Be seen, heard and represented
a shift in the narrative”.
She found that many people were challenging her and saying that “Black people aren’t applying for these jobs”.
She said: “It’s not just about changing the number of people in the classroom.
“Yes, recruitment is one barrier, but there’s also the process of job applications, qualifications and many other barriers.
“I think that teaching in itself doesn’t get held as high as other jobs. But, if you analyse it for a moment, there isn’t a job in the world where you’re not taught something first.
“Let’s take race out of the equa
Aisha Thomas, founder of the campaign tion for a second. Teachers are not just teaching – they are caring, parenting, counselling – the list goes on.
“They are so much more than just teachers.
“But when you compound it with race and the intersectionalities you realise why there aren’t many of us.”
Instead of looking at recruitment, we need to start looking at retention. Institutions may be hiring Black educators occasionally, but how many are actually staying?
For Aisha, this is not about undermining the work that white teachers are doing, but about showing that there are Black teach“create
Keena Anderson is a school behaviour manager
Donna Whitcliffe is a pastoral lead/mentor
HARRY
HARRY ers doing just as well in the industry but they are not being recognised.
She said: “To make it clear, I do believe that there are amazing white teachers.
“But the Black educators I’ve worked with are hidden people and I want to celebrate these hidden figures because no one knows who they are.
“I want to show people that there are more people who look like me doing these jobs.
“Many Black and ethnic educators feel as though they are not being seen, heard and represented.”
She reiterated that this isn’t “a reaction to George Floyd’s murder”, but work she has been doing for years.
“I want to empower Black children to believe they can do more,” she said.
“I want white people to see that everyone has contributed to society.
“I want them to see each other as equals and it needs to be at the forefront of our minds.”
Donna Whitcliffe has been a pastoral lead/mentor for the last 21 years. While going through the education system, she has faced the brunt of institutional racism several times.
“For one of my assignments at university I wrote about injustices the aborigines had faced by the
❝ I began to think ‘Why aren’t there any more? What’s the barrier? What’s stopping us from thinking we can’t reach those kinds of roles?
Europeans and how they stole their land,” Donna said.
“My lecturer then proceeded to give me 45 per cent and his argument was that the aboriginals’ situation was made by themselves.
“My next assignment I submitted used reference from just Black authors.
“Then I got a low mark again and his reasoning was that he didn’t recognise any of the authors.
“We then proceeded to have an argument about it.
“I realised that education wasn’t made for us. We were not in mind when they built the education system.”
Donna believes representation should be at the forefront of everything we do.
“Representation is so important because young people need to see people who look like them doing jobs they might want to do one day,” she said.