Anti Racism Services for Independent & Grammar Schools
In the wake of the global Black Lives Matter protests, institutions are being asked to review how they move on from a place of non-racist to actively anti-racist, with a demonstratable stance on anti-black racism.
Independent and grammar schools, in particular, have come under public scrutiny in this respect, and the issues highlighted can be attributed to a disproportionate lack of Black staff and students in these spaces.
In response to the series of open letters sent to schools by students and alumni detailing experiences of racism, in June 2020, ACEN members requested that we contact 40+ independent and grammar schools as a collective. To both address issues of racism, and, offer solutions to move towards the creation of actively anti-racist learning environments for students and staff alike. Please click here for a copy of the ACEN letter.
The resulting conversations were predominantly positive and led to a host of schools asking for guidance, largely centered around unconscious bias training.
How
Undoubtedly, there is space for this, however, we feel it provides too narrow a focus that may have limited success if delivered in silos, as opposed to being part of a holistic framework.
Measuring the success of those furthest in their anti-racism journey, it is evident that without an audit of each environment and the creation of a specific anti-racism roadmap as a result of that audit, schools run the risk of undertaking work that’s not recognised as relevant by their minority stakeholders.
To help schools undertake the necessary work in a relevant, organised, achievable and accountable manner, we have created a comprehensive anti-racism framework with services that directly tackle the host of issues as communicated by thousands of students, parents, and alumni across the country.
The framework is vast and covers everything from curriculum recommendations and policy to lost and potential customer research. However, we are clear in that there is not a one size fits all approach and the recommendations given must be relevant and most importantly achievable.
