http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/pdfs/1999-nc-primary-handbook.pdf. pp. 10, pp.12.
Wilson, J. (2018) Young, Gifted and Black. Wide Eyed Editions. ISBN978-1-78603- 983-5.
Our Pregnancy and Maternity Toolkit for Schools
Written by Emma Sheppard
Emma founded The MTPT Project, the UK's charity for parent teachers, in 2016 when on maternity leave with her first child. She has 12 years experience as an English teacher, Lead Practitioner and ITT Lead, and now runs The MTPT Project full time.
The research, legal practice and variety of experiences surrounding the protected characteristic of pregnancy and maternity is rich and diverse, but perhaps because it does not (often) include our students in the way other protected characteristics do, resources specific to the education sector are hard to come by. We do not, for example, talk about diversifying our curriculum to include more stories of pregnancy and motherhood. We don’t talk about ensuring that our workforce includes pregnant role models for our students. We don’t organise student voice groups discussing how pregnancy and maternity affect pupils’ day to day school lives.
Provision for pregnancy and maternity as a protected characteristic is almost always in relation to staff members within our schools, nurseries and colleges. And it’s a fairly important demographic: the majority of teachers are women who may become pregnant at some point; half our workforce are parents to children under the age of 18, and 3.4% of teachers (around 11,500) go on maternity leave each year – that’s an average of two per school. But isn’t the experience of being a parent and a teacher the remit of our HR managers, rather than colleagues, middle and senior leaders?
Given the large number of parents in our teacher workforce, the protected characteristic of pregnancy and maternity – and the many years of family life that will follow – is an area about which leaders should be familiar and informed if they are keen to create positive working environments. As in any other industries, failing to understand and therefore meet the needs of our pregnant and mother team members leads to staff attrition, negative school cultures, and a motherhood penalty in the form of a gender pay gap, gender disparity in school leadership and discriminatory cultures that we present to our students as the reality that they will inherit.
The DiverseEd Pregnancy and Maternity Toolkit is an evolution of the research, resources, networks and articles that supported the establishment of The MTPT Project – the UK’s only charity for parent teachers. It provides the reports, blogs and contacts that The MTPT Project community return to again and again to inform their work and empower their community. When you start exploring, you’ll realise what a rabbit hole we have tempted you to fall into: 25 pages of an ASCL Maternity and Adoption Leave guide; ways to support breastfeeding teachers as they return to work; the experience of undergoing fertility treatment as a teacher; the ins and outs of shared parental leave; how to avoid direct and indirect discrimination… At first you may be overwhelmed by what you didn’t know you didn’t know…!
Don’t be put off: start with the needs of the colleagues in your school – whether they be expectant mothers, fathers or non-binary parents, undergoing fertility treatment, returning to work, completing professional development on leave. Use the DiverseEd toolkit to open up dialogue and get everyone feeling excited about how enjoyable making this next step in your personal and professional lives will be – learning to support, and be empowered, by your pregnant, expectant and parent colleagues.
Want to do more to support your colleagues? Contact The MTPT Project about our schools’ membership so that the experts can guide you through the relevant documents, and how to implement impactful practice in your school.
Attention Policymakers: We Need to Update the School Curriculum
Written by Naida Allen
Naida is a writer and blogger, fuelled by coffee and dark humour. She is a mental health advocate and regularly uses her own experiences to raise awareness about social issues. Her aim is to break stigma around taboo topics and enlighten the masses through the art of words. She loves dogs, and hates the patriarchy.
Given the significant impact of the Black Lives Matter movement on the criminal justice system, it’s only natural for this event to trickle into the education system. The British school curriculum is outdated at best. It will come as no shock to know that 85% of secondary school texts studied were written by White authors. The lack of diversity is damaging both socially and educationally. The year is 2021, and we are still waiting for change.
After the murder of George Floyd, the world woke up. We could no longer stay silent; the time to take action had arrived. Amongst many deep-rooted racist issues that still exist in British society, one that became impossible to ignore was the issue with the school curriculum. Secondary school pupils across the country (and the world for that matter) are not taught the truth about the UK’s shady history. The broad lack of diversity exists across all school subjects, from English and Drama to History and Science.
Even the American K-12 curriculum lacks punch. The Coalition of Educational Justice (CEJ) in New York recently published a shocking set of statistics that puts the school curriculum to shame. Their enquiry into the lack of diversity found that 4 out of 5 books studied in English were written by a White person. Similarly, a national UK study by Penguin Books found that less than 1% of GCSE students studied a book by a writer of colour.
It goes without mentioning that it is not just Black authors and people of colour who are marginalized. No; it is also women — and worse still — Black women who are frozen out. There is rarely a platform for LGBTQ+ authors, or awareness in their struggles, which adds to the exclusion and creation of ‘otherness’.
