You

Are
Not
Alone
Leaders
for Race
Equality

14 stories from education

DISCLAIMER

In sharing our stories, we have used a range of words to

describe the various groups to which we belong. In doing so, we
acknowledge that terms may change over time; they may gain
negative connotations and fall out of use or favour. We ask that
you forgive us if we cause offence. Our aim is not to offend, but
to extend understanding of the experiences that have shaped us.
Where we describe ourselves in terms used by others, intended
to offend us, we do so to call them out and expose them. Where
we describe ourselves, please accept the terms used as our
chosen ones. Where we describe others, we try to use terms that
treat people with respect.

Reference

www.sharewords.com/biasfree.html Accessed online 10.1.21

Basically, bias-free language means using terms that treat

people with respect. Sometimes it means leaving out certain
kinds of words altogether, such as not describing someone’s
physical characteristics when doing so serves no purpose.
The three most important guidelines, which work in every
case, are:
1. Whether you are describing a group of people or
individuals, ask them what terminology they use.
2. If you can’t do that, be as specific as possible.
3. Keep the person in the description: people who are
blind (not the blind).

For more detailed guidance, see:

www.apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/bias-free-
language/racial-ethnic-minorities
 First published in the UK in 2021 by
NAHT (National Association of Head Teachers)
in conjunction with Michelle Abadie Design

Printed in the UK

Copyright © Design Michelle Abadie

www.abadie.co.uk

Copyright © NAHT and all those credited as contributors

The moral right of NAHT and all those
credited as contributors has been asserted
www.naht.org.uk

Copyright © Photographs – individual contributors

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system or other
electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission
of the publisher, NAHT (www.naht.org.uk) and all those
credited as contributors.

Contributors
Paul Miller, NneNne Iwuji-Eme, Diana Osagie, Ama Osapanin,
Danielle Lewis-Egonu, Debbie Doherty, Diana Ohene-Darko, Elaine
Williams, Lorna Legg, Mayleen Atima, Rick Stuart-Sheppard, Ross
Ashcroft, Ruhaina Alford-Rahim, Sabrina Edwards, Sarah Hobson-
Riley, Symone Campbell, Yvonne Davis

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-5272-8209-4
 In memory of

Yvonne Conolly,
Britain’s first female Black head teacher
 We would like to offer thanks to:

Lorna Legg, who had the idea for this book and worked with other
members of Leaders for Race Equality to bring their stories together;
Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of the NAHT, who generously
said ‘Yes!’, and to Natalie Pettifer, Leaders for Race Equality
group coordinator, who has supported this group and the book from
the start and took the initial idea seriously; the Leaders for Race
Equality Group, who have opened up so many possibilities, simply
by sharing and supporting each other; Debbie Doherty and Ross
Ashcroft, group members, who put aside time to read submissions
with us; Michelle Abadie, friend and designer, who has made this
project possible; Diana Osagie, Professor Paul Miller and NneNne
Iwuji-Eme who have been kind enough to write such thoughtful and
hopeful forewords; all those working towards equality, diversity and
inclusion and all those who have simply been our role models.
You Are Not Alone
Leaders for Race Equality

14 stories from education

 Introduction
Lorna Legg, Head Teacher

The NAHT Leaders for Race Equality group began in response to the
events of 2020; a year unlike any other. Together, we responded to
the growing pandemic, leading schools through this most challenging
time. We discovered that people from Black, Asian and other ethnic
groups experience higher death rates from Covid-19, compared to
White ethnic groups; and we saw, with horror, the murder of George
Floyd on May 25th. The Black Lives Matter movement, and the
sharing, online, of racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic and
anti-Semitic incidents in Britain and across the world, have spurred
many of us on, to educate ourselves and find new ways to end the
stereotyping, stigma and structural inequality that cause so much
pain and waste so much potential.

There is still much to do. Jane Elliott’s seminal ‘Blue Eyes/Brown

Eyes’ lesson, which she first gave on April 5th, 1968, the day after
Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated (see ‘A Class Divided’) is
still ground-breaking in its approach to counteracting prejudice and
bias, but further work is beginning to be shared, for example, group
member Sabrina Edwards’ ‘Educating for Equality’ course has been
inspirational. We also need to look beyond school, at the society
that influences us. In her novel, ‘Girl, Woman, Other’, Bernadine
Evaristo, 2019 Booker Prize winner, exemplified this beautifully:
“classroom walls are decorated with…a map of the world that makes
Britain rival Africa in size, testament to cartographers who got away
with it for centuries, even now, it seems” (p219).
But there is hope in the diverse, historic voices and faces, once side-
lined, who now have a new audience; giving greater depth to our
shared history and counteracting the legacy of colonialism.

Into this context, the NAHT, under the leadership of Paul Whiteman,
acknowledged a lack of diversity and representation in the union.
To their lasting credit, they started the process of change, setting up
the (then) BAME NAHT group. In the very first meeting, facilitated
by Natalie Pettifer (our advocate and Regional Organiser), members
first shared their experiences of rejection and exclusion, with many
of them moved to tears:

“At our meeting, we each shared our personal and challenging stories
of the discrimination we have faced as leaders and listened to each
other’s struggles and truths. It was quite a candid and enlightening
experience and it got emotional at times as I think it made us realise
that we aren’t alone in this…” Leaders for Race Equality member,
Sara Wilkinson, July 25th, 2020.

Elements of those stories now form the basis of this book, which
distils key events in the lives of fourteen leaders in education from
Asian, African, Caribbean and multiple backgrounds, through
school, university, interviews and promotion. With the group’s
enthusiasm, the commitment of Natalie Pettifer and solid support
of Paul Whiteman, it was possible to ask creative book designer,
Michelle Abadie, to guide us. As the group began to write, members
Ross Ashcroft and Debbie Doherty helped us to read submissions,
and many members offered suggestions, advice and support. In the
spirit of true collaboration, this project was made possible.

To tell the truth about difficult situations is brave; it can feel like an
even greater step beyond your comfort zone, if standing out has not
always been a positive experience. Yet the people in this book have
already shown their courage, in deciding to overcome incidents of
ignorance and prejudice to get closer to their goal: to help children
and young people achieve theirs. Common to many stories is the
impact of the school environment and how vital the support and
influence of role models can be.

‘You cannot be what you cannot see’ is an idea explored in a BBC

article (July 28th, 2020), about Aretha Banton (Vice Principal)
and Youlande Harrowell (Assistant Head Teacher). They have set
up Mindful Equity UK, an organisation aiming to increase the
representation of Black and minority ethnic teachers in leadership,
when only one percent of UK head teachers are Black. We stand
proudly with them and so many others, who have come forward to
support and learn from each other. We hope, with all our hearts, that
at least one person will find, in the following pages, a moment of
recognition, as we did in our first meeting. In the words of Mayleen
Atima, “You are not alone.”

Reference

‘A Class Divided’ (film): The day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed,
Jane Elliott, a teacher in a small, all-white Iowa town, divided her third-grade
class into blue-eyed and brown-eyed groups and gave them a daring lesson in
discrimination. This is the story of that lesson, its lasting impact on the children,
and its enduring power thirty years later.
 Foreword
Paul Miller, PhD
Professor of Educational Leadership & Social Justice

I am pleased to write the Foreword to this timely book. In my view,

this book is important for two main reasons. First, there is not a lot of
available written material, by school leaders, about their experiences
and practice, and second, there has been previously no available
compilation of ‘reflective case studies’ written entirely by school
leaders, let alone school leaders of BAME heritage. This is indeed a
watershed moment!

As I mentioned in my 2018 book, ‘The Nature of School Leadership:

Global Practice Perspectives’, “Until very recently, much of literature
and research on school leadership did not give primacy to the voice
of school leaders. That is, although school leaders were the subject
of intense research, they were often spoken for in published accounts
of their working and/or working lives” (p 11). According to Hughes
(1976), the relative absence of the voice of school leaders in presenting
their own stories has meant their lived realities and experiences are
not always prioritised in the educational leadership literature and
research. This absence of the leaders’ voice in presenting their own
stories has resulted in “… a general failure to come to grips with the
‘street realities’ of headship” (Ball, 1994, p 8). Wolcott (1973), in
‘The Man in the Principal’s Office’ noted there is much to be gained
from capturing the accounts of what school leaders do and what they
experience during the course of their duties versus what is felt they
experience or what is felt school leaders should do. Bolman & Heller
(1995) argue that much of the literature on leadership is irrelevant to
school leaders, as it is “… too abstract and detached from practice or
too narrow and disengaged from person and context, and therefore,
of little use to those in schools” (p 342).

The fourteen reflective case studies provided in this book are not
presented as ‘empirical research’, but rather as reflective accounts
of the contributors’ educational and leadership journeys in England.
They are important as they are unique, since each is written from “…
a particular place and time, [and] from a history and a culture, which
is specific” (Blackmore, 2009, p 222). Presented in the form of an
integrated analysis, each case study broadens, and simultaneously
deepens our understanding of the unique educational experiences
encountered by each school leader en-route to a leadership role.
Furthermore, each case study offers “descriptions of leaders in
action…and detailed descriptions of them at work” (Southworth,
1993, p 79), highlighting the “little stuff of everyday life” (Blasé
& Anderson, 1995, p 25), the “nitty gritty” (Miller, 2016, p 1) of
their humanity, and the “street realities” (Ball, 1994, p 8) of a school
leader of BAME heritage in England in 2020.

The reflective case studies disrupt the taken-for-granted assumption

that “…equates [leadership] with being White (in Western countries),
male, heterosexual, middle class and middle-aged” (Coleman,
2012, p 597). Equally the case studies bespeak stories of hurt, of
degradation, of hope, of courage, of triumph. For the first time in
the field of educational leadership we see a book written entirely
by school leaders; and for the first time in the field of educational
leadership, we see a book written exclusively by school leaders of
BAME heritage. The authors therefore own their story, the story of
BAME school leadership in England; and they narrate their own
stories, not relying on these to be told by someone else, nor risking
these be misrepresented. These case stories are uniquely cathartic,
providing glimpses of who the contributors are as individuals and
as leaders, of how far they have come, and of their imagined future
for themselves, their families, and for all who study and work in the
schools they lead. Theirs is therefore a story of subverting structural
and institutional racism, of resilience, of identity, and of belonging.
As provided by Stuart-Sheppard, “My journey to wholeness,
completeness or acceptance of my identity has been lifelong and the
moment of revelation was unexpected,” and by Alford-Rahim, “The
desire to be the same is quite a powerful urge when you doubt your
place in society or fear rejection because of your difference.”
Crucially, these case studies mean that teachers and students of
BAME heritage in England now have a reference book of hope
and inspiration from role models they identify with ethnically and
culturally, breaking with deeply embedded and stereotypical notions
of who should aspire to and inhabit leadership roles. For example,
Edwards noted she wanted, “To be that inspirational teacher who
switches something on in a child; helps them to see who they are;
where they’ve come from and who they could become,” underlining
Ashcroft’s asserting of his “… dual-heritage/mixed-race; mixed
Black Caribbean and White British” identity. For Atima, it was
equally simple, “All I ever wanted to be was a teacher and I have
achieved that goal.”

This book then has consequences for those who currently study and
work in our schools, and for those who ultimately aspire to and attain
school leadership roles. As provided by Ohene-Darko, “I want to be
part of the next generation of leaders; leaders who have equality on
the agenda; leaders who ‘see’ everyone and are bold enough to make
changes. I want to be that change. I want to make a difference. I want
to leave a small part of the world better than I found it.” The book also
has consequences for those leading and governing our schools. As
provided by Campbell, “It is imperative to have diverse leaders and
governors in school leadership, running our schools, to improve the
awareness of different races, cultures, religions and economic status,
ensuring they understand and can identify with the experiences of
their whole school community and, more importantly, having open
and honest discussions.” This view was echoed by Legg who called
for, “Mandatory, national training for governors and staff (preferably
everyone) in implicit bias, would be a good place to start to redress
any disadvantage and open up leadership to a more representative
and diverse group of people.”

Racism and race discrimination can and does undermine those who
experience it. This can sometimes lead people of BAME heritage
to conflate everyday ‘bad’ experiences as racist experiences. This
is noted by Doherty who provides, “Racism is systemic, but if you
are unsuccessful in securing a leadership role, don’t immediately
assume that it’s because of implicit, or explicit racial discrimination,
although, as we are acutely aware, that may well be the case.” The
emergence of a more ‘sophisticated racism’ makes Doherty’s point
both poignant and problematic, challenging society and those in the
teaching profession to be alert to acts of micro-aggression and micro-
incivilities and how these could lead to a narrow pool of applicants
or people putting themselves forward due to fatigue or stress or
both. Lewis-Egonu acknowledges this conundrum by arguing,
“Experiencing discrimination can provoke stress responses similar
to post-traumatic stress disorder and therefore BAME staff need to
feel supported by leadership in their school. The negative treatment
affects an individual’s life and wellbeing.” Despite the effects of
racism, there is hope. Davis recounts the words of her mum, “that’s
why you need to be there”, and Hobson-Riley, “My focus is on the
children I work with and providing them with a quality education,
but I also realise that I am changing children’s mindsets, as they
are also learning that leaders can also look like me.” Furthermore,
Osapanin clarifies, “I know that, and have the confidence these
days to confront those situations. But as an NQT, I didn’t have that
confidence. For years, as a class teacher, I didn’t either.”

As a whole, this book presents a strong counter-narrative to the

victim narrative of racism. After qualifying as a teacher, Williams
found getting a job much harder than she’d imagined. She reflected,
“I felt that I had been lied to. Why let me spend time completing a
teaching degree if I’d never be good enough to secure a job? Why
grade me so highly on assignments and school experiences if I’d
never get a chance to have my own class?” Later, however, she
would recall, “… there I was, head teacher of a small rural primary
school. I was the only Black person there; no other Black staff, no
Black children.”

The case studies in this book confirm that the journey to headship is
a fraught one, more so for teachers of BAME heritage than White
staff. Nevertheless, these case studies also offer every student and
teacher of BAME heritage hope and inspiration that success against,
and despite, the tide is possible.
References

Ball, S. J. (1994). Education Reform: A Critical and Post Structural Approach,

Buckingham: Open University Press.

Blackmore, J. (2009). International Response Essay, Leadership for Social Justice:

A Transnational Dialogue. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 4(1):
1–10.

Blasé, J. & Anderson, G. (1995). The Micropolitics of Educational Leadership:

From Control to Empowerment, London: Cassell.

Bolman, L. G. & Heller, R. (1995). Research on School Leadership: The State-of-

the-Art. In S. B. Bacharach & B. Mundell (Eds.), Images of Schools: Structures
and Roles in Organizational Behavior, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press Inc.

Coleman, M. (2012). ‘Leadership and Diversity’, Educational Leadership and

Management, 40 (5): 592–609.

Hughes, M. (1976). The Professional-as-Administrator: The Case of the Secondary

School Head. In R. S. Peters (Ed.), The Role of the Head, London: Routledge &
Kegan Paul.

Miller, P. (2016). Exploring School Leadership in England and the Caribbean:

New Insights from a Comparative Approach, London: Bloomsbury.

Miller, P. (2018). The Nature of School Leadership: Global Practice Perspectives,

London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Southworth, G. (1993). School Leadership and school development: reflections

from research, School Organisation, 13 (1): 73-87.

Wolcott, H. (1973). The Man in the Principal’s Office: An Ethnography, New York:
Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc.
 Foreword
NneNne Iwuji-Eme
High Commissioner, Maputo, Mozambique

In the late 1980s my parents were posted to Ethiopia to work for

the UN. As Ethiopia was in the middle of a protracted civil war, I
was sent to boarding school, in England. It was called St Felix, in
Southwold, Suffolk.

