RESEARCH CONDUCTED by UCL’s Institute for Education has found that almost half of all English schools have no Black or minority ethnic teachers.

The Making Progress? report found that racial inequality continues to be a problem for teachers in England, though there has been a small increase in the proportion of Black, Asian and minority ethnic teachers during the last decade.

Though the Department of Education (DfE) claim they are committed to creating a more diverse teaching force, diverse teacher numbers are still disproportionately low.

Figures from 2019 show that 85.6% of all teachers are White British but just 65.4% of pupils are currently from a White British background.

This means children from minority ethnic backgrounds could progress through the education system without having a single teacher that looks like them.

Recruitment campaigns and initiatives like Teach First are important steps forward. However, the number of Black and minority ethnic staff that leave the profession is also worrying.

Teachers from these backgrounds face unique issues related to racial inequality and racism in their careers.

Diverse leadership is key

The research found that diverse senior leadership teams (SLT) was important in urban schools, or schools with high-minority pupil intakes. This helped decrease the number of Black and minority ethnic staff leaving their jobs.

The report noted that diversity tends to decrease among senior leadership positions.

“All of the teachers interviewed disapproved of the universal whiteness of senior leadership teams in otherwise diverse schools,” researchers found.

“This issue plays a role in teachers’ decisions to move schools because of a perceived negative impact on the organisational culture.”

The report recommends that teachers from diverse backgrounds should be supported though mentoring, better working conditions and opportunities for career development.

They point out that diverse teachers face a “hidden workload” of dealing with racism.

Rhia, founder of Black Teachers Connect, and a secondary school teacher from Croydon said: “Black teachers often, unfortunately, experience racism in the workplace

“The report’s findings very much reflect some of my experiences, feeling that you can’t move up in the workplace and feeling like your progression has been halted.”

The report recommends that Ofsted should be required to evaluate the diversity mix between pupils, teachers and senior leaders in schools.

It also recommends that fair representation reflecting a school’s diversity should be encouraged in state-funded schools.