Who’s In Charge? A report on councils’ anti-racist policies for schools
In 2021, we were alerted by concerned parents and teachers to a divisive and partisan teacher professional development course, Racial Literacy 101, being sponsored by Brighton and Hove Council. Our whistleblowers revealed contentious advice to teachers, with the council recommending lesson plans that focused on racial division being taught to children as young as five. Following widespread concern in Parliament, the Education Secretary, Rt. Hon Nadim Zahawi MP, launched an enquiry and we await its publication.
In light of that experience, alongside curriculum examples we have received from parents and teachers elsewhere over the past two years, we set out to develop a granular picture of how Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (“EDI”) and anti-racist policies are being implemented by local councils across England and Wales. Alongside this, we sought the views of parents to test whether public thinking was aligned to the strategic direction being promoted by local councils. What we found is deeply concerning and demonstrates a widening gulf between parents and those tasked with the education of their children.