It was an adventure and couldn’t have been more different from

the Federal Government Girls College that I had attended up until
then, in Nigeria. My experience at St Felix, for the most part, was
positive, but there were a few stand-out moments, as the only Black
girl in a privileged English private school. These shaped my life, my
resilience and my determination to succeed.

I will focus on just one of these incidents. I loved history, it was my

favourite subject. One day my history teacher asked the class, “What
do you think of when you picture Africa?”

I was shocked at the answers that came flooding out, “death, disease,
war, poverty, starvation, filth”. All of them were negative. It wasn’t
that in a post Bob Geldof era, there wasn’t some truth in these answers,
but to my mind it represented a gross and negative depiction of an
entire continent! A continent I had grown up in, and it was certainly
not a reflection of my experience in Nigeria. I waited for the teacher,
up until then my favourite teacher, to correct them. When she spoke
her answer was, “Don’t forget slavery.”

My heart sank, my hand shot up! I tried to counter, but I realised that
though I knew the truth in my heart and from personal experience, my
education and my textbooks were so devoid of any positive history
or narrative of anyone who looked remotely like me, that it was hard
for me to defend this prejudice. Harder even more so to look to a
teacher, who should have known better, to come to my aid. This was
quite frankly because she, too, was raised with the same poor history
books. Books that left out stories of the role of Africans and Asians
of the Commonwealth in the two world wars, almost three million
of whom died in service; or BAME contribution to science and
innovation; or that Mary Seacole was a peer to Florence Nightingale;
or that Timbuktu existed as a centre of respected scholarship not long
after Oxford and Cambridge were created; or that the great Kingdom
of Benin had walls that dwarfed the Great Wall of China in length,
and so on. I wish I had known then what I know now, I wish even
more that my teachers had too. Think of the difference that could
have made, not necessarily for me, but for my White peers, and their
perceptions of Africa and Africans?

This book is important because classrooms are shaping – arguably

more than our homes – our children’s minds and hence our future
and the kind of inclusive or non-inclusive society we are likely to
achieve. As long as those empowered to shape these minds neither
reflect the society they serve, nor are prepared or informed about
the many stories of those they serve, we may never achieve our
ideal goal.

The events of the last year, from Black Lives Matters to the
pandemic, have taught us that the very survival of our society as
peaceful, prosperous and innovative, depends on inclusion too.
From a BAME perspective, this also means reaping and building on
the comparative advantage of the cultural capital, which our diverse
heritage has blessed us with as a nation. I applaud the contributors
to this book for speaking their truth, and in so doing, breaking down
barriers, paving the way for and inspiring those who follow.
 Foreword
Diana Osagie
Founder of Courageous Leadership &
The Academy of Women’s Leadership

I love a challenge. Leadership of a school in the urban landscape

of North London for many years was both the biggest nightmare
and greatest pleasure of my professional career. I have gone on to
set up two businesses that create courageous leaders, teach an MA
in Educational Leadership and give keynote addresses across the
nation. Regularly I am asked the question, “How did you rise to the
top of leadership as a Black woman?”

I want the answer to be: I didn’t rise as a Black woman!

I rose as a talented leader.

I rose as a skilled practitioner.

I rose because I was the best person for the role.

However, race, gender, the way you look, the way you speak, the
lifestyle your parents could afford, all have a voice in the interview
room. Silently speaking a narrative that you ignore at your peril.

My voice is loud, my voice is articulate and my voice is experienced.

But for some on the other side of the table looking at me as I answer
their questions, they are hearing the voice of skin colour. It’s a voice
in their head, pregnant with bias and stereotype. Is it possible to
amplify the words from my mouth and silence the perceived voice
of my skin?

This book is an important read. It is not your typical leadership book.

The voice of young Black and Asian leaders is here. Talented, skilled
and ambitious, the leaders in this book tell their stories of how their
skin speaks louder than their mouths in certain situations as they
navigate the leadership landscape.

Some of these stories will elicit sadness. Some will make you
question why? How is that possible? Why do people treat others that
way? Whatever emotion rises when you read, don’t stop reading!
Keep engaging with the narrative these leaders present to you and
imagine yourself or your child facing these obstacles as they try to
establish themselves in society.

As I read the following from Diana Ohene-Darko, it forced me to

reflect on what is a reality for many global majority leaders:

“Have you ever wondered if you fit the bill? Are you the right
(acceptable) colour? Do you speak (acceptably) well? I’m a light shade
of brown, olive skin some might say. I speak well, pronouncing my
‘t’s and ‘f’s ‘correctly’. I’m an acceptable shade it would seem. But
I know colleagues who have not been afforded the same recognition.
Nothing is ever said of course but ‘best fit’ often wins the day
after interview.”

Storytelling is a pillar of society. We hand down the narrative of our

lives to the next generation with the hope that they do not repeat our
mistakes and they remember to celebrate the past victories. Reading
this book gives you a stake in the changing of the narrative of racism
and bias, which has hurt our society and made us all morally poorer.
We all now have the opportunity to read, understand and change.

Diversity of people around the leadership table is a strength and an

asset to any organisation. It adds a wealth of experience, a variety
of lenses on the world and a balance of perspective that serves our
schools well.

As Ohene-Darko puts it, “We are a flavoursome array of heritages,

beliefs and traditions. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
 CONTENTS
Ama Osapanin, Assistant Head Teacher, Central London 27

Danielle Lewis-Egonu, Executive Head Teacher, Kent 32

Debbie Doherty, Head Teacher, Birmingham 38

Diana Ohene-Darko, Assistant Head Teacher, Harrow 44

Elaine Williams, Head Teacher, West Midlands 49

Lorna Legg, Head Teacher, Devon 54

Mayleen Atima, Head Teacher, Suffolk 59

Rick Stuart-Sheppard, Head Teacher, Norfolk 63

Ross Ashcroft, Head Teacher, Birmingham 68

Ruhaina Alford-Rahim, Executive Head Teacher, Devon 75

Sabrina Edwards, Head Teacher, London 79

Sarah Hobson-Riley, Deputy Head Teacher and

Behaviour SLE, Hertfordshire 85

Symone Campbell, School Business Manager, Surrey 91

Yvonne Davis, Head Teacher, Hertfordshire 96

 Ama Osapanin
Assistant Head Teacher
Central London

Growing up in central London was a lot of fun and a great experience!

My parents made sure that my reality was safe and felt fair. I was
a confident child, able to achieve whatever I set my heart on. A
childhood full of strong role models definitely readied me for my
path to leadership!

I attended a primary and secondary school that I have such fond

memories of. I had teachers that were fun, supportive, motivating
and inspiring. Often role models! Gosh, I hope I’ve had the same
impact as a teacher!

As lovely as it all was, there are some memories of school that still
don’t make sense. Comments from teachers that weren’t so positive;
feedback that left me confused.

I remember at school, writing a recount for a piece of literacy

homework. It was a simple enough task. I wrote about my weekend.
A weekend that I had spent with family. I wrote about what we
watched on the television; the songs that we sang at the top of our
lungs, as my older cousin played an
accompaniment on the piano; the
food that we cooked and ate. My
aunt taught me how to make hand-
rolled noodles that weekend. We had
a great time. A weekend I was happy
and proud to be writing about. I was
so motivated about this piece of
work. Well, until my teacher marked
it and gave it back to me.

The gist of the feedback was that my

recount didn’t sound very realistic

27
and that people didn’t hand-roll noodles. What? Erm, it was a
completely accurate recount – thank you very much. And yes, in
the Filipino village that my mother and aunt grew up in, people,
sometimes, hand-rolled noodles. Skillfully too! It was a tradition that
I loved learning and happily wrote about! But somehow, perhaps, it
was too different an experience to be valued. Or, maybe, just too
flamboyant for the assumptions that teacher had of me? Who knows?

My teacher told me that “over here” people “don’t do that”. What?

People don’t spend time with their families? Of course they do! Were
my family strange for being ‘different’ in the way that they spent that
time? Were our weekend activities not good enough? Why wasn’t
I told that it sounded like a lovely weekend? That’s what I wanted
to hear.

I really didn’t like how that felt. I was deflated. A little embarrassed
too. Those questions. That doubt. It taught me to be less forthcoming
about my experiences. I was a child, so I don’t want to blame myself
for not making a fuss at the time. But goodness me, now, as an adult
and a teacher, I’d hate to think that children are still exposed to
such ignorance.

When I told my mother that I wanted to be a teacher, she was

delighted. It’s a bit of a family tradition and I had no idea! It turns
out that she was a primary school teacher in the Philippines. Before
she came to England, in the 1960s, my mother was a primary school
teacher. I couldn’t believe it! She talked for a while about the age
groups that she taught and the school that she worked in. Mum
looked so happy in that moment of nostalgia. I asked why she didn’t
work as a teacher when she came to London. Well, that opened up
a conversation about immigration and we went off on a tangent
from there.

I had an almost identical conversation with my father! He, too, had

been a teacher before he came to England. For years, he taught in
primary and secondary schools across Ghana. Just like my mother,
my father was filled with nostalgia as he spoke about his career in

28
education. Again, I questioned why he didn’t work as a teacher when
he came to London. His response highlighted inequalities that left
me with quite mixed feelings.

I was stuck on a thought for a while. I’d never seen a teacher that
looked like me. Or my mum. Or my dad. By the time I had started
university and was on teaching placements, that thought was a sad
reality. One that I really didn’t like. There was a complete lack of
cultural representation at three out of the four schools I completed a
placement at. I felt very aware of that and it was disappointing.

In the first term of my NQT year, a parent asked to meet me. They
were upset that their child had been in trouble that week. That
child had missed some of their playtime as a consequence of their
behaviour. The parent was unhappy about this and, during a rant, told
me that I was probably too strict because of my African upbringing!

Erm, no. That’s not why I’m able to follow the school’s behaviour
system, but thanks for the insult. Thanks for the blatant racism! None
of that was my actual response. I don’t know what my response was,
to be honest. I was so shocked and upset, I just wanted to run off
and cry.

I mentioned it to a colleague and they laughed. They thought it

was hilarious. I didn’t mention it to anyone else. I should have said
something. At least have informed my leadership team. But I felt
really stupid and didn’t want anyone else laughing at me.

In that first term, I wasn’t really sure what to say and what to ignore.
I didn’t want to be accused of making a fuss. That wouldn’t have
happened. They wouldn’t have laughed at me. The leadership team
were brilliant and eventually I knew that I had their support. But
knowing that took a while, so I said nothing. I felt alone.

Now, as a member of the leadership team, I feel more confident in

general and especially in confronting comments that shouldn’t be
made. I am a valued member of my school community and have a
great working relationship with colleagues and parents.

29
I can only remember one occasion in the last few years, when I felt
that an offensive comment was made. I had phoned a new parent to
arrange a home visit as their child was joining my school. We had
a lengthy conversation and I answered the many questions they had
about the school day and expectations.

I met that parent for the first time when I conducted the home visit.
When I introduced myself, she told me that I looked different from
what she was expecting. I asked her how I ‘looked’ different over
the phone. It was an awkward moment and she muffled a pitiful
explanation for what she meant. Hmmm…how, in the twenty-first
century, can someone assume your voice has a specific skin tone?

Being, looking or feeling different isn’t something to be ashamed

of. We all know that! Sometimes it’s nice to have a gentle
reminder though. This last anecdote still makes me smile and is a
great reminder!

Years ago, when teaching in the early years, a child refused to call
me by my teacher name. To him, I looked like his aunties. And so,
he called me “Aunty”! Did I mind? Not at all! Did he call any other
member of staff Aunty? No. Did I like it? Yes! I loved that he saw
a connection to his home life, in his new school setting, and used it
to make that transition to school more comfortable for him. It made
me smile knowing that I, by the way I looked, made that child feel
like he was at home. Happy, safe and relaxed! Was he ready to learn?
Yes! Did he stop calling me Aunty? Yes, eventually!

I’ve spent a few weeks asking myself why I have only shared
these stories with my new group of colleagues. Well, this group
feels different. I instantly felt part of something driving change.
A community of people that I wanted to share my thoughts and
experiences with.

Leaders for Race Equality has been a game-changer for me. We

have so many shared stories. It’s hard for me to talk openly about an
experience, especially one that involves racism, without worrying

30
that someone will try to unpick it. Somehow invalidate how I felt
or what I thought. There’s always that panic that I’ll be expected to
justify my reaction. Explain why I’m so offended. That’s probably
why I fell into the trap of saying nothing. But saying nothing,
changes nothing.

I know that now, and I have the confidence these days to confront
those situations. But as a newly qualified teacher, I didn’t have that
confidence. For years, as a class teacher, I didn’t either. I naively
thought that no one could relate to how I felt. It’s a weird thing to
feel like no one really knows how you feel.

I was wrong to be embarrassed and ashamed by these awkward

experiences, but who really tells themselves that in the moment? I
didn’t. It’s refreshing to talk about something that I’ve experienced
in my career, and hear others say that they have too. It’s a shame that
we have negative experiences in common, but it’s a huge comfort
and a reminder that I’m not alone. It really is important to have a
group that is invested in supporting every member.

I am grateful to be part of a professional network with so much to

offer. We celebrate each other’s achievements. That’s not unusual, of
course it isn’t, but it does feel different when you know that someone
else has faced similar challenges and ugly bias.

There have been a number of

promotions within the group
lately and it’s a wonderful thing
to be celebrating! It’s not a smug
celebration or a simple victory. It
somehow, ever so slightly, feels
like a shared journey. The idea
to get where the others are in the
group fills me with such hope and
confidence but I’m not quite there
yet. But it’s where I definitely
aspire to be!
Ama and her dad

31
 Danielle Lewis-Egonu
Executive Head Teacher
Kent

I thought it was best to set the context to give you, the reader, an idea
of who I am and what I am about.

Why is this important?

Because this chapter is about labels, something I am often reduced

to and this has become one of the deepest root causes of many of our
problems as a British society. Labels hold a lot of meaning and are,
therefore, quite dangerous. Since they are related to judgements, they
can create stereotypes, hearsay, bias, fears, stigma, and the inability
to separate a person from the label itself.

I will lay all my labels out on these pages, in the hope that you derive
a greater understanding of the why. Also, to offer the reasons behind
what I have lived through in my career.

My experiences of covert and overt racism are entrenched in my

earliest memories in both my experiences of the educational
institution and interactions in society.

I was born in Camden in the 1980s.

My mum is White.

My half-sister, who I grew up with, is White.

My nanny, my uncles, my aunties and pretty much everyone I met,

were White.

I had no Black role models, as I did not grow up with my father,

who is of African-Caribbean descent and was part of the Windrush
generation, who came to the United Kingdom between 1948

32
and 1970 from the Caribbean
Islands, to help fill post-war UK
labour shortages.

I did not realise I was brown until

I was about seven, which may
sound strange, but it’s true.

No one had told me I was Black

and different. My mum took me to
the park, the dentist and the doctor, like all other mums did. My sister
teased me and played with me just like any other sibling would. Of
course, I had seen myself in the mirror many times, but I had not
been labelled yet. It was just me and my family. The world had not
decided, up until this point, that I needed to know I was brown.

It was only when I was playing one day in my primary school

playground, on the ramp outside the dinner hall, with my good
friend George, that I began to make a connection with some of the
situations I had encountered.

George stopped playing ‘had’ and told me that I could not play with
him and his cousin any more.

I was slightly confused as we played all the time inside and outside
of school because our mums knew each other very well. He told me I
had to play with the other Black kids, and he could only play with the
White kids, and then he tried to spit at me with his cousin, Tommy.

To say that this was distressing would be an understatement and

when I told my mum, she said many words, which I cannot write in
this piece, but needless to say that was the end of my friendship with
George. We occasionally bumped into each other while we were
growing up, but I would cross the street if I saw him.

