Author: Pran Patel

A Headteacher’s letter to parents: Black Lives Matter

~ Pran Patel ~ Leave a comment

This is a letter from a Headteacher to parents. It’s anonymised but if you have any queries please do get in touch. The template is available here.

Dear Parents / Carers,

It has been a deeply upsetting few days seeing the shocking scenes unfold in the USA following the tragic murder of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests. There are clearly many factors in place in America that have led to the ferocity of the protests. A pandemic that disproportionately impacts on the BAME community, the economic difficulties the pandemic brings which disproportionately impact on the BAME community and finally, but most significantly, a political structure and systems that disadvantage people of colour.

It is too easy to look at the situation in America and dismiss the issues because our police officers do not carry guns. Whilst the right to bear arms clearly add to the problems in the USA, it is not the root cause of the issue. The root cause is the same both in the USA and UK. Our society is built upon white supremacy. On hearing this term our minds immediately jump to the Klu Klux Klan and Nazis. However, white supremacy is much subtler than this. In many instances it is the unidentified bias that sits within the majority of us that white people are superior to people of colour. The world’s systems and structures are built on this bias and this therefore creates White Privilege.

As a school, in a predominantly white area, we have a huge responsibility to ensure that children of all races recognise the existence of white privilege and white supremacy. The curriculum we deliver and class discussions we have, carefully attempt to do this at an age appropriate level. We are constantly evolving our curriculum as we better understand how to celebrate diversity. We aim to educate children so that they are able to make the small adjustments to their own actions which will erode, and ultimately remove, both white privilege and white supremacy.

However, we cannot do this alone. All teachers know that before you can support a child to understand something you must ensure you understand it yourself. We need parents and carers to talk about diversity with their children. Below are a series of links, these will be added to the school website and be updated regularly. They are an excellent starting point to recognise the unidentified biases we all have. During this unusual time the majority of you will have more opportunity than ever to talk to your children. The terrible situation in America can be turned into a positive if it becomes the catalyst for an honest and open conversation with your children. It may be uncomfortable and they will have questions. You don’t need to have all the answers, but opening the dialogue is something we can all do. It will be much more impactful than retweeting a Black Lives Matter poster on Instagram or sharing the latest Nike Video advert on Facebook.

It is not ok to just say you don’t see colour, it is not ok to aim to just not be racist. You must be, and our children must be, anti-racist.

Warm Wishes,

Anon

The following links and articles are for adults and are not appropriate to share with children. They are intended to support adult learning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JjRQTuzqTU

 

https://www.ted.com/talks/baratunde_thurston_how_to_deconstruct_racism_one_headline_at_a_time

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/racist-adviser-downing-street-surprise-200219073656737.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-52877803

Representation is not Decolonisation

~ Pran Patel ~ 1 Comment

I get asked a lot about representation, and a lot of my work starts with a call to represent the global curriculum more authentically. Yes, include lots of people from around the world in your work. No, we haven’t finished. We risk falling into a trap here. 

Yes, include lots of people from around the world in your work. No, we haven't finished. We risk falling into a trap here.  Share on X

Decolonisation is not just the inclusion of black and brown faces in our textbooks and posters. Imperialism and its legacy lie in all of our minds. This process may feel like a slap in the face, but it’s most likely correct that if you were raised in the west (global north), you have undergone a process where you have been told and shown repeatedly that particular groups are more successful than others.

While I applaud the inclusion of actors of colour in the media, we have to dig deeper. Growing up the few melanated people on our TV screens were the ‘savages’ in Tarzan, but Pran, that’s changed now? Has it? Let’s think about the way black males are portrayed in the media? 

Think of 5 black (main) male characters and list their common traits:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

What do you notice? If you still don’t see a trend, do the same with white characters and reflect why these are not seen in black characters. If you want to challenge yourself do the same with women of colour (I’ll come back to this another day).

I read To Kill A Mockingbird at school, and it was nice to see people of colour in a book. However, the story is based on the white saviour trope. Primarily a white man fights to save a Black man, the black man doesn’t talk an awful lot through the book either, he dies anyway, but it’s okay because the white man has won the support of the community.

I read To Kill A Mockingbird at school, and it was nice to see people of colour in a book. However, the story is based on the white saviour trope. Primarily a white man fights to save a Black man, the black man doesn't talk an awful… Share on X

What does that insidiously say about the black men? And white men?

‘Of Mice and Men’ after talking to Remi Ryans (English specialist, friend and comrade)– Crooks in the story is the only black character, and he is subjected to barrages of racism, but he is also the only person in the story who owns books. I see a man of intelligence and courage. When do we teach or are taught through that lens?

Dahl is problematic (overt racism) is much of his work; there are other articles on this website which tackle that. Let us just concentrate on ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, Willy Wonka travels to a far land, steals resources from a ‘simple’ people (Oompa Loompas) from a savage land (with beasts, etc.) and they revere him for it?

Charles Dickens is seen as a social reformer and his work on Christmas carol is undoubtedly spurred the impetus for change, but he omits slavery from all his writing. At the same time of his book, the British were cashing in on the lives of black people in chattel slavery. What does omission say about who is of value in social justice?

My specialism is science, wherein my subject people of colour being taught? The omission says a lot. Notably, due to the mathematics being an Indian invention, the centre of Physics, Astronomy and mathematical science for centuries was centred within Islamic cultures. Architecture and medicine being at the pinnacle of the African continent, using vaccination type methods that pre-date Edward Jenner in smallpox. This process is not just about being exposed to a more authentic truth? And what do these omissions lead?

