Teaching in a diverse Scotland - increasing and retaining minority ethnic teachers: 3 years on

Annex G - Summary report of responses from Local Authorities

Responses were received from 12 individual local authorities, Fife, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, South Ayrshire, Stirling, Western Isles, East Lothian, Midlothian, Inverclyde, Perth and Kinross, Orkney and Moray. In addition, a response was received from the West Partnership, which comprises 8 local authorities – Glasgow City, East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire.

The West Partnership plan, provided at the end of Nov 2019, benefitted from the secondment of a teacher to take forward the recommendations of the first Teaching for a Diverse Scotland report. Some of this work is referenced in the main report as example of good practice (see section 2.2), as is a proactive approach to recruitment taken by Glasgow City Council. Due to pandemic and the secondment coming to an end, it would be prudent to acknowledge that progress is now slower.

Some of the responses received shared examples of actions that are helpful to diversifying the teaching profession as well as roles supporting schools, some of these are cited as examples. It should not be taken that local authorities not named against an action are not engaging in similar.

• Provide equality and diversity information and training to managers and employees to build awareness and understanding of equalities in employment. (Fife)
• Gather and use equal opportunities data to monitor the composition of the workforce and the application of employment policies, procedures and practices. Use this information to ensure fairness and consistency, to identify any trends and actions, and to inform policy development and decision-making. (Fife)
• Establish comprehensive baseline data. (City of Edinburgh)
• Encourage young people from groups of interest to identify teaching/support/ELC/youth work as a profession of choice. (City of Edinburgh)
• Recognise and support aspiring minority ethnic teachers/encourage them to apply for promotion. (City of Edinburgh)
• Investigate/set up a programme, run in partnership with the local authority and our local ITE provider UWS, to encourage young people to see teaching as a possible career option. Priority will be given to targeted young people including those from ethnic minorities. Young people who complete the programme will have a supported entry to teaching courses. (South Ayrshire)
• QIO Equalities/leadership to meet with ethnic minority teacher focus group to seek their views on promotion. (South Ayrshire)
• Ensure all promotional materials reflect diversity. (South Ayrshire)
• Diversity Awareness mandatory e-learning for all staff. (Stirling)
• Proactively targeting the authority's minority ethnic teachers with the aim of encouraging them to consider taking part in our Leadership Courses. These structured programmes support teachers who are actively seeking promotion. The courses have been designed on the basis that enhanced leadership at all levels will ensure that educational establishments are able to take forward and implement improvements that will have a positive impact for learners. (Inverclyde)
• Ensure further communication and promotion of the online system which allows employees to self-classify their equality information. (Perth and Kinross)
• Investigate the possibility of breaking down equalities figures to get further data on teachers. (Perth and Kinross)
• Continue to work on new recruitment materials where we will plan to ask our BME teachers if they would be willing to take part in case studies and promotional materials. (Perth and Kinross)