MixEd Blogs

Reflecting on my personal and professional experiences of the education sector, including my lived experiences as a pupil, a parent and a teacher, my thoughts have turned to how initial teacher education prepares future primary teachers in respect of the concept of ‘belonging’.

It's Coming Home... Unfortunately, when I say ‘it’ I am referring to racism and when I say, ‘coming home’, it never really went away.

Louise Cooper is a Deputy Headteacher in a school where 84% of their pupils are White-British. Many have argued why is she addressing anti-racism, but Louise argues this is where it needs to be done. Here she shares what she’s learned and how proud she is of her pupils.

A fantastic session for our first in conversation with the 1% – we had 18 mixed race educators/allies on the meeting.

Many of us have been deeply affected by the Racial Disparities Report by Dr Sewell. For many, including myself, it evoked an emotional response.

Jordan is in Year 10 and attends an oversubscribed, non-selective school in an affluent area on the outskirts of Manchester. The school profile is predominantly White-British.

“I can’t believe you said that!” “You didn’t!” These are two phrases people often say to me when I tell them about something I’ve done within my career both in teaching and in leadership and then in terms of progression, networking or career development.

I look white. Most white people can’t tell that I am mixed-race, black and mixed-race people often can tell. People are often intrigued about my ethnicity, am I Spanish or Italian, they ask.

It’s not easy being mixed-race, you get held up as an exotic symbol of how far society has come. Britain can't really be that racist surely?  Human bridges to unite divided sides.

We are currently living in a period of time where the discussion about race has never been more prominent, particularly in the education world.