BLAM UK (Black

Learning Achievement
and Mental Health) and
The Equal Rights Trust
Report

“Implementing the
UK’s obligation to
combat

prejudices which lead

to racial
Jamila Thompson, Jessica Perera, Ife discrimination in
Thompson & Niya Namfua

education”

 Contents

Table of contents
Executive Summary
5 - 11

Acknowledgments
12

Terminology
13 - 15

Introduction
16 - 17

Background
18 - 24

Rationale
25 - 28

Methodology
29 - 31
Report Structure

Section 1 - The Importance of Teaching Black History

32 - 42
Section 2 - Teachers need Teaching: The Importance of Racial
Literacy Training
43 - 48
Section 3 - Make the Curriculum Anti-Racist
49 - 50

Section 4 - Racism and Racial Discrimination in Schools and

Society
51 - 60
Legal Rights and Obligations
61 - 68

Recommendations
69 - 80

References
81 - 88

BLAM UK Godson
Black Learning Achievement Contents
+91 9746246817 02
12
FOREWORD, Ife Thompson

“The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become

conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being
educated. ”

― James Baldwin

I write this foreword in the aftermath of the racist riots of August 2024,
where Black, Brown, and racialised communities were targeted, attacked,
and maimed by white racist mobs across the UK. It is crucial to begin here
because, despite the profound harm caused to our communities, the UK
Government did little to acknowledge these events or implement
concrete, tangible measures to address the pervasive legacy of white
supremacy and racism that enabled such an atrocity to occur.

It is important to note that many white children were present at these

racist riots. These children, now or in the future, will likely interact with
Black, Brown, and racialised peers. Through social media and our work at
BLAM UK, we have witnessed numerous instances of Black children—
particularly those in more rural and less diverse parts of the UK—being
subjected to racist bullying and violence by their white classmates.

When viewed in the context of this country’s brutal and harmful

treatment of Black people, it becomes clear that anti-Blackness is endemic
to the social, economic, historical, and cultural dimensions of this island.
As a result, Black communities remain in a perpetual state of emergency.

This failure to confront the legacy of white supremacy permeates various

facets of society, most notably the education system. It allows Black
history to remain an optional part of the curriculum and perpetuates the
disproportionate exclusion rates and systemic harm (both mental and
physical) inflicted upon Black children in educational institutions.

Executive
Foreword 04
03
summary
This report aims to document what we already know, feel, and
understand as a collective. More importantly, it seeks to act as a catalyst
for the UK's first legal challenge of its kind against the rampant racial
discrimination faced by Black children in schools. We hope it will empower
community groups like BLAM UK to leverage equality and international
human rights laws to make systemic anti-Blackness obsolete in UK schools
and to ensure that Black history becomes a mandatory part of the
curriculum.

Executive
Foreword 04
summary
 Framed within the context of the UN International Decade for People of
African Descent, this report provides an insight into the legal and human
Executive Summary

rights obligations of the UK government to protect Black people from

racial discrimination. It highlights the ways in which children racialised as
Black are not protected from racial discrimination in education as they are
subjected to experiences of anti-Black policies and practices, linguistic
injustice, euro/ethnocentric curriculums and “spirit killing” all of which
negatively impact their educational experiences and attainment
outcomes. The report maps out the history of racism within education,
outlines our research findings and contextualises these findings within
histories of racism, and lastly, we provide recommendations for key
stakeholders to critically address the issue of racial discrimination in
education.

Key Findings

Anti-Blackness is embedded in the policies and practices within

education

84% of Black people had experienced multiple forms of racism and

colourism in the English school syste
Three in every four (74%) Black persons sampled had been subjected
to some form of racist or colourist ‘jokes or banter’ at school
Black people were nearly three times (17%) more likely than white
people (6%) to ‘strongly disagree’ that they felt represented in the
books and resources used in school lessons.

Executive 05

04
summary
Our review into the Government’s actions around race and the
education curriculum leads us to find that the UK Government has
failed to discharge its equality law duties and that it is in breach of its
obligations under Article 7 of the ICERD and it is in violation of its
duties under section 149 of the Equality Act
Black people surveyed (40%) were twice as likely as white people
(18%) to be ‘very aware’ of the contributions of Black people
throughout British history.
Just 49% of white people knew that immigrants travelling to the UK
between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean countries were invited by the
UK government to help fill post-war UK labour shortages, compared to
64% of Black people.
Our findings regarding the lack of racial training received by teachers
is supported by other studies such as the Lit in Colour report where
only 12% of secondary teachers in the survey received racial training
as part of their initial training. (Elliott et al. 2021).
The vast majority of respondents (76%), by using one or more of the
following words ‘anti-racism’; ‘Black history’; ‘diversity’; ‘race’ or
‘ethnicity’ indicated a strong preference to seeing a more racially
comprehensive curriculum and anti-racist education being taught in
their children’s schools. However, just under half (48%) of parent
respondents said the school their child attended did not provide any
anti-racist lessons or talks or workshops to pupils. This might be partly
attributable to the fact that over two thirds (68%) of parents said that
their child’s school did not have an ethnically diverse teaching force.

Executive 04
06

summary
Moving from school to society, we first asked Black victims of racial
abuse in schools whether their experience had a significant negative
impact on their ability to learn, of which over one in ten (16%) said it
did
According to our findings, one in four (25%) pupil respondents disclosed
that their experience had affected their mental wellbeing; nearly one in
five (18%) felt that it had taken a toll on their physical wellbeing, and
more than one in 10 (15%) said their financial wellbeing had been
impacted.

Executive 04
07

summary
Legal actions must be used to eradicate the current anti-Blackness
embedded in various policies and practices within education. Our research
found that there is a willingness to use punitive and disciplinary measures
against Black children under the guise of “behaviour management”.
Through this lens, cultural practices (hairstyles) and language usage (Black
British English or “BBE”) are targeted and policed. Black children are
subjected to racism from their teachers and other students. Furthermore, an
area often under theorised is subjection to often inter-communal harm
through colourism, featurism and texturism. State bodies such as Ofsted
must include judging schools on racial equity and ensuring children and
staff are free from racial discrimination. Schools must ensure that their
policies and practices are anti-racist and that they have a designated
member of staff to support in this work. It is also vital that schools and
state bodies like Ofsted consult with organisations such as BLAM UK to
ensure policies, practices and standards are up to par when it comes to
racial equity and anti-racism.  

In addition, where schools are not embedding anti-racist practices and

policies, we encourage community groups, parents and others to use the
law to legally challenge schools, and the government, on the grounds that
they are not upholding UN Human Rights law which states that all children
have the right, without discrimination of any kind, to education, to the
protection of their identity and to be safe of violence (UNCRC, 2022).
Therefore experiences of racism through policies, practices or actions of any
kind, do not protect the identity of children and thus must be legally
challenged.

Executive 04
08

summary
Anti-racist training needs to be a mandatory part of all teacher
training programmes.

Teachers are not equipped with the knowledge, expertise or cultural

awareness of the Black children they encounter and thus perpetuate
historical stereotypes and assumptions. Black teachers are often used as
the “Black child whisperers” in order to engage with Black children, raise
their attainment and aspirations. This burdens Black teachers and shows
the failure of other teachers to raise their awareness. Therefore, subject-
specific and pedagogical training, and decolonising the curriculum, must be
embedded within the teacher training frameworks so that all teachers are
equipped with the knowledge and cultural awareness to effectively help,
support and teach Black children. There should also be a designated anti-
racist practitioner in, or allocated to, all schools in the UK for support and
guidance, and to review curriculums and policies -i.e. behaviour
management. 

Experiences of racial discrimination, anti-Blackness and anti-Black

racism must be understood as human rights issues which impact the
racial and self esteem of Black children as well as their mental health.
The government must be held to account and ensure that Black children
experience an education system free of racial discrimination. Educators,
community groups and other organisations must campaign for racism to be
abolished in the UK education system and call for the government to make
immediate and effective interventions with a timeline to track and monitor
progress.

Executive 04
09

summary
Normalising racist beliefs, and projecting these beliefs onto Black
children, even if not visceral, crushes the spirits of Black children.

“Spirit murder” impacts the self and racial esteem and the overall mental
health and wellbeing of Black children (and teachers). Provisions must be
put in place to support young people who have or are facing mental health
issues as a result of racial discrimination. 

A greater understanding of Black British English (BBE) and linguistic

justice is needed.

To ensure Black and racialised children are not penalised or patronised for
using language relevant to their cultural identity and history, academics,
community leaders and linguists with expertise in African and Caribbean
languages, BBE and other languages must be consulted to review language
policies. This would help teachers to understand the language young people
are using and to help move away from the vilifying of languages which are
not English or European. 

Teachers and school staff are not always the safe adults that they are
supposed to be as they operate in an unsafe system where state
violence and police intervention has become normalised. As a result,
children’s families, and others within the wider community, must advocate
on behalf of young people and investigate the potential harm caused by
individual teachers, and the education system as a whole. When we think
about incidents concerning our children - such as “Child Q” and children
who we are not aware of - it is important that these situations are not
repeated. But as we know, this is an exhausting and mentally straining
process, therefore we suggest setting up a Working Group of individuals
working in different areas of education, youth work, community work to
ensure we have a safe place to collaborate, share ideas and support our
young people as a collective. Solidarity in numbers is important.

Executive 04
10

summary
Decolonising the curriculum is essential. However, it is obvious that this
takes time, resources and the development of existing knowledge in order
for teachers to be able to do this. Whilst the new Labour Government, has
endeavoured to do so with the Curriculum Review Panel, this is merely more
of the same. There is already public and government awareness of the
omissions of Black, and minoritised, historical narratives and stories and
thus a review is repetitive, lacking direct impact. Instead, action is required
and it is important for the government and educators to consult with
experts in areas of Black and global histories - such as BLAM UK, The Black
Curriculum, Black History Studies - to support curriculum development. In
addition, recent graduates could support curriculum development as part of
their teacher training which would boost their subject knowledge,
understanding of planning and teaching, and help towards the mission to
decolonise the curriculum. 

Executive 04
11

summary
 To the children, parents, and teachers who lent their voices and lived
experiences to this research project, we thank you for your contributions
acknowledgements

and we hope that this report brings us closer to an education system that
employs anti-racist policies and practices that allow Black children, and
Black teachers, to thrive. 

Thank you to our funders and supporters Joseph Rowntree and the Equal
Rights Trust for your guidance and support. 

To the initial BLAM team - Feryal, Eve, and Niya - who conducted the
research and began this project with us way back in 2021, thank you for
your contributions and research skills. Thank you to Jessica for your
consultation and expertise which allowed us to fine-tune the report. 

To our advisory board - Cos Wadadda, Dr. April Baker-Bell, Ariane Adam,
Dr. Abenaa Owusu-Bempah, Dr. Ralph Wilde, Jim Fitgerald, Fernanda
Farina, Sam Barnes, and Sara Ngandu - your professional expertise was an
invaluable tool in helping to refine this report, making it more accessible
and a true reflection of BLAM’s stance when it comes to the law and
education. 

To the volunteers - Ben, Marcella, Ricardo, and Vidya - and colleagues

Hannah and Haneen who supported the proofreading of this report, thank
you for lending your time and attention to the contents of this document.
Haneen, thank you for the support in bringing the final threads of this
report together. 

And lastly, but importantly, a huge thank you to our Graphic Designer,
Raheem, and Illustrator, Flo, for your diligence, creativity, and ability to
bring our ideas together. Most importantly, we thank you for your patience
- it has been a process!

Acknowledgements 12
Terminology

Afro pessimism 

A theory developed by Black American intellectuals who argued that the

Black experience of enslavement in the Americas and racism was so
unique, and specific, that the Black experience cannot be compared to
the experiences of other racialised or ethnic groups.

Anti-Blackness 

Behaviours, attitudes and practices of people and institutions that work

to dehumanise Black people in order to maintain white supremacy. This
includes overt racism and covert institutionalised racism, which are held
in place by anti-Black policies, institutions, and ideologies [source: Race
Equity Tools].

Anti-racism 

The work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in

political, economic, and social life (Race Forward, “Race Reporting
Guide” (2015)]).

Black people

The term Black people describes Africans and people of African descent,
1

as defined by the Durban Declaration against Racism (World Conference

Against Racism, 2001). This includes persons that are Black-African;
Caribbean or Other; and Mixed Black African, Caribbean and other.

Race Forward 2015

Terminology
Terminology 13
 The b in Black is capitalised to illustrate an ethnic group and a diasporic
community as opposed to being a descriptor or a colour. 

Decolonisation

By being casually thrown around online, in the media, in academic discourse

and in social justice, the term ‘decolonisation’ has suffered distortion. For
this report, decolonising involves taking colonialism, empire and racism as
objects of study and exposing them as key shaping forces of the
contemporary world and society. It offers an alternative perspective for
thinking about the world that moves away from relying solely on Eurocentric
knowledge systems (Bhambra et al. 2018).

Ethnocentric Curriculum 

A curriculum which centres the culture, values and traditions of one ethnic
group or groups by focusing on the history, achievements and culture of one
dominant group thus excluding and marginalising other ethnic groups and

Introduction
cultures. In the case of this report, and British society, it refers to the
centering of whiteness, white English people and histories.

Global Majority 

The most universally inclusive term in discussions about race refers to Black,
Brown and Indigenous peoples all around the world, united in facing racial
injustice. In the context of the UK, this ‘usually covers all ethnic groups
except white British.’ The terms ‘global majority’ and ‘minority ethnic’ are
preferred to ‘ethnic minority.’ The former collective terms recognise that
everyone has an ethnicity, instead of emphasising discrimination barriers
‘minority ethnic groups’ face because of their ethnicity (Advance HE n.d.;
The Law Society 2023).

Institutional Racism 

Occurring within institutions and systems of power, this is the mechanism by

which systemic racism functions. This refers to the unfair policies and
discriminatory practices of particular institutions (school, workplaces etc.)
that routinely produce racially inequitable outcomes for Black people and
2

minoritised groups whilst producing advantages for their white counterparts

[source: BLAM].

Carmichael, Stokely; Hamilton, Charles V. (1967). Black

2

Power: Politics of Liberation (November 1992 ed.). New

York City: Vintage Books. p. 4. ISBN 978-0679743132.
Terminology 14
Racism 

Extends beyond the individual acts of prejudice and discrimination against a

person of colour. It is a fundamental part of British society with deep links to
periods of conquest, colonialism, imperialism, the imposition of racial
exclusion laws and the enslavement of millions of Africans [source: BLAM].

white Supremacy 

The ideology that white people and their ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and
actions are superior to people of colour and their ideas, thoughts, beliefs,
and actions. It is not confined to extremist groups; it is present in our
everyday institutional and cultural assumptions that assign value, morality,
and humanity to the white group and consider Black people and
communities of colour as immoral, bad, inhuman and “undeserving.”
Drawing from Critical Race Theory, the term also refers to systems where
white people enjoy structural advantages and rights that other racial and
ethnic groups do not, both at a collective and an individual level (Racial

Introduction
Equity Tools n.d.).