He grew up and joined the National Front, who would proceed to

regularly march on the streets that I called home, with the British flag

33
as their symbol. When an IRA bomb went off on Camden High Street
in February 1993, I momentarily thought it was planted by the NF to
kill us, us Black people. The fear and trauma that the National Front
had bestowed upon me was so great that I felt relieved when I found
out it was another terrorist group who had caused the unforgivable
pain and distress to the Camden community.

Something clicked when I realised that I was different to my family.

I began to awaken to the fact that people would comment on my skin
tone and would always ask who I belonged to or where I had come
from, if I was out with my mum or sister. People felt they had the
entitlement to question my existence and interrogate me because of
the way I looked compared to my family. They would quite happily
call me a liar and state that what I told them could not be true. How
could it? How could a White family have a brown child unless I was
adopted from a faraway land? It was unfathomable to many people,
as there was no representation of families like mine anywhere.

My nanny quite happily dragged me to the pie and mash shop, which
sat under the Camden Town railway bridge on Royal College Street,
for my serving of liquor and mash that I happily enjoyed, alongside
my White family members. Yes, the place would fall silent when we
came in. Yes, I got many looks from the people chomping on their
meals, as I sat down for my favourite dish, as many of them would
have been a part of the National Front. But my nanny did not care. I
belonged to her, brown skin or not, because I was one of the ‘good
ones’; I was her granddaughter.

Ironically, we hardly ever talked about race in my family, but on one

occasion, not long after the incident with George, when my mother
did address it, she taught me that no one would accept me. I was too
dark to be accepted as White, too light to be accepted as Black and
thus began the torment of finding my place in the world.

And sadly, for a long time her teachings proved correct. ‘Lightie’,
‘red girl’, ‘caramel sweetie’, and ‘bounty’ are some of the names I
was called over the years.

34
I became resilient.

I became used to racial abuse.

I became ready to enter the education institution, as a practitioner.

Why is my past relevant?

Because I faced the same abuse in my working life.

I am regularly reminded of my skin colour and how my very presence

can offend because of it.

I have been spat at and worse, and told I do not belong.

I have felt the anger of my loved ones and my colleagues who

have wanted to protect me from the world, but realise that they are
powerless. They have heard the stories of how I have been treated for
simply doing my job and have said words in frustration and sorrow,
which I cannot repeat on these pages.

I have held parent meetings with terrorist group members that have
caused me unforgivable pain and distress.

And I am still regularly interrogated by people who question my

existence in education and whether I am entitled to be here, as they
think I am a liar and a fraud. There are many meeting rooms I have
walked into, which have fallen silent due to me being the only brown
person there.

Society has labelled me a Black woman and imposed lots of

judgement and stereotypes upon me due to this.

But the label I like best is the one my mum gave me: Danielle.

Danielle stands for a multi-layered individual, who loves her children,

partner and family. She is intelligent, conscientious and works in an

35
institution where she belongs and offers representation, where the
Google algorithm doesn’t.

She is a great leader who offers clarity, focus and sensitivity while also
loving innovation. She loves long walks, peanut butter milkshakes
and Lake Como.

I just happen to be Black and sadly for many people that’s all I
will ever be.

Experiencing discrimination can provoke stress responses similar

to post-traumatic stress disorder and therefore BAME staff need to
feel supported by leadership in their school. The negative treatment
affects an individual’s life and wellbeing.

Early in my career I was spat at, harassed and verbally abused on a

daily basis because my skin colour was hated. I would collect my
class every day and brace myself for the abuse. I worked in an area
where the British National Party was one of the majority parties in
2006. I dreaded every morning.

Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event.

I was experiencing this event daily and as a result I had a physical

and emotional response to the trauma I was encountering, and it
could have ended my career before it had even begun.

I was the only Black staff member at the school, so staff hadn’t
experienced racism before and had no idea how to deal with it.

So, when my head teacher found me having a panic attack in the

hallway one morning before collecting my class, she was quite
confused when I told her what had been happening.

She had never made a connection between the impact of the

BNP being elected and having a Black teacher; why would it be on
her radar?

36
However, her response was the right one. She decided to educate
herself and seek to understand.

She apologised for not noticing the morning issues.

She took a stand and made sure the parents knew what the expectations
of their behaviour were in her school towards all of her staff.

She called the police and reported a hate crime (before hate crimes
were taken seriously).

She came out into the playground with me every day until I felt safe
enough to go out on my own again.

She didn’t stop there.

She looked at representation in the curriculum, the staff and the

environment because she started to see colour and that colour
and difference was something to be celebrated and not a thing to be
blind to.

There are many influences and experiences that have brought me to

the point I am in my career today.

I am thankful that I never gave up and that I had company on

the journey.

37
 Debbie Doherty
Head Teacher
Birmingham

My leadership journey

“I’m going be a teacher one day, Mum. You just wait and see!”

I was reported to have said this to my mother as we walked to school

one day, when I was about six years old. I have no recollection of
saying it. Perhaps I knew all those years ago the direction my career
was going to take.

Growing up in an ethnically diverse suburb of the UK’s second

city and attending a primary school where the pupil demographic
reflected this, stood in stark contrast to the single sex grammar
secondary school I attended, at which I first experienced explicit
racism in the form of name-calling. I was called the ‘N’ word by
a girl who was three years my senior. I elected only to report this
incident to my sister, who happened to be in the same year group as
the perpetrator. She managed the situation on my behalf.

Moving to university was an exciting experience, though also

daunting, because I was a bit of a ‘mummy’s girl’. I studied French
and recall vividly sitting in a lecture theatre when I was asked
to pronounce a French word aloud: ‘le brouhaha’. As with my
secondary school days, I was not particularly comfortable speaking
or reading aloud. The lecturer could sense my discomfort, but insisted
nonetheless. I refused and subsequently took the matter to the head
of department who was “not surprised” by the lecturer’s approach.
Indeed, it could have been that I was randomly selected; however,
back then and for the first time, I felt that his insistence that I spoke
came from a place of victimisation. I felt targeted. On reflection, the
word was not that difficult to pronounce.

On embarking on my teacher training back in 1990, I had yet another

unpleasant experience. I needed some ‘digs’ for the year I would

38
spend completing my PGCE. I saw an advert
on the campus, visited the house, which was
owned by a lovely elderly lady, agreed rent,
moving in date, etc. I returned a few weeks
later, rang the bell and my soon-to-be landlady
appeared and promptly informed me that the
deal was off. In complete shock and disbelief,
I asked why. Quite courageously I guess, she
proceeded to tell me that her son had advised
her against renting the room to someone like
me. My student status was not the issue; my skin colour was. Every
cloud has a silver lining however, as a week later I rented a room
from one of the (White) college lecturers who I subsequently and
ever since have referred to as my surrogate mum. We remained
friends and in contact until she died in 2017. I still keep in contact
with her daughter, son and husband – my surrogate sister, brother
and dad.

Pursuing leadership roles was not on my agenda in my early teaching

career. I was more than happy being a classroom teacher in the
middle school I joined as a newly qualified teacher in Milton Keynes
in 1991. Looking back on my career (and life) as a whole, I realise
now that I had been very naive and had probably experienced many
implicit incidences of racism. Conversely, for the most part, I do not
think that the colour of my skin has hindered my career progression.
I was a good classroom practitioner and soon found that my qualities
were recognised and rewarded. After a few years, I was given a
management role (does anyone remember management points, the
precursor to threshold?). I was offered the role of mentor to students
and rose to deputy head after several years. I was fortunate enough
to gain secondment experiences in two settings: one as an acting
deputy in a very challenging school at that time; the second being a
two-term acting head secondment at a local primary school which
was extended to two years.

From a career development perspective, my tenure at that school was

very rewarding. I successfully built excellent relationships with the
children, parents and the wider community (especially the bakery

39
opposite the school, the perfect place to indulge my love for all things
sweet). Relationships, both professional and personal were equally
positive with staff...except one. My high expectations of all staff
(including myself), coupled with my visionary approach, were met
with disdain. Am I sure this was a consequence of my management
style? No, I am not, but who knows? Despite this, during my time
at the same school I experienced positive discrimination. The city
was on a serious recruitment drive and along with an older male
White head teacher in the city, I was asked to be ‘the face of Milton
Keynes’. The photo shoot went ahead. On receiving the phone call
about enlisting my services, I enquired why I had been selected. I
knew the answer, but instead I asked if I had been selected because
of my beautiful smile (which is true incidentally). In doing so, was
I indirectly trying to shield her embarrassment? In short, this was
positive discrimination. In 2020 speak, that’s inclusion. Nothing
wrong with that. I adopted the same approach when recently putting
together a virtual tour of my school. The camera zoomed in on
the photos of the staff who are also ethnically diverse. Children of
different ethnicities were also represented. As people from minority
ethnic groups, ever more so today, it’s essential to be able to identify
with others, at school age and beyond. The expression ‘you can’t be
what you can’t see’ resonates here.

At the end of that secondment period, I returned to my previous

school to assume the role of interim head while the school recruited
for a permanent role. It was during that year that I saw a very different
side to two particular members of the Governing Board, people who
I had known for many years, people who were very much aware
of the contribution I had made to the school. In the ‘boardroom’
decisions, strategies were challenged more than they ever had been.
The trusting and supportive approach, which I had enjoyed for many
years, was no more. I felt very much undermined. Was it a gender
issue? Unlikely. Was it a race-related micro-aggression? Perhaps.
Who knows? Needless to say, I didn’t apply for the substantive post.
It wouldn’t have worked; I needed and wanted to move on. Looking
back, I wish I’d had the courage to openly challenge the opposition.
I’m in a much stronger place emotionally now.

40
I actively sought other positions and was shortlisted. I have been
lucky to have been shortlisted for all positions I have applied for,
except the International School in New York (what was I thinking?!).
One particular role, which would have been my first substantive
headship, I didn’t secure. I wasn’t that disappointed. Unknowingly,
it paved the way for my next move.

If I were to offer you advice or words of wisdom, I would say this:

racism is systemic, but if you are unsuccessful in securing a leadership
role, don’t immediately assume that it’s because of implicit, or explicit
racial discrimination, although, as we are acutely aware, that may
well be the case. In my experience, it has been about the right fit. Why
else would I have secured my first substantive post in a semi-rural
primary school where I was the only staff member of colour, where
ninety-nine per cent of the pupil population were White British and
where the village itself had, I believe, less than a handful of residents
of colour. I had an amazing experience; I learnt my craft and even
though I say it myself, I was well respected by the pupils, staff, parents
and governors.

Despite all this positivity, the local village shopkeeper showed her
true colours on one occasion when I went on an official errand (I
don’t quite recall the reason but it was a task that my administrator
would ordinarily have done). We didn’t have ID badges at that
school (yikes, I hear you all cry) but to cut to the end of the story, the
interaction that ensued demonstrated that the shop assistant did not
believe I could possibly have been the head teacher of the school.

A similar situation presented itself when my long-time friend, who is

White, invited me to her school in Hertfordshire to help deliver some
materials on the subject of the Windrush years. I invited my (White)
deputy to accompany me for some personal CPD, looking simply
at different classroom practices. Needless to say, on arrival the staff
assumed that my deputy was the head teacher. Perfect example of
unconscious bias. Or was it due to my youthful looks, which caused
them to think it was impossible for me to hold such a position? Over
fifteen years later, I am told I still look younger than my years. I am
grateful to my mother and grandmother for my genes.

41
As you may have noticed, there are numerous ‘who knows?’
questions in my story. The truth of the matter is, I guess in some
instances, I will never know for sure and as none of it has been an
obstacle to my career progression, I reflect on and view the less than
supportive people I encountered along the way as simply uninformed,
unknowing, exposing their unconscious (or conscious) bias.

I was interviewed on BBC Northampton Radio about three years

ago, on my role in education and my experiences of racism. The
interviewer was pushing me to share any racist experiences. I
struggled to think of anything specific at the time and concluded
that actually, my journey had been overwhelmingly positive. It is,
however, the topical events of late that have forced me to review my
career, and only now have I removed this cloak of naivety and taken
the time to explore past events, not in the search of being able to
categorise them as racist, but just to review them with my eyes wide
open. My experience has indeed been overwhelmingly positive. I
realise though, that that is not the case for all.

So, while this story gives you an insight into my professional life,
the poem below (composed in 2017 as part of my school’s World
Book Day activities) may give you a flavour of my other, perhaps
most important part.

I come from...

I come from...
three siblings, all older, making me the baby of the family,

I come from...
rice and peas, chicken with home-made coleslaw on the side, curry
goat and Saturday soup,

I come from...
a Jamaican village and a Jamaican city, even though I have
never been,

42
I come from...
loving school from the age of five to the age of eighteen and actually
enjoying doing homework,

I come from...
playing Charlie’s Angels and Knock Down Ginger on the street
where I lived as a child,

I come from...
Holby City and Casualty, my favourite TV series,

I come from...
naming my cars Belinda, Selina and Mariah,

I come from...
high aspirations and believing in myself, thanks to my mum,

But most importantly, I come from Melissa and Edward (daughter

and husband); we are the three Musketeers!

43
 Diana Ohene-Darko
Assistant Head Teacher
Harrow

Primary school was where I first experienced ‘race’. Since we were

a Catholic family, my twin sister and I attended the local Catholic
primary school; some 250 pupils of mainly White British and White
Irish ethnicity. Compare this to the handful, if that, of children who
were not White: one boy who was Black, another set of twins who
were Indian and a girl who had both Black and White heritage.

From the outset I could ‘see’ the disparity – large numbers of children
and all the adults with a different skin tone and life experience to
mine. We were an immigrant family – expelled under the Idi Amin
regime in the early 1970s. Second generation. My parents and older
siblings had suffered through that turmoil, and arrived in this country
with just the clothes on their backs. My late father came ahead of
them to secure housing and transfer with his job.

Fast forward to the 1980s when racism in Britain was in its prime
and no ‘brown’ person escaped unscathed. ‘Paki’ was a common
term used back then for most foreigners, no matter if they were
Pakistani or not. I always felt different. I wasn’t into the same things
as the other girls. I always felt like I
should be; why wasn’t I? I couldn’t
wait to leave primary school, not
least because I knew there was a big,
wide world out there and I was stuck
in a corner of it.

Cue the 1990s and high school. This

was an absolute gift of experience
and identity-belonging; or not as
the case may be. Cliques gathered
on the playgrounds, each with their
own specified territory. Woe betide

44
anyone who dared take it. Each space had an unsaid rule about the
occupancy. Having a Goan father and a White British mother, I was
not part of any visible groups. I couldn’t fit in with the all-Whites,
or the all-Asians. There were very few children, if any, of mixed
heritage of my own or a similar ethnicity. The go-to term for us
was ‘half-caste’, a term I never understood because I wasn’t Indian
and so wasn’t part of the caste system. High school was met with a
mixture of friends from different backgrounds, an often lonely and
hard-to-navigate time in terms of fitting in and having that sense of
belonging. Thank goodness I always had my twin sister with whom
I already had a well-established sense of identity and belonging.
What I did realise in these years was that I had an inherent and
deep-rooted sense of justice and equality. Learning about prejudice
and discrimination in religious education spurred me on to find out
more and do my own research. I found myself watching films such
as ‘Mississippi Burning’ and ‘Cry Freedom’, ‘Roots’ even, to try to
gain some context and background to the education that I received
in school. I relished my learning – the empowerment and veneration
of Black and Indian leaders (namely Martin Luther King Jr and
Mahatma Gandhi) gave me hope for a better, more equal world; one
where I could fit in and also one where I could advocate for justice.
My innate will for equality was ignited. I felt it then and I still
feel it now.