Empire is taught through a benevolent visitor lens. When the British arrived in the Indian subcontinent the share of the wold economy 24.4% was 4.2% when they left. This includes an exploitation of $45 trillion ($450000000000000000000 – that’s 19 zeros if you are counting). Did the Mau Mau revolution, the assignation of Dedan Kimathi and Jallianwala Bagh not happen? Do you even know what those events are? I was not taught in school. Yes, If you are even thinking about mentioning railways. I’m coming for you.

Democracy is taught as a European invention, erm, maybe look at north Africa and the Malian Mansa and the electing Gerbratta (apologies for the spelling, someone correct me please). That brings me to slavery; Britain ended slavery? Erm, Britain wasn’t even the first country in Europe to do so, or the second. The ending of slavery is often seen as a benevolent act by William Wilberforce, leading parliament to the emancipation? Erm, the slave revolutions and violent insurrections didn’t play a part at all? I could go on all day.

Britain wasn't even the first country in Europe to do so, or the second. The ending of slavery is often seen as a benevolent act by William Wilberforce, leading parliament to the emancipation? Erm, the slave revolutions and violent… Share on X

What impact do all of these omissions and reframing of history have? Think about the associations that come to mind when you think about oppressed groups and those when you do the same for the privileged.

There is always work to be done on ourselves because if we don’t, we propagate the same damaging rhetoric we always have.

MH: This Time Last Year – Going Back in Time

~ Pran Patel ~ Leave a comment

TW: Rape

This is part 3 of a set of series, part 1 and part 2 are here.

The truth is, writing these blogs have been just as much about therapy for me as they have been about sharing my experiences to help others. In doing so, I have re-opened the most painful and darkest moments in my life. I felt a physical, searing pain in my body and cried when I wrote them. 

This blog, in particular, has been one of the most difficult ones I have written. You will see that my experiences from my childhood, what most would say were adverse childhood experiences, shaped me as a person. It was not all bad. I consider myself a kind person which for me is something I choose to be and something I would never change. Kindness is what makes our world go round, and in light of the awful events we see again, (rest in peace George Floyd) ‘kindness’ is needed now more than ever. 

My second therapy session with Becky was not what I expected in the least. Have you ever burst into tears when someone has asked how you are? Well, this is precisely what I did. I cried uncontrollably. I cried, and Becky didn’t say a word. She let me cry, and cry, and cry until I stopped. ‘Why are you crying?’ I didn’t know. How was I to know? I was all over the place, a mess. We sat in silence for a while, and before I knew it, I started talking about something I had not discussed in detail for 27 years.

Growing up in an ethnic minority household in the UK was difficult. My parents were strict, and I spent a lot of my teenage years rebelling against them. I hated that I didn’t have the freedom my ‘English’ friends did so I would find any opportunity I could to get out of the house and ‘have some fun’. On a Wednesday night, I was allowed to attend a drama youth theatre. This would be the highlight of my week. Not only did I get to mix with older people, but I didn’t have to be home until 9.15 pm. A group of older boys arrived one week and began to attend every week. They seemed funny and keen on taking part. I recognised one of the boys as I had seen him at the gate of my school on a few occasions waiting for some of my peers after school. He was put into the same group as me, and we seemed to hit it off straight away. I found myself thinking about him a lot, and I’m sure it was obvious that I fancied him.

After a few weeks, he asked me to be his girlfriend. He was just 18, and I was 15 and had never had a boyfriend before. I was scared and couldn’t believe that he wanted to be with me! It was a strange situation because I never saw him other than on a Wednesday, apart from a few times he came to my school but pretended he didn’t know me. I remember always being hurt by this, but always accepting his excuses. I wanted to be his girlfriend, and so I guessed that was just how boys behaved.

One night after Drama, he offered to walk me home, but for some reason, he wanted to go through the local park. This was a detour to my house, but I agreed anyway. As soon as we were out of sight of our friends, he turned and kissed me. I was on cloud 9. I couldn’t wait to tell my best friend in the morning that I had actually had my first kiss! We talked and he asked me if I was a virgin. I told him I was, albeit uncomfortable with the question. He smiled. ‘Good, I like that’. I was proud to be a virgin. I knew that when I decided to ‘lose it’ it would be to the man, I would spend the rest of my life with. Oh, the thoughts of an innocent 15-year-old. As we strolled through the park hand in hand, we crossed into a secluded car park. I had no idea what his intentions were, but I remember feeling worried that I would be late home. Little did I know at the time that he had plans to ‘pop my cherry’. I remember telling him I didn’t want to and that I was going to get into trouble for being late, but he didn’t seem to care. He kept pulling me towards him and telling me I had nothing to be afraid of. When he came to the realisation that I was not going to give in, he got nasty. ‘Why you so frigid?’ ‘Playing hard to get won’t get you anywhere’ ‘Look, touch me, you can see how much I want you, but it won’t last long if you carry on being a frigid bitch’. At this point, I got quite upset, and with tears in my eyes, I tried to walk away. I didn’t get very far before he tripped me up, and before long, I was forced to the ground.

It all happened so quickly. I was in such shock, I couldn’t even scream, or cry, or move. By the time it was all over, I had taken my mind to a far distant place. He got up, helped to my feet and before walking away rebuked me one last time. ‘Well, that was shit’. I couldn’t tell you what was going on in my mind at that moment. I just kept thinking about the excuses I was going to come up with for being late home.