Terminology 15

Introduction

Why Black children in the UK education system?

In 2014, the United Nations (UN) declared 2015-2024 the “International
Decade for People of African Descent”, with the aim to celebrate the
contributions of people of African descent, to encourage advancements in
social justice and inclusion policies, to eradicate racism and intolerance, and
to promote the human rights of those of African descent. The decade was a
timely and unique opportunity to outline the important contributions made
by people of African descent to our societies, to propose concrete measures
to promote equality and to combat discrimination of any kind. Despite
education being a basic international and regional human right, and rights
of people of African descent being protected by international human rights
instruments related specifically to the prohibition of racial discrimination and
the protection of minorities (such as the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) (OHCHR n.d.)),
children of African descent educated in the UK are often subject to anti-
Blackness and anti-Black racism which is upheld through anti-Black school
policies and practices. Simultaneously, research over the last 60 years has
shown that the ethnocentric curriculum omits Black histories and narratives,
which can have a detrimental impact on Black children’s educational
experiences, educational outcomes, their racial esteem and sense of self
(Coard, 1971; The Black Curriculum, 2021).

Introduction
Terminology 16

As it stands, the curriculum centres white and European histories, and where
histories and narratives concerning those racialised as Black, or of African
descent, are concerned, the curriculum focuses on histories of discrimination,
ideas of inferiority and a poor representation of Black and African histories
(Boateng, 2022). In light of the growing calls to decolonise the curriculum
and the UN declaration of the International Decade for People of African
Descent, in 2021, BLAM UK, with the support of the Equal Rights Trust,
began a 12-month research project into the Black experience in education,
the impact of racial discrimination and the omissions of Black histories from
school curriculums. BLAM UK conducted the research, and produced this
subsequent report, in support of the ongoing efforts towards decolonising
the curriculum and eradicating racism and racial discrimination in schools. 

The report highlights the impact of anti-Blackness on Black children and the
lack of anti-racism training in education with the view to support individuals,
stakeholders and organisations working towards decolonising the curriculum

Introduction
across all key stages and exam boards, in making effective use of
international and domestic law in their advocacy. In doing so, the report
seeks to offer new ways in which organisations and movements can hold the
UK government to account in their legal obligations to combat prejudices
which lead to racial discrimination in education. By showcasing best practice
to counterbalance and correct the effect of the omission of Black history
from school curriculums and racial discrimination through policy and
practice, BLAM UK hopes that anti-racism training in education becomes a
mandatory practice and Black children will be able to thrive within education
in the UK.

Introduction 17
Background

Initially, when BLAM UK crafted the idea of conducting research into racial
discrimination within the practices, policies and curriculum in the UK
education system, in 2020, we were 10 years into the Conservative Party 14-
year rule. We had witnessed, and been students of, Michael Gove’s
curriculum reforms and the introduction of independently run academy
schools. And we had been victims of an eurocentric UK curriculum in need of
decolonisation and scrutiny.  

In the same year, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, social media
allowed us to witness the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, and with
that we saw the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement gain traction again in
the UK, the US and beyond. The resurgence of the BLM movement saw
protests take place across the world and Black squares take up space on
social media, in solidarity with those who were, and continue to be, victims
of racial and social injustice. Concurrently, in the UK, the widespread Black
Lives Matter campaigns reawakened calls for liberation in all aspects of
Black life, including health care as COVID-19 made the ‘long-standing health
disparities affecting ethnic minorities in the UK … acutely visible’ (Morales,
Daniel R et al., 2021).

Background
Terminology 18

Moreover, and importantly for this research, there was a call for liberation in
the lives of Black people within education, including decolonising the
curriculum and tackling racial discrimination, as concerns were raised about
the teacher-predicted grades for summer exams and the potential biases
which may have hindered Black and other minoritised children’s GCSE and A
Level results. A study by University College London’s Institute of Education
found that only 16% of predicted A-level results were correct, and in 2011,
‘research by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills found Black
applicants had the lowest predicted grade accuracy, with only 39.1% of
predicted grades being accurate, while their white counterparts had the
highest, at 53%’ (Akpan 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic helped to reignite
concerns around anti-Black teacher labelling, teacher bias and lower
expectations for Black children’s academic attainment. 

In November 2021, writer, director and producer Steve McQueen’s ‘Small

Axe’ series aired on the BBC, a series of films about the Black British

Introduction
experience. One film entitled ‘Education’ explored the unofficial segregation
policy used in British schools to prevent Black children from receiving their
right to an adequate education. Now, whilst we know UK schools have long
been understood as institutionally anti-Black, with a long history of the
British education system pushing the narrative of Black subjugation through
the curriculum, the film humanised the Black British educational experience
and despite its historical context, it also resonated with Black Brits in
contemporary society. Boateng (2022) explains that the British education
system misrepresents Africa and African history by portraying the continent
as “poor” and “backwards”, often through the lens of enslavement. Such
historical inaccuracies in British schools facilitates poor understanding of
Black people’s history by pupils and perpetuates anti-Black racism by
positioning Black people, and thus Black pupils, as inferior. Grenadian writer
and teacher Benard Coard’s groundbreaking book ‘How the West Indian
Child is made Educationally Subnormal in the British School System’ (1971)
exposed the plight of Black Caribbean children in the British education
system (explored in McQueen’s film) and the ways in which low teacher
expectations, and culturally insensitive curriculums and aptitude tests
limited the educational outcomes of Black Caribbean children.

Background 19

The cultural and linguistic differences between Black Caribbean children and
white English children resulted in a disproportionate amount of Black
Caribbean children being deemed “educationally subnormal” and placed in
Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD) schools. Simultaneously, US
psychologists such as Hans Eysenck and Arthur Jensen were perpetuating
pseudo-scientific ideas by leading conversations on race and intelligence,
concluding that Black Americans were less intelligent than white Americans
due to genetic (biological) factors (Colman 2016). The idea that Black
children and people are inferior, intellectually and in other capacities, has a
historical trajectory dating back to the Enlightenment period and
colonialism. It has been used as a way to justify enslavement, and such
histories and racist notions underpin the current anti-Blackness and anti-
Black racism which persists within the education system and wider society
today. 

Coard (1971) noted that cultural and linguistic differences were used as

Introduction
justification and evidence of low intellectual ability among Black Caribbean
children. In the BBC documentary ‘Subnormal: A British Scandal’ (2021), the
cultural biases of the aptitude tests are highlighted in the question around
“taps” (the component of the sink where water flows out). A question in one
of the tests asks students to identify a “tap” from an image; however, many
Black Caribbean children identified the “tap” as a “pipe” because in many
parts of the Caribbean, “pipe” is the word used for “tap”. This small cultural
and linguistic difference was enough for white teachers, and the British
education system as an institution, to label Black Caribbean children as
having learning difficulties and being educationally subnormal. The
perceived low attainment of Black children, and the existing low
expectations, led to a disproportionate number of Black Caribbean children
in Special Education schools in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of these schools
were “Educationally Subnormal'' (ESN) boarding schools, a term derived
from the Butler Education Act 1944, which identified some children as having
3

limited intellectual capacity and/or learning difficulties. As the

aforementioned BBC documentary highlights, ESN schools were often
described as “special schools'' by teachers and for many Caribbean parents,
ESN or “special” schools were met with positivity. However, unbeknownst to
those parents, “special” was synonymous with “dunce” and “stupid”, terms
which were often used to describe Black children. 

The Education Act of 1944 - Uk Parliment

Background 20

The attack on Black children and their access to an adequate education in

the 60s, 70s and 80s, as well as the work of Benard Coard, facilitated the
growth of the radical approach of Black Supplementary schools which
endeavoured to help Black children develop basic skills within subjects like
English and Maths, as well as providing an opportunity to engage in an
education of Black culture and history. Simultaneously, pioneering political
and community activists Eric and Jessica Huntley set up the Black Parents
Movement (BPM) in response to the arrest and assault of Black schoolboy
Cliff McDaniel, outside his school in Hornsey, North London, in 1975.
McDaniel was known to pupils and teachers at George Padmore
Supplementary school, so his attack was met with outrage and concern. The
exigency of these responses as well as the work of educators like Coard,
indicate that the relationship between the Black community and the British
system has always been underpinned by race, anti-Black racism, anti-
Blackness, and poor experiences within education. This period of events
marked an important shift towards more radical approaches to supporting

Introduction
Black children in the education system which can be seen in the growth of
supplementary schooling.

The disproportionate number of Black children of the Windrush generation in

ESN schools highlights two things: firstly, the insensitivity of the school
system which used cultural and language barriers to mislead Black parents
into thinking “special schools” were good for their children. But also,
specifically, and more importantly, it highlights the anti-Black racism that
Black children were facing in comparison to other “immigrant” children, and
their white counterparts, impacted their academic outcomes - an issue which
is still apparent today as anti-Black policies, practices and behavioural
systems within schools systemically target Black children. For example, the
disproportionately high exclusion rates for Black children, especially Black
Caribbean children, whose rate of fixed-term exclusion is 10.4% nationwide
in comparison to 6% for white British students, shows that Black children are
3

often targets of harsher punishments in comparison to others (McIntyre et

al. 2021). The rate of permanent exclusion for pupils from Black and Mixed
backgrounds between 2006 and 2019 was higher than the national average
every year, illustrating the extent and persistence of the problem.

Background 21

In the school year 2022/2023, after Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller
children, Mixed White and Black Caribbean followed by Black Caribbean
children had the highest rates of permanent exclusion by ethnicity (although
Black children had the biggest decrease out of all ethnic groups for
exclusions - from 23 to 7 exclusions for every 10,000 pupils - this can be a
result of COVID-19 restrictions as opposed to changes within education)
([Link], 2024).

In addition, the disproportionate police presence in schools within Black and

minoritised, working-class and inner city areas, the banning of afro-
hairstyles in some schools, and the statistically low GCSE grades,
particularly amongst Black Caribbean children, illustrates that the policies
and practices within British education continue to hinder the outcomes of
Black children (Thompson 2020). The recent banning of Black British English
4

(BBE) in some South London schools, as well as the denigration of BBE in

5

school policies and by the British media, indicate the many ways that Black

Introduction
children ‘are being targeted by British state institutions’ and are overpoliced
and underprotected within the school system (Parveen et al. 2021). In 2021,
the UK police force deployed 683 police officers in schools, predominantly
schools in poorer areas (Parveen et al. 2021). With increasing police
presence in schools, and anti-Black school policies and practices which help
to administer state violence against our children (i.e. ´Child Q´), it is 6

undeniable that the human rights of our Black children are at stake.

Ife Thompson, “Why we need to move towards a transformative justice framework” https://
[Link]/2020/08/26/why-we-need-a-move-towards-a-transformative-justice-framework-
within-schools-by-ife-thompson/

Oyin Makinde and Eve Doran [Link]

how-the-ban-on-black-british-english-continues-a-colonial-tradition-of-linguistic-injustice/

6
“Child Q” is the pseudonym given to protect the identity of a young Black girl who was a victim
of state sexual assault as she was stripped searched whilst menstrating, without another adult
present to advocate/support her. Her parents/guardians were not informed and the reason for
the strip search was because she smelt like cannabis during one of her exams.

Background 22

BLAM UK understands that access to a decolonised, culturally affirming curriculum is an

international human right for Black and oppressed groups. Article 26 of the UN Declaration of
Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to education”, and the UK Department of
Education (2012) has noted the importance of a ‘broad cultural education for all children’.
However, the omission of Black histories and narratives, failing to adequately represent Black
children and their histories, and the disproportionate exclusion rates for Black children, in
comparison to their white counterparts, highlights that education policy, practice and the
curriculum do not fulfil the international human rights of Black children. As a result, there is an
urgent need for culturally safe and sensitive schools, and anti-racist school practices and
policies, decolonised educational resources and literature, as well as education practitioners
that are culturally aware of Black children’s lived experiences. 

Today, with a new Labour Government, the state of the education system for Black children
remains unclear. In the Labour Party Election Manifesto, on the topic of Education, the party
suggested many ideas such as addressing misogyny, having an expert-led review of the
curriculum and assessment, and more early intervention and mental health support for all
young people. However, despite widespread campaigns for liberation in all aspects of Black life,
including the decolonisation of the curriculum, acknowledging that Black history is British
history, there is nothing explicitly2
being proposed by the Labour Government regarding Black
children and the curriculum or anti-racism. In 2017 there was a government petition for Black
history to be taught in the curriculum which garnered 25,000 signatures (Petitions 2017); a
similar petition in June 2020 for teaching Britain’s colonial past attracted nearly 270,000
signatures (Petitions 2020) and in June 2021, the question of whether the curriculum is diverse
was debated in the House of Commons, discussing whether Britain's colonial past should be
taught as part of the UK’s compulsory curriculum. Parliament responded stating:

Within the history curriculum there is already a statutory theme at

Key Stage 3 titled “ideas, political power, industry and empire:
Britain, 1745-1901”, as such we do not believe there is a need to take
this action as the option to teach this topic exists within this
compulsory theme. The history curriculum gives teachers and schools
the freedom and flexibility to use specific examples from history to
teach pupils about the history of Britain and the wider world at all
stages. It is for schools and teachers themselves to determine which
examples, topics and resources to use to stimulate and challenge
pupils and reflect key points in history. 

UK Parliament, June 2020

Background 23

Responses like these reinforce why BLAM believes pressuring the government alone is and has
not been enough to change the curriculum, and we are seeking to explore new innovative ways
to challenge racial discrimination and decolonise the education curriculum - such as firmly
positioning the campaign for the curriculum to be changed as a human and equality rights issue
and not just reviewing the curriculum. We see moves to approaches such as this as an
important step towards holding the government to account to ensure the much needed radical
change within the education system occurs. The #TakeRacismSeriously campaign led by Centre
for Mental Health, Everyday Racism UK, The Diana Award Not So Micro, The Black Curriculum,
ACEN (African Caribbean Education Network) and UK Youth, which BLAM are now supporting,
is a good example of a direct campaign urging Keir Starmer to take decisive action against
racism in schools. It is important that as well as campaigning, we also seek to legally challenge
the government.

This report sits within BLAM UK’s growing body of work against racial discrimination and anti-
Blackness in schools as well as the call for the decolonisation of the curriculum. The report
endeavours to offer an insight into some of the concerns within education from the perspective
of key stakeholders: Black teachers, Black pupils and parents of Black children. These concerns
are discussed within the context of some of the wider literature and research within education in
order to support the move towards 2
more decolonial and racial justice focused school practices,

Introduction
policies and curriculum. This report also offers recommendations from a human rights context
for stakeholders within education: the school community, educators, pupils, parents, activists
and policy makers in an attempt to support the movement towards anti-racist education
institutions and organisations which work with young people.  