Yet it has to be a top-down approach for us to succeed in any social change. The current school curriculum contributes to perverse attempts to sugarcoat the past, allowing White people to hold the monopoly of power. Gestures that arguably verge on tokenistic, like “Black History Month” are the bare minimum. They are designed to keep the peace, but are ultimately just performative in nature. As Jean Alexander states, “it is a game play for the survival of a democratic society”.
My message today is to the policymakers: we need to update the school curriculum. If history, implicit and institutional racism, or celebrating Black achievements are not prioritised in schools, we can assume change still sits on the backburner. Young people will only learn when we own up to our mistakes. For there to be any hope in a harmonious society, we need to right our wrongs as best we can. The optimum approach is an authentic one.
So, teach students about Britain’s role in colonialism. Explain why the prison population is overrepresented by Black people and ethnic minorities. Study fiction and non-fiction texts across all subjects written by non-white authors. Take English as an example; whilst Shakespeare is undoubtedly important for the development of language, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God remains underrepresented. Consider adding Zadie Smith and Reni-Eddo Lodge to the English syllabus. This will by no means erase centuries of oppression; it will, however, inspire development.
The fact of the matter is, these texts are not hard to come by. There is a long list of potential contenders written by Black women, from textbooks and fictional narratives to plays; and they are all critically-acclaimed. Why, then, are we not capitalising on this opportunity? There is no better way to teach students about human rights and social justice than directly from the horse’s mouth.
An example of where this sincerity has worked is in Germany; their school curriculum shows significantly more willingness to revisit and admit to past mistakes. Teachers will openly discuss the German role in the Holocaust and WW2; many students will at some point visit a concentration camp. At no point do they attempt to disguise their atrocities. In doing so, they are now more respected by other nations. This is how to rewrite the future.
The irony is, British schools are the first to slander Nazi Germany for their war crimes, particularly when it comes to the Holocaust. Where is this zealous attitude when documenting our own actions on the History syllabus, for example, as colonialists? Instead, students learn about what makes Britain so Great. We share how we were the first to abolish slavery, but not that explorer, John Hawkins, was the first to start the slave trade in 1562.
Reform starts in school. We cannot expect the youth of today to differ from our predecessors if we do not light the torch. For students to thrive, they need to be represented in all their diversity. It is simply not good enough for only 0.1% of pupils to study a text by a Black female author. When you do not see yourself represented, your dreams and options are extremely limited. This is what inevitably leads to apathy and missed opportunities in the community.
We need to mention the achievements and discoveries of both people of colour and Black people – scientists, mathematicians, poets, historians. For example: Madam C.J. Walker who created the first African-American hair care products; Elijah McCoy who invented the ironing board; Tu Youyou who discovered artemisinin, the treatment for malaria.
At the very least, we need to incorporate texts written by minority authors to study in the classroom. It’s important to keep current and move with the times, rather than promote a false representation of the “good old days”.
Let’s inspire all students — regardless of their gender, race, or sexuality — to know their worth. Britain as a whole needs to understand their history and address their ignorance. The only way to do any of this is through policy change; otherwise we remain stuck in bad habits. It is time to update the school curriculum.
This is not a plea. It is an order.
Afro Hair: The Petting Microaggression
Written by Adeola Ogundele
Adeola Ogundele is Head of Year 9, Head of Media Studies and a Teacher of English who has completed her NPQSL. She is a passionate advocate for Equality and Diversity. She tweets as @ao1982_
As black women, we have a very close relationship with our hair. Our hair is more than just keratin, it’s a badge of pride and honour because of the history behind it. Let’s celebrate World Afro Day on 15th September with the global The Big Hair Assembly.
In the late 1700s to the 1800s, there was a law – the Tignon Laws. This law demanded that women of colour cover their hair with fabric cloth. This law was introduced to curtail the growing influence of the free black population and keep the social order of the time. It was believed that black women were exhibiting unacceptable behaviours, which included the hairstyles they wore. These hairstyles drew the attention of white men. Black women were, apparently, wearing their hair in such lovely ways; adding jewels and feathers to their high hairdos and walking around with such beauty and pride, that it was obscuring their status. This disrupted the social stability of white women. Therefore, the law was introduced to minimise a black woman’s beauty. In many societies, white women would cut off a black woman’s hair, as they felt that her hair ‘confused white men’.
Without the fancy hairstyles of black women, white women believed that black hair, in its natural state, was ugly. White was the epitome of beauty, the straight hair and the fair skin. So, the further a person was from fitting with that ideal, the more unattractive they were deemed to be.
Slavery was abolished in the 19th century. As black women were free, they felt pressure to fit in with the European ideals and therefore adapted their hairstyles.