The walk home was arduous. I was sure that the people walking past me knew what had just happened, and I felt so ashamed. I had to stop myself from crying because I couldn’t let me, my parents know what had happened. Not only would my dad go ape shit, but I would never be allowed out of the house again.

When my dad answered the door, he gave his usual suspicious look. ‘Where have you been?’ I told him that Drama had finished late as we had a performance the following week. ‘Why are you lying? I walked up the road to meet you, and the building was closed’. I had to think on my feet. What the hell do I say now? ‘Oh erm, I walked a friend of mine home first’. And here it started again ‘why do you always put others before you? One of these days something will happen to you because you always have to make sure other people are safe before yourself’.

While he continued to shout at me, I walked upstairs and into the bathroom where I ran myself the hottest bath. I sat there for what seemed like hours. Flashbacks to what had just happened were continually running through my mind. I didn’t cry; I didn’t feel anything. I was numb. Needless to say, that night, I didn’t sleep very well. Tomorrow was going to be a new day, and I had to keep going and make sure that no one found out. And then, of course, my own self-berating mulled through my mind and stayed there… ‘Stupid girl, you really thought he liked you!’ ‘who in their right mind would want to be with you!’ ‘I’m not a virgin anymore’ ‘I’M NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE – No one will ever want to be with me now’. My heart that night broke in two, along with my dignity. I was ashamed. Ashamed that this had happened and ashamed that I had let it happen.

I would like to say that after that night, I started to pick up the pieces and move on, but unbeknownst to me, things were about to get a lot worse.

In the morning, I left the house early to avoid conversations with my family. I still felt quite sore, and my stomach was in agony. I got to the local sweetshop and noticed my best friend crying. My instinct to make sure she was ok kicked in, but before I could say anything, she ran towards me and slapped me around the face. ‘Why the fuck didn’t you call me last night? Why didn’t you call me?’ I just stood there staring at her. I didn’t know what to say. She continued to cry, ‘I know you… I know you would never do something like that… I know what happened, I know you would never do that in the car park. I’m your best friend. Why did you not call me to tell me you had been raped?” At that moment, I wanted the ground to swallow me up. How did she know? Who else knows? What am I going to do? My mind went into overdrive. I cried for the first time since it had happened. She hugged me and told me that we would get through it together. She knew exactly how I felt. She had been raped only a few months before it happened to me.

For months I endured the most horrendous torture from my peers. Sniggering in the playground, people openly shouting out that I had been ‘fucked in the car park’. There was no place for me to hide. I had to be strong. My younger sister was in the year below me, and I was petrified of her finding out in case she told my parents. If she had known about it, she certainly never told me, and I didn’t tell her for a long time afterwards.

I would like to have said that this was the only adverse experience I had. My first was when I was nine years old and although I was not raped, being touched by a man, my father’s age was wrong, and I knew it. Thankfully I was able to get away, but the grimace on his face was the last thing I would see before I went to sleep every night for a long time.

Back in the room with Becky, I was shocked that I had told her something I had locked away in the deepest part of my brain. I thought I had thrown the key away and yet here I was, transported back in time. My body language changed, and my heart was racing. I was 15 again. What seemed strange to me was that in that session, (and in many others), I had not just spoken about work. But I was signed off with work-related stress! How could this be? I felt guilty; I felt like a fraud. This, of course, only made my mental health worse over time.

My feelings of self-worth were creased from the age of 9 but they were crushed on the night I was raped. I fell into some damaging relationships after that that only perpetuated how I felt about myself. I look back now, and at what I have achieved and honestly, I could not tell you where the strength came from. But it was obviously there. I didn’t become a statistic. When I went into teaching, I made the choice to work with children who needed the most help, the most support, the most love. I have spent my entire teaching career trying to save children… and now I realise I need to help them to help themselves, support themselves and above all, love themselves. I didn’t love myself at 15. I didn’t love myself for many, many years, and when I had my breakdown, I hated myself even more. 

Learning to love yourself is one of the hardest things I have had to relearn. My aunty used to tell me ‘if you don’t love yourself, how can you expect someone else to love you?’ So every day I tell myself these affirmations and one day I know that these will resonate deep within my soul. 

I’m not telling you this story because I want your pity, I am telling you this story because I am a senior leader who has suffered trauma and needed support when I was vulnerable. I know that most Academy Trusts pay for some form of wellbeing counselling, however in my opinion this isn’t enough. In toxic schools where compassion is at the bottom of the list or where kindness is seen as weakness, school leaders and staff have no hope in staying in a career whilst battling with the horrendous life experiences they have tried to hold at bay. So although I was signed off for work related stress, this was the tip of the iceberg for me, the cherry on the cake, the avalanche on the mountain. The treatment I received in the last few months before I broke was not acceptable and the feeling I felt then were the same feelings I felt when ‘he’ walked away saying ‘well that was shit’.

Some people need to be told they are doing a good job, others get by without this validation. We need to do better at supporting our senior leaders, we need to do better at building schools around love, respect and kindness. 

Race: Assimilate to Survive?

~ Pran Patel ~ Leave a comment

This piece from Remi Ryans.