Background 24

Background
rationale

Racism and anti-Blackness in the UK have become entrenched in every level of society,
reproducing violence and harm. A YouGov7
survey revealed that 84% of people from Black,
Asian, Mixed, and other non-white backgrounds believe racism exists in the country today - this
statistic remains almost unchanged from 30 years ago (86%) (Abraham 2020). This figure is
alarming, confirming that racism is an ongoing issue for an overwhelming majority of Britain’s
population from minoritised ethnic groups. To better understand the British socio-cultural
climate in which our research was conducted, we required a clear understanding of key recent
events which have affected Black and racialised communities. 

The Windrush Scandal (2018) saw many Afro-Caribbean peoples illegally detained and denied
their legal rights to jobs, housing, and healthcare even though they were (or were children of)
‘tax-paying, law-abiding, long-term residents, who responded to invitations to rebuild post-war
Britain' (Lidher 2018). They were British citizens under the British Nationality Act 1948 and were
now deemed “illegal immigrants” (Lidher 2018). The failure of the curriculum to engage in
Windrush Caribbean history and the full extent of the British Empire are examples of historical
institutional amnesia, contributing to why the Windrush Scandal was able to transpire as it did
(Williams 2020). Historical amnesia is the way in which historical legacies of "race" and racism
are remembered, forgotten and upheld in contemporary social discourse. The curriculum’s
narrative of the British Empire is often romanticised thus minimising the violence, pain and land
and cultural theft that occurred. British colonial rule was destructive. Barbados, the first British
Black slave society, experienced ‘the most systemically violent, brutal and racially inhumane
society of modernity.’ (Beckles 2017). For Britain it was the start of a new era in global economic
development and race relations as she created her own ideas of whiteness, Blackness and race
in Barbados,
8

to further enforce racial hierarchies, with the legacies still existing today.

7
84% of BAME Britons think the UK is still very or somewhat racist | YouGov

8
Emma Dabiri, podcast episode on the Speakeasier [Link]
post/the-speakeasier-with-emma-dabiri

Rationale
Terminology 25

 9
In 2020, the toppling of statues of colonial stakeholders in the slave trade exposed the ongoing

relationship of English nationalism to slavery and colonial histories, highlighting the connection

of these histories to present-day racism (Sharma 2020). 

Moreover, the YouGov data demonstrates that 32% of Britons see the former empire as more of

a source of pride than shame reinforcing the idea that there has been a historical longing and

postcolonial melancholia within Britain regarding the loss of empire and colonial power whereby

Britain is grieving loss of “greatness” and with this comes the hostility towards Black and Brown

people (Gilroy, 2004). In comparison to Britain, other former empire states have lower

statistics: 26% in France, 23% in Belgium, 21% in Italy, 18% in Japan, 11% in Spain and 9% in

Germany (Smith 2020). The erasure of Black peoples’ histories can be seen as both structural

and intellectual violence in its refusal to allow Black people to understand their position in past

and present histories. In doing so, it reinforces the idea that ‘white is the dominant group, all

others taking the position of less-than or the Other' (Taylor 2019 p13).

As mentioned, Black Lives Matter protests, in outrage at the murder of George Floyd by police

officer Derek Chauvin, spoke to the freedom and liberation of Black people from racism and

white supremacy. In the UK, the protests were led by youthful, multi-racial grassroots

campaigners calling for racial justice outside of institutional forms of politics because “the UK is

not innocent” . Despite this, the YMCA Young and Black Report (2020) found 95% of young

Black people reported having heard and witnessed the use of racist language at school, 64% of

young Black people worry about being treated unfairly by the Police, and 54% do not trust the

Police to act without prejudice and discrimination. Nonetheless, there is a disproportionate

police presence in schools with a population of working class students and pupils of colour

(Connelly et al. 2020). The movement to decolonise the school curriculum is not a cry for

“diversity and inclusion”, but to “stop killing the mandem”, for action against anti-Blackness,

and an anti-racist curriculum (Connelly et al. 2020).

Under Article 7 ICERD (International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial

Discrimination) the state is obliged to “take immediate and effective measures to combat

prejudices that lead to racial discrimination, particularly in the fields of teaching, education,

culture and information”. Under ICERD People of African descent are rights holders. This should

be read together with the PSED (Public Sector Equality Duty) under s.149 of the Equality Act

2010 which states: “those subject to the general equality duty must tend to the need to

eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited

by the Act; Advance equality of opportunity for people who share a protected characteristic;

and Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who

do not”.

Switching from stakeholder - [Link]

stakeholder/

Rationale 26
Following these laws and legal obligations requires the Department of Education to take
‘effective’ steps to integrate Black narratives in the curriculum. With regards to British history, it
requires making knowledge of the British Empire mandatory, inclusive of its role in slavery, and
the exploitation of populations in colonised countries. In other colonial, white settler states like
Australia, children are taught about colonial histories, and aboriginal perspectives as a
mandatory part of the NSW curriculum (NSW Government 2012). However, teaching in
Australia is not robust or carried out in a decolonial way and so does not achieve the results
that this report is aiming for. However, even that dire situation is better than Britain. Britain
had a white settler colony state in Kenya and Zimbabwe. In this way, this report is looking to
identify the existing gaps in the National Curriculum in order to demonstrate how the UK can
best decolonise the curriculum and tackle the issues of historical amnesia, racism, anti-
Blackness and discrimination. Deconstructing current narratives of the British Empire, by
including more truthful narratives from Black perspectives and teaching Black history as British
history, is key to understanding the effects of racism, anti-Blackness and discrimination.
Providing the white majority population with Black History and anti-racist education will give
them the tools to actively be an ally to those racialised as Black, to dismantle systemic
oppression and to end systems of [Link] will also help to deal with the issues of

Introduction
internalised anti-Blackness and colourism for Black populations in the UK. As recognised by the
CERD in its 2016 concluding observations in the UK, this is essential in tackling racist bullying in
schools and promoting the wellbeing of Black students.

Since its introduction in 1989, the National Curriculum has seen four major revisions: 1995,
2000, 2007 and 2014. These included the changing of statutory subjects across all Key Stages
over the years and the removal of existing content on the curriculum, in an attempt to raise
English and Mathematics levels as well as to give teachers more “flexibility” in what they taught
in other areas of the curriculum. This impacted the teaching of History in primary and
secondary schools in a number of ways. The interpretation of these revisions and amendments
facilitated an ambiguity which lent itself to providing a ‘dominant’ canon of knowledge that
centres and defines Britishness within an historical context, as specifically being a white
phenomenon and not a multi-cultural one (Parekh et al., 2000). The shift away from being
tethered to prescribed content in the revised 2014 National Curriculum, should have provided
an opportunity to build on diversifying the canons of knowledge provided within the History
curriculum within a British context.10 The subjective interpretation of this pedagogical freedom
was a missed opportunity to diversify and strengthen the structure of the curriculum, by
implementing the principles of integration, belonging and representation and appreciating the
impact of multiculturalism on British history. Earlier revisions in 2007 to the National
Curriculum at Key Stage 3, reiterated the requirements that pupils were to be taught a
substantial amount of British history, and that history was to be taught through a combination
of overview, thematic and in-depth studies. What remains problematic is the definition of
‘British history’ and the ‘key concepts’ around Fundamental British Values which align.

The Black Curriculum “Blac British History in the national curriculum”

10

Report 2021 BC+2021++[Link] ([Link])

Rationale 27

Introduction

Rationale 28

Background
Methodology

This report was developed and produced by BLAM, a not-for-profit organisation, based in
London, which works to champion Black British
7

cultural capital and creativity; improve the

mental health and wellbeing of peoples of African Descent; provide a comprehensive and
decolonised education; and support social inclusion of the Black British community. 

It is the outcome of a unique, collaborative research project led by BLAM (Black Learning
Achievement and Mental Health) UK, in partnership with the Equal Rights Trust and ICM
Unlimited. 

The Equal Rights Trust is an independent, international organisation which works in

partnership with civil society organisations, lawyers, and others around the world to support the
development, adoption, enforcement, and implementation of anti-discrimination laws.

ICM Unlimited is a specialist social research and insight team which works with public bodies,
charities, not-for-profit organisations, think-tanks, universities and media organisations to
assess and measure public opinion on the key societal issues and public service challenges of
the day. 

The research for the report was undertaken in four discrete strands, each of which contributed
to building a complete picture of gaps in the national curriculum, their impacts and the
Government’s legal obligations in this area.

ICM Unlimited Opinion survey

In consultation with BLAM, ICM developed, designed and completed an opinion survey with
2,500 young adults in England. ICM UNLIMITED surveyed an online sample of 2,500 18–30-
year-olds in England via a 10-minute online survey. Fieldwork took place between 6th – 20th
December 2021. The demographic of the sample included 1,523 respondents from white
backgrounds (60%) and 952 respondents (40%) from Black and other global majority ethnic
groups. The latter group included a “top up” group of 500 individuals, included to ensure that
the survey gathered sufficient information from those most likely to have directly experienced
racism, discrimination and, disadvantage in the education system.

Methodology
Terminology 29

All figures drawn from the survey were weighted to the profile
9
of the English 18-30-year-old
population, based on age, gender, region, education, and ethnicity. All aspects of the research
were conducted in accordance with ISO 20252 and ISO 27001, the international standards for
market research and information data security, respectively.

BLAM UK Primary data 

BLAM designed and undertook qualitative research interviews, focus groups and surveys with
three groups directly affected by and involved in the UK education system: pupils currently in
the school system, parents of children in the school system, and teachers. In the first group, a
questionnaire was completed with 69 pupils, the vast majority of whom were Black (British)
Caribbean and African, including children with mixed heritage (i.e. Black British Caribbean and
white English). In the second group, a questionnaire was completed with 60 parents and
guardians of children of predominantly Black heritage, aged between 10-15 years old. The vast
majority of respondents completed the survey online. Finally, BLAM conducted focus groups
with 41 teachers from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, different positions and levels of
experience.

Literature review

BLAM’s team of researchers undertook extensive desk-based research, reviewing literature on a

wide range of topics relevant to understanding the impacts of different modes of teaching and
curricula on the educational experiences and outcomes of children of Black and other global
majority ethnic groups. This included a comprehensive review of the National Curriculum
Framework, introduced in 2014, and a wider review of literature on topics relevant to education,
race and racial discrimination.

Legal and policy analysis

The Equal Rights Trust undertook a comprehensive assessment of the UK’s commitments and
obligations under international human rights law, and the duties of public decision-makers
under domestic law. In respect to ensuring non-discrimination in education and the use of the
education system to promote equality of opportunity and tackle racial prejudice. The Trust also
reviewed Government policy in respect to the Public Sector Equality Duty, addressing patterns
of racial discrimination and inequality and the reform of the national curriculum, over the
course of the last decade.

The completed report was subjected to validation by an expert steering committee. This
committee was engaged first at the beginning of the project, providing input into the research
methodology and design. The committee was then engaged in the final phase of the project,
reviewing and providing input and feedback on the draft report. This feedback was evaluated
and addressed by the project team prior to publication.

Methodology 30

Geographical Scope

This report focuses on the gaps, omissions, imbalances, and misrepresentations in the national
curriculum in England. The scope of the report is determined by the area of application for the
national curriculum which, since devolution, applies only to England. The scope of the report
was determined by the area of application of the national curriculum alone; decisions to exclude
consideration of the curriculum in other parts of the United Kingdom should not be understood
as any indication that similar problems do or do not exist in those nations.

The focus of the report determined the scope of the project field research: the opinion survey
conducted by ICM included only respondents in England, while the interviews, questionnaires,
and focus groups conducted by BLAM took place only in England, primarily in London and
Manchester.

Despite the focus on England, the report does refer to the United Kingdom, Britain, and British.
References to the United Kingdom are made where the report discusses the international legal
obligations of the state, which rest with the United Kingdom government, or the application of
national laws such as the Equality Act 2010 (though it should be noted that this particular Act
does not apply in Northern Ireland). 

Introduction
References to Britain and British are made primarily when discussing history, in particular the
British Empire or British colonialism. This reflects the fact that these acts were undertaken by
the British state, prior to devolution. 

Where research by others or terminology in popular use – such as Black British English (BBE) or
references to Coard´s (1971) seminal work, How the West Indian Child Is Made Educationally
Sub-normal in the British School System – is cited, the report uses the terminology used by the
authors of those works.

Methodology 31

Report
Structure
The subsequent sections of the report describe the overall key findings
from the data gathered. As well as the recommendations for different
stakeholders (The Government, Schools, Teachers, Parents etc.) to help
combat racial discrimination in schools and improve the school experience
for Black children as a matter of urgency.

The report findings have been organised into the

following sections:

Section 1 - The Importance of Teaching Black History 

Section 2 - Teachers need Teaching: The Importance of Racial Literacy

Training

Section 3 - Make the Curriculum Anti-Racist

Section 4 - Racism and Racial Discrimination in Schools and Society

a. School Policies: The Written and the Unwritten 

b. From School to Society

c. Society: The Seen and ‘the Unseen’

Legal Rights and Obligations

Recommendations

 Section 1
The Importance of Teaching

Black History

The National Picture

Section 1 - The Importance of Teaching

We commissioned the respected social research company ICM to undertake a
survey of 2,500 people in England aged between 18 and 30, asking about
their experiences in education. We asked respondents to think about their
secondary school education and if they had any knowledge of the following
historical events: the ‘Scramble for Africa’, the creation of the East India
Company, The Mau Mau Uprising, the 'colour bar', the Bristol Bus Boycott
and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The data showed that

Black History 

Black people (40%) were twice as likely as white people (18%) to be ‘very
aware’ of the contributions of Black people throughout British history. Across
all topics, Black people were more likely to know about subjects related to
colonialism and exploitation (the scramble for Africa and the creation of the
East India Company); revolts and racism (the Mau Mau uprising and the
‘colour bar’) and civil disobedience emanating from institutional racism and
discrimination (the Bristol Bus Boycott and the March on Washington for
Jobs and Freedom).

However, it is concerning that more than half of both Black and white
respondents do not have any knowledge on these momentous historical
events, suggesting that the vast majority of schools are selective about the
history they teach and children are not being exposed to Black narratives.

Godson
12
Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health
Section 1
+91 9746246817 32
One obvious consequence of this is that schools produce populations which are

inadequately educated on Black history and the history of the British empire. In

particular, just like the white respondents in the survey, white people make up

the vast majority of the population and the low exposure to Black narratives

through their education and within their own communities perpetuates a lack of

racial awareness, and ignorance towards Black people and Black cultures, which

in turn perpetuates anti-Black racism and anti-Blackness. But there are other

more subtle consequences. For example, a curriculum that omits aspects of a

truthful world history (not a Eurocentric / white world history) can be said to

purposefully reproduce a national identity based on particular traditions, values,

symbols and memories that have been put forward as culturally superior to

others through the guise of white supremacy. In white populations, this can

Section 1
manifest in developing nationalistic or fascist ideas about the superiority of

white people. Conversely, in Black populations this can and has resulted in

developing feelings of inferiority as well as being treated as inferior, which can

have an impact on educational achievement. Schools thus become sites for the

reproduction of national identity (Lidher et al.2020). Simultaneously, the lack of

exposure to Black narratives by Black respondents can impact the racial esteem

of children as they are not seeing themselves represented within the curriculum.

