Increasing and retaining minority ethnic teachers: action guide for local authorities

5. Summary and overview

There are many actions and approaches that relate to the three grids and can be repeated, for example the interviewing process. Similarly, tracking and monitoring of interventions, rigorous analysis of data and self-evaluation relate to all three development areas. As such, local authorities should ensure that all the actions are consistently applied and evaluated.

Local authorities should endeavour to ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion underpin their overall recruitment and promotion policies and practices. For example, this could be through the production of a strong equalities statement that is included in all job descriptions, recruitment and promotion pages and related materials.

It is important for local authorities to ensure that BME candidates or teachers attending an interview for a teaching post or for promotion experience a culturally safe interview and that the interviewing panel are culturally sensitive. This could be achieved by having a pre-interview briefing led by the panel chair who reminds the panel about anti-racist practices and having an equalities approach. Furthermore, local authorities should focus on the quality of pre-interview information, ensuring the interview is a fair process for all candidates and that the quality of feedback given is consistent for all candidates. Local authorities may consider mainstreaming this approach into their interview practices and processes.

Whilst anonymised applications may be used for recruitment, the additional skills that a BME person has may become evident from their experience and contributions as evidenced in their application form. As such, the reader would need to ensure that this did not influence their thoughts and views.

Local authorities should consider developing innovative pathways that enable members of the BME community to overcome institutional barriers stemming from racism for application to ITE. For example, local authorities could work closely with ITE providers to develop part-time courses that enable Pupil Support Assistants (PSAs) and others to undertake ITE whilst they are working. Research and reports show that BME teachers acting as role models is very powerful in encouraging members of the BME community to become part of Scotland’s teaching profession. Involving BME teachers as role models, or in the action developments and interventions, will depend on whether the BME teacher wishes to be involved and whether that person feels supported to participate. As such, this should be handled with sensitivity. Whatever additional responsibility is given needs to be structured, have a clear purpose (for example, leads to career progression) and is agreed in discussion with the BME teacher. Local authorities may wish to consider if there should be on-going mentoring and subsequent sponsoring arranged.

Local authorities need to ensure that the actions stated in the three grids are reviewed and evaluated regularly and robustly. There are several approaches that local authorities could take, for example work with other local authorities to help in evaluating the interventions and identifying the next steps. Whatever approach a local authority takes must ensure sustainability of their interventions and not regression.

In conclusion, this action guide aims to provide relevant and helpful guidance for local authorities to actively ensure that the teaching profession in Scotland reflects the ethnic diversity of Scotland. In doing this, local authorities would be promoting Scotland’s values of treating all people with kindness, dignity and compassion.