I was restrained by a police officer at five years old because I walked out of a shop with a toy fireman's hat on by accident.  Share on X
  1. I was restrained by a police officer at five years old because I walked out of a shop with a toy fireman’s hat on by accident. 
  2. At 6, be forced by my year teacher to stay behind for a same day detention because she didn’t believe my art homework (I was so proud) of had been drawn by me. I had to do it again in front of her. After 20 minutes she conceded she could see I had done it, but I had to stay anyway 
  3. The same teacher showed my work for a different project to another student’s family; they copied it verbatim, guess which child ended up in detention. 
  4. Being told my name and face didn’t match by a former Prime Minister.
  5. Being called a slave by my history teacher.
  6. Another teacher told me (in front of the whole class) that my mother was illiterate because my name was ‘misspelt’. Then be punished because of my subsequent reaction. 
  7. Being the only one in a group of friends (only black person in the group) to be questioned by police about why I was playing in a small park outside my friend’s house on his birthday. His parents had to resolve the matter.
  8. Carrying my violin in school uniform on the way home from and being stopped, searched and questioned over the ownership of the item because frankly, ‘we don’t see boys like you doing things like that.’ 
  9. Less than 3 miles from where Stephen Lawrence was murdered have a group of white men pull up to my bus stop and threaten me with weapons if they saw me in the area again. 
  10. Be the only one in a group of teenage boys (I was the only black one), to be stopped, questioned, and had details taken when playing tag on the heath in Blackheath. 
  11. Be stopped and further questioned at Heathrow when returning from a school trip to the Gambia, again; I was the only black persons in the group. 
Less than 3 miles from where Stephen Lawrence was murdered have a group of white men pull up to my bus stop and threaten me with weapons if they saw me in the area again.  Share on X

All of this by the age of 18 years old, while very much entrenched in systemic whiteness my mother sought to create to protect me. There is a notion that respectability, the delusion that appealing to tropes of British civility (private education, classical languages, classical instruments, dining etiquette, etc.) will elevate you to a place where your humanity somehow becomes immune.

Firstly, don’t get it twisted, you can do any of this stuff and love it for the sake of your enjoyment. Assimilation is survival, white readers will know of times they have changed their accent or sat up straighter at the table. For PoC assimilation is survival, it’s not just a perception but having to comply or risk physical violence. As undertaking as a form of appeasement, like a going belly up to illustrate harmlessness and submissiveness is dangerous. 

Secondly, this mindset does nothing to help your community as you become a pawn, an example to be held up while being used to beat your community further down. 

Thirdly, and most importantly ‘the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house’ Audre Lorde (#citeblackwomen). The delusion that respectability and politicking your way through life can make you some double agent is pure fantasy. 

You don’t overcome fascism with closer proximity to that evil, you don’t overcome gender inequality by getting closer to those who create the misogyny. Confrontation (non-violent or violent is a conversation for another time) is how change is earned.

8 Ways to Remove Bias from your Classroom

~ Pran Patel ~ 1 Comment

 

The title is a bit of a misnomer as bias is a habit of the mind. Your brain is designed to take cognitive shortcuts. When I was a child, my parents made me go to cubs and then scouts. Yes, I hope you’re imagining a beautiful small chocolate coloured version of me with a cute neckerchief. In case you were wondering, yes, butter wouldn’t melt.

Bias is a habit of the mind. How are you breaking that habit? Share on X

You must visualise the above, because either this confirms your biases about me or poses something new into the mix, importantly both associations are damaging. We should be aiming to make judgements and assertions after getting to know people in the present and exclude actions that happened years ago, but this isn’t easy. Yes, the above and below are true stories.

While in the cubs (younger version of scouts) I remember reading a book about snake before my first camping trip at the time, I learned a rhyme about as snake red before black… is safe and black before … or something like that is not. This rhyme was supposed to differentiate from safe and dangerous snakes.

Eastern Coral Snake on sandy surface

Now, thankfully I never encountered a snake at the jamboree (scout festival). I am not sure how my friends would have thought of me trying to show off my new knowledge proudly, and this is the most likely scenario since, and before, me running a mile. Our brains are not designed to reason and access the knowledge needed to assess the danger they are primarily designed for survival. These associations are natural, and sometimes these associations become distorted; these habits do not make you a morally evil person, but we must endeavour to try and stop them in the classroom.

Recognise and accept you have an array of biases, as societal privilege is geared toward white, cis, male, middle class, native english speaking you probably have a propensity towards these groups. Share on X
  1. Recognise and accept you have an array of biases, as societal privilege is geared toward white, cis, male, middle class, native english speaking you probably have a propensity towards these groups.
  2. Anonymous marking, by this I mean swopping a set of assessments with a colleague and labelling the front only with a number. This process is not a perfect solution, although it will help remove some of the bias.
  3. Try and learn some of your smaller preferences, by that I mean I worked with exam boards for years, and I can tell you that handwriting bias seriously exists.
  4. Negative behaviours are linked to teachers making worse assessments of academic progress, be aware of this in all of your assessments.
  5. Avoid setting, apart from the data that states this is fraught with bias, as soon as you assert that ability based on an arbitrary number/ranking top set, second set, etc. you are leaving yourself prone to bias.
  6. Check your positive biases; these can be as damaging as the negative ones.
  7. Words not tone, when working with pupils of colour this often arises in the behaviour statistics. Check your behaviour logs are Black pupils receiving disproportionate numbers of defiance, talking back, etc. Why is this? When you enter your behaviour logs, try and hold yourself to account by only including the words that were used, not the tone. You’ll be surprised at the difference of what and how you remember.
  8. Start again, we should start lessons with a clean slate and leave discretions that happened in the past in the past. The drawing of a line under experiences is tough, we are prone to leaning back on memories even if this is not conscious. I would advocate a process of accepting and ameliorating. That means understanding that if a pupil has a legacy of annoying you and then asking yourself in each and every interaction, how much of the past annoyance is impacting on your perception today?
Start again, we should start lessons with a clean slate and leave discretions that happened in the past in the past. The drawing of a line under experiences is tough, we are prone Share on X

There are lots and lots more. Bias, racism and misogyny are part and parcel of our minds. We have the choice to be better to counter the ingrained schema; we have that choice. Over to you.