The role of the Black Supplementary school thus becomes an essential part of the

Black community by educating Black children about themselves, raising their self

and racial esteem as well as creating a sense of identity and belonging which the

curriculum fails to do.

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health Section 1 33

Despite the UK having made a legal commitment to tackling prejudice and

promoting understanding within education, social problems, such as racism,

prejudice and discrimination are aggravated by the failure of the education

system to provide comprehensive historical teaching in schools. This phenomenon

is especially problematic for anti-racism when a white population may not access

forms of knowledge and histories at home unlike some global majority families. At

the same time, discrimination is an unlawful act as we are protected by the

Equality Act 2010 which states that direct discrimination or implementation of a

practice/policy which puts someone with a 'protected characteristic' such as race,

at a disadvantage is unlawful. (Equality Act 2010 at [19]). The failure of the

education system to provide comprehensive historical teaching in schools is

unlawful and not just a personal, or social, problem. The lack of adequate history

Section 1
teaching has led to white histories in Britain becoming more well-known and

respected, which is reflected in the British education system and National

Curriculum, and conveys a specific message of white supremacy, Eurocentrism

and ethnocentrism (Xasan, 2017). For example, just 49% of white people knew

that immigrants travelling to the UK between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean

countries were invited by the UK government to help fill post-war UK labour

shortages, compared to 64% of Black people. An example of the consequences of

the colonisation of British education and the omission of key historical events was

writ large in the recent ‘Windrush Scandal’ whereby British subjects, of

predominantly Caribbean heritage, were wrongly detained, denied legal rights,

threatened with deportation and, in 83 cases, deported from the UK by the Home

Office. Wendy Williams’ (2018) report on the Windrush Scandal, ‘Lessons

Learned’, found that the ignorance of history was one of the contributing factors

in the abuses of those detained and deported. 

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health Section 1 34

The omission of the Windrush Generation, their history and contribution to British

history from the curriculum is an example of historical amnesia and the ways in

which society forgets or deletes ‘aspects of history that are, at least, inconvenient

for the politics and policies of the present' (Clarke 2012:153).  

A few statistics from the past few years collated from the Everyday Racism

project convey racism and it’s deep harms within a schooling environment,its

structures and systems and highlight were responsibilities and impactful change

can be enacted

More than 60,000 racist incidents were recorded in UK schools over a five-

year perio

95% of young Black people report that they have heard and witnessed the

Section 1
use of racist language at schoo

70% of young Black people have felt the need to change their hair to be

“more professional” at work or school. With nearly 90% of educators not

receiving training on how the Equality Act applies to Afro hairstyles

92.5% of headteachers are White British with 86% having an all white

leadership tea

Ethnic minority candidates are less likely to be accepted onto teacher training
11

in comparison to their white counterparts.

Importantly, a curriculum which omits aspects of national and world history which

are relevant to understanding the ethnic and racial makeup of society, the

experiences and position of different groups, and to combating prejudices borne

of ignorance, fails to meet the UK's international and national law obligations, as
12

the Public Sector Equality Duty requires that the decision maker has "due regard

to the need to tackle prejudice and promote understanding".

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health Section 1 35

 This obligation is violated even if the gap in the curriculum is unintended,

unforeseen or not understood by the decision maker because it means that

proper care and concern - i.e. “due regard” - were not taken in the construction

of the curriculum. In doing so, the findings indicate that both the curriculum in

schools, and the framework used to monitor what is in the curriculum are in

violation of s. 149 of the Equality Act. The problem of historical amnesia or

ambivalence as a strategy to avoid confronting historical reality, is further

revealed in the survey. Respondents were asked whether they were taught about

the following subjects in school: Britain’s colonial history; the factors which led to

the settlement of Black communities in Britain; the realities of life for Black people

in Britain when they settled here; Britain's role in the slave trade and Britain's role

in the exploitation of colonised [Link] results show that nearly one in five

Section 1
(17%) white people admitted they ‘did not know’ or were ‘unsure’ about these

themes, compared to less than one in ten (9%) Black [Link] findings

illustrate the inadequacy of the curriculum in teaching Black British history, which

then facilitates the wider societal ambivalence towards Black people and their

history. This historical amnesia further facilitates anti-Black racism in the UK

because where Black people are reflected in the curriculum, it is through trauma

narratives - i.e. The Transatlantic Slave trade or The Civil Rights movement. The

narrative for Black people and their history becomes one of inferiority, oppression

and enslavement thus fuelling anti-Black racism. As Williams (2020: 139) states,

“The Windrush scandal was in part able to happen because of the public’s and

officials' poor understanding of Britain’s colonial history, the history of inward

and outward migration, and the history of Black Britons”.

11
UK schools record more than 60,000 racist incidents in five years | Race in education | The Guardian

Almost 90% of teachers are not trained to prevent racism in schools, report finds | The Independent, Nadin White Race

correspondent

12

Non-white candidates less likely to get into teacher training ([Link])

Young and Black - YMCA England & Wales

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health Section 1 35

Therefore, the “lack of institutional memory” and the lack of Black History

education has helped to facilitate an unwillingness and inability to learn about

the past in order to inform the future and as a result, anti-Black racism, as

evidenced by The Windrush Scandal, continues to hinder Black children and

adults in the UK (Williams 2020: 139). 

Both the English Literature and History curricula, for example, have been

frequently spotlighted, by researchers, for their euro-centricity and ‘narrow

nationalism’ (D’Avray et al. 2013; Harris and Reynolds 2014). In addition, the

research finds that Black people are nearly three times (17%) more likely than

white people (6%) to ‘strongly disagree’ that they felt represented in the books

and resources used in school lessons. Exam Board assessments and materials,

across all subjects, uphold euro-centricism and whiteness, thus are ‘complicit in

Section 1
undermining the presence of Black History’ (Arday 2021). For instance, the GCSE

English Literature course content for the AQA exam board makes up 80% of the

national GCSE English Literature certificates. However, the AQA exam board

does not feature a single book by a Black author and only two from ,global

majority backgrounds(made this suggestion to standardise with use of global

majority previously in report and also for all the reasons why global majority is

the better phrase to use, however if ethnic minority was used here on purpose or

because it’s directly from TeachFirst add quotation marks and ignore this!) which

means that 1 out of 10 of the set books that schools choose are non-white (Teach

First 2020). Moreover, exam board Pearson Edexcel makes up around 9% of

GCSE English Literature certificates and since 2019, offers 5 set texts by

minoritised ethnic authors, two of which are Black, which makes up one quarter of

set books. This is the only exam board with more than a single book by a Black

author (Teach First 2020). Despite this, interaction with a Black author is not

guaranteed since this content area can be dropped by individual schools.

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health Section 1 36

Moreover, in other subjects such as science, maths and medicine, the Black

community has historically been made invisible and as a result has suffered some

extreme forms of racism, discrimination, abuse and even premature death by

medical professionals (Washington). This can be seen in the statistics which

indicate that Black women are three to four times more likely to die in childbirth in
13

comparison to their white counterparts (Limb 2021). In addition, there is a history

of medical professionals not believing Black patients when they raise concerns

about their health and a lot of medical understandings (such as skin rashes and

bruising) are based on white bodies, especially white males, which hinders the

understanding of the health of Black and brown bodies. In this sense,

incorporating a substantive number of non-white texts across all subject areas

into the curriculum, will begin the process of having an adequate representation

Section 1
of Black people and history. However, this alone will not decolonise the curriculum

or change the eurocentric infrastructure through which education, teaching and

the curriculum have been built as medicine and the sciences in and of themselves

are plagued with and built on racial discrimination.  

The earliest known use of measuring and calculation can be traced back to Africa

as well as both basic and advanced mathematics. Despite this, African

approaches to mathematics and science are erased from history and the

curriculum. A decolonised curriculum is one which is not underpinned by

eurocentrism but instead, is culturally aware and enables the use of teaching

practices and approaches from Africa and the global majority. 

13

Eurocentrism is a worldview that understands European history, culture, and people are distinguished and preeminent.

This perspective maintains that Western ideals should be studied, practised and prioritised.

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health Section 1 37

The Local Picture

If we switch the lens from the national picture and zoom in on the experiences of

Black pupils, as well as the experiences of their parents and schools they attend

today, we find that very little has changed. 

We asked 69 Black pupils about whether they thought it was important to learn

about Black histories and cultures in school and why. The young respondents

overwhelmingly said ‘yes’ it was important. We grouped together their reasons

why according to four key themes which emerged from their responses and

include some of the most pertinent quotes. The young people were most

concerned about:

Section 1
a) the possible erasure and invisibilisation of Black people in

society as the current curriculum omits any meaningful lessons

on Black history.

‘Because people don't really talk about Black people’ 

‘We mostly learn about white people’ 

‘So the curriculum is equal’ 

b) tackling racism in society to improve equality and fairness.

‘It is important because people are racist’ 

‘Because white people are being racist to people’ 

‘People can be racist and make fun of Black people’ 

‘Treat all people fairly!’

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health Section 1 38

 c) promoting multiculturalism through an understanding and

appreciation for people from different cultural backgrounds.

‘It helps others to relate [to each other] and feel included’ 

‘Because it's good to learn about other cultures’ 

d)learning about their own roots, histories and cultures.

‘You need to learn about where your ancestors are from’ 

‘So that people can understand their Black history’

‘I would love to learn about it [my Black heritage], it is a

meaningful thing’ 

Section 1
Additionally, we asked the pupils if their schools did a good job teaching about

the country they or their parents come from. While just under half (46.2%) of

pupil respondents said ‘no’ the school did not do a good job, surprisingly, almost

half (48.7%) of the respondents said ‘yes,’ the school did do a good job. When

asked a follow-up question why (or why not) they thought the school did a good

job about teaching Black history, many of the respondent answers were revealing

about how Black history is being taught. For example, several of the pupils stated

that their Black history lessons centred around learning ‘a lot about Jamaican

music’ and ‘about Bob Marley’. The overuse of Jamaica and Bob Marley as the

embodiment of Black history raises many problems. Firstly, often white people are

only exposed to Jamaica and Jamaican culture through tourism and hotel stays

where they have little to no contact with Jamaican people within the community.

As such, the lack of knowledge and immersion into Jamaican culture and history

results in the roots of Jamaican culture, music and history being lost.

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health Section 1 39

In doing so, the inability to situate Jamaican culture and music within the history

of its African roots results in the use of Bob Marley and Jamaica becoming

gimmicky, tokenistic and unhelpful as it perpetuates a monolithic narrative of

Jamaica and its history. “There is a real danger”, one teacher from our focus

group told us, that some teaching “reinforces stereotypes and false narratives”,

and although some teachers are “well meaning, they do not have the knowledge”

to teach about race and racial issues properly. Here, projects like the BLAM

Grounded Project are examples of the ways in which Black history can be taught

without being tokenistic or reinforcing stereotypes. The BLAM Grounded Project

endeavours to teach Black histories that move away from stereotypical Black

figures and histories, instead teaching topics like the Black Cowboys, the creation

of Black creoles and languages, the preservation of African food practices in the

USA and the Caribbean, Afrofuturism, Funeral practices in the Caribbean (e.g

Section 1
Nine nights, African religious practices etc.) as a way to introduce pupils to

histories and cultural practices they may not be aware of, and move away from

perpetuating racist, discriminatory, lazy, stereotypical and inaccurate narratives.

From the teacher’s focus groups, one point which was raised by many teachers

was the lack of time to decolonise and develop the curriculum by including more

narratives from Black and minority ethnic histories. Through our work on The

Grounded Project, a school-based project teaching Black history to Key Stages 2

and 3 children in London schools, BLAM has illustrated the importance of

community and collaboration in developing the curriculum and ensuring children

are exposed to Black histories which are not stereotyped or predictable. For

example, moving away from teaching topics such as The Civil Rights Movement

and instead teaching about Black Cowboys in the US. Our findings from both the

student survey and the ICM survey indicate that the education system fails to

teach a curriculum with an adequate, or honest, exploration of Black voices and

narratives which in turn hinders the learning experiences of all children and the

self-esteem of Black children.

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health Section 1 41

The work BLAM does through The Grounded Project gives Black children a sense

of pride through learning about themselves and people that look like them, as

well as creating a sense of inquiry which prepares them for mainstream lessons.

By moving away from tokenistic narratives, such as that of Bob Marley, children

are introduced to new narratives and histories – such as the Black Cowboys. The

Grounded Project highlights and centres Black legacies, histories and narratives,

allowing children to see themselves in these narratives, validate their existence

and experiences as Black people and allow them to exist freely. It is essential for

Black children to have their histories taught in an authentic and honest way which

suppresses the stereotypes and prejudices that perpetuate anti-Black racism and

histories. 

The Black British Voices 2023 report is an in depth study of Black people’s

insights on different aspects that impact their life and their building of

Section 1
14

community. “The research has been conducted by the University of Cambridge’s

15

Department of Sociology in collaboration with The Voice, Britain’s only national

newspaper for Black communities, and London-based management consultancy I-

16

Cubed, founded by two Black women, Jane Oremosu and [Link]

Semple,OBE,FCGI.” The report discusses different categories through interviews

and surveys and shares the opinions of everyone that contributed on different

components including ; “Britishness” “Wellbeing”, “Wealth and

representation”,”BAME”,“Mental Health” “LGBTQ+”,“Financial capacity”,“Media

and the arts” “Disability” “The workplace” ,“Young people and the future”,

“Education” etc. Education is a large component of that, in the summary for the

responses for Education the report found that, “feelings of distrust and

disillusionment featured prominently…Reasons for these negative responses

ranged widely and included not only personal experiences or observations of how

other Black students were mistreated but a sense that everyone is losing out if

the curriculum is too narrow, or too rigidly taught.

14

[Link]

15

[Link]

16

[Link]

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health Section 1 42

chool for many Black children introduced them to and or made them feel unsafe.

The sense that more black teachers and more focus on Black lives and histories

would help is offset by a deep distrust in British educational institutions to serve

the needs of Black British children.”

