Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Education is often perceived by mainstream society as promoting an “equal opportunity” agenda for children in the United Kingdom, yet the outcomes in educational attainment continue to show fault lines around race, with data showing Black children persistently at the bottom of educational attainment. Government policies and attempts to address what is now often referred to as the “Black attainment gap” has had no positive impact. Racism and the continued denial of its effect and causes in the education sector persist, from early years through to adulthood and beyond.
As a result, Black parents are increasingly dealing with issues surrounding racism in school despite being ill-equipped to challenge something that some schools are still generally in denial of. It therefore often poses a challenge to parents who want to ensure the best outcomes for their children in a climate of little or no support for their views and/or experiences.
The Runnymede Summit focusses on dealing with and challenging racism, and this is critical for Black parents who face the need to support their children especially when the interests of these children are not often well-protected. This workshop, organised by The Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality (CRED) at Leeds Beckett University, takes this challenge seriously.
Parents of Black African and Caribbean heritage children are invited to attend a workshop on Saturday 3 September 15:30 – 16:45 at the Runnymede We Move Summit which is going to be held at The University of Leeds. The workshop is designed to provide Black parents with the opportunity to share their youngsters' experiences of schooling and how schools can be held more accountable to resolve issues related to race, racism and the treatment of Black youngsters.
The workshop will provide parents with an opportunity to discuss their experiences in small groups, around issues such as:
After the workshop we will write and publish a “Parents’ Guide” based on the session discussions with the aim of supporting Black and minority ethnic parents with clear steps and references to support networks which can provide valuable responses and support to parents dealing with racism in schools. It is important that schools are aware of the safeguarding issues associated with racism.
The workshop will be facilitated by Heather Paul, Jonah Ulebor, Penny Rabiger and Vini Lander from the Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality (CRED) at Leeds Beckett University.
The sessions will be moderated by CRED associates who are teacher-activists and researchers passionate about issues related to educational equity. CRED plans to publish a Parents’ Guide based on the session discussions, with clear steps and links to support networks that can provide valuable responses and support to parents dealing with racism in schools. Using the reflections and voiced opinion of parents, CRED aims to prepare a guide for schools so that they are better-informed about how to ensure their policies and procedures are aligned to facilitate equitable practice, and can deal with these issues in a practical and effective way.
This event is free to attend - please register using the link above.
The Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality (CRED) of Leeds Beckett University was established in 2017 with the aim of working in partnership with education professionals and developing teachers and practitioners to become race equality education activists and advocates. In doing this CRED seeks to challenge racism in all its forms through developing anti-racist practices and scholarship.
The Centre is Led by Professor Vini Lander whose research interests focus on race, ethnicity, and education. The work of CRED involves a vibrant community of researchers, professional associates, and doctoral students all passionate about social justice related research work in education.
Professor Vini Lander is Director of the Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality in the Carnegie School of Education. Vini’s research focuses on race, ethnicity and education. She uses critical race theory as a theoretical framework to examine ‘race’ inequalities in education, specifically in teacher education.
Jonah Ulebor is a PhD candidate and recipient of the Gertrude
Paul Scholarship. Jonah’s research work is looking at the role and impact of
Black supplementary schools. Alongside his PhD, Jonah runs Project Ujima which
is a Black Supplementary School based in Chapeltown, Leeds. He is keen on
advancing the cause of educational equity through alternative Black-led spaces.