Bias, racism and misogyny are part and parcel of our minds. We have the choice to be better to counter the ingrained schema; we have that choice. Over to you. Share on X

Photo: Patrick K. Campbell/Shutterstock)

Say Their Name UK.

~ Pran Patel ~ 1 Comment

TW: Police Violence and Death – Specifically Black deaths.

Educators, how are you framing your thoughts around the events in America? Which discussions will you be having around justice?

Anti Blackness is as much as a British problem as it is a world wide. We as a culture forget about the atrocities that we committed and continue to commit. Remember that concentration camps, genocide, firing on peaceful protests are primarily a British invention.

Below is a collection of unjust Black deaths, many are in police custody (shared with permission from an activist who does not care to be named.) No, I am not here to discuss the ins and outs of each case and I am certainly not here to engage in victim blaming. This whole piece is about looking at oneself when casting stones.

As you read down the list and say their names. I want us all to contemplate the question: How many charges do you think have been brought against police officers? and do you think there are systemic issues here? If you want to know how inherent bias works, try and listen to your brain as you read the list of names and descriptions of the circumstances of their deaths.

Yes, All of these human being are from and they deaths happened in the UK.

Rashan Charles
Rashan was followed into a convenience store, here police claimed he was trying to swallow an object, he died after being chased and restrained by a police officer.

 

Mark Duggan
Mark was shot and killed by police, police attempted to arrest Duggan on suspicion of planning an attack and claimed he was in possession of a handgun, he died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

 

Darren Cumberbatch
Police were called to his property in regards to concerns around his behaviour, he was punched 15 times, police also used a baton and a taser

 

Edson Da Costa
Edson was randomly stopped in a car and was restrained by police who used “distraction blows” and extreme force, he later died in hospital from a lack of oxygen to the brain caused by a blocked airway

 

Adrian McDonald
Adrian as bitten by a police dog and tasered after reports of an intruder, whilst in the police van, Adrian complained of breathing difficulties and shouting “I can’t breathe”, he later died in hospital.

 

Nunu Cardoso
Nunu aas a law student who died in custody after being struck by a police baton while being arrested on suspicion of possession with a knife

Olaseni Lewis

Olaseni voluntarily admitted himself to hospital for mental health treatment, medical staff called police when he became agitated. 11 police officers restrained him using excessive force, he later died from his brain being starved of oxygen

Sean Rigg
Sean lived in a hostel and staff called the police after reports of him becoming aggressive, he was restrained by three officers for more than seven minutes and he later died after suffering a cardiac arrest

Daniel Adewole
Daniel was found unresponsive in his cell following an epileptic fit, officers waited 38 minutes after they first received no response at Daniel’s cell door, before opening his door. They even went for a cigarette before checking his safety.

Trevor Smith
Trevor was shot dead by police in a bedroom in his flat during an “intelligence led operation”, he died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Julian Cole
Julian was left paralysed and brain damaged after being tackled outside a nightclub by police officers, he suffers severe brain damage and a broken neck

Sarah Reed
Sarah was attacked and assaulted when taken into custody, she was later found unresponsive in her cell and shortly died. A police officer was caught on CCTV grabbing Sarah by the hair and then punching her as she laid on the floor

Jermaine Baker
Jermaine was shot dead by police, an officer claimed he had acted in self-defence, fearing Baker was reaching for a gun, no firearm was later found, he died from a single gunshot wound

Sheku Bayoh
Sheku was tackled by police using batons and excessive force after reports of him carrying a knife, he lost consciousness and was later pronounced dead in hospital, a postmortem concluded that he had sustained facial injuries, a fractured rib and bruises

Kevin Clarke
Kevin was restrained by up to 9 police officers while having a mental health crisis, while at the scene his condition deteriorated and he later died in hospital

Leon Briggs
Leon was restrained and detained at a local police station by police using excessive force, he became unconscious and later died in hospital

Anthony Grainger
Anthony was shot through the chest as he sat in a car by an armed police officer, detectives believed he and two others had access to firearms, however, no weapons were found in his car, he later died in hospital.

Kingsley Burrell
Kingsley was restrained by police days after being detained under the mental health act, he had been handcuffed for hours in hospital while awaiting assessment and was left face-down in a secure room with a blanket over his head, he later died from cardiac arrest.

 

Jacob Michael
Jacob was arrested for alleged affray and died in police custody, CCTV shows he was pleading for mercy after being pepper sprayed and restrained by officers

Mzee Mohammed Daley
Mzee was restrained with excessive force and arrested by police after “behaving erratically”, he later died of cardiac arrest.

Derek Bennett
Derek was shot six times by police afterwards they realised that the handgun they believed he was brandishing was in fact a cigarette lighter, he later died in hospital

Azelle Rodney
Azelle was shot at eight times by armed officers after his car was stopped, the officer stated he shot eight times because he thought Azelle was reaching for a gun.