‘Black people felt compelled to smoothen their hair and texture to fit in easier, and to move in society better and in camouflage almost,’ says exhibition producer Aaryn Lynch.
‘I’ve nicknamed the post-emancipation era ‘the great oppression’ because that’s when black people had to go through really intensive methods to smooth their hair. “Men and women would put their hair in a hot chemical mixture that would almost burn their scalp, so they could comb it back and make it look more European and silky.’ Chemically straightening hair was often called relaxing the hair, a problematic term. Or perming the hair, as it was permanently straightened – until the new growth came through and you’d have to apply more chemicals to the new growth.
During the civil rights movement, black people began wearing their Afros and it was seen as a political statement and a form of rebellion. Black people felt a sense of pride and as they protested against racial segregation and oppression, the eye-catching style took off – an assertion of black identity in contrast to previous trends inspired by mainstream white fashions. Unfortunately, that’s all the Afro was, a political statement and a form of rebellion. When in fact, an Afro is the natural state of a black person’s hair. However, because black women have adapted to the European beauty ideals for so long, the Afro and the Afro hairstyles are seen as against the ‘norm’.
It was only when I was in my early 30s that I knew what my natural hair texture was like. There is a range of natural hair types. My hair is probably a 4a with some parts that are 4b and it is also very thin. I have always known that it was thin but I never knew the texture of it. I never knew the texture because my mum relaxed/permed my hair when I was really young. While I was in school, most of the black girls also had relaxed/permed hair. It was believed to be ‘easier to manage’ and it also ‘looked nicer’ – because it was straight. Obviously, these were unconscious ideas that were ingrained within us as a result of white supremacy.
This Morning presenter, Eamonn Holmes, told Dr Zoe Williams that her hair reminded him ‘of an alpaca’. He continued with, ‘You just want to pet it.’ Dr Zoe Williams laughed along and jovially responded with, ‘Don’t touch my hair!’.Black women have been faced with several micro-aggressions regarding their hair and the way to navigate it and to avoid being referred to as angry, is to laugh along. However, Dr Zoe William’s reference to the very well-known phrase ‘don’t touch my hair’ is an indication that she didn’t receive Eamonn Holmes’ comment well.
According to a study conducted earlier this year, it was found that black people experience ‘racial trauma’ because of frequent afro hair discrimination. At least 93% of Black people with Afro hair in the UK have experienced microaggressions related to their hair, and 52% say discrimination against their hair has negatively affected their self-esteem or mental health. So, describing a Black woman’s hair as animal fur and saying that you would like to ‘pet’ it, contributes to this damaging trend of ‘othering’ by treating Afro hair as a fascination. It is also very offensive.
Many people may fail to understand why comments about black hair can be so damaging, considering hair being superficial. But Afro hair is, unfortunately, political. Black people are punished and excluded from certain spaces because of the way their hair grows naturally on their heads.
‘Hair is a sensitive topic for black and mixed-race women as a lot of us still struggle with how to manage it, along with a lack of diversity in products in mainstream stores – so it’s like twisting the knife.’ says Keisha East, natural hair blogger and influencer.
Keshia adds that black women already feel pressure to conform to European beauty standards, particularly in professional spaces. ‘It can be really damaging to our self-esteem,’ she adds. ‘Quite frankly, negative conversations around our hair can be exhausting, as we already face so many other challenges.’
There is a culture of it being okay to be ignorant towards black hair. However, why are so many ignorant towards our hair? It’s because we either straighten it, to fit in with social norms or wear extensions as a form of protection and/or to hide it away because we know that our hair is not seen as acceptable in a professional setting.
We often find that white people have a desire to touch our hair because it’s ‘different’ and they’re curious. However, this is a huge invasion of our privacy and, considering that black women are underrepresented in the media and the representation usually being where we fit the European beauty ideals, touching our hair and the fascination with our hair, is a symptom of unconscious bias informed by white supremacy. In the context of the history of black people’s bodies and looks being objectified, dehumanised and marginalised, the impulse for white people to touch black women’s hair sends the message that our bodies are there as objects to be touched and looked at.
I’ve never looked at a white person’s straight hair and been shocked by it or found it amazing. I’m also used to seeing it, as it’s what the media and society has told me is the ‘norm’ and therefore, beautiful. However, a black person’s hair isn’t seen the same way. The way a black person’s hair grows out of the head is seen as something of an amazement, a form of rebellion or unprofessional.
There has been the rebuttal, ‘My hair is curly and people always want to touch it, and I’m white.’ Right! That’s the point being made. People want to touch your curly hair because it’s seen as an anomaly. It’s not seen as ‘normal’ hair, hence people being fascinated by it. Also a white person’s curly hair is probably a 3b at most. Black people have curly hair (mainly type 4 hair), it’s our normal – but not the norm.
This needs to change.