Diversity in the teaching profession: annual data report

4. Ongoing Policy Ambitions and Next Steps

The overarching ambition that by 2030 4% of teachers will identify as being from a minority ethnic background is based upon the results of the 2011 general census, where 4% of Scotland’s overall population identified as such. This will need to be reviewed as the results of the 2022 general census emerge. It is anticipated that Scotland’s minority ethnic population will have increased between 2011 and 2022.

The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to diversifying Scotland’s teaching workforce and a number of key actions are being taken forward across the Scottish Government’s AREP and in particular within the DiTPEW subgroup. These actions are aimed at identifying and addressing barriers that minority ethnic teachers face to successful recruitment, retention and progression. Actions underway include:

4.1 Anti-Racist Action Guide for Employers

Local authorities have identified the need for additional support in terms of taking forward anti-racist action related to the recruitment, retention and progression of their minority ethnic teachers. As a result the Scottish Government have contracted Calabar Education Consultants, on behalf of the AREP and in partnership with the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES), to develop an anti-racist action guide for education employers. The purpose of this guide will be to equip employers with information on how to embed anti-racist practice within their policies for the recruitment, retention and progression of minority ethnic teachers. Going forward the DiTPEW will support the implementation of the action guide.

4.2 Developing Approaches to Sponsoring

As part of a Scottish Government funded secondment of a National Race Diversity Lead, placed in the General Teaching Council for Scotland, a report on sponsoring is being developed and will be published in the near future. Sponsoring is a strategy aimed at improving career progression among BME teachers. The report will promote understanding of this concept, state a case for its use, and define its essential components. It will provide a structure which employers of teachers and BME teachers can use to examine the key issues and to co-design successful Sponsoring initiatives.

4.3 Anti-Racism Framework for Initial Teacher Education (ITE)

Following the soft launch of the National Anti-Racism Framework for Initial Teacher Education in March 2023, ITE providers began to develop action plans to take forward actions outlined in the framework within their institutions. These were shared with the Scottish Council of Deans of Education in November. To support the creation and implementation of action plans, the Anti-Racism in Initial Teacher Education (ARITE) Network was formed by Asif Chishti, General Teaching Council for Scotland National Race Diversity Lead, and Louise Barrett, Scottish Council of Deans of Education Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead. The network brings together representatives from each of the ITE providers. Regular meetings have taken place and these have involved speakers with expertise relating to the areas of the framework, including Professor Vini Lander on anti-racist curriculum and pedagogy, and Dr Khadija Mohammed on teacher identity and positionality. Input from expert speakers has stimulated discussion and ideas for members to take back to their institutions. At a meeting in November, progress in relation to action plans was shared and members reported on activities such as staff development and partnership working with local authorities. Asif Chishti’s secondment as National Race Diversity Lead came to an end and, although he will continue to work for GTC Scotland and attend ARITE network meetings, he stepped back from his role as co-Chair of the network. Heather Earnshaw of Edinburgh Napier University will take his place. It is the intention that the network will begin to explore actions outlined in the framework which would benefit from collaborative working across ITE providers

4.4 Building Racial Literacy Programme

As part of its work programme, the Anti-Racism in Education Programme seeks to address the issue of racism and racial discrimination within school settings and funds the Building Racial Literacy Programme. This is a programme that is open to individuals from across the education workforce in Scotland, regardless of previous anti-racist knowledge. It seeks to improve their racial literacy and encourages them to develop an anti-racist action plan that can then be taken into and implemented within their own setting. Over 400 educators have experienced learning on the BRL programme and Cohort 4 had priority spaces for school leaders.

4.5 The Scottish Association of Minority Ethnic Educators’ – Leadership, Mentoring and Wellbeing Programme

The Scottish Government provides funding to the Scottish Association of Minority Ethnic Educators (SAMEE), a leading anti-racism organisation within the education landscape in Scotland, to deliver their “Leadership, Mentoring and Wellbeing Programme”. This programme aims to provide safe, positive spaces for Black and minority ethnic educators to acknowledge their experiences, affirm their skills and competencies, define actions to support career progression and develop into race-cognisant advocates. This addresses some of the issues that we know contribute to the decision of minority ethnic educators to leave the teaching profession.

4.6 Scottish Government’s Anti-Racist Employment Strategy

The Scottish Government’s “Anti-Racist Employment Strategy”^[5] was published in December 2022. The strategy is a call for action and guide for addressing the issues and disadvantages experienced by racialised minorities within the Scottish labour market. Although the strategy is broader than education there are clear implications for the teaching workforce and the work of the DiTPEW subgroup and as such the group’s members have been engaging closely with it. The strategy provides a number of resources for employers relating to diversifying their workforce, these resources include:

• Minority ethnic toolkit
• guide-to-engaging-with-bme-communities.pdf (skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk)
• Diversify your workforce - Equality and diversity guidance for employers

The Anti-Racist Employment Strategy also commits to producing guidance on the use of positive action as per the Equality Act 2010 to support public sector employers by the end of 2024. The DITPEW subgroup will continue to engage closely with this work and to support the development and delivery of this guidance within the education sector.

The strategy’s actions form part of the Fair Work Action Plan, which also brings together and takes an intersectional approach to the actions within the existing Fair Work, Gender Pay Gap and Disability Employment Gap Action Plans. These actions will be monitored and measured through the Fair Work Evidence Plan that was published in 2024.