28 | THE VOICE FEBRUARY 13 - 19, 2014
NASUWT Consultation Conference
EDUCATION FEATURE
‘NEARLY HALF OF BME TEACHERS STILL DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN THE WORK PLACE’ says NASUWT
By Jacqueline Asafu-Adjaye, Sponsored Features Editor
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early half of black and minority ethnic (BME) teachers have been held back in their careers because of racial discrimination in the work place, a conference organised by the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, found. Teachers from across the country met in Birmingham for the NASUWT’s annual Black and Minority Ethnic Teachers’ Conference; the largest such gathering of its kind in the UK and the biggest yet. Participants took part in a real-time electronic poll, which explored their views on a series of issues relating to their profession: Among the results were: s OVER THREE QUARTERS OF "-% teachers considered themselves to be ambitious, yet stated they are being held back by racial discrimination, and the attitude of senior colleagues; s NEARLY TWO THIRDS PER cent) of BME teachers felt their school or college was not seriously committed to addressing their professional development needs and aspirations; s PER CENT OF "-% TEACHERS said their employers were not committed to ensuring their mental and physical wellbeing at work, with workload cited as the single most negative factor impacting on their wellbeing; s THE VAST MAJORITY OF "-% teachers felt the Government does not respect and value teachers and does not understand the day to day realities of teaching (99 per cent) s THREE QUARTERS OF "-% TEACHers said they were not confident that their head teacher will make professional and fair decisions regarding their future pay. Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, who addressed the conference, said: “BME teachers have told us that racial discrimination is an endemic feature of the education system. “Holding back the potential and talent of teachers on grounds of their race or colour is damaging the prospects of pupils. “The Coalition Government’s reforms to the teachers’ pay system, which give more freedoms to individual schools to determine teachers’ pay, has BEEN OVERWHELMINGLY REJECTED by BME teachers who fear it will exacerbate discrimination against BME teachers. “All of the issues raised today will be taken forward by
the NASUWT as we continue to press the government for a fair national framework of pay and conditions for all teachers.” Members share their views: Participants were able to give their views on a range of issues affecting them during an interactive electronic voting session. Thanks to the use of handheld keypads, members were able to vote and share their thoughts on their careers, their experiences as BME teachers and their feelings about government policy. The results echoed the NASUWT’s long-standing concerns about the impact that the reforms and cuts in the education sector are having on teachers’ morale and their physical and mental wellbeing. Does the Government respect and value teachers? !N OVERWHELMING PER cent said they felt the Government rarely or never shows respect for the teaching profession, and 99 per cent said they do not understand the day-to-day realities of the classroom. What about school leaders? .EARLY THREE QUARTERS OF respondents (71 per cent) felt that their head teacher or principal is too far removed from the daily realities of the classroom. One teacher added the caveat that head teachers are under increasing pressure to ‘do the bidding’ of Government. A teacher from Fulham said: “It depends on whether you work in an academy or a community school. In an academy, most of the principals don’t teach, and don’t know what is happening. They delegate all the responsibility to their assistants. Community schools know how to be more accountable to governing bodies and staff and parents.” /N THE SUBJECT OF PAY DECISIONS THREE QUARTERS OF REspondents had no confidence that their leadership would make professional and fair decisions about their future pay. What is the main factor you believe is hindering you most from achieving your career aspirations? 7HILE OVER THREE QUARTERS
Racial discrimination is an endemic feature of the education system – NASUWT General Secretary Chris Keates
(77 per cent) said they considered themselves to be very or reasonably ambitious, nearly half (49 per cent) said they believed racial discrimination was holding them back from progressing in their careers. When asked for factors, which were hindering them in achieving their personal career aspirations, the attitude of senior colleagues came out top, followed by workload and discrimination in the work-
place. A teacher from Merton said: “It’s demotivating to see so few people in lectureships, in senior management positions. You want to aspire to reach those levels but when you have so many barriers facing you it can be hard and you don’t see how you can bridge the gap. In some schools in London you have over 70 per cent BME pupils but no senior black leaders. How can we
motivate our BME children when they don’t see any black leaders?” Another Member from Nottingham said: “Teachers are becoming more like commodities instead of being there to inspire our pupils. We are being used as a tool to satisfy Gove’s mad ideas…Teaching is changing from a vocational profession which is about caring for people, into a business and business as we know is
ruthless.” A teacher from Leicestershire: added “I would say that you have to be clear about what type of school you want to work for and progress into and whether they fit in with your own value system. Your face might not fit into school A, B or even C, but you will Continued to page 29
EDUCATION FEATURE
NASUWT Consultation Conference
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Continued from page 28 find somewhere eventually.” Dr Roach, Deputy General Secretary, NASUWT added, that the goal must be to transform every school into one where ‘your face fits’. He said: “Every school needs to be transformed into that kind of school. It’s why you are part of a union because we need to use our collective muscle and leverage to ensure that every school is transformed, not only for staff but to end the scandal where BME kids are three and four times more likely to be excluded from schools than their counterparts.” A NASUWT member for Thurrock commented on the growing red tape impacting the profession: “We are forced to do a lot of things and learn new things that have nothing to do with the welfare of the children we care about. “As teachers we know where the children are at, who need extra support. But spending hours pursuing numbers, statistics, data is not going to move the children forward. If heads are sympathetic to this, they won’t be able to tick their boxes, and so they are no longer on our side.” Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT Deputy General Secretary
Fighting for equality and justice for BME teachers Behaviour management and capability policies in schools are too often discriminating against BME teachers, participants heard. NASUWT research indicates that higher numbers of BME teachers are being subject to capability and competence procedures than the generality of the teaching profession. NASUWT National Negotiating Officials Dave Wilkinson and Victor Aguera led a workshop exploring the extent to which capability procedures are being abused in schools and provided information on teachers’ rights in the workplace. It was clear from participants’ contributions that capability is being misused and in some cases used to bully and harass teachers. NASUWT members at the conference
The NASUWT believes that the misuse of capability procedures is ‘creating a climate of fear’ in schools and is driving good teachers out of the profession. A second workshop heard about a lack of support for teachers in managing pupil behaviour, with some participants reporting that management are reluctant to back them up and deal with disruptive pupils or seek to blame teachers for discipline issues. Darren Northcott, NASUWT National Official for Education, set out the principles of a good behaviour management system and offered advice to members on tackling behaviour management problems in their school.