Black Lives Matter – a Reflection

~ Pran Patel ~ Leave a comment

This guest piece come from Matthew Wyman.

I am currently sitting in bed, questioning the world we live in and highlighting in my own head the importance of a simple phrase, ‘Black Lives Matter’. 

I am a privileged white male, I am someone that does not have to encounter people avoiding me in the street based upon the colour of my skin, I am not someone who has to fight daily battles against a system and a society that is institutionally racist. As a white person I can sit here and tell you that we don’t do anywhere near enough to combat the oppression that black people have faced for hundreds of years, and whilst we no longer enslave them as if they were aliens, it is clear that racism is still here, it has always been here and unless we start to have honest conversations about how we need to change, it will always be here. 

Here is a question, how many more times will the same thing need to happen before changes are made? How many times are people like Goerge Floyd going to have to die before something is actually done? Black Lives Matter but right now this world we live in does not support that, so let’s change it.

Speaking as a white person, I will sit here and say that we as a race have failed black people for generations upon generations, and if you do not conform to this ideology then you are the problem, you are the reason why black people are still being oppressed all over the world. Furthermore, the ‘All Lives Matter’ argument falls null and void, yes all lives matter but as white people our lives have always mattered in the eyes of the law and society. The way we are treated does not need to be fixed but the way black people are treated does, in the eyes of certain parts of society it is obvious that their lives do not seem to matter. 

To even start trying to change this we need to be honest with ourselves, we need to see that we are not doing enough, we have never done enough and that we owe it to them to change. We need to stop calling it ‘racist’ when a black person stereotypes a white person and we need to stop saying ‘if the shoe was on the other foot then that would be racist’. Black people have been racially discriminated against for hundreds of years and we caused it, so stop labelling it ‘racist’ when they make a joke about white people eating ‘unseasoned chicken’, you have no idea. 

I know that as a white person I can never begin to imagine the hardship black people go through everyday as a result of racism, but I do think it is our job to try and understand and to make sure we do everything we possibly can to change things because when it comes down to it, Black Lives Matter. 


Matthew Wyman, 19 studying sports journalism at Derby University. Live at home with my mum, dad and little sister. Write mainly on sport but also on topics I feel passionate about. Learning as I go, curious and write from the heart.

Image from the Dr Martin Luther King Jr Centre.

Free Guidance and Resources for your Recovery Curriculum

~ Pran Patel ~ Leave a comment

There is a lot of talk about ‘recovery curriculums’ right now and there is a huge amount of guidance available.  Most of this revolves around social and emotional learning (SEL) and for it to be most effective as a tool to support emotional health and wellbeing it needs to be within a whole schools approach.  This ‘C19 recovery guidance for primary schools’ from MmeNdiayeUK is in PowerPoint form to enable it to be used as CPD; it aims to be accessible for those new to SEL as well as expert practitioners; enabling a secure base to be built.  It comes with some resources; further tips to effectively delivering SEL and a menu of activities allowing a flexible curriculum and ‘readjustment period’ so schools can meet the emotional needs of staff and pupils.  There is hope that this pandemic will force the education system to prioritise child welfare and wellbeing (for all) so that it is on a par with academic achievement; something that many of us have been demanding for a while!

Click here for your resources.

 

Imagine – A School Without Sanctions. Or Rewards.

~ Pran Patel ~ Leave a comment

This is a guest blog from Rachel Tomlinson this blog can here. headteacher of the award-winning Barrowford Primary School in Lancashire, on why her school is a sanction-free and reward-free zone. Controversially.

As many of you know, Barrowford Primary School in Lancashire is reward and sanction free.

The reasons for this are many and varied.

Interestingly there is always a lot of interest in the sanction-free element of our practice – we do not punish children – but the reward-free element seems to attract less attention.

Sign of the times maybe?

Actually, I think the reward-free nature of our practice has as much, if not more, impact as our sanction-free approach. It is now the element that I feel most strongly about.

Others seem to feel strongly about it too if Twitter is anything to go by.

It is important, therefore to clarify that reward-free practice does not mean children go unvalued and unrecognised. Actually, it means the complete opposite. It means that we value an achievement for the effort it has taken at that stage in the process. It is personal recognition on a very individual level.

Why do we do it? Well, amidst the myriad of reasons for not extrinsically rewarding, the one that is keeping me awake right now is about equity.

I have seen so many posts in recent weeks where schools have taken their Celebration Assemblies online and are identifying Stars of the Week or putting children’s work in Halls of Fame or who are critiquing the quality of home learning with red, yellow or green stamps and more.

I completely understand wanting to praise and encourage children who are doing brilliant learning and are engaging with different activities. That’s something that doesn’t have less impact if you do it privately and specifically.

I understand the value of sharing it with others too. We all love a bit of positive feedback after all.

I understand too that here is a huge variation in how much capacity families have for home learning – on all sorts of levels. All families are grappling with this at the moment, whoever they are and whatever their context. This is all the more complex as the children in our classes have never been more diverse. We are not a massive institution but there are almost 400 different stories in our school alone.

Replicate that across the country and we can’t begin to visualise all the different situations and experiences. That said, I think it is worth highlighting a few though as it sheds light on why being reward-free is so important to us.