Fast forward to university and I had a similar experience to primary

school; one main ethnicity and a deep feeling of being the odd
one out. I have made my closest friends as an adult, yet none of
them resemble my own background. We are a flavoursome array
of heritages, beliefs and traditions. And I wouldn’t have it any
other way.

When training to be a teacher, I undertook the Graduate Teacher

Programme (GTP) as it was then. I fell into teaching by first becoming
a teaching assistant and absolutely loved it. I loved being with the
children and igniting that flame of learning; helping them through
challenging tasks and developing their character. At long last, by the
age of twenty-five, I knew this was my vocation.

45
While still training, I was given class responsibility, which was
unheard of at the time. It felt as though my innate dynamism as a
teacher and passion for education had been understood from the
outset by leaders already in the field. I took great pride in setting
up my classroom, organising tables and a seating plan, my desk
and personal items. Before long, I was in the swing of the weekly
timetable and teaching all subjects while finishing my course. At
first the regular pop-ins/observations/stay in class sessions didn’t
seem too untoward. I had to have weekly observations anyway as
part of the course. It wasn’t until a table was set up in an unused
classroom opposite, where two teachers ‘set up shop’ so to speak,
that I began to feel very uneasy; targeted even. They remained
there for a full term, which was the duration of my course. Neither
teacher was in class; they took groups every now and then but other
than that I’m not sure what they did, other than observe my every
move. I continued with profound enthusiasm for the children I had in
front of me. Nothing gave me greater pleasure than those light-bulb
moments in which children ‘got it’. I even took the liberty of re-
creating Jane Elliott’s ‘Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes’ experiment as part of
a discrimination lesson in RE. I was creative, confident and always
maintained a positive outlook. Perhaps that’s what got to them. I
passed my course with flying colours and went on to complete my
newly qualified teacher year, again in year six, before completing a
year in year four. I built up my experience of teaching (and courage)
before moving on to my first leadership position for a curriculum
area, with oversight over the whole curriculum.

My next assignment was an academy, an altogether corporate

experience, dripping in wealth I had never known as part of a local
authority school. It was good to have the luxury of IT technicians
on demand, a healthy budget to spend on trips and resources and
to be able to move between year groups, given the chance. Here
I learnt the valuable lessons of real teamwork (working with a
partner teacher, as it was two-form entry) and the progression of an
all-through school (nursery to sixth form). By becoming involved
in family learning, I saw a different side to education, enjoying the
partnerships between school and families. I also had the opportunity

46
to teach in reception, one of my most treasured years in teaching.
What an insight and indeed privilege to be part of the picture at such
a young age – teaching children to do up their zips, put on their PE
kits, read and much more! Perhaps because I had young children of
my own, I understood the cherished position I was in, helping these
little people to confidently grow and learn. I loved those days. There
was a song for everything and for everything there was a song! That
was my motto.

Tensions were rife that year among middle and senior leaders. The
senior leadership team (SLT) was made up of one ethnicity and it
was clear that no one else would make it through. I took another
bold decision to move on. This time to a more senior post, taking
on responsibility for literacy in a junior school. I would be part of
the SLT.

Have you ever wondered if you fit the bill? Are you the right
(acceptable) colour? Do you speak (acceptably) well? I’m a
light shade of brown, olive skin some might say. I speak well,
pronouncing my ‘t’s and ‘f’s ‘correctly’. I’m an acceptable shade it
would seem. But I know colleagues who have not been afforded the
same recognition. Nothing is ever said of course but ‘best fit’ often
wins the day after interview.

This school was different. Under a leadership of resolute equality

and diversity, I never once questioned my place or position, my
experience or even my background. I felt completely valued for
who I was and the different perspective I sometimes brought. I took
great pride when I was assigned to lead Global Links and the Rights
Respecting Schools Award (RRSA). These became my babies,
professionally. I put my heart and soul into them. I was then part of
a sensational team of staff, from admin to TAs, teachers to the site
supervisor, who equally nurtured and championed the RRSA and
our global partnership into life. We lived and breathed children’s
rights, taking our role as duty-bearers seriously and by taking part in
events such as WE day, annual fundraisers (skip-a-thon, no screen
day, dance-a-thon) and reciprocal visits to our link school in Uganda

47
(which I had set up as part of a trip I undertook with a charity). I
can’t tell you the difference it makes working with such leadership
and a team of people who are like-minded. I had complete autonomy
in my roles and was trusted implicitly because I always had the best
interests of the children and families at the heart of what I did. What
an honour to have led this initiative and to have learned under this
leadership. My career is so much the better for it and so am I. With
more than a decade under this leadership I learned a lot about who I
wanted to be, and who I am, as a leader. Kindness, compassion and
empathy go a long way. So, too, does integrity – who are you when
no one is watching?

Currently, I am on the path to headship. Having made two

applications, one was rejected straight off (faith school for which I
had no current leadership experience) and the other I made it to the
last two with lots of positives to take away and a couple of things
to work on. I was left with the question as to whether I want a head
of school post or a head teacher post. I know now that I firmly want
the latter. I want to be part of the next generation of leaders; leaders
who have equality on the agenda; leaders who ‘see’ everyone and
are bold enough to make changes. I want to be that change. I want
to make a difference. I want to leave a small part of the world better
than I found it.

To those entering the profession or seeking leadership: go confidently

into your future. Be bold, be brave and be you. Who you are will
make the difference.

48
 Elaine Williams
Head Teacher
West Midlands

The early days were the hardest. I never imagined that securing my
first job would be so difficult. I had a good degree classification
and very strong school experiences. Phrases like, “she’s a natural”,
“so talented”, “highly employable” were phrases that I had become
accustomed to. I was young, no ties, so confidently applied for jobs
up and down the country.

I was willing to teach anywhere! Each rejection, and there were

many, dulled my shine a little bit. But I was nothing if not resilient, so
I continued to bounce back. I’m not going to lie, travelling over 200
miles, on public transport, only to be told that it was close but it had
gone to somebody older, hurt. My age was on the application form,
the thing that wasn’t on the application form was my colour. My
name didn’t give that sneak preview, which was obviously desired.
It was simply not possible to act on the post interview feedback I
was consistently given: too young, not enough experience, nothing
you could change, someone just pipped you to it. These statements
were all useless to me. All they did was start to reinforce an idea I
was having that people didn’t want Black teachers. There was no
space for us in British schools.
It hurt. I felt that I had been
lied to. Why let me spend time
completing a teaching degree
if I’d never be good enough
to secure a job? Why grade
me so highly on assignments
and school experiences if I’d
never get a chance to have my
own class?

I had applied for so many

that when I was called for an

49
interview for a school in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, I couldn’t even
remember applying for it. It was a part-time post (I needed full-time
work but, like I said, I applied for anything). I didn’t get it. It went
to a Punjabi speaker. That I completely understood, especially given
the catchment area. They told me my interview was strong. It was
simply that the successful candidate had that ‘dual language’ edge. I
understood. They offered me two weeks’ work instead. They needed
someone to cover a member of staff who was ill. I accepted. I had to
start somewhere. Five years later, I was still at that school. I gained a
wealth of experience. I was nurtured, developed and constantly told
that I was a leader of the future. Every cloud.

My first headship. I think I sort of fell into that. Don’t get me wrong, I
knew I wanted to be a head teacher, it was all part of my plan, but the
chain of events was strange. I was a deputy in Leeds. I thought that
perhaps I should get a little more leadership experience in a different
school before applying for my first headship. My head laughed; she
said I was selling myself short and that I was ready for headship. I
flicked through the ‘Times Ed’ and saw a headship advertised, local
to my hometown. I knew nothing about the school. I didn’t expect to
get an interview and if I secured an interview, I felt that they would
give me actions to work on as part of feedback. When they called to
offer me the job, I was speechless. This was not how I had planned
things would work out.

So there I was, head teacher of a small rural primary school. I was

the only Black person there; no other Black staff, no Black children.
The environment was a change for me but we were a community.
Although it was hard work (small school challenges, nothing to do
with ethnicity), I loved it.

I continued in this post for approximately four years. I knew I

wanted a different challenge and my journey took me to the West
Midlands. In my mind, this would be a positive move. I was moving
to a multicultural metropolis. I was expecting to be welcomed with
open arms by the staff and the parents. This was my experience in my
first headship, so why would it not be even better, in a multi-cultural

50
environment? I was excited, nervous yes, but excited. I’d left my
previous school with letters of thanks from the parents, governors and
staff. The local authority had also written to me congratulating me on
my success in running the school and serving the school community
so well. I was proud and honoured to have made a difference, and for
that difference to be recognised and celebrated.

Yorkshire was an instrumental part in my leadership journey. Yes,

I worked for different local authorities throughout this time, but in
both of them I felt that the school communities I worked in saw me
and wanted me. There was a clear desire for me to be their leader;
respect was paramount. They valued everything that I brought to the
table. I’ll never know if they saw me as a Black leader or a leader
who happened to be Black. What I do know is they saw me as a
successful leader and that enabled me to continue to grow, develop
and refine my practice. It was miles away from the early rejection
days when I struggled to secure that first post.

The West Midlands. Remembering some of the challenges makes

my heart sink. Then I remind myself that leadership is like a roller
coaster. With that roller coaster comes the inevitable ups and downs.
It was never going to be easy running a school where the deputy had
also applied for the headship, and clearly had been unsuccessful, as
the job was mine. You learn something about the application process
with each interview. For my next one I would check that there were
no internal applicants, but I didn’t know about this one until I’d
accepted the post. I had developed a thick skin over the years, so
deep breathing and counting to ten served me well. Headship can be
a lonely place but when your deputy refuses to even say hello to you,
let alone work with you, it’s a very challenging situation.

There were times when I honestly felt very sorry for the staff. They
were caught between a rock and a hard place. The two senior leaders
were not working together and were clearly not on the same page.
When the deputy secured a new deputy position, it was like a weight
was lifted off my shoulders. Now that barrier was removed, I could
continue to move the school forward. I knew what good leadership

51
looked like, but I soon learnt that new barriers could be put in your
way, at any given moment. The thing that upsets me most about the
barriers encountered in this post is the fact that, I believe, they were
due to my colour. This shouldn’t have been happening in this day
and age. It was also surprising it was happening in a ‘multicultural’
environment.

I was often in a no-win situation. Parents, staff; it was hard! There

were times when that roller coaster crashed right down to the bottom,
and I was not screaming because I was enjoying the ride.

I was told by White parents that I was racist. I was “all for the Black
children” and I “don’t care about the White ones”. They said that
I gave the Black children preferential treatment and I was unfairly
hard on the White children. I was accused of racism by the Black
parents. They said that I “didn’t understand Black children” and that
I had “sold out” because I only cared about the White children. They
said I was “too hard” on the Black children. No win. As a leader,
you take each situation and manage each one within the policies and
procedures you have in place. It’s never about colour, but that was a
battle I just couldn’t win.

Staff. Some staff were great and really kept me going. Others…they
didn’t want me there. They would do anything to see me fail, and try
anything to make me leave. Dark days.

I can remember one member of staff contacting the police in order to

tell them that I was allowing weed on the premises. Yep, she wanted
to damage my reputation and career that much. Obviously there was
no truth in it and nothing happened as a result of this, but someone
said that about me, when I’m sure they wouldn’t have said it about a
White head teacher.

Another member of staff, who clearly thought it was time for me

to move on, found and showed me new head teacher positions.
Who does this for their head teacher? She obviously didn’t want to
risk coming across me again as all the posts were international; in

52
fact, they were in the Caribbean. I’m guessing that wouldn’t have
happened to a White head teacher.

I did move on eventually, but I moved on when it was right for me. I
was not going to be forced to move because of other people. Nobody
knows how leadership positions will work out. You can research and
ask questions but nobody has a crystal ball. Just know that once that
roller coaster hits the bottom, it has to go back up at some point.

I’m still in the West Midlands and, although my new post had its
challenges when I started, they weren’t about race or ethnicity. I
have been told recently that my school is diverse, both in terms of
the children and families who are part of the school community and
the staff who work within the school. This is something of which I
am proud.

53
 Lorna Legg, BEd (Hons), MEd, NPQH
Head Teacher
Devon

I don’t think, if you’d asked me back in early childhood, that I’d

have been able to tell you what colour I was, or anyone else for
that matter. Until I was about eight years old, I don’t think I’d have
understood the question. Then, we moved house and an imposed
identity I had been almost unaware of – race – became all pervasive,
and coloured my days from then on. I left my happy, diverse, big
town school in Northampton, to attend a small, local village primary
school in Oxfordshire.

Here is where my little sister and I came face to face with a new
and confusing parallel universe. Suddenly, how we looked, what
we wore, even how we spoke, came under intense scrutiny, as with
all new children, but their attentions were tinged with something
negative and new. Rapidly, I began to feel, without knowing how
or why, that I had said or done something wrong; in fact, it’s more
accurate to say that I began to feel, intrinsically, that everything
about me was wrong. Several, initially incomprehensible, comments
were made about my sister and I needing a wash, or being “dirty”.
I remember, for the first time, noticing that my knees were so much
darker than theirs and so, at night in the bath, I would scrub them,
until sometimes there were pinpricks of blood. I hoped my dark
brown knees might fade, but of course,
they never did. It has taken a long time
to realise the fault did not lie in my skin,
but in their response to it. My hair, too,
which I’d never really thought about
(unless Mum combed it; a task we faced
with mutual dread), became something
people would comment on, or want to
touch. I just wanted to blend in, have
long, silky hair, like the other girls, and
have nobody ask me where I came from,

54
because the honest answer – ‘Northampton’ – never seemed to be
quite what they were after.

I became increasingly aware of how people of colour – any colour

aside from White – were represented on television. Any positive role
models, like Floella Benjamin and Derek Griffiths, on children’s TV,
or Daley Thompson triumphing in the decathlon, would be watched
in a state of painful hope. How they performed, I now realise, was
so important to my developing self-image. Sadly, more often than
not, the stereotypes we saw were harmful. A few of my new school
‘mates’ – not all, but enough – influenced by 1970s TV perhaps,
or possibly comments overheard at home, started to use names that
are hard to write, but even harder to hear: stupid, childish names
perhaps, but hurtful, because that was their intention.

As a child, when we went to any village event, my biggest fear was

that this small but significant group might call out those horrible
names in front of my mum. I felt I might catch fire and die of shame
if she heard, but I never, for a second, considered telling anyone.
Why is it that this shame, which should rightfully have been theirs,
affected me so much? So many children will have gone, and will
go through, their own versions of this, including my own beautiful,
kind children, who have both heard the ‘N’ word, from adults as
well as children.

It wasn’t until later in life that I learnt more about my own mother’s
struggles. Coming to ‘the mother country’, as she saw it, from
Jamaica, leaving her own mother behind, must have taken all my
mum’s courage and hope. She left a place of warmth, love and
beauty, to arrive on a damp, greasy dock, where everything (sky,
ground, faces) seemed grey: drained of colour and joy. The elderly
‘gentleman’ who spat at her at a bus stop, telling her to go back to
where she came from, presumably didn’t want her care, or that of the
many overseas nurses who came to support the NHS.

Mum eventually won over my very English White paternal

grandmother; caring for her in her old age, even though Grandma

55
 initially tried to prohibit their marriage, back in the 1960s, managing
to prevent some family and friends from attending their wedding.
How some people treated Mum was simply puzzling: pretending not
to hear her greetings, avoiding eye contact, or turning away as if
they hadn’t seen her. Shop assistants would sometimes refuse to take
money from her hand. The thing I could never work out, and cannot
to this day, is that these people never seemed to see her: the kindest,
gentlest and most generous person I have ever known. Despite all
that she has experienced, this has never changed. With Dad still at
her side almost fifty-five years later, their love, and her example,
have been my saving grace. She endured a myriad of put-downs, yet
rose to the top of her profession.

