Race Equality and Anti-Racism in Education Programme - Stakeholder Network Group minutes June 2021: paper - curriculum reform distillation

Overview

This paper endeavours to distil:

• the issues discussed in the REAREP paper 04/04 on Curriculum Reform (tabled at the meeting on 27 May) and;
• feedback received during the breakout sessions at that meeting

Background

The REAREP paper presented at the meeting reiterated the Scottish Government’s public commitments to working with stakeholders to address the significant concerns raised around the lack of anti-racism in the curriculum, and the specific need to address Scotland’s colonial history.

The paper:

• outlined recent Scottish Government commitments;
• suggested key areas of focus and review for this Workstream, based on stakeholder input to date;
• highlighted existing opportunities in the curriculum;
• identified potential areas for action in curriculum reform; and
• posed some questions for the Group to discuss and inform next steps

In addition to the established members of the SNG, the meeting was attended by a number of stakeholders with specific interests and expertise in the curriculum workstream, who will be invited to participate in the Curriculum Reform sub-group.

Summary of key messages

SNG members were split into 6 break out groups, each group was facilitated by a SG or ES official. Key messages from the discussions have been captured in a fuller note that was circulated with the minutes of the meeting.

Given that the Curriculum Reform workstream is at a relatively early stage, it will be important that the sub-group has the opportunity to shape and prioritise the work that is taken forward. This will include:

• agreeing a clear vision that allows us to take a holistic view of the workstream and how it intersects with the wider programme, while allowing scope for innovative approaches to be pursued.
• agreeing priority areas of focus for the sub-group, in line with that vision
• being clear about how progress and impact will be evaluated
• promoting and embedding an anti-racist approach across the curriculum as part of a ‘whole-school’ ethos

Next steps

There has been a lot of interest in involvement in the Curriculum Reform sub-group and membership will cover a wide range of stakeholder interests and expertise. The sub-group will have its first meeting later in June.

Once a draft vision and priority actions have been agreed, these will be shared with the SNG, followed by regular updates on progress.