Section 1

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health Section 1 42

 Section 2
Teachers need Teaching:
The Importance of Racial
Literacy Training

In the context of schooling, ‘racial literacy’ refers to the competency of

teachers to understand the ways in which race and racism work in society,
and involves having the language, skills and confidence to utilise that

Section 2 - Teachers need Teaching: The

Importance of Racial Literacy Training
knowledge in teacher practice. To put it another way, all teachers need to be
taught about the importance of racial literacy, so that they are able to teach
in a way that promotes anti-racism. Such training would additionally enable
teachers to reflect on racist views they might hold and to understand their
own complicity in (re)producing racism (Joseph-Salisbury 2020). In our
survey of teachers, it was noted that many non-Black teachers recognised
that Black students were more educated on issues pertaining to race and
racism, which highlighted not only the teachers’ own ignorance but where
such ignorance can lead to, such as arguing with students and creating
hostile classroom environments. It is important to note, however, that whilst
teachers might sometimes know that they are in the wrong, Black children
are typically seen as disrespectful, poorly behaved and disruptive, which all
too often leads to harsher sanctions via suspensions and permanent
exclusions (Demie & McLean 2017: 50). This can be seen in the enforcing of
17

“zero tolerance” behaviour policies which inflict harsh and punitive

consequences for all behaviours irrespective of their severity. Black children
are impacted by “zero tolerance”policies because, “punishment negatively
affects those who are already negatively affected by poverty, racism,
academic failure, and other realities” (Casella 2003; Thompson, 2021). 

17
Ibid

Godson
Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health
Section 2
+91 9746246817 43
12
From our focus group of teachers, many felt that their, “lack of [racial literacy]

training meant they would not be able to respond or would not be prepared to

teach”, on issues related to race and racism. “If teachers do not have the

necessary level of racial literary training, they might impose their own personal

beliefs, which might cause friction”, one teacher told us. Others said they feared

tackling issues related to race, racism and discrimination in case they, “got it

wrong”, or were, “uncertain of the comeback”, emphasising that they did not

want to discuss anything, “risky [in case] they are confronted with a question

they don’t have the answer to or were challenged on something they are unsure

of how to answer”. 

Furthermore, almost all teachers we surveyed mentioned that they have

witnessed racist and discriminatory stereotypes of Black students being peddled

Section 2
by other teachers. An example provided was of a young Black boy who was

moved out of a higher set because a teacher felt ‘intimidated’ by the pupil, who

had no previously logged behavioural incidents from other teachers.

Preconceived racist notions like this not only hinder the educational achievement

of Black children, but also allow some teachers to act with impunity, for if a Black

child does attempt to defend themselves they are too often labelled as

‘aggressive’ or demonised for ‘talking back’. In situations like these, it is almost

impossible for the student to defend themselves without being labelled in this

way. Such practices would also fall under a term known as “Spirit murdering”, a

US derived term which describes the nature of private racism and racial violence

which kills the spirit of people of colour (Williams, 1987; West 1992). Patricia

Williams coined the term “spirit murder” to describe the,“disregard for others

whose lives quantitatively depend on our regard” (Williams 1987:73). Here, spirit

murdering occurs in those everyday examples of racism, ingrained in the system

and systemic practices within institutions such as education.

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 2 44
As these instances of racism are an arbitrary norm, as a result of white

supremacy, they go unnoticed and unsanctioned thus killing the humanity and

spirit of people of colour (Williams 1987). Therefore, we can understand the

erasure of Black history in the school curriculum, and the omissions of the

contributions of persons of African descent as an example of spirit murder

because in doing so, the lack of representation impacts the racial esteem of Black

children and their learning outcomes. Such practices of erasure in the British and

US education systems illustrate the importance and need for Black Crit and

decolonised pedagogy in the teacher training programs to ensure that

practitioners are well versed in the practices that perpetuate systemic racism,

and thus implement more appropriate practices which cultivate an anti-racist

school environment and education system as a whole. Importantly, Black Crit

focuses on theorisations of Blackness and the specificities of anti-Black racism in

Section 2
the US education in order to highlight the pain and suffering of African American

children being educated within such a system which has been constructed against

them (Dumas and Ross 2016, 416). In comparison, Critical Race Theory or CRT

offers a more intersectional approach looking at issues of race and racism. The

specificity of Black Crit in highlighting the Black experience in education, the anti-

Black education system and the spirit murdering of Black children is thus needed

within a UK context in order to provide the language to highlight the extent of

the problem for Black children within British education. 

In terms of trauma both the spirit and body are impacted and in terms of how

trauma lives within people physically, somatics to address racialised trauma is an

important source of healing. Energy used to regulate due to experiencing racism

can mean that people who experience racism are using up more energy because

they deal with racism and this means that experiencing racism can physically

change your brain. “Some people have called this process “weathering” where

the stress related to repeated exposure to traumatic experiences erodes parts of

the brain”

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 2 45

Within this research, racism is an impediment again, for the research to be

acknowledged and enacted on, “Fani and Harnertt say they've faced challenges

in publishing their research that seem to reflect the resistance in the medical field

to acknowledging health disparities for minority communities”. A and more so

extreme health disparities caused by the trauma of racism and not only the

violent racist medical negligence of the field. Fani has noted scepticism and
18

double standards to their research.

At present, the structure of Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)

qualification does not equip teachers with knowledge of anti-racist or any “race”-

related pedagogy. In a study which critically examined the existing “race”-

related provisions on initial teacher education (ITE) programmes in England, it

was identified that there were limited provisions relating to “race” in ITE

Section 2
programmes in England. Often, discussions relating to “race” and racism within

education were one-off lectures or optional sessions which did not delve into any

level of detail (Davies 2021). This supports the findings from our teacher focus

groups, where few participants remembered receiving substantial anti-racist

training that extended beyond a short workshop that briefly covered all

intersections of oppression as newly qualified teachers (NQTs). Only one

individual mentioned receiving anti-racism training and exploring critical race

theory in their PGCE, and a small number mentioned having had CPD sessions on

anti-racism and inclusion subsequent to Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter

campaigns in 2020. Today, in the top 10 PGCE courses in the UK, none seem to

provide any training relating to anti-racism.

18
Racism linked to health risks, brain changes in minorities : Short Wave : NPR

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 2 46

Within this research, racism is an impediment again, for the research to be

acknowledged and enacted on, “Fani and Harnertt say they've faced challenges

in publishing their research that seem to reflect the resistance in the medical field

to acknowledging health disparities for minority communities”. A and more so

extreme health disparities caused by the trauma of racism and not only the

violent racist medical negligence of the field. Fani has noted scepticism and

double standards to their research.

At present, the structure of Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)

qualification does not equip teachers with knowledge of anti-racist or any “race”-

related pedagogy. In a study which critically examined the existing “race”-

related provisions on initial teacher education (ITE) programmes in England, it

was identified that there were limited provisions relating to “race” in ITE

Section 2
programmes in England. Often, discussions relating to “race” and racism within

education were one-off lectures or optional sessions which did not delve into any

level of detail (Davies 2021). This supports the findings from our teacher focus

groups, where few participants remembered receiving substantial anti-racist

training that extended beyond a short workshop that briefly covered all

intersections of oppression as newly qualified teachers (NQTs). Only one

individual mentioned receiving anti-racism training and exploring critical race

theory in their PGCE, and a small number mentioned having had CPD sessions on

anti-racism and inclusion subsequent to Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter

campaigns in 2020. Today, in the top 10 PGCE courses in the UK, none seem to

provide any training relating to anti-racism.

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 2 47
Whilst there has been a greater demand on schools to address religious

fundamentalism and extremism as part of the National Curriculum and the

Teachers' Standards (Davies, 2021), there has been a failure to implement and

address issues of “race” and racism, anti-racist practice and pedagogy through

the curriculum or the Teachers’ Standards. Davies (2021) argued that teacher

training should ‘aspire to produce novice teachers willing and prepared to

embrace “race”-related challenges in their teaching careers, and to contribute to

curricula which acknowledge and address inequality’. For BLAM, such training is

fundamental for the wellbeing, mental health, racial esteem and education of

Black children. 

Our findings regarding the lack of racial training received by teachers is

supported by other studies such as the Lit in Colour report where only 12% of

Section 2
secondary teachers in the survey received racial training as part of their initial

training. (Elliott et al. 2021). The University of East Anglia, however, covers

decolonising and diversifying the curriculum across all subjects on their Primary

PGCE and as part of a Professional Development module. In addition, Secondary

PGCE students receive a lecture from The Black Curriculum which focuses on

diversifying the curriculum and the under-representation of Black and Minority

Ethnic (BME) on the curriculum. It is evident that such racial literacy teaching

needs to be mandatory across all PGCE programmes in order to ensure that all

teachers are equipped with the skills and knowledge to be anti-racist and

culturally aware. 

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 2 48
 Section 3
Make the Curriculum
Anti-Racist

Our findings are calling for a more comprehensive, regular anti-racist

education that is not just about non-racial diversity and hate crimes. We
asked 60 parents and guardians of predominantly Black and other minority

Section 3 - Make the Curriculum Anti-

ethnic heritage what changes should be made to the education system. The
vast majority of respondents (76%), by using one or more of the following
words ‘anti-racism’; ‘Black history’; ‘diversity’; ‘race’ or ‘ethnicity’ indicated a
strong preference to see a more racially comprehensive curriculum and anti-
racist education being taught in their children’s schools. However, just under
half (48%) of parent respondents said the school their child attended did not
provide any anti-racist lessons or talks or workshops to pupils. This might be
partly attributable to the fact that over two thirds (68%) of parents said that

Racist
their child’s school did not have an ethnically diverse teaching force. 

Additionally, our focus group with teachers revealed that the responsibility
of teaching Black history and anti-racism falls on the shoulders of Black
teachers. Whilst some Black teachers did not mind leading Black history and
anti-racism workshops with pupils, it was generally understood that schools
were exploiting them, as such work is often undertaken without the
recognition or renumeration that comes with other leadership roles. 

Although the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in 2020 sparked needed
conversations about anti-Black racism, discrimination and inequality
experienced by Black people, teachers described this momentum as fading in
schools. Promises were made but no concrete action to effect lasting change
has been taken. Since the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, BLAM has
witnessed a significant decrease in requests to deliver anti-racism training
from schools that had initially inquired.

Godson
Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health
Section 3
+91 9746246817 49
12
Unless prompted, teachers from our focus groups reported, senior leadership
teams were reneging on promises and commitments to prioritise the teaching of
anti-racism and Black history. As a consequence of schools not successfully
embedding anti-racism and Black history into the curriculum and wider school
culture, discussion about the lives, histories and experiences of Black people has
been relegated to an occasional assembly. From our teacher focus groups it was
noted that many school-wide initiatives are restricted to Black History Month in
October, which often falls on the shoulders of Black teachers to organise and
present and are not remunerated for. Too frequently school senior leadership
teams assume Black teachers possess greater racial literacy than white teachers,
and whilst sometimes this may be true, owing to lived experience, empowering
white teachers to not teach anti-racism might also be seen as another way of
saying “this is a Black problem, not a white problem” - a harmful claim when

Section 3
Black people are so often the victims of white perpetrated racism. Moreover,
recent statistics of the racial makeup of the British teaching force show a
worrying underrepresentation of global majority teachers: 86% of teachers are
white British and 46% of all schools in England have no global majority teachers
at all ([Link] 2019). With this in mind, we must ask, in schools where there are
no Black teachers, is Black History even taught? And if it is not, what educational
and social problems can this cause? 

It is urgent that Black history is embedded and made an integral part of the
national curriculum that is taught throughout the year and not just limited to four
weeks in October. Moreover, Black history as a subject needs to be reimagined
and expanded from the reductive scope of slavery and colonialism, by
incorporating Black contributions to British society, including in literature, the
arts, sciences and social justice movements, as well as teaching the history of
slavery and colonialism.



Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health Section 3 50

 Section 4
Racism and Racial
Discrimination in
Schools and Society

To talk about ‘only one human race’ denies the experiences of BME students
and reflects deep-seated racism, reinforcing the harm of the colour-blind
approach. (Joseph-Salisbury 2020). 

Discrimination in Schools and Society

School Policies: The Written and the Unwritten 

Section 4 - Racism and Racial

In his book Color-Blind Racism, Leslie G. Carr (1997) criticised the colour-
blind approach for being another racist ideology which undermined legal
and political practices such as integration and affirmative action by failing
to acknowledge racial differences. Similarly, Sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-
Silva (2014) argued that colour-blindness is used as a ploy by majority
groups - i.e. white - to undermine the experiences of minoritised ethnic
groups by avoiding discussions on racism and racial discrimination. Thus, a
“colour-blind” approach is an essential tool used to uphold racism as it
removes the language and opportunity for people to discuss “race” and
racism. By suggesting that race-based differences do not exist, or are at
least not important, a colour-blind approach ignores the realities of systemic
racism and thus makes it difficult for actual race-related issues to be
improved. Whilst it is widely agreed that “race” is a social construct and has
no biological connotations, the reality is that understandings of race still
underpin the racist ideas and racism which permeate modern society today
thus, to adopt a colour-blind approach is to undermine the realities of racism
for Black and minoritised people, further hindering their lived experience
and allowing racism to thrive. 

20 Racism is 'any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the
recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.'

21
Colourism is 'a type of skin-shade discrimination that gives better treatment to people with lighter skin tones by placing them higher in the social hierarchy (better treatment
within society), and prejudices (unfavourable treatment toward) people with darker skin tones by placing them lower in the social hierarchy. Colourism can occur within the same
group identity or ethnicity and from other groups.'

Godson
Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health
Section 4
+91 9746246817 51
12
Overwhelmingly, Black people reported in our national survey that they had
20 21

suffered myriad forms of racism and colourism at school. As Table X

demonstrates, 84% of Black people have experienced multiple forms of racism

and colourism in the English school system (i.e. from teachers, from other pupils,

in school policies or engaging with certain literature, music and images).

Racism or Colourism Remarks Black Respondents %

Racist remarks from students directed at me or made in my
37
presence

Colourist remarks from students directed at me or made in

22

my presence

Racist remarks from teachers directed at me or made in my

19
presence

Colourist remarks from teachers directed at me or made in my

9
presence

Racist jokes or banter

48

Section 4
Colourist jokes or banter  
34

A lack of Black, Asian, or other ethnically diverse role

24

models

Racist images, literature or music shared 12

Teachers' unfair perceptions of my educational ability

16
because of my race, ethnicity or colour

Teachers' unfair grade predictions because of my race,

14
ethnicity or colour

Being unfairly disciplined because of my race, ethnicity or

13
colour

School policies disallowing Afro hairstyles 16

Verbal abuse (including name calling) related to race,

19
ethnicity or colour directed at me or at others

Physical violence related to race, ethnicity or colour directed at

8
me or others

School policies banning Black British

5
English

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 4 52
The results show that about three in every four (74%) Black persons sampled had

been subjected to some form of racist or colourist ‘jokes or banter’ at school. Our

findings, which reveal pervasive racism and anti-Blackness in the school system,

mirror YMCA´s findings that 95% of Black students have heard or witnessed

racial abuse at school, further highlighting that schools are sites where trauma

thrives (YMCA 2020). One reason that racism can thrive in school environments

is that school policies, such as those for uniform, language and hair, are

regarded as ‘neutral’. However, these policies are typically written without any

consideration of the impact they may have on Black and other global majority

students, whom they often discriminate against and disadvantage (Joseph-

Salisbury 2020).  