Now, as head teacher of a small, village primary school, I have the

opportunity to protect children; to prevent them from experiencing
or participating in discrimination; to encourage our pupils to see
the person, before everything else. Most teachers do their best to
view others without prejudice, or at least understand they must
try. However, before becoming a head, I came across those who
held prejudiced views. They would state things like “Black people
can’t swim”, as if fact, and would insinuate that my rejection of
such throw away racial or sexist comments was simply indicative
of a lack of humour, due to either my colour or my gender. In one
school, I overheard mealtime assistants commenting on the fact a
reception child, who was Black, couldn’t do up his laces (“Don’t

Lorna and
her family
 suppose they have shoes where he comes from”), ignoring the fact
(until I pointed it out) that not a single other child of his age can
either. Therefore, while it may not always be explicit, or aggressive,
racism persists in many forms, despite race being completely without
scientific basis.

There are things I feel unable to share, which affected me deeply, but I
know none of the experiences I have been through are, in themselves,
knock out blows – after all, here I am. I put any success down to my
parents, three special teachers and an inner determination to show
I could succeed, despite what others might think. My supportive
husband, also a head, happens to be both White and male. He has
been lucky enough to have had only two interviews in his working
life (also of twenty years) compared to my ten (plus) interviews. I
do not claim that this is a representative sample, nor do I claim that
all my failed interviews have been linked to prejudice around my
ethnicity: maybe I can chalk a few down to sexism, many will have
been down to my own failings and, to be fair, I learnt a lot from each
rejection. However, the stigma associated with growing up feeling
that you are somehow wrong in some indefinable way, can be all-
pervasive and fundamentally undermining, especially in the stress
of an interview.

Mandatory, national training for governors and staff (preferably

everyone) in implicit bias, would be a good place to start to redress any

Lorna’s mum
and dad
disadvantage and open up leadership to a more representative
and diverse group of people. I am grateful to my diocese, which
supported a free, online session, and my local authority, which has, at
least, put forward one session aimed at de-colonising the curriculum
(although at a cost). The fact that the NAHT and other bodies are
establishing groups like ours, to begin to address the issues we face,
is clearly a start and I have found a sense of belonging in this group
I have seldom felt before. However, these isolated attempts to fill a
yawning gap in our education and that of our peers and pupils is not
enough…yet.

Unless our children have role models, in whom they can see
themselves, are confident in their unique gifts and in the knowledge
they are loved, and can share that love with others, society cannot
thrive as it should. Racism, sexism and homophobia still consign too
many of our young people to a future they do not deserve. For the
future to truly be brighter, we need to shine a light on all the wrongs
committed out of sight, teach ourselves and others to stand up for
what is right, and learn to let our lights shine, undimmed.

Lorna and her mum

58
 Mayleen Atima BA, NPQH
Head Teacher
Suffolk

All I ever wanted to be was a teacher

Since I was a little girl, all I ever wanted to be was a teacher. My

mother was a childminder and, inadvertently, that too, became
my first ‘job’. The two children that my mum looked after, plus
my younger siblings, became my first ‘class’. They even received
homework every day and if they did not complete it, detention!

I went to a secondary school in Brockley, South London, where

gangs, underage sex and Class C drugs were the norm. However,
peer pressure did not influence me, as I had a greater fear of my
church-going Caribbean parents. I was one of ten children and the
first to go to university.

Until attending university, I had never experienced any kind of

overt racism.

My first experience was while

standing at the bus stop outside
my university in Eltham, when
a car came speeding up the road.
Out of instinct, I jumped behind
the glass partitioning, just before
an egg splattered on the glass. A
sobering event and I realised, in
that particular area, it was not safe
to walk around on my own. From
then on my friend and I would
wait for each other. There were
only three Black people on our
course and we could definitely feel
all eyes were on us. A feeling that

59
words cannot explain but we instinctively knew that we needed to
stick together.

I made it to my final year of studying a BA in English + Qualified

Teacher Status. I had taken part in three successful teaching practices
and had started my fourth and final practice. I was so excited, but by
week five of my practice, I was failing. I had lost weight and most of
my confidence. The teacher picked apart everything that I did. In one
lesson, when I was teaching PE, I tripped and fell. The teacher just
looked at me; she did not attempt to help or offer any comfort. Other
teachers would console me and tell me that I was doing a good job.
However, I could not seem to get any recognition from this teacher.
At the time, I did not think it was about the colour of my skin, but in
hindsight what else could it have been? My mentor could not believe
the change in my teaching and so I took a year out. The university
allowed me to come back with no additional costs and retake my
final practice to great success. I chalked this up to a bad experience
and finally plucked up the courage to apply for my first teaching role.

I started as a newly qualified teacher (NQT) in April 2001, at a church

school in Greenwich, London. I was a year one teacher and very
excited. There was one other NQT in the school and we soon became
great friends. Her father was well-known in education circles, so
when the time came for her to move into a leadership position within
the school, the door was open wide for her.

However, I felt I was not ready. Therefore, I was happy for her and
her ambition, and content to stay in class to develop my teaching and
leadership skills.

Some years later, my friend (who I will call Claire) got married.
She went on maternity leave and I took over all her leadership roles,
which included special educational needs coordinator. In addition, I
was now managing safeguarding, computing, music and behaviour
across the school. I was a member of the governing body and a lead
teacher in the Friends of the School charity group. I was the DJ at every
school disco and would stay until all the cleaning was completed.

60
Moreover, my pupils were gaining good outcomes each year. I knew
that I was good at my job, I had a natural flair for leadership and
I loved it. During Claire’s maternity leave, I decided that I should
talk to the head teacher about temporarily making me part of the
senior leadership team in her absence. The head teacher refused,
despite me sharing that I had taken over all her responsibilities
but with no recognition. He continually refused to acknowledge
my contributions.

I realised at that point that, within that school, I had come to the
end of my career progression, and I attended a deputy head teacher
training course. I applied for several jobs and finally got an interview.
The head teacher was shocked when he heard that I had an interview.
He asked me for my personal statement so that he could write the
reference. After reading the personal statement, he stated that it was
full of grammatical errors and I should have let him read it before
applying for the job. I was annoyed and my confidence was knocked.
Deep down I knew that he did not want me to go, but still his words
and actions hurt.

I went to my interview and got the job. At my new school, I met

an amazing head teacher, who has now become one of my closest
friends. Years later, she shared with me that when she called the head
teacher from my previous school, she had to prompt him to give
a verbal reference and that he was very tight-lipped. I cried. Even
though a few years had passed and I was thriving in my new school,
the knowledge that he still refused to recognise my contributions to
the school remained hurtful. I had moved on, but the pain remained.

In 2010, I became deputy head teacher of a school in Southwark. This

school had a number of Black and minority ethnic teachers, which I
had never experienced before, so I was very excited. On my first day,
the head teacher walked me around the school and introduced me to
one of the Black teachers who was also a senior teacher. She sneered
at me and said “Do us proud” then walked away.

I went from feeling immense excitement to feeling a dead weight

of expectation upon me. It proved to be a clear sign of what was to

61
come. Over the next two years, my biggest critics were the Black
and other minority ethnic teachers. I could not put a foot right and no
matter what I did, they felt I was targeting them. Not only did I feel
I had to prove myself to the school community, I also felt a pressure
to prove myself to the Black teachers in my school. But I never
gave up!

I am now an established head teacher in Suffolk, running a school

that has improved from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’. All I ever
wanted to be was a teacher and I have achieved that goal.

When I reflect on my journey, I realise that I turned my struggles into

victories.

To the future Black leaders within education, I would like you to

remember:

• You are not alone

• Never give up
• You have so much to offer
• You, too, can achieve your goals.

Mayleen’s mum and dad

62
 Rick Stuart-Sheppard
Head Teacher
Norfolk

Coming out BAME – two moments

I attended a leadership group meeting for those of us who are Black,

Asian and minority ethnic.

Wow.

How extraordinary it felt to be in the midst of education leaders who

all shared a characteristic with me – that of not being White.

It was the first time in my professional life when I was part of a

group where my ethnic minority identity put me in the majority.

I didn’t say anything in the virtual meeting. It was enough to

be present.

My journey to wholeness,
completeness or acceptance of
my identity has been lifelong
and the moment of revelation
was unexpected.

A few years previously, I was at our

county head teachers’ conference
and the presenter was delivering a
talk on the curriculum.

It concerned a country in Africa

about which he cheerfully admitted
he had known nothing. He had been
hired to deliver some curriculum
support and development to a

63
school there and it was the night before he was to work with a teacher,
and he had arrived at the hotel. What to do? To the amusement
of his audience of head teachers and leaders, he confessed to
‘googling’ it.

And when he googled it, he found out that the capital of this country
was “not safe after dark”. This was delivered almost as a piece of
stand-up comedy, on some level, and the audience of my peers
greeted it with laughter in all the right/wrong places. I was becoming
increasingly agitated. My daughter was working in this country
and I knew they were currently holding elections that had turned
dangerous and violent. Beyond some photogenic wildlife, it had also
produced the father of a recent American president. This president’s
father had taken some positives from the British rule of his country,
before a hard-fought independence had been gained.

How could it be possible to present your ignorance of even an

acquaintance of British involvement in this country as something for
mirthful entertainment?

How could you present your ignorance of a fact, which must surely
be a piece of shared cultural capital, as something to share a laugh
about? Soon there would be a break, and we would be drinking tea
or coffee that stood a reasonable chance of having been produced
and exported from this country, of which he was claiming happily
to know nothing. And, more infuriatingly, he was inviting us, as

Rick and
his dad
supposed educated leaders of education, to join him in laughing
at our collective ignorance and dismissal of an entire nation, and
one from which the British had directly ruled, shaped, manipulated
and benefited.

I was spinning. Part of me wanted to stand up and denounce this

madness, this wilful amnesia, and swear aloud at the craziness of
proclaiming ignorance of our shared history. As I struggled with this
rage building inside, I looked around my table, at the colleagues I
had worked with, and I felt completely alone. They seemed to be
with him, smiling. The room was with him.

I was the only person visibly ‘not White’ in the room. After years of
telling myself that things were changing, that the ethnic make-up of
our schools was changing and soon our teachers and leaders would
reflect this, I realised I had been misguided. I knew more was being
asked of me now, because time alone was not going to address the
issues that I couldn’t even begin to formulate: invisible histories,
unconscious bias and unseen privilege.

I spoke to the presenter afterwards, briefly, as calmly as I could, and

he apologised, on some level. Perhaps I should say he attempted to
defuse. My anger was all over the place: at his presentation, at his
colleague trying to speak up for him, at my peers around me, and at
myself, for taking so long to get to this point and not knowing how
to respond honestly, authentically and constructively. It was too big
for me.

Rick and
his dad
I went to find the guys selling information technology, in the next
room. They were the only other people present who, like me, were
visibly ‘non-White’.

The IT guys and I had met the night before.

“Guys, can I talk to you?...I am so angry and I don’t know who I can
talk to.”

They let the sales go for a few minutes to share their own story:
expulsion from Uganda, their father’s jute farm expropriated;
resettlement in Britain.

They had come over, grown up, and were doing their best to make
it work. It made it clear to me that there are hundreds of thousands,
millions probably, of stories about how we come to be in Britain –
each unique and personal. They are all connected to larger stories:
how Britain ruled a certain place, how it left that place, and what
happened next.

An education system and curriculum that produces a (well

remunerated?) key note speaker, who can make his ignorance of our
shared history an amusing way in to a (highly paid?) gathering of
school leaders – this is not a good situation. It ‘requires improvement’,
at best.

The people who know and understand the actual history of this
country and how we all come to be here, were working the stalls,
selling IT and cleaning the rooms.

It shook me, following so close upon major public events (Brexit)

and deep personal events (my parents reaching the end of their lives).

My path has been as individual as any immigrant, taking in my

father’s departure from India after independence, my mother leaving
Australia in the depression, and their joint decision that Canada
would make a better place to bring up their family. I think they kept

66
the specifics of their experiences as a ‘mixed’ couple in Britain in
the late 1950s and early 1960s silent and buried from us, trying to
build a new life in a different country. Their reluctance to talk about
ethnicity and their experiences as a ‘mixed-race’ couple seem, from
where I am now, to have been an unspoken strategy to shelter me
from the experiences that they went through, which they largely kept
to themselves. Their arrival in Canada was a chance to reposition
identity as British/Commonwealth immigrants to another part of the
Commonwealth. It added another level of story, with the very explicit
struggle for civil rights/equality happening just over the border in
the States, and the less visible inequalities being lived in Canada
(indigenous First Nations, French-English, Catholic-Protestant, non-
English speaking immigrants, Commonwealth immigrants, anti-
Semitism, for a start).

Following my experience at the conference, I have begun to make

a conscious effort to connect up with others and myself, to own my
mixed ethnicity in a way I never have before. Being ‘mixed’ was to
always be on the outside; not this, not that. My journey has led me to
some wonderful people doing wonderful work, and getting to be part
of a meeting with ‘my peers’ was a great solace. It was a moment
when I did not have to prove or justify anything; display wisdom,
insight or skill; it was enough to be present and acknowledge the
fullness of who I am, and help however I can on the next part of this
journey for all of us.

67
 Ross Ashcroft
Head Teacher
Birmingham

I am in my local, with a pint and my iPad on the table, deciding how

to start writing this chapter, on what promises to be a contemplative
process of my journey into headship.

While I was pondering, I went to the toilet, where I met an older

gentleman, who had been sitting opposite me. I gestured him through
the door first. He thanked me and then we both set ourselves up at
the urinal.

Then it happened.

“All right mate, so where you from?”

This may seem like an innocent question. However, it is a question

I’ve been asked a million times throughout my life. So, for the
millionth time I answer, “Just around the corner mate, although I was
brought up in a small town called Halesowen in the West Midlands.”

I waited momentarily, until the

inevitable follow-up question
came.

“No, I mean, where are you

actually from? Like, where are
your parents from?”

Now I knew what he was asking

and I also knew my response
would not suffice, as both my
parents were born in England.
Sometimes I try to give the most
elaborate response, stating I’m a

68
mix of twenty-five separate nationalities, naming each one, simply
for my own amusement. However, on this occasion I did not have
the energy, so I replied truthfully.

“Both my parents were born in Oldbury, also in the West Midlands

– England.”

I could see this man’s frustration. He looked over at me, which was
disconcerting for two reasons. The first reason: I was still urinating,
and staring into another man’s eyes is not a typical social expectation
in the gents’ toilets. The second reason: I knew he was trying to
figure out a way to ask, “You don’t look English mate, because
you’re not White, so what country are you from?” I could tell him
I’m the grandson of John Thomas Ashcroft, a White navy veteran
who served in World War II and operated a ship that transported
Winston Churchill back to England. Instead, I zipped up my fly and
went over to the sink to wash my hands.

The man took another tack and decided to tell me about Abdul, Syed
and Mohammed, all of whom he works with.

“They are lovely blokes and you would really like them.”

I presume he is telling me this as he believes I am Asian and it’s his

way of showing me ‘he has brown friends.’

Now, I could tell him about me, but in the simplest of terms, I’m a
cliché. I’m a young man who experienced a coward physically abuse
my mother and who seriously abused me. I’m a young man who
experienced school exclusions. I’m a young man who experienced
homelessness on a number of occasions, including periods while at
school, college and university. But, most importantly, for this book,
I’m a young man who is dual-heritage/mixed-race; I am a mixed
Black Caribbean and White British educator.

This might seem like I’m portraying myself as a victim, but I assure
you I have never seen myself as one. However, as I grow older, I

69
realise the simple facts of the matter are that being a young man who
is not White has had an impact on my life, which I would not have
experienced if I was a young man who was White.

