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Unpacking the Black FE Leadership Group with Robin Landman and Amarjit Basi

Robin Landman (L) and Amarjit Basi (R)

@FENews chat with Robin Landman and Amarjit Basi to unpack the Black FE Leadership Group. We discuss what the group was formed to address systemic racism in the FE Sector.

Robin and Amarjit unpack their 10 point plan and explain how an inclusive curriculum is key , to promote anti-racism in Further Education, for learners, staff and leaders.

Amarjit and Robin then discuss how they have been engaging with the FE sector so far to explore solutions to help the sector be more inclusive. We then discuss the early impact, particularly how different sector groups have started to work with the Black FE Leadership Group and we particularly unpack the response from Apprenticeship and Skills Minister Gillian Keegan as to next steps to help increase diversity of Black and BAME educators, leaders, Boards and Governance.

Robin highlights at the moment there is a reduction in the amount of data around Black and BAME staff and leaders and how this needs to be addressed to then help the sector progress in being inclusive with the diversity and particularly to try and re-balance the number of Black staff in the FE Sector.

Amarjit also shares a personal story how non-black FE leaders mentored and helped him in his career and how we need to continue this across the sector to increase the diversity of teams in the sector and how the sector can rally together to address diversity in the FE Sector, particularly around increasing more Black and BAME educators and leaders in the sector.

The Black FE Leadership Group 10 Point Plan

Curriculum

  1. A radical revision of FE curricula and qualifications to reflect contemporary British values, incorporating the importance of colonial history and its influence on society, historically and now; the impact of racism on black and white communities; the contributions made by black people to society.

Climate

  1. College recruitment processes, including the deployment of recruitment companies, to proactively address imbalances in the diversity of leadership at all levels.
  2. Ofsted and other quality assurance bodies to evaluate the effectiveness of pedagogy and curriculum practice in promoting race equality, alongside strategies to address attainment gaps through college inspections reports and their own annual reports.

Culture

  1. All teacher training, professional development and leadership programmes to include, as a central component, the consideration of racial equality; and for teacher training, the inclusion of anti-racist pedagogy.
  2. All Colleges to annually publish student performance, staff and governor profile data by ethnicity, including actions to address identified gaps.
  1. The FE Commissioner’s annual report, diagnostic assessments and structural reviews to include data on BAME leaders, managers and governors against the profile of college student populations and local demographics.
  2. FE regulatory bodies, development organisations and unions to collaborate with colleges to design and implement a common framework to share best practice in the advancement of racial literacy and justice across all modes of learning.
  1. All regulatory bodies, funders and membership groups to publish workforce, leadership and governance profile data by ethnicity, including actions to address gaps.
  2. All sectoral committees, boards or advisory groups established to address racism and inequalities to be led by and made up of those with real insight of these issues, or expertise in these areas.

Communications

  1. All organisations with an investment in FE (whether statutory, regulatory, representative or commercial) to ensure fair and positive treatment of BAME students, staff and communities, in terms of optics, content and impact.

Please check out the podcast below.


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