Teachers were reported by Black people as perpetrators of racism and

Section 4
discrimination. Whilst at school, one in five (19%) Black pupils have experienced a

‘racist remark’ from a teacher; 16% reported that teachers held discriminatory

views regarding their educational ability; and 14% had faced prejudicial grade

predictions. Coard (1971) argued that racist and discriminatory attitudes held by

white teachers had far-reaching consequences on the educational achievement of

Black pupils and subsequently the life chances of Black adults. For example, it is

well known that Black Caribbean pupils experience permanent school exclusion at

three times the rate of white pupils. (Department for Education (DfE) 2019).

Furthermore, at a crucial time in their school lives when they are preparing for

their GCSEs, more than a third of Black Caribbean pupils receive at least one

exclusion (Gillborn, David (2018). During our work on the School Exclusion Appeal

Service, we have observed Black pupils being sanctioned for minor behavioural

infractions. In our view, white teachers tend to treat Black pupils as not only

adults, but criminals, who require severe punishment. This is exemplified most

shockingly in the case of Child Q, the 15 year old school girl who was strip

searched by the Metropolitan Police because her teacher thought she smelled of

cannabis. 

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 4 54

One explanation for this is that teachers criminalise Black pupils who thus are

punished more severely than their white counterparts. Through our work on The

School Exclusion Appeal Service, we have observed the lack of grace given to

Black pupils in terms of how they are sanctioned for behaviours deemed to go

against the school policy. This speaks to underlying problems between schools

and Black children and how the adultification of children hinders teachers’ ability

to see Black children as innocent - i.e. in the case of “Child Q” (Gamble et al.

2022). To really understand the impact of anti-Blackness, anti-Black racism,

racial trauma and the policing of Black children within the British education

system, a critical theoretical framework must be employed. Using Critical Race

Theory (CRT) as a lens through which to understand the racial inequalities within

education will help to facilitate the decolonisation of education as an institution,

Section 4
and the curriculum, as well as better support the wellbeing of Black children. CRT

is an approach that offers a radical lens through which to make sense of,

deconstruct and challenge racial inequality in society (Rollock et al. 2011). It was

first used as an analytical framework to assess inequity in education in 1995

(Decuir & Dixson 2004; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995) and has now been used to

analyse and critique educational research and practice further (Ladson-Billings,

2005). In the US, CRT and BlackCrit have been used to unpack the issues of

racial profiling in the disciplining of African American students in the American

school system Similar to Black Boys in the UK, Bierda argued that preconceived

notions and cultural assumptions based on race affect how teachers choose to

enforce discipline towards Black students. The findings from our research with

young Black people indicate that teacher perception impacts student grades and

overall school experience as these perceptions are underpinned by racist

stereotypes. The UK, like our American counterparts, has a school system which

stigmatises Black children and Black culture. This can be seen in the recent

problematising of Black British English and Caribbean dialect which have been

associated with poor behaviour and lack of intelligence.  

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 4 53
In addition, we asked white respondents if they had witnessed any racism,

colourism, discrimination, prejudice, or physical or verbal abuse towards their

minoritised ethnic peers at school – almost three in four (71%) said they had. Two

in five (40%) had witnessed racist ‘jokes and banter’, over one in four (26%) had

observed verbal abuse (including name calling) and over one in ten (15%) had

watched a racist physical assault towards a minoritised ethnic peer.

In the survey, we asked all respondents if they thought their schools handled

racist incidents appropriately, and despite there not being a huge difference

between the number of Black respondents who suffered, and white respondents

who witnessed, some form of racism or racial discrimination at school, Black

people were more likely (30%) than white people (19%) to say their schools had

not appropriately managed incidents of a racial nature. Interestingly, 84% of

Section 4
Black respondents stated that they had been subjected to racist behaviour, and

71% of white respondents said that they had witnessed such behaviour

illustrating some consistency around the presence of racist behaviours within

schools.

From School to Society 

To experience racial discrimination or colourism is traumatic, and can have wide-

ranging effects on a child’s ability to be a fully functioning member of school, and

later of society. Moving from school to society, we first asked Black victims of

racial abuse in schools whether their experience had a significant negative

impact on their ability to learn, of which over one in ten (16%) said it did. As

concluded by Coard (1971), British schools are not equipped to meet the

educational needs of Black children, primarily because the curriculum upholds

ideas of white supremacy and fails to identify racism as an important issue that

needs to be tackled appropriately. 

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 4 54
School policing of language, expression and appearance through policies and the

‘hidden curriculum’ are detrimental to Black and minoritised students. The hidden

curriculum is a tool used in the education system to ensure children conform and

adapt to the unspoken expectations of society. The term ‘hidden curriculum’

refers to the process through which educators teach students acceptable and

unacceptable behaviour patterns, often resulting in the policing of students’

behaviours, values and norms. This process is ‘hidden’ because it goes

undetected by those involved, is free from official examinations and is usually

taken for granted or understood as ‘common sense’ teaching. 

Hair Discrimination

In addition to this, more overt forms of racism operate in schools through code of

Section 4
conduct and student behaviour policies. In particular, zero-tolerance policies and

policies seen to be ‘neutral’ such as those regarding hairstyles systematically

discriminate against Black pupils. There have been a number of high profile

media reported incidents where schools have gone so far as to suspend Black

children because their Afro hairstyles did not meet expected school standards

(Dabiri, 2020; Soni 2019). Although in recent years many schools have revised

their uniform policies to allow natural afro hairstyles, protective headwear such

as durags are still seen to be ‘inappropriate’ and against most school uniform

policies. What many schools fail to consider is that durags are a type of

headwear, usually worn by Black boys and men, to protect their hair. Despite

durags being completely benign, schools and society at large associate them with

gangs and ‘gang culture’. Here, we can see school and school policies as a

microcosm for wider society and the way in which the police as an institution

over-police Black adults and children in mainstream society. 

22 Racism is 'any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the

purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and

fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.'

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 4 55
Anti-Black Linguistic Racism 

In the same way that appearance is policed in education, linguistic racism sees

the language and accents used by Black children being criminalised/policed and

Black children facing discrimination as a [Link]-Black linguistic racism

describes the “linguistic violence, persecution, dehumanisation, and

marginalisation that Black Language-speakers experience in schools and in

everyday life” (Baker-Bell 2020: 11). It is the denial of Black students' right to use

their languages as a resource in their learning, with Black students required to

reject their language and culture and to acquire white standardised English. In a

British context, Standard English - or Standard Written English - is a

controversial term as it refers to both an actual type of the English language as

well as socially constructed, normalised and acceptable way of speaking in

Section 4
society. To speak standard English, in a received pronunciation accent is to speak

“proper”, and connotes being “educated” or someone of an educated class, and

thus creates a linguistic hierarchy between the languages which are deemed

acceptable and those which are not. When Black students’ language is

suppressed in classrooms they begin to absorb messages that imply that Black

language is incorrect, unintelligent, and thus unacceptable. This could cause

them to internalise anti-Blackness and develop negative attitudes about their

culture and themselves. Writer Ngugi Wa Thiong’o notes that “language, any

language, has a dual character: it is both a means of communication and a

carrier of culture” (1986). Students who internalise negative ideas about their

language may develop a sense of inferiority and lose confidence in their own

abilities, and school in general (Baker-Bell 2020). Baker-Bell argued that

‘standard English’ is a myth: ‘the belief that there is a homogenous, standard,

one-size-fits-all language is a myth that normalises white ways of speaking

English and is used to justify linguistic discrimination on the basis of race’

(Bankhead 2021).

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 4 56

In this way, anti-Black linguistic racism is the dismissal and erasure by those in

educational institutions and by the state of speaking styles created and used by

Black people such as Black British English,Jamaican Patwa,Nigerian Pidgin, Krio,

Twi, Swahilii, St Lucia Kweyol to name a few, This approach has negative

consequences on the sense of self and identity of Black and global majority

students (Bankhead 2021). BLAM has advocated against language bans, most

recently a case where a London Academy put a policy in place to ban Black British

English (BBE). BBE is a legitimate form of expression, an intersection between

West African Creole, Jamaican language Patois, Black British vernacular and

white mainstream English and has its own syntactic and grammatical structure

22

(BLAM 2021). Referring to the language ban of Black British English, Founding

Director of BLAM UK Ife Thompson stated: 

Section 4
‘The implementation of this policy reinforces the ideology of the

inferiority of Black languages linking to the historically racist

and imperialist view of Black people as ‘less than’. BLAM rejects

the guise of ‘professionalism and preparation for the future’ as

explanations provided by the school for the ban. There are

Black professional work spaces that would require fluency in

BBE. We also need to think deeply about the historical

implications of what we deem to be ‘proper’ English.’

The consequences of these bans are that Black students feel their everyday lives

and activities are continually over-policed, they cannot be themselves even in the

school space - everything they do is perceived as threatening or unacceptable. It

sends the message that Black culture and languages are unacceptable and

unprofessional (Lawson 2021). Such findings are reinforced by the comments

following the country visit of the United Nations Working Group Of Experts on

People of African decent (WGEPAD) where the Working Group commented on the

way in which the use of Black British English (BBE) and other

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 4 57

expressions of adolescence amongst children of African descent were seen as

“markers of criminality”, especially in legal cases where young Black children are

convicted of “joint enterprise” based on the language used in text messages (UN

WGEPAD 2023). Here, it is evident that Black children experience a

criminalisation of their culture and that the consequences can have academic and

criminal implications, as well as compounding trauma throughout childhood and

into adulthood. Perhaps add something about the implications on children due to

this causing them trauma.

The Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) statutory guidance states that all

schools have statutory responsibility to support and promote the mental health of

their students by preventing impairment of children's health or development, and

taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes (Department of

Section 4
Education, 2018). Racial trauma (also known as ‘race-based traumatic stress’)

describes the stressful impact or emotional pain of one’s experience of racism and

discrimination as well as witnessing the experiences of others (Carter 2007).

Comas-Díaz (2019) notes that the extent of racial trauma can be seen in the

trauma responses such as depression, substance abuse and aggression etc. which

are worsened by the continued exposure to multiple traumas. For young people in

urban areas, this is particularly important where there is already a risk of

victimisation (over policing, stop and search etc.) and community violence (Wade

et al. 2014). For example, school incidents where global majority students are

punished for their existence by using BBE and, or for having their afro hair out

can lead or build on existing racial trauma. Studies have confirmed a widespread

lack of recognition and understanding of the impact racism has on young people’s

mental wellbeing and sense of identity (Anna Freud Centre 2022). After leaving

school, Black people reported that their general ‘wellbeing’ (defined as the state

of being comfortable, healthy or happy) had been negatively impacted by the

racial abuse they had suffered in school.

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 4 58
According to our findings, one in four (25%) respondents disclosed that their

experience had affected their mental wellbeing; nearly one in five (18%) felt that

it had taken a toll on their physical wellbeing, and over one in 10 (15%) said their

financial wellbeing had been impacted. Research indicates that Black students

who face racial discrimination are likely to experience symptoms such as low self

esteem, anxiety, and depression, to name a few (YMCA 2020). Children cannot

and should not have to learn in spaces where they feel stigmatised, marginalised

and generally unhappy. The whitewashing of the wider curriculum leaves non-

white students questioning their identity and their importance. Society: The Seen

and ‘the Unseen’

Across England, views on race relations, racism and discrimination in society

differ between Black and white people. 

Section 4
According to the national ICM data, two in three (64%) white people believe there

is discrimination against Black, Asian and other ethnically diverse people on the

basis of their race, ethnicity or colour. One in two (50%) think ‘political

correctness’ has gone too far; one in three (34%) feel that there is discrimination

against white people and one in four (24%) believe that the government treats

Black, Asian and other ethnically diverse global majority instead? just to

standardise or is this meant on purpose people more favourably than white

people. These comments and understandings of “race” in the UK are also

apparent in the notion that the white working class have been “forgotten” due to

“decades of neglect” and focus on Black and other minoritsed ethnic or global

majority children (Education Committee 2021). The rhetoric that Black, Asian and

other ethnically diverse people are treated more favourably than white people

further fuels racism, as it indicates the failure of the education system to teach

about “race”, racism, white privilege and white supremacy, and the policies and

practices that may have been introduced to support minoritised groups as a

result.

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 4 59
Furthermore, in a YouGov survey 32% of Britons believed the British Empire is a

source of pride rather than shame, illustrating the ways in which the British

Empire and Britain’s history of colonialism have been romanticised by the British

school system, and suggesting that the underpinnings of contemporary racial

issues have not been properly addressed (Smith 2020). This statistic is high when

compared to other former empires including France (26%), Belgium (23%) and

Germany (9%) (Smith 2020).  

This stands in contrast to the structural and institutional racism Black people

report. For example, almost two thirds (61%) believe it is harder for Black, Asian

and global majority or minoritised people to get into university; half (51%)

believe it is harder to secure a job if you are Black; nearly two in five (39%) say

they have been turned down for a job because of their ethnic background; over

one third (36%) have altered the presentation of their name on a job application

Section 4
to conceal their ethnic background; and over one third (36%) do not believe

minoritised people have the same job opportunities available to them as white

people. These findings echo other national data. For example, between October

and December 2021 whilst the unemployment rate for white people was 3.5%, it

was more than double (7.7%) for people from a minoritised ethnic background

(though there is significant variation between ethnic groups), suggesting that

minoritised ethnic groups are more likely to be discriminated against in the labour

market. In addition, research conducted by the Centre for Social Investigation at

Nuffield College, University of Oxford, found that applicants with a minoritised

ethnic background needed to send 60% more applications to get a job interview

in comparison to their white counterparts, and those of Nigerian, Middle Eastern

and North African heritage had to send between 80 and 90% more applications

(Siddique 2019). Therefore it is no surprise that in our study we found that more

than one in three (36%) respondents have felt the need to alter the presentation

of their name on a job application in order to conceal their ethnic background to

avoid job discrimination. 

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health

Section 4 60
Legal Rights &
Background
Obligations

The findings from this research identify the numerous ways in which the curriculum and
education academically hinders Black children
7

and subjects them to racial discrimination

through anti-Black practices, policies and attitudes. Importantly, there is a legal dimension to
all of these issues, from the individual experiences of racial discrimination and harassment in
the classroom to the absence of Black narratives in school curricula and the impact which these
omissions have on the mental health and racial esteem of Black students. 

International Law

In 1969, the United Kingdom ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of all
forms of Racial Discrimination. The convention was created in response to the attack on Black
bodies and communities in apartheid South Africa, providing an important backdrop to the UK’s
approach to racial discrimination. This is one of seven UN human rights treaties which the UK
has signed, all of which guarantee the right to non-discrimination, and five of which guarantee
the right to education. 