While it is a sad state of affairs, this became even more real to me

when my first child was born. I was pleased she was born with White
skin, blue eyes and blonde hair. I was happy, because she won’t get
asked ‘Where are you from?’, because everyone will assume ‘she’s
one of us’.

However, the opposite occurred when my second child was born;

with olive skin and much darker features, he is obviously a child with
dual-heritage. Essentially, what I am saying is one of my children
may have vastly different life experiences and interactions from my
other child, simply due to the colour of their skin.

It is important to note at this stage, although I have had various

difficulties in life, I have grown up to become a teacher, specialising
in special educational needs, whose career has progressed to a head
teacher role. I’m not a Black activist, and neither have I experienced
much overtly racist behaviour towards me. Instead, it has been much
more subtle.

I really noticed being treated differently in secondary school. For

whatever reason, many teachers just did not have any real expectations
of me succeeding in life. Granted, I wasn’t the best behaved, but I
achieved well academically. I remember being sent out of the room
in science for talking. Now, most pupils protest their innocence and
this was no different, apart from the fact I was not actually talking.
It was my friend from the row behind. He wanted to be sent out and
even admitted aloud to the teacher that it was in fact him who was
talking, and not me. The teacher was uninterested in his confession
and sent me out anyway.

When I came back in, after thirty minutes, she berated me in front of
the class. I explained calmly that it was not me talking and reminded
her that the boy behind me confessed it was him.

70
 “One day I’m going to be a teacher, and I will make sure no one I
teach will be treated the way I’m being treated now,” I said.

“You will be lucky if you even get into college, never mind become
a teacher,” she replied.

That struck me like a lightning bolt. Why would she say that? I was
top set in English, mathematics and science. What would stop me
becoming a teacher? As I said earlier, I don’t see myself as a victim,
so that lightning bolt charged me like nothing ever had done before.
It stayed present in my mind through every challenge; it propelled
me forward, determined to become a teacher.

Fast forward several years later, more homelessness and rough

sleeping persisted, but more academic achievements came along
with it. I was on my Post Graduate Certification of Education (PGCE)
course. Most teachers remember this as the dreaded training year. It
is full-on. One of the hardest years of my life. I really struggled
with the academic rigour of the course, especially the English skills
test. Fortunately for me, I had an amazing tutor: Dot Heslop. She
encouraged me to go for a dyslexia test, something I had refused for
so many years. The test showed I was dyslexic, and what followed
was academic support that was invaluable.

There were many things about that year which showed BAME
education professionals were not in abundance. Out of my cohort
of trainee teachers, there were two Asian guys and myself, at a

Ross and
his children
university in a very multi-cultural area of the West Midlands. The
same occurred on my teaching placements; I do not ever remember
seeing another non-White teacher among the teaching staff, even
though the schools were in multi-cultural Birmingham.

My first teaching placement was not successful in the slightest.

Clearly, for whatever reason, I was not a good fit for the department.
I was given dance to teach and told to do what I know best, “like
street dance”. I have never taken part in, or taught, street dance. The
same teacher was unhappy for me to teach any theory as she believed
“I wouldn’t have that level of knowledge.”

Charlotte, another trainee from my course, was also placed at the

school; she was seen as ‘having that level of knowledge’. Charlotte
was well versed in dance and had also taken part in street dance
for several years – interestingly, she was never asked to teach it.
I was a dual-heritage male and she was a White female. I always
found it interesting how differently we were treated throughout
the placement. I am sure the teachers working within that physical
education department would strongly deny any forms of racism or
discrimination exist. However, an obvious and clear bias existed
between two trainees, with no real explanation of why.

Getting a teaching job in PE was now more difficult than ever. The
government had cut funding for school sport coordinators (SSCo) and
competition managers (CM), hence people in these roles were going
back into teaching. The market was now flooded with experienced
PE teachers, resulting in my training cohort struggling to secure
jobs. I applied to work with children with special educational needs,
which resulted in me being the second person in my trainee cohort
to land a job. This made me incredibly proud. What followed was
a whirlwind career where micro-aggressions and unconscious bias
were rife.

In my first teaching position, in an inner-city Birmingham school,

I was asked by my manager if I thought having cane rows in my
hair was “appropriate or professional”. These were professionally

72
done, in straight lines and not patterned, and in my opinion very neat
and tidy. I asked another member of staff who was also a teacher,
with bright pink hair, a nose piercing and several visible tattoos, if
management had ever asked her about professionalism. She laughed
and replied that they hadn’t, ever.

At the same school, I applied to become head of department. Several

of the experienced teachers told me I wouldn’t have a chance; I didn’t
understand why I wouldn’t. I was an outstanding teacher, who had
successfully improved the outcomes of my pupils. I got the job. One
White member of staff said that the Black staff would be happy that
one of their own is now in management. I was also asked several
times to have difficult conversations with Black colleagues outside of
my department, as I was told that they would take it better from me.

I grew dreadlocks; again these were created professionally, to make

sure I had a tidy image. I gained my first leadership role in a school
in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. Compared to my previous county,
I noticed just how much I stood out. Myself and the principal of
the school were the only non-White school leaders in the county.
I actually made the difficult decision to cut off my dreadlocks and
have a ‘normal’ hairstyle to conform. I felt the need to blend in as
much as possible.

It was at this time I went to my first leadership conference. Out of

hundreds of professionals, myself, my principal and one other Black
head teacher were the only non-White school leaders I could see.
When we checked into the hotel, the receptionist was surprised I
was there for the leadership conference and thought I had turned up
for the wrong event. The other non-White head teacher I mentioned
earlier was laughed at by a member of staff when she said she was a
head teacher. She was then asked what she really did for a living. I
was beginning to feel like I did not belong here.

Throughout my career, I have met people in senior positions who

clearly have set views on race. I remember an executive head teacher
in Walsall, who told me I was “too aggressive” because I politely

73
disagreed with him. He also told me that there was a reason there
aren’t a lot of people like me in leadership positions. I asked him
what he meant by ‘people like me’, but he didn’t want to clarify.

Some people may read this chapter and say I was unfortunate or
that these are isolated incidents. They may even argue that they
aren’t even incidents worth mentioning, as it is just me overthinking
innocent interactions. I argue that unconscious bias, and the micro-
aggressions that come with it, are widespread within education. If
this was not the case, then this book would not be needed.

One clear example of unconscious bias is the number of times I

have turned up to greet a visitor in reception in a suit and tie, and
they presume I’m a teaching assistant. This has happened to me on
numerous occasions, in numerous leadership positions, in numerous
schools, in numerous local authorities. I do not know of any White
leaders in education who have ever been mistaken for a teaching
assistant, but do you know how many non-White leaders of education
I know who have had the same experience? You’ve guessed it…
numerous.

However, if you are reading this thinking there is no hope, you would
be wrong. There is! I have recently secured my first headship at an
amazing school, which I have always admired. They believe I have
the skills and abilities to lead the school through the next stage of
their journey.

The boy who was excluded from two schools, experienced

homelessness, experienced domestic abuse as a child, who was told
he would never get into college, never mind become a teacher, who
was diagnosed with dyslexia, and who experienced subtle racism
throughout his career, is now a head teacher at his very own school.
It’s been tough, really tough. But I got there. However, the exciting
part is that this chapter is just one section of a very long story, and I
cannot wait to find out what happens next.

But before I do that, I need to finish my pint. Watch this space...

74
 Ruhaina Alford-Rahim, BEd (Hons), MEd

Executive Head Teacher

Devon

Last night, I had an epiphany. A realisation that came to me, I’m

ashamed to say, for the first time in my life. An understanding of the
meaning behind all those comments that I had thought were glibly
made by my mother. Comments made to me as a child, growing up
in suburban London in the 1980s and repeated to my children, now
living in rural Devon.

I can reel off the comments. I can predict them before she says them.

“Don’t let yourself tan; you will look too dark.”

“You don’t look Asian; it’s good people think you are European.”

“Because your husband’s White and you’ve given your children

English names, nobody will know what they are.”

This pride in being mistaken for a White

person, fooling people into believing
I am what I am not, the denial of my
identity, never ceased to disappoint and
hurt me, until now, until she shared with
me what she did.

My mum, Yasmin Rahim, a bubbly,

confident and incredibly capable
woman, was born in Kenya and came
to Britain in 1975 to marry my dad, Dr
Sadiq Rahim. He had come to London,
from Zanzibar, an island off the east
coast of Africa, in the 1960s to pursue
his studies and undertake a PhD in

75
Physics. He was a brilliant man and although he passed away at
fifty-five, he achieved so much. As well as being a lecturer, he had
many businesses including a successful tutoring centre. He was a
lay preacher at our local mosque and was the president of our Shia
Muslim community and used his position to develop community
cohesion with other faith groups. He was always working, rarely
sat down and slept very few hours a night. His ambition to be a
head teacher was realised when he financed and set up his own
school in Tanzania. This project was mostly about altruism, but I
know that deep down he didn’t feel he would ever become a head in
this country, despite his drive and ability. But he never really spoke
about why.

Last night it all made sense to me. As we chatted over the phone, my
mum mentioned that she had been listening to a Black Lives Matter
discussion on the radio. She had been reminded of something that had
happened back in 1976. She and my dad had put an offer on a house;
she was pregnant with me and they wanted somewhere bigger. Since
she worked for a bank, the mortgage had been arranged easily. All
looked to be going well, when my dad called her to say that it was
all off. The reason? “They don’t want to sell to ‘coloured’ people.”
According to the agent, the neighbours had pressurised them.

I felt sick to hear this, imagining the pain and degradation my

parents must have felt. I had heard the stories of my dad’s early days
in London, where he and his cousin would attend church socials

Ruhaina and
her dad
 because people spoke to them out of Christian duty, whereas at other
places they were ignored. I knew that when my mum first started
to wear the hijab, the bank manager insisted she tied it behind her
neck in a Hilda Ogden style. I remembered that it was only when
Madonna made henna ‘tattoos’ fashionable, that I felt comfortable to
put my hand up in school and expose my Mehndi, because for years
the girls in my class had asked why I had dirt on my hands. But none
of this felt quite as blatant or as personal as to be rejected from a
neighbourhood before even moving in.

We are a product of our experiences and if my mum’s were of

rejection because of the colour of her skin, then there is no wonder
she seeks the sanctuary of light skin for her children; to be accepted
and have all the opportunities that she perceives may be denied if it
is immediately obvious that we are different.

I told her that I finally understood, and she explained that it wasn’t
just the experiences in this country, such as my dad being overlooked
for promotion time and time again, or the looks or comments my
mum gets after a terrorist incident. She had come from Kenya, which
despite gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1963,
retained a hierarchy according to colour, with Asians sandwiched
between White people at the top and Black people very much at
the bottom. In addition, India, from where her family originate, has
a deeply embedded caste system that skews the way skin colour
is viewed.

Ruhaina and
her mum
The desire to be the same is quite a powerful urge when you doubt
your place in society or fear rejection because of your difference.
For years I have judged my mum, cringed at her comments, feeling
I am so much more enlightened than her. But am I really? I have
never faced overt racism. Granted there were the Mehndi comments
at my mono-cultural school where my best friend was a Black girl
– the only other non-White child in the class. As time went on and
London became more and more multi-cultural, I became a teacher
and worked in diverse schools and felt accepted for who I was.

So why is it that I am so proud of my cut-glass English accent, that I

would never wear a sari unless to an Asian wedding, that I anglicise
my name to Ruh Alford and that I always feel the tiniest trepidation
when I write my maiden name Rahim on a job application form?

If I am truly honest, somewhere deep inside, I anticipate rejection

because of my race and religion. Whether it is my parents’
experiences and behaviour rubbing off on me, or the noticeable shift
in media coverage of Islamist terrorists, Trojan Horse incidents or
anti-immigrant rhetoric on social media, I am not entirely sure.

I have now reached the point in my career that my dad dreamed of,
I am the executive head teacher of The Carey Federation in Devon.
The schools are in rural villages in the heart of the countryside. All
the children are White-British, so in some ways it feels like going
back in time to my own mono-cultural school days, but there is one
major difference. I am determined that the children in my schools
have pride in their own agricultural heritage, coupled with a respect
and understanding of all cultures, so they grow up to be global
citizens. I feel privileged to be an educator and know that there will
be no place in these children’s hearts for racism.

As for me, I am working hard to be more open about who I am –

starting with my name.

78
 Sabrina Edwards
Head Teacher
London

From an early age I always had a deep sense of justice, even if I

wasn’t yet able to articulate it. I remember watching ‘Carry On’
films, James Bond and the occasional western as a child, laughing
uncomfortably at the stereotypes they portrayed because everyone
else was, but knowing deep down that they were offensive.

Both my parents immigrated

here. My father from Grenada
and my mum from Italy. They
both had different experiences
of being from a minority
culture in England, which
led to a confusing, and often
damaging, set of views being
imprinted onto my brother
and me growing up. As a
nine- or ten-year old child,
I have a distinct memory of
discussing my mixed heritage
with my school friend, one of
the only other mixed-race girls
in my school at the time. We
described ourselves as ‘half-caste’ (an acceptable term to some in
the 1980s but a term I would never use now) but then proceeded to
go even further back in our family histories to describe ourselves in
terms of fractions! I thought my great-grandfather was Scottish, there
was some Portuguese and Grenadian on my dad’s side and that my
mum was Italian. I think I decided on one-half Italian, one-sixteenth
Scottish, one-sixteenth Portuguese and one-quarter Grenadian.

At the time I had no idea what this varied heritage actually meant or
how it came to be so. I knew I felt uneasy with it, but I didn’t know

79
why. Around five years ago I was introduced to the ‘Legacies of
British slave-ownership’ website and made the haunting discovery
that I did indeed have some Scottish ancestry, in the form of a slave
owner who owned a total of six descendants of enslaved Africans
on the island of Grenada – my direct ancestors on my father’s side.
The story I had been told as a child about my Scottish ancestry was
unlikely to be an interracial love affair but more likely as a result
of rape. Finding this out so many years later definitely put a very
different spin on that innocent conversation I had with my friend in
the 1980s.

I was ‘exoticised’ throughout my childhood, especially during

my yearly summers spent at the beach in Italy. People would stop
their families to point and stare at us, and not always in ways that
felt positive and welcoming. I was well aware of my differences.
Questions such as “why does your hair get shorter when it’s wet?”
And “why doesn’t it even look wet?” were innocent questions for the
most part, but often there was a negative undertone that made it clear
the way I looked (especially with the dark tan I would get by the end
of six weeks in the sun) was undesirable.

Back in London, living in Tottenham, I was surrounded by diversity.

Nevertheless, in many of the activities I took part in, such as dance
lessons, I was one of the only children with darker skin. At the time,
through media, books and magazines, we generally only saw people
with pale skin and straight hair being lauded as beauty icons. I
remember my third junior year teacher, Mr Tharp, being the first and
last teacher I ever had to teach us something positive about being
Black. We learnt that Egypt is an African country; that the people of
Ancient Egypt were Black people, they ruled for thousands of years
and created inventions that still cannot be explained. We learnt about
hairstyles and we even had someone come in with hair dummies for
us to try out some African hairstyles! He was a true inspiration and
still is. The next time I learnt anything about Black people was in
secondary school, when we started a history topic on the slave trade.
What a disappointment that was. I recently found my old school
exercise books and let’s just say that the version of events we were

80
taught was the epitome of a colonialist curriculum told only from one
perspective. I remember feeling so sad at the time that the history of
Black people started with slave trade; I knew this couldn’t be true.
If I had been a bit more courageous, I would have asked, “But what
about what happened after the Ancient Egyptian times and before
the slave trade? Surely Black people were around doing something
then, weren’t they?”

