‘Old pals network’ failing to promote teachers from minority backgrounds
Employers’ failure to confront “the old pals network” and “sliding way” from confronting racism is contributing to the lack of teachers from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds in Scotland’s schools, a leading education expert has said.
Professor Rowena Arshad, head of the school of education at Edinburgh University, said employers and those training upcoming school leaders must tackle racism within the profession, corridors, classrooms and staff rooms.
New research from Glasgow City Council, which surveyed 490 staff, 513 secondary pupils, and also ran focus groups, found a big divide in how BME teachers and white colleagues viewed ethnic diversity.
The main finding was “white Scottish/white other” teachers were twice as likely as their BME colleagues to have been appointed to a promoted post, with BME respondents less likely to be encouraged by managers to apply.
In terms of entering the profession, 66 per cent of BME respondents viewed potential discrimination from colleagues as a deterrent, but only 11 per cent of white respondents agreed.
One Pakistani teacher said the current “political climate was a huge hindrance for Muslim teachers.”
The report “Ethnic Diversity in the Teaching Profession: a Glasgow perspective” showed a large ethnic divide in how teachers view the problem.
Three-quarters of BME teachers felt promoted posts were difficult to obtain, compared with 10 per cent of white teachers. However, none of the BME pupils surveyed wanted to teach. They had “higher aspirations” with their families wanting them to aim for professions in science, medicine, computing or business.
Prof Arshad, who is chairing a Scottish Government shortterm working group aimed at increasing the number of teachers from under-represented staff, has previously highlighted that the proportion of BME teachers fell between 2011 and 2016 from 1.9 to 1.3 per cent of the total workforce.
Prof Arshad said: “It is time employers and those providing preparation for school leaders tackle the issue of racism within the profession, corridors and staff rooms.”
Education Secretary, John Swinney, said: “We want BME groups to be better represented in teaching and have engaged with a number of charities, local authorities, ITE (initial teacher education) providers and other groups to get views on how to make that happen.”
sross@scotsman.com