As a signatory of the ICERD, the UK committed, “to pursue by all appropriate means and
without delay a policy of eliminating racial discrimination in all its forms and promoting
understanding among all races”, (Article 1, ICERD). It has committed to prohibit discrimination
on the basis of “race” and guarantee the equal enjoyment of a wide range of rights, including
the right to education (Article 5, ICERD). It has also committed to, “adopt immediate and
effective measures, particularly in the fields of teaching, education, culture and information,
with a view to combating prejudices which lead to racial discrimination, and to promoting
understanding, tolerance and friendship among nations and racial or ethnic groups” (Article 7,
ICERD). In addition, as a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (ICESCR), the UK has recognised the “right of everyone to education”. Article 13 of the
Covenant sets out that this right gives rise to two different, but linked, obligations for the state:
a duty to ensure access to education, and a duty to ensure that education strengthens,
“respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms”.

Legal Rights & 61

Terminology
Obligations
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
9 (the body of experts responsible for

interpreting and overseeing implementation of the Covenant) has stated that where a party to

the Covenant fails, “to take measures which address de facto educational discrimination” or,

“use curricula inconsistent with the educational objectives set out in article 13 (1)”, the right to

education is violated (CESCR, General Comment 13). Thus the findings from this project

indicate that Black children’s right to education has been violated as there has been a failure to

properly address racial discrimination in education or to produce curricula that strengthens

respect for the human rights of Black pupils. 

The UK is also a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Article 28 of that

Convention guarantees the right to access and participate in education, while Article 29 deals

with the purposes of education. Article 29 states that education should develop “respect for

human rights and fundamental freedoms”, and understanding, “friendship among all peoples,

ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin”. The Committee on the

Rights of the Child has stated that:

Racism and related phenomena thrive where there is ignorance, unfounded

fears of racial, ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic or other forms of

difference, the exploitation of prejudices, or the teaching or dissemination of

distorted values. A reliable and enduring antidote to all of these failings is

the provision of education which promotes an understanding and

appreciation of (...) values including respect for differences and challenges

all aspects of discrimination and prejudice. (CRC, General Comment 1)

Throughout the project report we have found that there are severe omissions of Black histories

and narrative from the curriculum, which facilitates the racism and ignorance that the

Committee on the Rights of the Child alludes to, because Black people are only mentioned

within the curriculum in relation to social injustice and enslavement. Such imagery aids in

perpetuating the racist narrative that Black people are inferior and keeps pupils ignorant to

wider Black histories. 

The Committee has stated that this requires the “reworking of curricula to include the various

aims of education and the systematic revision of textbooks and other teaching materials and

technologies, as well as school policies”. Like the ICESCR and the CRC, the ICERD guarantees

the right to non-discrimination in the area of education. Moreover, it contains a specific

obligation to take immediate and effective measures to combat racial prejudice and promote

understanding and tolerance (ICERD, Article 7).

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Obligations
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has provided guidance on the proper
interpretation of this Article, as follows: The Act prohibits discrimination in various areas of life,
including education. The prohibition of discrimination in education does not apply to the content
of the curriculum, but it does apply in the delivery of the curriculum – specifically “the way it
provides education for the student” (Equality Act, ss.s 85, 91 and 94). This exclusion of content
is problematic as the curriculum plays an important role in shaping how pupils understand the
world, and thus the omissions of positive Black histories help to preserve anti-Blackness and
anti-Black racism by perpetuating images of Black inferiority. Therefore, the findings from this
research project determine that the prohibition of discrimination in education must include
curriculum content. 

The Act also creates the public sector equality duty – a legal duty on public authorities to have
“due regard” to, among other things, the need to (a) eliminate discrimination and harassment;
(b) advance equality of opportunity; (c) foster good relations between those with different
protected characteristics (Equality Act, s. 149(1)). Having due regard to the “need to advance
equality of opportunity” requires a duty bearer to consider the need to (i) remove or minimise
disadvantages for those with particular characteristics; (ii) take steps to meet the specific needs

Introduction
of people from particular groups and encourage their equal participation in areas where
participation is low. Having due regard to the need to “foster good relations'' requires
considering how a decision could tackle prejudice and promote understanding (Equality Act, s.
149(2) and (3)). As a result, to eliminate racial discrimination in education, issues of “race” and
racism must be regarded as social facts which do impact the experiences of different pupils
differently. And so, decisions regarding education policy and practice must be made taking
“race” and racism into consideration so there is no indirect, or direct, discrimination towards
Black and racialised children. his duty applies eight protected characteristics including race, and
applies to anyone “exercising public functions”, and so includes all those involved in education
policy and delivery, from the Secretary of State through to local education authorities. There
are no limits on the application of the duty in the area of education, including the development,
content and delivery of the curriculum. Indeed, in 2013 the Government undertook an equality
impact assessment on its proposals for a new national curriculum.

In the case R (Brown) v. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (para. 79-96), Lord Justice
Aikens set out six criteria for compliance with the public sector equality duty

Those responsible must be aware of their obligations and must consider relevant factor
The duty must be fulfilled before a decision is take
The duty must be “exercised in substance” with rigour and an open min
The duty cannot be delegate
The duty is continuou
Records should be kept of the process followed

Legal Rights 63

& Obligations
The UK has what is called a “dualist” legal system, which means that international treaties
which have not been directly incorporated through legislation are not considered to be part of
national law. With the exception of the European Convention on Human Rights the UK has not
directly incorporated any human rights treaties into national law. As a result, while the UK
courts acknowledge that a breach of a right in one of the human rights conventions is a
violation of international law, it is not possible to bring a claim alone for a violation of these
rights in a UK court. 

However, this does not mean that they are of no relevance at all at the domestic level. The
presumption of ‘compatibility´ provides that where there is ambiguity in legislation or where
the law in an area is developing, the courts may take international law into account in its
interpretation. As the Equal Rights Trust analysis explains: 

The doctrine of compatibility appears directly relevant to the specific case of the
UK’s international law obligation, under Article 7 of the ICERD (…) The domestic
law in this case – the duty to have due regard to the need to foster good
relations under section 149 of the Equality Act (…) is ambiguous and the law is

Introduction
underdeveloped. There has been no case law on its correct interpretation, and
there is limited statutory guidance.

Two further factors lead to a conclusion that section 149 should be interpreted in
light of Article 7. First, the language of section 149 mirrors very closely that in
Article 7 (…) Second, (…) the UK Government has (…) consistently stated that
the “Convention is (…) respected [and] enforced” through existing law. (Equal
Rights Trust 2022).

Policy and Practice

The public sector equality duty came into effect on 5 April 2011. The Equal Rights Trust reviewed
key developments in the government’s approach to the duty fostering good relations and its
application in the sphere of education in the decade since the duty came into effect. This review
identified three negative trends: (i) the “weakening of the duty itself”, (ii) repeated resistance
by the Government to recommendations to review the national curriculum to include a more
complete and balanced history of the UK’s colonial past and include Black narratives; (iii)
changes to the curriculum which actually limit the teaching of these elements of history.(Equal
Rights Review Volume 8)

23

In 2013, the Department for Education published an equality impact assessment on its planned
changes to the national curriculum. The purpose of the assessment was to consider “whether
and how the proposed changes to the national curriculum may impact – positively or negatively
– on ‘protected characteristics’ groups” (Department for Education, Equality Impact
Assessment, 2013).24 The Equal Rights Trust review found that the Equality Impact Assessment
was “narrow, weak and flawed in a number of respects''. ERT found that: 

Legal Rights 64

& Obligations
 The Assessment fails to engage with the duty to advance equality of
opportunity in any meaningful way. It uses the word “opportunity” only ten
times, with these uses either referring to the statutory obligation or general
statements about increasing opportunity for all. The Assessment report
presents no evidence that due consideration was given to how changes to
the curriculum could advance equality of opportunity for groups sharing
protected characteristics.  

The Assessment also presents no evidence that the Department had due regard to the need to,
“foster good relations”(Equal Rights Trust, 2022). The Assessment report does not use the
words, “good relations” beyond the initial mention in the introduction and it does not use the
words, “tackle prejudice”(Equal Rights Trust, 2022) and, “promote understanding”(Equal
Rights Trust, 2022) at all, despite the clear requirement in the Equality Act to have due regard
to the need to pursue these aims as elements of the duty to foster good relations. More
importantly, the sections dealing with specific areas of the curriculum demonstrate no
consideration of how changes could promote understanding, tackle prejudice or improve
relations. For example, the section focusing on the History curriculum discusses the potential
impacts of curriculum choices only in terms of disadvantage to “pupils of non-British heritage
who would not have the formal opportunity to study their cultural history at school”(Equal

Introduction
Rights Trust, 2022), demonstrating no consideration of the potential and need to use this part
of the curriculum to foster good relations, tackle prejudice and promote understanding (Equal
Rights Trust, 2022).

In 2014, the Government introduced its new national curriculum. The History curriculum focuses
on providing a “coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider
world”, so that they, “know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent,
chronological narrative" (Department for Education, National Curriculum Framework, 2014).
However, within the Key stage 1 and 2 History curriculum, colonisation, and discussions of
African and Caribbean cultures and histories within Britain, are omitted from the curriculum.
This is despite the fact that both Africa and the Caribbean have been an important part of
British history for hundreds of years. Discussions of Britain's colonial past are only present at
Key Stage 3 (ages 11-14), and only as two of nine optional topics within one of seven compulsory
subject areas; there are no compulsory modules on Black and other global majority groups’
history. Far from providing a complete history of this period, the structure of the curriculum
means that the majority of school students will never be taught about Britain’s colonial past or
of Black histories both in Britain and beyond. 

The National Curriculum Framework documents includes an, “Inclusion Statement”, but this
does not discuss the inclusion and engagement of different racial, ethnic or other groups in any
detail. Alongside the new curriculum, the Government issued guidance for schools and
education providers on their duties under the Equality Act which includes guidance on the public
sector equality duty (DfE 2013). On the question of the duty to tackle prejudice and promote
understanding, the guidance states that it should be particularly easy for schools to
demonstrate that they are, “fostering good relations” because this is something which schools
do, “as a matter of course”.

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& Obligations
Here, the lack of urgency when it comes to raising issues of prejudice in education and the
curriculum, and the lack of specificity around what is expected from educators, is problematic.
The idea that schools should be able to demonstrate how they tackle prejudice in education
because they do it, “as a matter of course” is an unfounded assumption and does not hold
schools accountable because there is no clear expectation or example of what addressing
prejudice looks like. The guidance goes on to list a range of general policies – from anti-bullying
to twinning arrangements with other schools – but fails to address the role of schools in
promoting understanding between racial groups and tackling prejudice. BLAM argues that
issues of racial discrimination and prejudice need to have clear guidance and expectations as
we have seen with anti-bullying and the Prevent strategy. 

In 2015, the UK Government submitted its periodic report to the Committee on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination, as required by the Convention. The Government used the report to set
out a changed approach to racial inequality to a model, “not based on singling out individual
ethnic groups, but instead on promoting socio-economic integration” (UK report to CERD 2015
(within UK Racism Review 2016)). Accordingly, the section of the report on education focuses
on, “frameworks that help create fairness and opportunities for everyone” and does not discuss
either the content or delivery of the curriculum. The section dealing with the obligation to
address racial prejudice does not discuss racial prejudice against persons in the UK, but instead

Introduction
focuses on historic events in other parts of Europe. A joint report by 40 civil society
organisations condemned the report, saying that they believed that the Government was,
“often in breach of its obligations under article 1 of ICERD” (Civil Society Report to United
Nations CERD 2016). Unfortunately, such an approach is not useful when we know, and the
research indicates, that anti-Blackness and anti-Black racism are prominent in British society,
and so it is important that any guidance or strategy which seeks to address racial discrimination
does so by looking at individual groups and their experiences. Issues of racism, racial
discrimination and prejudice do not impact all ethnic groups in the same way so a blanket
approach to addressing racial prejudice will not suffice. In its Concluding Observations, the
Committee didn’t engage with the Government’s, “new approach”, but it did make a wide
range of strong recommendations, including that the Government should:

Ensure that the school curricula across its jurisdiction contain a balanced account
of the history of the British Empire and colonialism, including of slavery and other
grave human rights violations (CERD Concluding Observations, 2016).

Throughout the decade, other national and international experts made similar calls for reform.
In 2012, the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent called on, “government
and society [to] acknowledge the legacy of slavery, the influence of the British colonial past and
the specific role played by people of African descent (…) in the construction and development of
the country” and said that the, “national curriculum should be reviewed in order to ensure that
education is culturally relevant for children and youth of African descent” (Working Group of
Experts 2012).

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& Obligations
 In 2018, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism echoed criticism of the
absence of the histories of Black and other global majority groups from the national curriculum,
and expressed concern about racist bullying and underrepresentation of Black teachers in
schools which is supported by the report findings (Special Rapporteur, 2018).

In 2021, the Runnymede Trust brought together civil society organisations for a new report to
the CERD Committee. Reviewing developments since the previous review by the Committee, it
states that while, “[k]ey independent reports, reviews and inquiries (…) have called for urgent
curriculum reform to include more teaching of race, migration and empire” and despite public
support for this reform, the Government instead, “narrowed opportunities to teach diverse and
flexible options in History and English, in particular”. (Civil Society Report to United Nations
CERD, 2021).

Indeed, in 2021 and 2022, various developments indicated that instead of listening and
responding to calls for curriculum reform, the Government instead planned to further restrict
teaching on the subject of Britain's colonial past. In 2021, the Commission on Race and Ethnic
Disparities, a body which was established by the Government in 2020, issued its report. The
report argued that Britain is no longer a place where, “the system is deliberately rigged against
ethnic minorities'', stating that while, “impediments and disparities do exist (…) very few of

Introduction
them are directly to do with racism” (Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, 2021). The
report was widely condemned by experts as inaccurate, incorrect and incomplete. The findings
from this report echo these criticisms as the research indicates that the education system
hinders Black pupils because their teachers are not racially or culturally aware in the training,
the curriculum omits Black history and Black children are more likely to be harshly disciplined
and receive poorer grades than their white counterparts.

In 2022, the Government issued its response to the Commission’s report, in which it committed
to working with, "history curriculum experts, historians and school leaders to develop a Model
History curriculum by 2024” (Race Disparity Unit et al. 2022). At the same time, however, the
Department for Education issued guidance on “political impartiality in schools'', in which it
called for"balance " in teaching on recent history including within this, “many topics relating to
empire and imperialism” (DfE 2022). This guidance was criticised by teaching unions for
limiting teachers’ ability to address racism both past and present (Guardian 2022).
Organisations such as the Coalition of Anti-Racist Educators (Care) and Black Educators
Alliance (BEA) argued that the government guidance which warned against schools using
resources from organisations that have expressed a desire to end capitalism would
simultaneously prevent teachers using material from groups including Black Lives Matter thus
limiting anti-racism teaching (Guardian 2021). This brings into question the government's
agenda and whether the decolonisation of the curriculum, and an anti-racist education system,
are of any real concern despite the government’s legal obligation to protect Black children from
racial discrimination in education. 

