Racism and Racist Incidents workstream minutes: October 2024

Attendees and apologies

• IYS
• Scottish Government Support and Wellbeing Unit 
• CEMVO (Chair)
• EIS
• Independent racism consultant
• Youthlink Scotland
• University of the West of Scotland
• Connect
• ADES
• Education Scotland
• Respectme
• Al Masaar

Apologies 

• EIS
• YCSA
• SCIS
• NASUWT
• CSREC
• CRER

Items and actions

Welcome

The Chair opened the meeting and noted apologies. 

The Chair welcomed the new representative from Intercultural Youth Scotland (IYS) to her first meeting of the group. 

An update on co-chairing arrangements was provided. The IYS representative joins the group as a co-chair alongside existing co-chairs from the SG and CEMVO. However, it was noted that the representative from CEMVO is moving to a different post and as such will no longer represent CEMVO on the group. The group thanked the representative from CEMVO for her contribution to the group. The SG will explore arrangements for co-chairing with the new representative from CEMVO once they are in post. 

The Chair noted the workstream responsibilities in relation to co-working. 

Minutes from the previous meeting

The Chair noted that the draft minute of the June meeting had been circulated to members for comment. No comments were received. The group noted that they were content to agree that the minute of June’s meeting is published on the Scottish Government (SG) webpage. 

Action: secretariat to publish the minute of June meeting on SG webpage. 

Draft resource – responding to racism and racist incidents 

The chair noted that at the meeting on 27 June, the group agreed to develop an interim resource that focuses on providing practical information to schools on responding to RRI. 

A draft interim resource was shared with the group in advance of the meeting and members were invited to provide feedback. This feedback from members was collated and shared with the group. The Chair invited comments from the group on the following sections of the draft resource. 

Definition of racism

It was noted that the group have not agreed a definition of racism. However, it is proposed that one is included in the guidance. The definition currently included has been taken from the RRI AREP page.  The group were asked for their view on the definition and the following comments were made:

• it was suggested that the definition of racism within the guidance should include reference to the Equality Act and should include specific reference to victimisation and harassment 
• it should also set out race as a social construct, the key principles of critical race theory and provide a distinction between race and ethnicity
• the guidance should include a definition of racial microaggressions, with an example to illustrate this behaviour 

Examples of racist behaviour

It was noted that the draft guidance includes examples of racist behaviour, and the list currently included has been taken from the guidance developed by East Renfrewshire Council. It was noted that there is an alternative list included in the CRER/respectme publication: https://www.respectme.org.uk/file-download/138/addressing-inclusion-effectively-challenging-racism-in-schools.pdf.  The group discussed these two examples, and the following comments were made:

• it was suggested that the description of provocative behaviour should be changed to offensive behaviour
• it was suggested that an example of subtle behaviours should be included
• it was noted that there is an opportunity for the CRER/respectme publication to be updated to align to the behaviours included in the draft resource
• it was suggested that the example that references ethnicity is updated to include consideration of race as a social construct
• the group discussed whether it would be beneficial to align the individual examples to the definition of racism and set out what kind of racism each example would display, e.g. direct, indirect, institutional, etc. However, it was noted that the way in which these instances emerge will be dynamic and the guidance should not be too prescriptive about how an incident should be categorised to ensure that each incident is investigated fully
• it was noted that there may be an opportunity to draw out some of these examples further within the ‘scenarios for teachers’ section of the guidance and include examples of victimisation, internalised racism, etc. 

Action:  it was agreed that the current examples will be considered against the alternative example offered and any gaps identified and the examples text updated accordingly.  Further, that additional examples will be added, where possible for the additional examples highlighted above.  Group members will be asked to consider the updated text to confirm that they are content in due course.

Distinguishing racism from bullying

Reflecting the earlier decision of the group to distinguish between racism and racist incidents and bullying, the guidance includes key questions for schools to consider to help them identify whether an incident is racist. The group were asked to consider whether additional questions should be included. The following comments were made: 

• it was noted that it would be helpful to frame the questions in a way which supports schools to consider incidents objectively and consider whether a power imbalance exists
• it was suggested that it may be helpful to provide clarity on whether a person of colour can exhibit racist behaviour and acknowledge the harm that can be caused in these circumstances
• it may also be helpful to acknowledge that there may be occasions where language that is perceived to be racist is overheard by staff or others, but that those using the language do not consider it to be racist. It is suggested that the questions could be expanded further to address this point
• it was suggested that there could be a question on the intentions of the perpetrator. For example, does anyone experiencing the incident feel it was racist, even if it was not the perpetrator's intentions to be racist?
• it may be helpful to include a question about microaggressions for example, could the behaviour be considered a racial microaggression, such as a behaviour which undermines a person's dignity based on race?

