Inclusive Practice – Blog Post 3 – Race

RACE

Having read the videos and resources:

Bradbury’s journey speaks about Critical Race Theory (CRT) and how it can be used as a framework for examining educational policies.

Key points raised:

• The impact standardised assessment policies may have on bilingual learners.
• The education policy can often fail to deal with the linguistic needs of bilingual learners
• By using CRT, we can create more inclusive policies that does not disadvantage bilingual learners.

Garrett’s Journal examined how racism can affect career progression or the trajectory of minority students in academia. It also notes how PHD students often fail to reach academic positions. The journal shares the experiences of Maya who is a Black and neurodivergent person. Whilst people welcomed her thoughts on race, they dismissed her perspectives on neurodiversity. Maya’s experiences reinforce the need for an intersectional perspective to prevent marginalising individuals by disregarding aspects of their identity. Garrett underlines the importance for universities to adopt a nuanced, intersectional approach to inclusivity to enhance all students’ career prospects.

Sadiq’s video was insightful highlighting how to improve discussions around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). DEI training given in organisations or educational settings usually overlooks people’s intersectional identities. Reflecting on his own studies, he recognised the need for more diverse role models in his field. He also clarified that conversations around DEI, should focus on equity rather than just equality and the framework must be adapted to each country and context.

Having watched the video “The School That Tried to End Racism” they used the ‘privilege walk’ with young participants. It was a visual way to highlight how different people in society are disadvantaged.

Although it address racial discrimination and prejudice, we should be careful not to cause harm to young or vulnerable participants, when discussing and educating on potentially sensitive issues.

Recurring themes

• The resources seem to focus on marginalised groups and the impacts on them.
• Addresses the negative impacts caused by racism.
• How the intersection of identities impacts people.
• Injustice caused by prejudice.
• Diversity our teaching resources.

Teaching Context

The UAL’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report (2022/23), shows the percentage breakdown of each ethnic group within the student population. In figure 1, it shows the percentage of Asian students increased by 1 percentage point (ppt) from (from 11% to 12%), and Black students from 8% to 9%. Mixed students increased by 2ppt from 11% to 13%. However, White students decreased by 4ppt from 67% to 63%, and the ‘Other’ category remained the same at 3%.  

Figure 2 highlights the attainment levels for students by ethnic group. The data shows that between 2020/21 and 2021/22, attainment dropped across the board except for ‘Other’. The Asian group had the largest drop of 7pp from 75% to 68%. The Black group dropped by 4pp from 73% to 69%, Mixed from 80% to 77% and the White group from 87% to 85%. Whereas the ‘Other’ group increased by 2pp from 63% to 65%.

This makes me wonder if the decline in attainment across most ethnic groups is down to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With that said, there is still a noticeable attainment gap to close between the different ethnicities. Perhaps if we were to diversify our resources, teaching methods and assessment criteria, this may help to reduce the attainment gap seen in the data.

References

Bradbury, A. (2020). A critical race theory framework for education policy analysis: The case of bilingual learners and assessment policy in England, Race Ethnicity and Education, Issue information, 23:2, pp. 241-260. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1599338  (Accessed: 22 July 2024).

Channel 4. (2020) The School That Tried to End Racism. 30 June. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I3wJ7pJUjg (Accessed: 22 July 2024).

Garrett, R. (2024). Racism shapes careers: career trajectories and imagined futures of racialised minority PhDs in UK higher education, Globalisation, Societies and Education, Issue information, pp.2–5 & 7-11. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2024.2307886 (Accessed: 22 July 2024).

Sadiq, A. (2023) Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Learning how to get it right. 2 March. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR4wz1b54hw  (Accessed: 22 July 2024).

The list of illustration includes:

Figure 1. UAL,(2022/23) University of the Arts London – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2022/23. [Chart]– Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/432141/SPCB23435-EDI-report-2022-23.pdf  (Accessed: 17 July 2024).

Figure 2. UAL,(2022/23) University of the Arts London – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2022/23. [Chart]– Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/432141/SPCB23435-EDI-report-2022-23.pdf  (Accessed: 17 July 2024).