Imagine you arrived in the country and started school two weeks before that school closed.  You don’t speak English. Your parents don’t speak English. They can’t help you access anything online so, even though you are really good at maths, you can’t log on to the system to complete any of the tasks.

Imagine that your mum and dad are both key workers and you are going to school every day. You can’t concentrate on your learning because you are worried about them getting ill – you’ve heard such a lot on TV. But you don’t want them to be worried about you so you don’t tell anyone and just try and smile and look OK. They get a bit cross when your teacher feeds back that you aren’t demonstrating what you are really capable of.

Imagine that you are a young carer for your mum and, now that school is shut, you’re looking after your two younger siblings too. You don’t have time to sit and do your own learning because you are trying so hard to make sure everyone else is safe and cared for.

Imagine that the only device in the house is your dad’s mobile phone. There are four children and it is really hard to get any time on it to access any home learning. Your dad also needs it for his work. You wish you could get on and do some learning but it is impossible.

Imagine your mum is really strict about getting home learning done even though you feel really sad about missing your friends. She isn’t interested in that though, as her main concern seems to be that she doesn’t want your teacher to think she’s not doing a good enough job. You get lots of virtual Star of the Week award but, you know what? You’d rather just have cosy afternoons every now and again watching films snuggled up with your mum or go for a walk.

Imagine that your world has been turned upside down because you love school! Normally, you love learning and are enthusiastic about it but at the moment you don’t have any energy to do any because you are missing your routine, your teacher and your friends so much. You feel even worse because your teacher keeps sending emails to your parents saying you haven’t accessed the learning and they are getting cross with you.

Imagine your aunt died last week and your dad can’t stop crying and getting angry because he couldn’t go to see her in the hospital before she passed away. You’re not allowed to go to her funeral. You miss her a lot and your cousins keep Facetiming you because they are sad and scared.

Imagine you have really engaged in learning this week and have written the best story you have ever produced. But someone else has got Star of the Week.

Imagine that your mum cries every day because she has so much of her own stuff to do as well as looking after the children, that she feels inadequate because you need her help to get into the Hall of Fame and she can’t give it.

Imagine you have done all the home learning as you always do and you get Star of the Week. You wish you hadn’t, though ,because now all your friends are calling you names on the PS4.

Imagine that you have your own room and a variety of devices that you can choose to complete your learning on. Your parents have loads of time and energy to support you.  When you have finished, it is great because you chat to your friends on whatever social media platform you choose. Life is ok – it’s a bit different from normal and sometimes you are a bit worried, but usually you are good. You got Star of the Week that first week so you know you probably won’t get it again but that is alright, you will still get everything done. You’ll be ok.

When we made the decision about ten years ago as a school not to reward in this fashion, we involved the children in the discussions about it.

When we asked them what they felt about our Star of the Week Awards, they replied, ‘We know you like them!’, ‘When we get it we just know it’s because it’s our turn!’, ‘We know when we’re not going to get it, no matter how hard we work, because it isn’t our turn!’.

When we asked what they needed when they had done something they were proud of, they told us they just wanted someone whose opinion they valued to know about it and share that brilliant feeling, in the moment.

So that’s what we do. All day, every day. Online and offline. It’s personal.

Every single member of our school community is navigating their very own personal boat in this very unusual and seemingly endless storm at the moment. Surely each and everyone deserves celebrating and their individual achievements – whatever they might be – noticing.

Life isn’t a Pinterest board. It is far more gritty and complex and colourful and unpredictable and, let’s be honest, exciting than that!

We need to unite and not divide our communities right now.

And, actually, always.

Rachel Tomlinson is the headteacher of Barrowford Primary School in Lancashire and is the embodiment of our philosophy that there is always another way. The “hang ‘em and flog ‘em brigade” hate her.

Police Violence, Racism and Schools

~ Pran Patel ~ Leave a comment

TW: Police Violence.

This week has been trying, with videos of racism, discrimination and propaganda being circulated widely by the mainstream and social media. Let me say this before I continue; I do not for one second believe that this a new wave, as a man of colour I have been inundated with communications and experiences for pretty much as long as I can remember.

The narrative is now being shifted and centred to the response to racism, the violence and the deaths:

Distraction.

Riots.

Violence. 

Aggression. 

Tone.

That’s somewhere else.

This shifting is a deliberate societal reaction. When you move the subject from moral injustice, this is a distraction and distraction is a function of white supremacy (Toni Morrison). In other words, if we are challenged personally or as a society, the last thing we should be doing is questioning the means of that effort.

There is also a frequent movement from the content of the challenge to an assertion about the person challenging. We end up palming off our responsibility by concentrating on tone, manner and personality of the person. In the effort of making the dealing of the content easier because you are no longer reflecting on those uncomfortable truths.

Let us begin with the narratives.

Rioting 

Let’s start with the concept of rioting; the challenge is reframed if you have an oppressed group who are fighting for their lives at the hands of the state. When do you say enough is enough? Famously, Dr Martin Luther King Junior famous said that riots are the voices of the unheard, so I ask what are we not hearing? 

 Courtesy of the Martin Luther King Jr Centre.

Famously, Dr Martin Luther King Junior famous said that riots are the voices of the unheard, so I ask what are we not hearing? Share on X

We would do well in remembering that people have tried for millennia through articulate and respectful civility to fight this injustice. When they take to the streets through fear of losing their lives, they are branded the bad guys. Why is that? Why have we been trained to think this way? And ultimately, who does it protect? And do we teach this type of criticality in schools?