After managing to get through the ordeal of secondary school

(Tottenham in the early 1990s was a brutal place) and the colourism
that also existed within the Black community there, I left for sixth
form college. I purposely chose a different area, so that I could meet
new people. This was where I had my first experience with a teacher
who, I felt, wanted to limit my expectations because of the colour
of my skin. During an A-level psychology lesson, my tutor asked
me where I was planning to go to university. I had my heart set on
Exeter; they had the course I was looking for (a rare combination of
psychology and Italian) and it involved a move away from London,
which both terrified and excited me in equal measure. When I told
her my plans, she looked surprised.

“Hmmmm...Are you sure you’re going to...you know...fit in there?”

she said.

For a split second I was

confused and genuinely didn’t
understand what she could
mean. And then the finer
nuances of the conversation
became clearer.

“Maybe you should think about

going somewhere a little bit
more…you know…where there
are more…you know…” she
continued.

Sabrina and her family

She asked me whether I had thought about applying in London too,
and reminded me how hard it is to get into Exeter. I was crushed. She
basically told me that not only would my skin colour be a barrier to
being successful at a good university, but also that I should lower
my expectations of getting in somewhere like that and just stick to
universities in London where I’d ‘fit in’. What she didn’t know about
me was that I had become an expert in fitting in. I already had a
wide range of friends from all walks of life and was beginning to
perfect my skills in seamlessly drifting from one group of friends
to another, while always being able to draw on my mixed heritage
to make different groups feel at ease with me (more on this later).
What did become clear to me was her view that no matter how much
I thought I could navigate White society, I was still Black and should
stick to places that had other Black people in them, as I wouldn’t be
welcome anywhere else. Was she trying to protect me from racism?
Maybe or maybe not. I’ll never know her intentions. I do know that
areas do not become diverse unless you make them so! I ignored
her and put Exeter as my first choice anyway, although her remarks
affected me and have stayed with me ever since.

While clearing out the loft recently, I happened upon all the
university essays I wrote for my undergraduate psychology degree.
I came across two in particular: one on the need to decolonise
the National Curriculum and the other on embedding anti-racism
in education. Reading these essays reminded me of my original
motivation for becoming a teacher. I wanted to be like Mr Tharp.
To be that inspirational teacher who switches something on in a
child; helps them to see who they are; where they’ve come from;
and who they could become. I had such a wonderful vision for the
educator I would be back then. While reading those essays I wrote
back in 1998 and 1999, I wondered where that person went. I have
had many successful years of being a teacher and I hope I have been
that memorable teacher for at least a few children along the way, but
I have recently been reflecting on why it has taken becoming a head
teacher for me to fully realise that vision of being an active anti-
racist in the workplace? Why was I not brave enough to challenge
and transform the curriculum I taught previously, to ensure that

82
the colonial outlook so deeply embedded in our education system
was eradicated?

I worked it out. Conformity. I have had to dim my light in most

of the schools I worked in; neutralise my Blackness so as to not
make others feel threatened or intimidated; not rock the boat; not be
accused of ‘playing the race card’. I was afraid that by pointing out
injustice, I would be the one accused of racism. Now, this wasn’t
always because of overt policies or conversations where these things
were made explicit, but in each school I worked in, something would
happen that made it abundantly clear that many of my colleagues
had extremely problematic views on people with darker skin tones,
most likely based on the one-sided colonial education they had
themselves received.

In one school staffroom, an experienced teacher asked me whether

I could swim because she had heard that Black people have denser
bones and just sink. I looked around for support from another member
of staff who might step in and tell her that was extremely offensive;
but it never happened. Nobody batted an eyelid. As a young teacher
in my second year, I just didn’t feel brave enough to speak up for
myself and tell her how racist and offensive her comment was. In
another school, well into my career, when I had a good range of
teaching and leadership experiences under my belt, I was told I should
‘lower my expectations’ when I announced to the head teacher that
I would be applying for senior leadership positions. This was after
being passed up for internal promotion twice and the position being
given to someone in their second or third year of teaching each time.
This was a school where if your face didn’t fit, you weren’t going to
get anywhere near the senior leadership team. When you looked at
who was successful at gaining a senior leadership position and who
was not, it was very clear what kind of faces did fit – and none of
them were brown.

When I started my headship, after my first gruelling year, my school

improvement advisor told me not to underestimate the impact of the
fact that I was young, Black and a woman and that some people just

83
wouldn’t like it. I didn’t want to admit that my skin colour, age or
gender could have been the reasons why I had such a difficult time,
after all, they hadn’t prevented me from getting the job in the first
place, had they? But I knew deep down that the staff, who took issue
with me, had their own issues and I can’t help but wonder if their
reactions and behaviour towards me would have been different if it
had been a White man making exactly the same decisions.

These are the kind of micro-aggressions we can’t always put our

finger on, but know they are there. From the parents who weren’t
expecting to see someone like me on the gates, because my name
was Edwards, to the staff I overheard describing the upset reactions
of some of our Black parents as them “playing the race card” (rather
than admitting there were many underlying racial issues going on
at the school, which had been brushed under the carpet for years);
my first year was tough. But I made it through that difficult period.
I’m now going into my fifth year of headship. I’ve recruited and
trained a strong team. We’ve created an ethos of openness, honesty
and continual learning. We are dealing with racism and sexism head
on. I no longer feel like I have to make myself more palatable by
not discussing my Blackness (even though I know that the lightness
of my skin and the curl pattern of my hair have made me easier to
accept in many of my previous roles). I feel like I am finally able
to be that educator I aimed to be when I wrote those essays over
twenty years ago. What saddens me is that even after twenty years,
the issues I discussed in my essays haven’t really changed at all.

My advice to you, if you are a new teacher just embarking on your

career, with that vision for creating a better future for the next
generation: be brave. We are now in a time when calling out racism
in all its forms is welcomed and we need more brave leaders if we
want to create the equal global society we’ve been dreaming about.
People will make assumptions about you; some people may even try
to limit your aspirations as they did for me, but as long as you don’t
limit your own aspirations for yourself, you will succeed. Don’t let
anyone dim your light; in fact, get yourself a brighter bulb!

84
 Sarah Hobson-Riley
Deputy Head Teacher and Behaviour SLE
Hertfordshire

Since I can remember, I had always aspired to become a teacher.

As a child I took no resistance and taught my soft toys how to
spell. My dad, who taught English as a second language, was a
huge inspiration to me and my next steps were inevitably going to
follow in his. I saw how he was fulfilled by teaching and helping
others and I wanted to do the same. I did go through a stage when I
wanted to become an actor, and spent lots of my childhood in stage
productions and attending castings; I managed to become a member
of the National Youth Theatre and got a place working in New York
with an affiliated American youth company, BAYFEST (British
American Youth Festival Theatre). These early experiences helped
me to decide what I wanted to work towards. Working in the arts at
a young age taught me that I definitely did not want to become an
actor, but that I absolutely loved the arts and the experiences they
had provided me. They had positively shaped my early years, and
the passion I developed in understanding scripts, production and,
most importantly, reading people and character, was what I wanted
to pursue. I wanted other young people to feel the same way I did
about drama.

At school, I never saw any

teachers that looked like me. I
never saw any leaders that looked
like me and even my dad, who
was White, didn’t look like me.
Despite this, my aspirations
remained the same and I decided I
wanted to teach drama. However,
being a brown girl in an urban
London school, performing,
dancing, singing and learning
an instrument were not the ‘in

85
thing’ to be doing and actually a lot of the Black children frowned
upon a positive work ethic. This then became a larger issue, as I
was trying hard to study and a particular group of Black girls took
offence to this. I became their target and they made my life a misery.
Despite these horrible experiences, I strived to do well at my GCSEs
and came out with reasonable grades, enough to get me to my next
stepping stone to undertake A-levels.

It was odd. I never thought of doing anything else. I never even

contemplated an alternative. I didn’t ever think I wouldn’t go to
university; my route was already laid out and I did exactly what I
planned. I went on to university and studied film and theatre. I then
went on to do my PGCE in teaching drama at The Central School of
Speech and Drama and had a surprising setback. One of my tutors
asked to meet with me regarding one of my essays and said they had
noticed that my written work read like I was struggling. I was sent
for some testing at the dyslexia centre in London, which came back
with a report that I had problems with my processing. In fact, my
comprehension was in the ninety-seventh percentile of the country,
whereas my working memory fell into the seventh percentile. The
report stated that they couldn’t understand how I had managed this far.

Sarah, her dad and her sister, Sasha

The truth is I hadn’t managed. I had worked bloody extra hard, blood
sweat and tears, to get my GSCEs, A-levels, degree and then my
PGCE and had always wondered why it felt so hard. Was it because
I was brought up in a single parent household with my dad and my
sister? Was it because I went to a rough high school? Was it assumed
that I would be less able and my needs had been ignored?

My first placement during my PGCE training was in a North Watford

school. I was a born and bred Londoner and had never been further up
the M1 than Harrow. Watford was a new experience and the biggest
shock I had was the socio-economic make-up of the pupils. I had
never been around so many White British children and it took me
time to adapt. Halfway through my placement, I remember one of
the sixth formers saying to me that I should go and have a joint with
them. When I retorted that the suggestion was highly inappropriate,
the child said that because I was brown, then of course, I smoked
weed. Something hit me that day. I was being stereotyped as the
‘cool, brown, drama teacher’ and I hated it, but had no idea how to
break down these stereotypes.

I managed to secure my first official teaching job in the April of

my training year. I had struck gold, landing myself a head of drama
position at a private school. Now, bearing in mind that I had never
really seen a private school, let alone worked in one, I didn’t know
what to expect. I was the youngest member of staff by at least ten
years and the only brown teacher. There were two brown students and
within months I noticed they gravitated towards me and took drama
GCSE. Last summer, I attended the wedding of one of them and her
mother mentioned me in her speech as a woman who provided her
daughter with a positive role model.

I didn’t stay long at the school. I felt morally wrong and thought
my skills would be better suited in a state school, not to mention I
felt like I wanted to give something back to the state. I moved on
to another local secondary school, which was larger, busier, more
forward-thinking and dynamic. I loved it there and felt I fitted in
right away.

87
A few years down the line and after having my second child, I started
to think about career development. I was becoming bored of being
a drama teacher and wanted some more responsibility. I was an
aspiring assistant head teacher, yet whenever I mentioned that this
was my plan, I was laughed at – literally. I had formed a reputation
as a strong and outstanding classroom teacher, yet was never seen as
anything other than that. Despite working on whole school projects
and joining the continuing professional development team to raise
my visibility, no one saw me as more than just a drama teacher. I
began to wonder what it would take to be recognised as a potential
leader, but also why it hadn’t happened already. Did I not fit the
image of a leader? After all, I hadn’t seen any brown leaders in any
of the schools I had worked in or gone to.

During this period, I was doing some drama teaching outreach at a

local pupil referral unit and through this route I heard of an assistant
headship at another referral unit. I thought, this is my chance. I had
nothing to lose, went for the job and got it.

Much to the surprise of my current school, I had managed to make

the leap to leadership. The role took me totally out of the classroom
and was a baptism of fire. However, all my training and skills in
analysing character and behaviour really came into their own with
the children there. Understanding behaviour and trauma became an
area of expertise for me. I felt like I had done a degree in mental
health and behaviour before I left. As part of this role I was expected
to visit many stakeholder schools and liaise with head teachers and
senior leadership teams across a large number of establishments.
I noticed that when I arrived in these schools, there was often an
assumption that I was a support worker, admin worker or teaching
assistant (which are all hugely important roles, but are not leadership
positions). I began to recognise the facial expression that I received
once I had introduced myself as the assistant head teacher. It was
always one of surprise, or readjustment, which I liked to pretend
I hadn’t noticed. However, three years down the line and the same
reactions became a trend, and although I never wanted it to be the
case, I began to admit to myself that it was my appearance that was

88
evoking these reactions. I also found it very shocking that on so
many occasions, I would be the only person of colour in a room.
Moving into a very different forum of leaders as a new senior leader
was eye-opening and it slowly dawned on me that I was a rarity in
this body of leaders in education.

I eventually got to the stage where I missed the classroom and

mainstream school, so sought to find a new role in mainstream
education again. I took a position that was a sideways move into a
state school.

I began my journey at my current school teaching English, and

seconded onto the senior leadership team, covering aspects of two
members who were on maternity leave. This encompassed some
special educational needs coordinator and inclusion work, which
was an area of special interest and expertise for me. Despite me
being the only brown person in the room, yet again, I felt that the
consistency of being in one place would allow the time for staff and
students to recognise my role and to dispel that notion of surprise as
to what I did.

Sarah and her family

Working with a new and fresh senior leadership team, empowered
me to demonstrate what I thought I was capable of achieving, and
within the year I had secured an assistant head position on the
team. The staff body was young and committed to delivering high
standards, which dovetailed nicely with my leadership ethos. I was
informed of a potential deputy headship position at the school,
which covered inclusion and behaviour, and although I had never
striven to be a deputy, I felt it was natural for me to work towards
the position. After all, I had been an assistant head for nearly
six years.

I was very aware that the current head and other deputies had
been White males and I did feel a sense of threat that maybe I was
too different to meet the needs of the role. Despite being highly
professional, I always had at the back of my mind that I was a
good ‘code switcher’ and could apply myself to different situations
effectively (maybe it was my drama training). I had my nose pierced
and had tattoos. Sometimes my hair was big and sometimes braided.
I was aware that in a role such as this, I would need to be myself and
that might not be what they were looking for. I was brave enough to
present like this in my interview; after all, what you see is what you
get, and if they wanted to appoint me for who I was, then great!

I have been a deputy head teacher for nearly a term and have found
the role challenging and rewarding, but interestingly, I have found it
such an achievement on a personal level.

At no stage growing up did I see deputies who looked like me. At no

point in my career did anyone say to me you look like a senior leader.
I may not fit the stereotype or box of what a senior leader looks like,
however, I do a damn good job and am a well-respected member of
the team. My focus is on the children that I work with and providing
them with a quality education, but I also realise that I am changing
children’s mindsets, as they are also learning that leaders can also
look like me.

90
 Symone Campbell
School Business Manager
Surrey

We had moved from a community that was one of the most ethnically
diverse districts in London to a predominately White area when
I experienced my first encounter of racism. I was a young Black
seven-year-old child having to put up with chanting of the ‘N’ word
from White children in the neighbourhood and bullying at school in
the playground on a daily basis. When another Black family moved
into the neighbourhood, the same children would shout, “Oh look,
you have someone to play with now.”

At first, I did not quite understand why these children were so

hostile towards me and at first, I chose to ignore it; that was until
the bullying got physical. I regularly reported the bullying to the
midday assistants supervising in the playground, but unfortunately
there was never any action taken. As a result, I chose to take matters
into my own hands and began to fight back. This became a regular
occurrence in the playground for weeks until I was reported to my
form teacher and was removed from the playground into detention
for a week. There were no consequences for the bullies who stirred
up this anger within me and I felt deeply frustrated by this injustice.
After a few weeks I decided to
break my silence to my mother, who
arranged a meeting with my form
teacher to find out why the school
had not done anything to address
the bullying and to highlight that
the anger and fighting was totally
out of character for me. Once the
class teacher had discovered that
the root cause was bullying, he
was apologetic and reassured my
mother that he would investigate
the bullying. Fortunately for me,

91
he did take action and the bullying stopped immediately. It was only
then, that I began to thrive at my new school.

My parents could not reiterate enough that “Once you have your
education and knowledge, no one can take that away from you.”
Other reminders were “Unfortunately, when you are Black my dear
you have to work harder than others, because no one is going to hand
you an opportunity on a plate.”

When I started in my first (non-educational) managerial position

as a young, naive twenty-one-year-old, initially my leadership was
met with resistance. I rapidly discovered that when people think
of leadership, a young Black woman is not the first picture that
springs to mind. After a while I became accustomed to the fact that
I wasn’t what people expected, but I used this as fuel to motivate
me, which made me more determined to progress. Although I
found it difficult not to take it personally, I would remind myself
of the phrase ‘positive mental attitude’ which was my manager’s
favourite saying.