Action.  the questions will be reconsidered and updated in light of the comments above.  Group members will be asked to consider and contribute further as part of finalising the draft document.

Support and resources

It is suggested that the guidance includes signposting to sources of support or services. The group were invited to suggest what could be included in this section. The following comments were made:

• it was noted that the SG cannot promote paid for resources, but that the guidance could signpost to 3rd sector organisations or resources from the rest of the UK which were relevant to Scotland.  It was noted that reference to curricular resources from elsewhere in the UK may have limited value within the resource, as the curriculum is not the same across the whole of the UK.  Further, that curricular resources are not within the scope of this workstream
• the guidance should include a caveat that these are suggested resources and schools will wish to refer to the latest information 

Specific examples of resources/services were suggested. These include:

• IYS mental health resources
• Al Masaar SCIO who want to establish local support for young people families dealing with racism in schools
• The Anna Freud Foundation mental health resources - https://www.annafreud.org/resources/schools-and-colleges/anti-racism-and-mental-health-in-schools/
• Mind - Racism and mental health resources: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/racism-and-mental-health/
• resources on the impact on mental health signposted on Education Scotland’s promoting anti-racism in Scotland web pages:https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/promotingraceequalityandantiracisteducation/home/dealing-effectively-with-racist-bullying-and-racist-incidents/impact-on-mental-health/
• resources for practitioners on https://www.antiracisted.scot/
• signposting to Educational Psychology services in each local authority - https://enquire.org.uk/service/

The group were invited to make any additional suggestions by correspondence. 

Action: members to provide by correspondence any additional suggestions for signposting to be included.

Scenarios for teachers

The group were asked to consider whether it would be helpful to include within the guidance a section with short scenarios for teachers to explore the types of things that should be considered when responding to a racist incident., The following comments were made: 

• it was noted that scenarios would be extremely helpful to support practitioners at a school level and could ensure consistency in approach. 
• however, to ensure that all incidents are fully investigated, and staff can feel confident in their approach, the scenarios should be carefully drafted to set out the things that should be considered, rather than outlining a prescriptive process. 
• there is an opportunity to draft scenarios to centralise the voices of young people to ensure that they feel fully supported.
• it may be helpful to align scenarios with key considerations to support practitioners to access information quickly. 
• it may be helpful to provide scenarios with contextual information, and spelling out why [x] is identified as [type of] racism. 
• it was noted that responding sensitively to the use of terms that would usually be considered racial slurs, when these are used within friendship groups between adversely racialised pupils, can be difficult to navigate sensitively. The nuance of issues like reclaiming language etc. is not well understood in general, so a scenario with key issues to consider here could be very helpful.

Next steps

It was noted that any further feedback on the guidance should be sent to the secretariat by correspondence. The SG will consider the guidance again in light of all the feedback from the group. A further draft of the guidance will be circulated to the group and brought to the next meeting for discussion and agreement. 

It was noted that following agreement from the group, SG officials will undertake due diligence seeking clearance on legal issues and from COSLA, ADES and Ministers. It was noted that this process can take time, however, it will be progressed as quickly as possible. 

Action: members to send any additional feedback on the current draft of the resource to the Secretariat. 

AOB

It was noted that the Secretariat of the Anti-Racism in Education Programme (AREP) Board recently contacted members seeking to organise sessions to discuss the Theory of Change (ToC) models which have been requested by the AREP Board. Unfortunately, these sessions have been postponed. The Secretariat will contact members again to canvass for new dates in the new year. 

An update was provided on the refresh of Respect for All, the national anti-bullying guidance. Members were thanked for their input to the draft guidance and participation in the prejudice-based bullying sub-group. It was noted that Respect for All will be published as part of anti-bullying week during the week commencing 11 November. A copy of the guidance will be circulated to members following publication. 

Education Scotland noted that a number of the anti-racism mentors have an interest in the work of the group and may be helpful in providing feedback on the draft guidance on responding to racist incidents. The Education Scotland representative noted that she will shortly go on Maternity Leave and that colleagues in Education Scotland would continue to support the work of the group and connect in with the anti-racism mentors. 

ADES noted that they are seeking additional examples of local authority’s anti-racism policies. These will be added to erdm connect once received. 

Connect noted that a session with SAMEE on ‘Building an Anti-Racist School Community: The Role of Parents and Parent Groups’ will take place on 28 January 2025. The session will explore the positive steps school communities can take to play their part in promoting anti-racism, respecting diversity and including all families. 

Date of next meeting

The next meeting of the group is scheduled for 9 December. The Secretariat will circulate doodle polls to schedule meeting until the end of the academic year. 

The focus of the December meeting will be to discuss and agree the updated draft resource on responding to racism and racist incidents. 

Action: SG will circulate doodle polls for meetings until the end of the academic year.