Diversity in the Teaching Profession and Education Workforce Sub-Group: terms of reference

Our vision

Scotland's education workforce reflects and supports the racial diversity of modern Scotland, thereby enriching the education experience for the whole school community.  

Purpose

The purpose of this sub group is to build on the work led by Professor Arshad and the Diversity in the Teaching profession Working Group from 2018-2021, specifically building on the recommendations from the original report Diversity in the Teaching Profession: increasing and retaining minority ethnic teachers in Scotland's schools, and the more recently published Teaching in a diverse Scotland - increasing and retaining minority ethnic teachers: 3 years on.

It is widely recognised that the lack of diversity in the teaching profession and broader education workforce, including Early Learning and Childcare settings:

• creates a vicious circle of young people not considering or pursuing teaching as a career.  Pupils “cannot be what they cannot see”
• exacerbates issues caused by structural racism such as lack of progression by minority ethnic teachers and school staff

Principles

In taking this work forward the group has agreed some central principles and aims: 

• increasing diversity in the teaching profession and broader education workforce is about more than just increasing the number of Black and minority ethnic teachers in the profession.  It is also about providing support and getting it right for Black and minority ethnic teachers who are already in the profession, resulting in a workplace culture which is conducive to successful recruitment and retention and progression of staff
• as part of providing that support for current Black and minority ethnic practitioners, the racism and racist incidents that they face needs to be addressed, while ensuring that their wellbeing is safeguarded
• the work of the subgroup will take an intersectional approach and reflect the diversity within different Black and minority ethnic groups
• the work of the subgroup will contribute to altering attitudes and improving awareness within the education sector and beyond
• improved data with increased breadth and depth is required to better understand the needs of different Black and minority ethnic groups as well as having a clearer understanding of what actions are required to address those needs
• the group will work together towards common goals, which will embed anti-racism in the education workforce, recognising that there may be times when different sectors require to take a different approach to achieve them, such as the Early Learning and Childcare sector

Remit of the group

This subgroup is one of 4 workstreams in the Race Equality and Anti-Racism in Education Programme (REAREP) which aim to address race inequality in education, across 4 distinct areas:

• curriculum reform
• racism and racist incidents 
• diversity in the teaching profession and education workforce 
• education leadership and professional Learning

The subgroup is made up of a range of stakeholders with a joint commitment to and interest in improving the racial diversity of the teaching profession and education workforce. The subgroup recognises the strengths that all stakeholders bring, and also that spheres of influence, decision making power and implementation ability will differ greatly within the membership of the group. The purpose of the meetings of the group is to bring together perspectives, share progress, provide feedback on initiatives, and monitor activities. 

In terms of diversity in the teaching profession and education workforce, the group will:

• take forward the group’s agreed set of actions
• monitor and report delivery of progress to the overarching REAREP Programme Board, which meets once a month
• identify areas of join-up between the other subgroups to maximise impact and avoid duplication of effort

Membership of the group

Membership of the sub-group is made up or stakeholders with a specific interest, as well as other organisations and individuals who have knowledge and experience that can  drive this work forward. 

Membership (as of July 2022)

• Nuzhat Uthmani, Principal Teacher (Co-Chair)
• Asif Chishti, Senior Education Officer (National Race Diversity Lead), General Teaching Council Scotland (Co-Chair)
• Selma Augestad, National Officer, Equality, EIS (chair)
• Judith Mohamed, Headteacher
• Simon Cameron, COSLA
• Navan Govender, Anti-Racist Educator
• Andrea Reid, Glasgow City Council and ADES
• Zemeta Chefeke, SAMEE
• Mélina Valdelièvre, Professional Learning and Leadership (Race Equality), Education Scotland 
• Sara Medel Jiménez, NASUWT
• Louise Barrett, SCDE
• Kevin Brack, Moray House School of Education 
• Scott Sutherland, Early Learning and Childcare, Scottish Government
• Lesley Whelan, Head of Professional Learning and Leadership, Education Scotland
• Keya Raksith, Workforce Planning, Scottish Government
• Judith Ballantine, Equality in Education Team, Scottish Government
• Emma Bunting, Equality in Education Team, Scottish Government
• Pauline Hendry, Equality in Education Team, Scottish Government

Additional members can be asked to join, where specific expertise or organisational representation is felt by the sub group to be required. 

Responsibilities

Members should bring their expertise to the subgroup and contribute in a constructive and respectful way, recognising what might be different – but equally valuable – views held by everyone in the group:

• members will demonstrate commitment to make a positive, practical, meaningful and lasting contribution while working with each other to drive the actions that will drive and influence change
• members will communicate with and provide feedback from their organisations, ensuring regular communication with the subgroup and other relevant stakeholders, and with their wider networks where appropriate and relevant
• members are expected to attend meetings wherever possible. Members submitting apologies for meetings should notify the Secretariat in advance

Frequency and location of meetings

The group will meet once per month. Given that the majority of people are working remotely as a result of the ongoing response to the global pandemic, meetings will be held for the foreseeable future using MS Teams. The Secretariat will schedule dates and times and try to accommodate the needs of members to give them the best opportunity of attending.  

Chair and Secretariat support

Nuzhat Uthmani, Principal Teacher and EIS Anti-Racist Subcommittee Chair and Asif Chishti, Senior Education Officer (National Race Diversity Lead) have been invited to co-chair the sub-group for a period of 1 year, after which the chairing arrangement shall be reviewed. If any unforeseen circumstances occur, which may require the chair to step down before their 1 year term is up, an alternative chair will be selected by the Equalities in Education Team. 

Secretariat support will be provided by the Equalities in Education Team.  

Agenda, papers and minutes

The agenda and papers will be issued one week in advance of each meeting.  Members are welcome to contribute to the agenda by proposing items for discussion via the secretariat in advance.  Minutes will be circulated 1 week after the meeting has taken place. 

Links to the rest of the REAREP 

The subgroup will report back to the REAREP Programme Board to take forward actions and demonstrate progress.  

Working across all 4 subgroups will be key to ensuring coherence and avoiding duplication.

Mélina Valdelièvre will sit on all 4 subgroups and provide that important coherence and read across. 

Diversity in the Teaching and Education Workforce Sub-Group
August 2022