Looting. 

Let’s look at the parallels our British Empire ‘looted’ in excess of $45’000000000000000000 ($45 trillion) that’s 19 zeros if you’re counting and continued to loot priceless historical artefacts worldwide and remember none of this has been returned. Today, the descendants of those people (who were the victims) are subjected to the worst society has to offer as a consequence of the British Empire and colonialism. Those are the people we are so quick to condemn. The hypocrisy is rich.

Our British Empire ‘looted’ in excess of $45’000000000000000000 ($45 trillion) that’s 19 zeros if you’re counting and continued to loot priceless historical artefacts worldwide and remember none of this has been returned. Share on X

That $45 trillion figure doesn’t include chattel slavery either. Although, I will point out that our taxes until 2015 were used to pay reparations for slavery. Oh wait, let me be clear, those reparations were not to the enslaved people but the slave owners for their loss of stock. Yes, you read that correctly. During ‘abolition’ our country borrowed against the state to make these payments and our taxes finally repaid this debt in 2015. It is entirely possible that the lineage of people who suffered paid for their liberation. Not taught that in schools.

our taxes until 2015 were used to pay reparations for slavery. Oh wait, let me be clear, those reparations were not to the slaves but the slave owners for their loss of stock. Yes, you read that correctly. During ‘abolition’ our… Share on X

Distraction and Finger-Pointing. 

Isn’t America a terrible place, it’s racist, the devil lives there, etc. I am not disputing the institutionalise racism and inequity in the United States of America. Why is the narrative rarely about the UK? About our own society because it’s easier to point fingers and say we are better than them, well least racist is *shockingly* still racist. As the US narrative is about Police brutality and the state response. Let’s look at us closer to home. A Black person is ‘four times more likely to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act’. It’s not that simple there may be factors are in play; however, when coupled with the deaths of members of people of colour in police custody (6 out of 11 from 4/17-12/17) this isn’t looking great. With the chair of the IOPC saying  ‘We need to look closely between the relationship between ethnicity and the use of force.’  Black people are proportionately four times more likely to experience force from the police five times more likely to have AEP or taser used against them and nine times more likely for officers to have used firearms. Stop and search also disproportionately targets Black people, to the tune of 40 times more likely to stopped and searched compared to white counterparts.

our taxes until 2015 were used to pay reparations for slavery. Oh wait, let me be clear, those reparations were not to the slaves but the slave owners for their loss of stock. Yes, you read that correctly. During ‘abolition’ our… Share on X

That was pre COVID-19 and Black and Brown people are 54% more likely to be punished under coronavirus rules many of these were charged on corona laws which do not exist.   Today, The Guardian reports that the IPOC are investigating CCTV footage of a 15 years old being beaten by a police officer in the West Midlands. The same officer was caught on camera beating a Black cyclist and ripping his face mask off just the day before (he was held down by a female officer), Black men wrongly being shot, a Black man was tasered for witnessing a car accident, and it gets worse. Check the article in the references below.  

Black and Brown people are 54% more likely to be punished under coronavirus rules many of these were charged on corona laws which do not exist. Share on X

 

“There is a sense in these communities that no one is ever held accountable after deaths and serious incidents. The test for the credibility of this IOPC investigation will be if something happens as a result,” Deborah Coles, the director of Inquest. 

That quote is from the same article. This concept is prevalent as far as I know in the last 36 years, not one police officer has been charged for a death in police custody (happy to be corrected). Where is the justice?

As Educators, What Can we do? 

Step one is to acknowledge that this exists in our system, in our country and that we are a part of it. There is nothing wrong with teaching an authentic truth which highlights the atrocities of our past and present I would say that this is a significant pivot point in the upholding of institutionalised white supremacy in the UK. Alas, I have found as educators through fear, guilt and uncomfortableness we either refuse to act or recoil and double down on more of the same. 

Recognising our biases against pupils of colour are also critical with regards to behaviour as we know Black boys with SEND are 168 times more likely to be excluded when compare to a white girl without SEND. Teacher underassessment is also a pertinent point if you have a lower expectation for a pupil (at the longitudinal study say systemically we do) throughout their school life this impacts their outcomes.

I have written extensively on decolonise the curriculum, and you can find those resources on this website. I will write something for leaders too, at some point. Right now, I am exhausted, it is 2020 and people of colour have been asking for change, justice and fairness forever it feels. 

I have written extensively on decolonise the curriculum, and you can find those resources on this website. I will write something for leaders too, at some point. Right now, I am exhausted, it is 2020 and people of colour have been… Share on X

The choice is ultimately yours, advocate change, take action or understand and accept you are part of the problem.

References

  1. The whole world and the lived-in experience of the oppressed.
  2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40495539https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/may/04/stop-and-search-new-row-racial-bias
  3. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/26/bame-people-fined-more-than-white-population-under-coronavirus-law
  4. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/07/ipcc-concerned-about-rise-in-ethnic-minority-deaths-following-police-restraint
  5. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/dozens-of-brits-wrongly-charged-by-police-under-new-coronavirus-laws_uk_5eb6c529c5b6c3bd87000d9f
  6. Ministry of Justice. Exploratory analysis of 10-17 year olds in the youth secure estate by black and other minority ethnic groups, 2017
  7. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/29/iopc-launches-investigation-into-alleged-police-brutality-in-birmingham
  8. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764059/police-use-of-force-apr2017-mar2018-hosb3018.pdf