Although there were no people of colour who were senior managers

in the whole organisation, I was fortunate enough to experience the
power of mentorship from three senior managers at different stages
of my career, which I found to be effective in helping me to achieve
my potential at work.

Despite these positive experiences, I still had to battle with

prejudices. The typical micro-aggressions – the assumption that
every Black employee has to be the junior member of staff; that I
must be less qualified despite my credentials; questions about work
ethic or performance; passion being misinterpreted as aggression;
and occasionally feeling misunderstood. Colleagues with whom I
had established working relationships over the telephone, and then
eventually met in person, would look shocked to discover they
had been speaking to a young Black woman. The first occasion, I
was quite offended, but then I learnt to enjoy exceeding people’s
expectations of me.

92
I recall one day, arriving at work wearing my natural hair and a
colleague stretched out her arm and attempted to touch my hair, but I
recoiled with disgust, feeling shocked and angry that an attempt was
made to stroke my hair like a pet. I thought to myself, why would
you want to stroke my hair? When I wore my hair straightened there
was never an interest to stroke it then. In hindsight, if this incident
were to happen again, I would educate my colleague on why this
would be considered as inappropriate.

I would experience unconscious bias comments such as “you would

like this top” and I would question “why is that?” and my colleague
responded, “because it is African.”

Although some of these examples or comments may have been

unintentionally offensive, the key point is we all have biases, and
although unintentional, one should reflect about how the recipient
perceives the offence. It is very similar to challenging the perception
that children have of bullying. There is a stereotype of what racism
is, but unfortunately, if you do not understand the different degrees
or levels of racism, it may not be recognised as racism.

As a result of some other negative experiences I faced, I began to

doubt my leadership skills and competence. When applying for
new roles, I even went to the extent of removing my photo from
my LinkedIn profile and not ticking the ethnicity boxes on the data
collection sections of the application forms, so that recruiters would
not identify my ethnicity until I arrived at the interview.

Years later, I still found myself constantly having to prove my value

as a Black leader, despite working in various sectors, experiencing
extra scrutiny in every role. The ability to direct, lead and motivate are
essential to any leadership position and establishing the credibility
to do so still comes with many challenges. The experience was
always similar in every workplace and every conference I attended
– I would immediately notice that there was no one else in the room
who looked like me. I began to feel like a ‘lone ranger’, having to
create my own support structures and feeling as though I needed

93
 to censor how much I told
colleagues about myself
or my personal life.

After the murder of George

Floyd, which sparked
protests, some very strong
emotions were triggered
within me. At first, I felt
liberated. Finally, I felt
people were beginning
to listen. However, that
emotion quickly turned to
a combination of anger,
deep sadness, anxiety and
confusion. It is very sad
that it has taken the killing and long periods of unrest and protesting
against the multiple Black Americans killed by the police – Breonna
Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and many others – for our voices to be
heard. To add to this trauma, as well as being in the middle of an
unprecedented pandemic, I was now having to hear about people
who were unable to process the information they received about
racism – responding in a dismissive, defensive or detracting manner.
I found this period to be both mentally and emotionally draining and
exhausting. Just because it is not your experience, or you are not
aware of it, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.

The subsequent Monday following the protests, I remember having

to contemplate how I was going to respond to colleagues if they
asked me “how was your weekend?” or “how are you doing?”
Unfortunately, I did not feel comfortable or confident enough to be
vocal about how I was truly feeling, and this left me with a sense of
guilt that I chose to opt out of addressing the situation.

I was pleased to see that many organisations were posting bold

statements on their social media feeds about how they were in
support of change, yet I suspect ‘true change’ is yet to be seen.

94
Now we have the opportunity to be role models, not only for pupils,
but also to help shape more positive experiences of new colleagues
entering the organisation, in order to thrive in their positions.
Building a diverse and supportive culture is much broader than
having discussions in a meeting or publishing an equality statement.
Diversity in and out of the classroom will continue to grow, so
it’s essential we prepare pupils to adapt to an evolving world and
embrace those different from themselves.

It is imperative to have diverse leaders and governors in school

leadership, running our schools, to improve the awareness of
different races, cultures, religions and economic status, ensuring
they understand and can identify with the experiences of their
whole school community and, more importantly, having open and
honest discussions.

There is a need for more accountability, for people to be advocates

for change, to improve and develop systems to improve the way
diversity, inclusion and equality are managed, and working towards
eradicating systemic racism in the workplace. School improvement
and strategic planning, reviewing recruitment processes – including
having diverse interview panels, talent pipelines, training and
ethnicity pay reporting – and other actions such as having the
intention to work with a more diverse range of suppliers, all form
part of the way forward.

On reflection now, as a Black school business leader, my personal

and professional experiences, both good and bad, have helped to
increase my awareness of how my behaviours can affect my work
environment: leading by example; being mindful of the language I
use; the tone I set with my own team; and challenging inappropriate
behaviour. Undoubtedly, we all have some self-reflection to
undertake, on things we can do better and ways we can positively
contribute to change. I am committing myself to being a part of
the solution; if you have the same desire, I urge you – now is the
time to act.

95
 Yvonne Davis, FCCT
(Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching)
Head Teacher
Hertfordshire

My ambition, from the age of seven years old, was to be a teacher.

I was the first in my family to attend university, and at an early
age, I realised that there were low expectations of Black children. I
personally experienced challenges as a child and as a Black teacher.
I now have a career that has spanned for over forty years, teaching
in different local authorities and in a range of schools. Since the
1970s I have networked, collaborated, led and managed in a range of
settings. I have succeeded with the support of my family, by being
self-motivated, determined when times were difficult, resilient and
always with the aim of making a difference.

In the backdrop of inflammatory rhetoric led by Enoch Powell and

his infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech, I started my first teaching
practice. Here, I experienced first-hand, the hostile atmosphere of a
school environment. During a normal school assembly, I sat with eyes
peering at me, and there was derogatory name-calling as I walked
into the classroom. Returning to my student accommodation, I was
upset, anxious and distressed; I
phoned my mother. My mother
was supportive and encouraging
and her words were always
reassuring, she said, “That is why
you need to be there!” That was all
the inspiration I needed and, other
than that, I knew she was right!

Part of my first lesson was to

teach the school community about
a Black Briton, who was born in
England, and I used myself as an
example. I am a Black British-born

96
woman with a Caribbean heritage, as both my parents were born in
Jamaica. They were welcomed by the government into this country,
as members of the Windrush generation. During my time as a pupil
at school, I had already experienced the name-calling, the monkey
jumps and the put-downs by teachers who pigeon-holed me for the
New Certificate of Secondary Education exams and stereotyped
careers. A career in teaching was far from the minds of my teachers.
What did not help was, I was born and lived in Wolverhampton,
where the inflammatory rhetoric led by Enoch Powell was rife
and influential.

Throughout my career I have wanted to make a difference. As a Black

woman, both directly and indirectly, I have celebrated diversity,
strived to improve young people’s lives and worked to enhance
educational provision for all children. I have had an incredible
career, in which I have led from the front, inspired, trained and
guided teachers to improve the quality of learning.

I started my career in 1978 as a class teacher in Coventry, where I

was one of only two Black teachers in the county. My post extended
beyond daily teaching to meet the needs of the BAME communities
in schools across the city. I wrote stories, and produced a booklet of
the resources that teachers could use in class, which was published
by the Minority Ethnic Group Support Service, a branch of the local
education authority. My mission was to celebrate diversity, through
the stories we had at that time and share as widely as possible with
the local schools. However, it soon came to light that the service
appointed teachers at a higher grade, which became noticeable to
others who recognised the work I was doing. There was no other
option but to address this with those at the top in my school, who
then offered me a higher grade with embarrassment.

Headhunted by Birmingham Local Authority, I was appointed to

teach in the Handsworth and Lozells area of the city – culturally rich,
but economically deprived. During my time in Handsworth (1985-
1995), I applied for three posts and was successfully appointed,
which broadened my experience moving up the career path. I had an
incredible time in Birmingham, not only working in schools but with
97
the community, who embraced my support for their children and my
role as a listener for their needs. There was a vibrant community who
spoke out about discrimination, which was experienced on a daily
basis through the systems in place.

My final post in Birmingham was as deputy head teacher and

acting head teacher (1996-2000). During this time, I applied, and
successfully became, an associate adviser while still deputy. The
focus was on working collegiately with early years providers to
improve the quality of provision in the maintained and the private
sector, community day nurseries and the local playgroups. Being
given the opportunity to work with a wide range of providers had
a profound effect on me. It gave me a deeper understanding of how
children learn and how one nurtures their development. I soon learnt
that working collaboratively is a key factor in raising achievement,
which is crucial for the future of our children.

Working in isolation can be limiting to the progress of any

school, which should be enriched by focused minds, expertise and
discussions. With this belief, I have worked closely with other
schools, both primary and secondary, for the benefit of staff training,
joint senior leadership meetings and school self-evaluation.

In 1996, I represented the voice of deputy heads on the strategic

community team of leading educator Sir Tim Brighouse,
Birmingham’s Chief Education Officer. The team comprised of local
authority members and community groups in the city. The ground-
breaking collaboration focused on the underachievement of Black
boys and White working-class boys.

The leadership skills of Sir Tim Brighouse had a lasting effect on

me, showing the importance of connection with your ‘customer’.
This was a man who was passionate about improving the futures
of the children. While sitting in his board-room with community
representatives and local authority officers, discussing the
underachievement of Black Caribbean boys in the city, he was held
to account by outspoken community leaders who wanted answers
there and then. I was extremely impressed by his ability to keep the

98
meeting focused, accept the anger and acknowledge what the local
authority were failing to do.

I have made it my duty to observe and celebrate the work of teachers

in school. It is right to say, apart from a child’s parent or carer, teachers
are the next powerful influencer in their life. Sir Tim Brighouse
listened to teachers in his busy life as Chief Education Officer. He
often arrived unannounced at schools and spoke to the teachers about
valuing our work. I received three treasured handwritten letters from
him that are still in my possession, congratulating me on my work.
A ‘thank you’ to the school community goes a long way: listening to
ideas; giving responsibility with support; providing an environment
where all members of the school community are valued.

In 2000, I relocated to Hertfordshire to take up the post of head

teacher at a primary school in Watford, becoming the first Black head
teacher in Hertfordshire. I had a successful headship, recognised by
the local community who nominated me for Woman of the Year in
education in 2003 and 2005. I attended the Guildhall in London in
2005 with more than 400 women selected for their achievement and
contribution to society.

In 2004, I was appointed Primary School Adviser in Buckinghamshire

to work with twenty-six schools in support of their vision. I was
leading learning, monitoring provision and training governors. At this
time, I trained as an Ofsted inspector and retrained when I returned
to headship in 2008. My wider remit was to work with the early
years team to improve the quality of provision under the umbrella of
school improvement. I successfully engaged with early years leaders
and head teachers by initiating practitioner training, a conference,
and an opportunity to visit Reggio in Northern Italy. After learning
together, I organised the sharing of good practice across the county
where interested participants opened their doors for practitioners to
view the outcome of their training.

In 2008, I returned to Hertfordshire in a head teacher post, rising to

the challenge of amalgamating two failing schools. I had to work
extremely hard, not least because there was a strong community

99
resistance to the local authority’s decision to the merger. The parent
community was challenging as I stood outside welcoming everyone
each morning; the response was torture as they stared blankly. I
remember being asked by a member of the local authority, who stood
with me one day, how long I was going to stand out and welcome
them. My reply was until they welcome me back. Within a matter of
weeks of taking up the headship of the school we were alerted to a
notification of an Ofsted inspection. The school received a notice to
improve. However, the report praised my strong leadership, giving
a clear sense of direction and in 2009 my leadership was graded
as ‘outstanding’.

I am proud of the initiatives I have introduced: our forest school;

opening a nurture class; and a new eco-building to expand our
therapeutic environment for school and community use. I am proud
of leading in a school where professional learning has created
leaders for the future, where staff feel valued, supported and embrace
learning to learn. Therefore, with this ethos, we have a happy school.
We evaluate together and share ideas, and we’re open and honest
without feeling threatened.

Let’s step back in time. During the 1970s and 1980s, the teaching
journey was riddled with overt racism for teachers and children,
with policies and practice that categorised you and stilted individual
progression. Until the introduction of the Race Relations Act, it was
a difficult working environment. There was no support when you
saw or heard inappropriate language and actions. I once reported an
incident, when I had been asked to teach in a disadvantaged area
where the parents refused to have a Black health visitor work in the
school, and excuses were made. I experienced micro-aggressions
from staff and children. However, I did not give up developing
enough confidence to professionally challenge the negative attitudes
and damaging actions experienced by ethnic minorities. I have
reflected on the experiences in which racism presents itself in
different ways; some are intentional, some are based on ignorance
and misunderstanding, because the curriculum is Eurocentric. I have
taught in a variety of schools in urban and rural settings, mainly

100
White British, and they can be at different stages in addressing this
issue. The leaders of the school have a significant role to engage with
their school community, including parents, to change attitudes and
deliver continuing professional development for their teachers, when
they review and implement an inclusive curriculum for all children.
I therefore return to my mother’s words to me as a student, “Make a
difference” and it is through my practice that I feel I have succeeded
in that. In Dame Jocelyn Barrow’s words, Each One Teach One –
this is what I have used to lead and is a prime factor in education, in
that the school community all have a significant role in learning from
each other. Learning to learn for the future of our children.

Dame Barrow DBE, a qualified teacher, arrived in England

from Trinidad in 1959 to teach. She was shocked by the level of
discrimination she witnessed and experienced against Caribbean and
Asian immigrants. This inspired her to set up the organisation Each
One Teach One, to help families to navigate the education system.
Racial discrimination and racism were dominant in all areas of life.
We still have racism, which is systemic in the policies and practice in
all professions. There has been improvement, but unfortunately we
have a long way to go, as the progress has been too slow.

Teaching is a rewarding profession, as the children bring joy in seeing

them make progress, when they share their learning and make even
the smallest steps. Today, anyone going into the profession must
remember: you are not alone. At times, it can feel like it is a lonely
job, but the support is there from experienced mentors and leaders.
My focus, throughout my career, was to lead by example: model
expectations, share my experience in a learned way, giving staff the
space and the trust to share their feelings without judgement. I have
not let my colour pave my destiny, as painful as it may have been at
times. I have embraced the challenges that have driven me. There is
an inner force at work, as one can espouse all the leadership skills,
but it is in the delivery and the belief you have in your vision, shared
and accepted by everyone in the school community, that will go a
long way in leading a successful school.

101
 You Are Not Alone
Leaders for Race Equality

The NAHT ‘Leaders for Race Equality’ group

began in response to the events of 2020;
a year unlike any other. Together, we responded
to the growing pandemic, leading schools through
this most challenging time. We discovered that
people from Black, Asian and other minority
ethnic groups experience higher death rates from
Covid-19, compared to White ethnic groups; and
we saw, with horror, the murder of
George Floyd on May 25th.

The Black Lives Matter movement, and the

sharing, online, of racist, sexist, homophobic,
Islamophobic and anti-Semitic incidents in Britain
and across the world have spurred many of us on,
to educate ourselves and find new ways to end the
stereotyping, stigma and structural inequality that
cause so much pain and waste so much potential.

This book is the result of that.

If you are not Black, Asian, or from a minority
ethnic background, you should read it; our hope
is that learning of our experiences will open your
eyes. If you are Black, Asian, or from a minority
ethnic background, you should read it – to know,
“You Are Not Alone.”

www.naht.org.uk
© Design
Michelle Abadie
www.abadie.co.uk