Race – Blog 3
Various approaches to addressing racism
Bradbury, A. 2020. A critical race theory framework for education policy analysis.
Alice Bradbury’s paper discusses the use of (CRT) Critical Race Theory combined with policy sociology to analyse education policies and their impact on racial inequalities. The paper uses the example of the Baseline Assessment, introduced in England in 2015-16, to illustrate how policies can prolong racial inequalities, especially for bilingual students. Through the lens of anti-racism, Bradbury’s framework emphasizes the need for educational policies that recognize and address systemic biases, ensure inclusive practices, challenge colourblind ideologies, and use data to promote racial equity. Her approach aligns with broader anti-racist goals of dismantling structures that perpetuate inequality and creating more just and inclusive educational policies.
- Bradbury exposes hidden racism by showing how educational policies can seem fair but keep racial inequalities in place, especially for bilingual students.
- Using ideas from CRT, Bradbury examines policies to find hidden racial biases. Policy analysist is important for creating anti-racist policies.
- Fair Assessments highlight the need for tests that consider the diverse backgrounds of students. Anti-racist policies should make sure assessments are fair for all students.
- Bradbury criticises policies that ignore race (Challenging “Colorblind” Policies), anti-racist policies should openly consider race to tackle inequalities.
- Policies to Promote Equity, by providing a CRT-based framework, Bradbury suggests that policies can help promote racial fairness. This means not just reviewing current policies but also creating new ones that support minoritized students.
- Bradbury suggests the importance of analyzing data to reveal and fix racial disparities. Anti-racist policies can use data to drive changes to promote equality.
Garrett, R. (2024). Racism shapes careers: career trajectories and imagined futures of racialised minority PhDs in UK higher education
Garrett’s work addresses how racism impacts the career paths and futures of racialised minority PhDs in UK higher education. The academic facts show a decrease in BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) students progressing to higher academic positions, with a notable disparity for Black students.
The various approaches to addressing racism discussed in Garret’s work underscores the critical need to address systemic biases in higher education. Garrett’s findings highlight the structural barriers and cultural biases that hinder the progress of racialized minority PhDs. To improve the situation within higher education, Garrett suggests actively identifying and eliminating racism by changing policies and attitudes.
Having read Garrett’s paper, here are a few points noted to help address
racism in HE. Interestingly, Asif Sadiq his TEDx talk (Diversity, Equity &
Inclusion. Learning how to get it right) agrees with many of the strategies to
help promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in organizations-
- Ensuring that HE institutions reform their policies (and re-visit them often) to ensure they promote equality in recruitment, retention, and promotion
processes for minority academics. - Ensuring there are adequate support networks specifically tailored for BAME students to navigate the academic landscape (mentoring programmes etc).
- Ensuring training for all staff to highlight and hopefully eliminate conscious and unconscious biases that affect decision-making. I personally have mixed feelings about the this type of training having read more about the topic. UAL ensures all staff members complete compulsory training “Anti-Racism
Development Programme”, but this can be perceived as controversial as explained by Prof. A. Amhed in the The Telegraph Video (2022) ‘Revealed: The charity turning UK universities woke’, he explains how “Implicit Bias” training “really doesn’t work”, he thinks “anti-racism training is much worse than a waste of money” because it involves the “actual pushing of a particularly ideological line” (e.g. White fragility etc). Interestingly when James Orr interviewed a student later in the video, they suggested training is good as “it’s all about learning, understanding each other”. - Garrett also suggests ensuring funding, resources and opportunities for research for the professional development of minority scholars.
- The importance of collecting and publishing detailed data on diversity to
monitor progress and accountability in addressing racial disparities in
HE. - Asif Sadiq suggests leaders must model inclusive behaviour and set the tone for an inclusive culture within an establishment.
- Ensuring support to encourage the creation of groups to foster community and provide support.
By integrating these anti-racist strategies, HE institutions can move towards creating an environment where racialised minority students have equal opportunities to succeed and thrive in their academic careers.
Resources –
Journal articles:
Bradbury, A., 2020. A critical race theory framework for education policy analysis: The case of bilingual learners and assessment policy in England. Race Ethnicity and Education, 23(2), pp.241-260. Available to download from Moodle via the Readings & Resources folder.
Garrett, R. (2024). Racism shapes careers: career trajectories and imagined futures of racialised minority PhDs in UK higher education. Globalisation, Societies and Education, pp.1–15. Available to download from Moodle via the Readings & Resources folder.
Sadiq, A. (2023) Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Learning how to get it right. TEDx [Online}. Youtube. 2 March. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR4wz1b54hw
Orr, J. (2022) Revealed: The charity turning UK universities woke. The Telegraph [Online]. Youtube. 5 August. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRM6vOPTjuU
Channel 4. (2020) The School That Tried to End Racism. [Online] Youtube. 30 June. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I3wJ7pJUjg
McIntosh. P. Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack [Online]: wellscathedral.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Peggy-McIntosh-BLM-essay.pdf
3 responses to “Blog 3 – Race”
Hi Fflur
The positive closing note inviting people to work together where the minorities will eventually be a natural integrated part of the system was something we all need to think about. And the way you have articulated the important points from each resource was easy to digest. And in your perspective or experience do you think just the points highlighted be enough to counter racism? Any thoughts?
Hi Kayalvizhi,
Thanks for your feedback.
Absolutely not, I think there is much more that can and should be done to rectify the situation.
These methods are merely suggested within the readings. I would hope institutions implement a combination of policies and strategies to address the issues and ensure these methods are often reviewed to ensure all is being done to help support the minority.
As a white British person, I find it hard to comment and suggest ways of supporting BAME students, as I don’t personally know what they might be going through. But by open discussion and learning through their experiences, I hope I will be able to recommend and support students and staff to make things easier for them and others who might be facing similar challenges. I would also like to think I could positively influence people around me, highlighting issues, and “punching up” so that the institution takes note and implements change too.
In addition– I’m not insinuating in any way I personally will be able to change the situation, but if we all unite to create change, then I believe this is a positive move.
I think your blog post is great in the sense it makes people think, by you proposing questions. Even now having read your blog- I’m digesting the contents and the questions keep re-playing in my mind.
Rightly said, united we win, divided we fall 🙂