23 Equal Rights Review Volume Eight | Equal Rights Trust,with a special section on equality in education
24 Equalities impact assessment - 4 July ([Link])

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& Obligations
Legal Summary 

The UK has made commitments under international law to ensure equal and non-discriminatory
access to education, to ensure that education promotes respect for human rights and
understanding between peoples, and to take immediate and effective measures – including
through the education system – to combat prejudices leading to racial discrimination. It has
been repeatedly criticised by the international expert bodies responsible for monitoring the
implementation of these treaties for failing to meet these obligations by failing to provide a
complete and balanced curriculum.

At the national level, under the Equality Act, the Government has duties to ensure non-
discrimination and effective protection from harassment in access to education and in the
delivery of the curriculum. It also has specific duties to have due regard to the need to promote
equality of opportunity and to foster good relations, tackle prejudice and promote
understanding, in education and other areas.

A review of policy over the last decade demonstrates that the Government has failed to
discharge these duties and that it is in breach of its obligations under Article 7 of the ICERD and

Introduction
in violation of its duties under section 149 of the Equality Act.

The Government’s own equality impact assessment of its proposed curriculum in 2014 failed to
consider the duties to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity or to
tackle prejudice. The review either ignored or dismissed the views of those who called for more
in-depth and balanced teaching on the UK’s colonial past or the history of Black and other
racialised groups. The curriculum itself, when adopted, relegates discussion of Britain's colonial
past to only 20% of the optional modules in one of seven areas to be covered in the History
curriculum; there are no compulsory modules on the history of Black and other global majority
peoples in the UK. 

More recently, the Government has gone beyond simply ignoring its obligations and neglecting
or rejecting calls for change, actively promoting an approach which is in conflict with the duty to
have due regard to the need to tackle racial prejudice. The adoption of a “colourblind”
approach to advancing equality directly conflicts with the obligation to consider the need to
tackle prejudice and promote understanding between racial and ethnic groups. The
Government’s rhetoric risks exacerbating, rather than countering, patterns of racial prejudice. 

In failing to consider how the national curriculum could provide a complete and balanced picture
of the UK’s colonial past and the experiences, achievements and contributions of Black and
other racialised groups, the UK is in direct and ongoing violation of its national and
international legal obligations.

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& Obligations
 Recommendations
Introduction

The Equal Rights Trusts’ review of legal policy The Government and government bodies such
over the last decade, coupled with BLAM’s as the Department of Education and Ofsted 

research findings, demonstrate that the Race and racism must be addressed and
Government has failed to discharge its duties understood as “social facts” existing outside
and thus is in breach of its obligations under of the racialised individual, yet constraining
Article 7 of the ICERD and in violation of its them, through the policies and practices
duties under section 149 of the Equality Act. In institutions - such as education - which work

Recommendations
this next section, BLAM holds the government to discriminate against individuals and
accountable for their failures and recommends groups. Whilst it is understood that race is a
ways in which different stakeholders can be social construct, race and racism are social
accountable for ending racial discrimination in norms as there is shared societal knowledge of
education, specifically anti-Black racism. 

 these ideas and how they govern, and
constrain, our behaviour. In particular, we call
The recommendations can be summarised into for the government and government bodies to
three facets. First, that the Government must address the anti-Black racism and anti-
acknowledge and reverse its failure to fulfil its Blackness in education which specifically
legal requirements and accepts its duty to impacts Black children. 

establish an anti-racist education strategy We recommend that the UK government

which can be employed in all education upholds their legal and human rights
institutions. Second, all stakeholders accept obligation to protect Black people from racial
and adopt anti-racist and Blackcrit strategy, discrimination and puts together a thorough
policies and practices with the understanding plan of action, with a set time frame, which
that race, racism and racial discrimination details how racial discrimination will be
within education are real and have lasting eradicated in the UK education system.
impacts on the esteem and educational
outcomes of Black children. organisations,
community leaders, parents/carers, and
others to continue to put pressure on the
government, to campaign against racial
discrimination in education and work
collaboratively towards the eradication of
racial discrimination in UK education and
beyond.
Recommendations 69

 In order to do so, we recommend the

government consults with organisations such

as BLAM UK, The Black Curriculum, Black

Equity, and other organisations, community

groups and individuals who have the

understanding, expertise and experience to

assist the government in this remit. It is

paramount that the government works with

the people on the ground, in the community,

to ensure a positive outcome. In addition,

state bodies such as Ofsted must judge

schools on racial equity and ensuring children

and staff are free from racial discrimination.

Recommendations
Schools must ensure that their policies and

practices are anti-racist and have a

designated member of staff to support in this

Section 1
work. It is also vital that schools and state

bodies like Ofsted consult with organisations

such as BLAM UK to ensure policies, practices

and standards are up to par when it comes to

racial equity and anti-racism. In addition we

recommend that the Department of Education

includes “adhering to anti-racism policies and

practice” as being part of the Teacher

Standards framework which teachers are

guided on. This will ensure that teachers are

actively considering how they can embed anti-

racism in their teaching practise, in their

lesson plans and the teaching of the

curriculum. To further instil anti-racist practise

in schools, we recommend that the

government and Department of Education

make anti-racism training a mandatory part of

all teacher training programmes across the

UK. Again, we recommend that the

government,

Recommendations 70

This formal education needs to be developed

into teacher training as well as into existing

teacher practice and the Teacher Standards in

order to raise the standards within teaching

practice and provide a more rigorous standard

through which to judge “diversity and

inclusion” with more specific and targeted

frameworks. The education and strategy

should move away from focusing on

“unconscious bias” which takes away

accountability and have a clear anti-racist

framework through which to develop policies

for children - i.e. behaviour policies, uniform

Recommendations
policies etc. - as well as policies which hold

teachers and child-care providers to account

for any institutional and interpersonal anti-

Section 1
Black practices. Preventing racist abuse in

schools requires accountability, leadership and

culture change. A statutory guidance for all

schools, registered child care providers and

local authorities, based on Equality and

International Human rights, specifically anti-

racism, must be mandatory.

Statutory Framework for Anti-racism and

Racial Awareness

To ensure the issue of race and anti-Black

racism are tackled accordingly, BLAM

recommends that the government constructs

an anti-racist and racial awareness advisory

board within the Department of [Link]

advisory board, with input from external

experts, will create an effective anti-racist

strategy to develop education policy and

practice which will be deployed within schools.

Recommendations 71
away from framing issues of racial

discrimination and anti-Black racism as an

issue of “unconscious bias” and instead, anti-

Black racism must be framed as a mental

health concern with links to racial trauma

using CRT as a framework through which to

understand this. In the same way that time is

dedicated to differentiation and inclusion in

relation to gender, class, ability etc., it is

essential that time is allocated to anti-racist

training across all Teacher Training

programmes in order to improve teaching

practice and interactions with Black children

Recommendations
in, and outside, the classroom. 

The Curriculum

Section 1
In order for such change to be effective, the

guidance and training strategies must be

mirroreD by the curriculum which requires a

complete curriculum overhaul. Put simply, the

teaching of Black history must be made

mandatory and a statutory requirement for all

education establishments (primary &

secondary schools, colleges etc.) and childcare

providers, and across all subjects. This

includes having the works and contributions of

Black authors, playwrights, and poets added

to the curriculum as statutory requirements

and within current schemes of work. Black

history is British history and thus, where the

curriculum requires a focus on “Britain” or

“British history” it requires an historically

accurate, decolonised curriculum which

acknowledges the contributions of Black British

people in all aspects of the curriculum. From

the teacher focus groups, it

Recommendations 72

Research studies focusing on the National

Curriculum for primary and secondary schools

are emerging more frequently, yet the number

of comprehensive studies which explore the

omissions of Black narratives across all

subjects (even those considered apolitical such

as STEM subjects) is still limited. Our research,

alongside others’, indicates the need for the

curriculum content within each Key Stage to be

decolonised, and approached with a

decolonial and anti-racist framework. To

ensure that pupils’ Black histories and

narratives are appropriately represented

Recommendations
within all levels of the curriculum. In order to

do this, Curriculum Leaders should be given

an opportunity and support towards

Section 1
decolonising their curriculum by adding the

contributions and narratives of Black figures

to each subject, across all Key Stages.

Organisations like BLAM should be utilised for

this transition towards a decolonised

curriculum as well as work on anti-racism

training etc. 

The Curriculum Framework 

Section 2:1 of the National Curriculum

framework states that ‘Every state-funded

school must offer a curriculum which is

balanced and broadly based’ and must also

promote ‘the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental

and physical development of pupils at the

school and of society’ and prepare ‘pupils at

the school for the opportunities,

responsibilities and experiences of later life’

(DfE 2014).

Recommendations 73

Therefore, it is essential that under the

statutory guidance, and within the national

29

curriculum, the inclusion of Black histories and

narratives, in relation to Britain and wider

global contexts, is a compulsory addition to

the curriculum at all levels. Examples of

appropriate content should be made available

through the advisory committee and

education institutions should be required to

prove their implementation of the curriculum

guidance as part of their OFSTED inspection,

so that they are held to account. 

Recommendations
English 

Eliminating racial discrimination in schools

Section 1
requires all pupils to have access to resources,

texts and histories from both inside and

outside England. Thus it is paramount that

school libraries are decolonised and resourced

with texts which expose students to material

written by Black and brown writers as well as

books with diverse characters. In January

2024 authors rallied to call for a new law that

will ensure all schools have libraries. Public

sector cuts highlight the provision and access

to literature and compoundingly exacerbate

the lack of access to Black writers, stories and

[Link] there isn’t a school library in the first

place the hope of a more decolonial space is

even more suppressed, and it needn’t be a

more decolonial library should be implemented

as a standard school library.

Recommendations 74
60

he themes covered in Blackman’s texts would

meet the Social Moral Spiritual and Cultural

(CMSC) criteria which OFSTED wishes to see

from schools (Diverse Educators 2020). The

curriculum states that students should study a

“range of authors” and so, the addition of

Black and brown British literature would

merely fulfil the aims of the curriculum and the

wider aim of ensuring students are culturally

developed for future experiences (DfE 2014).

We also recommend a book list of Black and

other global majority authors to be created as

part of the anti-racist government strategy,

Recommendations
with school’s having to ensure that 25% of the

books on the curriculum are by Black authors.

Section 1
History 

Moreover, Key Stage 1 History is centred

around white, English narratives which work to

perpetuate an “island story” version of history

which omits other British narratives and

Britain’s relationship with countries, and

people, outside of England (LSE 2019). There

are only two explicit references to Black

historical figures - Rosa Parks and Mary

Seacole - both of which are very cliche

examples of ‘significant individuals in the past

who have contributed to national and

international achievements’ which do not

represent the breadth and depth of Black

British history (DfE, 2014). Thus, a focus on a

wider range of Black figures would be an

appropriate decolonial approach to the

existing curriculum framework.

Recommendations 75

When teaching topics such as the Tudors or

periods such as the Elizabethan and Victorian

era, emphasising the presence of Black people

in Britain at this time would make a more

decolonial and historically accurate

curriculum. The Black Tudor narrative is often

untold, and knowledge such as the King

having a Black Trumpeter is a small addition

to the curriculum which would dispel the

narrative that Black people only arrived in

England through slavery and Windrush, and

reinforce Black history as British history - the

two are not separate and are very much

Recommendations
intertwined. This is also the same for other

periods in British history such as the

Victorians.

Section 1
Whilst there are no statutory requirements as

to what specific historical events must be

taught at Key Stage 3, aside from the

Holocaust, the insertion of Black and other

minoritised histories into the curriculum would

meet the aims of the current curriculum

framework, and thus an anti-racist, decolonial

framework would make it compulsory and

offer guidance to do so. For example, for the

ideas, political power, industry and empire:

Britain, 1745-1901 unit, many schools choose to

teach the transatlantic slave trade, its effects

and its subsequent abolition. Here, to develop

a more decolonial curriculum and narrative,

schools could teach the wider British Empire,

colonialism and European expansion in

relation to the African continent and the

Americas. This would give a more developed

understanding of the context and impact of

the British empire and the transatlantic slave

trade.

Recommendations 76

Recommendations 77
Section 1
Recommendations
Schools and Senior Leadership Teams (SLT)

As a result of historically poor training on

racism and understanding from staff, existing

Senior Leadership Teams should prepare

specific anti-racist training for senior leaders.

As the findings and literature indicate, Black

and other racialised children have

disproportionately high exclusion rates and

generally lower attainment levels in

comparison to the national average

(particularly Caribbean boys). It is thus

important that senior leaders who make the

Recommendations
behaviour policies and create the school

environment are well versed on issues of

racism and racially aware. It is paramount

Section 1
that anti-racism has a school-wide approach

and is part of the school ethos. "Anti-racism

provision needs to be embedded in the school

system in the same ways that EAL is, provision

for other minoritised children is considered as

part of the schooling system, however under

resourced it may be, and yet for Black children

it is not resourced or considered at [Link] should

go beyond bridging the achievement gaps

between Black students and their

counterparts. 

Schools will need to adhere to the

aforementioned guidance given by the

Department of Education, and within schools

this must be a top-down approach. This

means that the SLT needs to actively

demonstrate that they themselves are anti-

racist practitioners by ensuring that their

policies are anti-racist and mandatory for all

staff to follow. Just like anti-bullying and

respect, anti-racism needs to be part of the

school ethos and not an add-on.

Recommendations 78

Instead, schools should offer a more holistic

approach to dealing with the behaviour of

Black children, punishing the behaviour not

the child. It is important that schools also

create a safe and anonymous portal for Black

students, teachers and parents to report racist

incidents. The Anti-Racist Lead and support

team are to investigate each incident in line

with the anti-racism strategy and also make

changes if needed. There should be a clear

behaviour policy that has procedures and

sanctions for racist behaviour and/or

language used by or towards staff and

Recommendations
students. There should be clear procedures

and sanctions for anti-Black racism. 

Section 1
Teachers

We recommend that teachers, of all ethnic

backgrounds, hold their school to account

where there is a failure to adhere to the

recommended anti-racism training, practices

and policies. We encourage teachers to

contact organisation such as ourselves where

and when support is needed - decolonising the

curriculum, teacher training/CPD, advocacy

for excluded Black children etc. We understand

that the work load for teachers is considerably

high and from our focus groups with teachers,

we know that there is limited time outside of

teaching hours to implement effective

curriculum change or policy change. However,

the emphasis of our recommendations is on

holding the government to account - racial

discrimination in schools be it through the

curriculum, teaching practices or school

policies.

Recommendations 79
We also encourage community groups to band

together, ot put together a directory, that can

be shared throughout the community to

ensure parents and children know where they

can go for additional support and guidance.

Where racial discrimination has unfortunately

occurred in schools, we recommend that

parents and children make a legal challenge

against the school with the support of

community groups such as BLAM and

organisations such as Just for kIds Law. 











Recommendations
Section 1

Recommendations 80

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