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3 Analysis of the Anti-Racist Toolkit Website
Introduction
3.1 This section analyses the anti-racist toolkit website that was designed to assist teachers with delivering anti-racist education in the classroom.
3.2 It was developed in 2001 by the Centre for Education and Race Equality in Scotland ( CERES) as part of a SEED funded project aimed at supporting teachers dealing with anti-racism within the curriculum and the school environment.
3.3 The website Educating for Race Equality - a toolkit for Scottish Teachershttp://www.antiracisttoolkit.org.uk / contains ten sections:
- background to the project;
- definitions and glossary;
- legislation;
- anti-racist education frequently asked questions ( FAQs);
- faiths and festivals;
- examples of good practice;
- dealing with RIs;
- staff development exercises;
- useful links;
- credits.
3.4 As part of this project, YCL have analysed the content of the website to assess the practicality of the information. To assist this process, a number of other websites were also examined for the purpose of comparability. These were:
- Don't Give It, Don't Take It - www.ltscotland.org.uk/antisectarian / - a relatively new site dedicated to addressing a specific equality issue;
- BRITKID - www.britkid.org / - a UK site that specifically addressed racist harassment so provided a good direct comparison;
- The Anti-bullying Network - www.antibullying.net / - a well established Scottish site tackling bullying that was regularly referred to by education specialists;
- Kidscape - www.kidscape.org.uk / - an anti-bullying site of a charitable UK organisation, established for 20 years, aimed at equipping children, parents and carers to deal with bullying.
3.5 Assessments of these sites have helped to provide a sharper focus on what could constitute good practice in this area. The next section looks specifically at the anti-racist toolkit website.
Assessment of the Anti-racist Toolkit Website
3.6 An assessment framework was developed 5 to use and apply to the anti-racist toolkit. It posed a series of questions under four distinct headings:
- purpose;
- accessibility;
- informative;
- practicality.
3.7 The framework contains 27 questions for consideration and a copy of the assessment framework used for each website can be found in Appendix C. The rest of this section looks at the four areas in turn and the performance of the toolkit website under each category.
Purpose
3.8 The site covers a wide area in addressing race equality and provides an overview into a number of aspects along with basic information about the legislation covering race equality. With such a broad remit, the site offers limited detailed insight into specific race equality areas and might benefit from a narrower focus within a school setting, particularly as it is attempting to provide practical solutions to practical issues i.e. a toolkit.
3.9 The site was produced in 2001 and there have been significant changes in the field of race relations since this time, including new requirements on schools, e.g. to have a Race Equality Policy ( REP). This site pre-dates these changes and so is no longer accurate. This impacts upon the overall reliability of the website, with a potential to reduce the credibility of the site.
3.10 The site does not actively seek comments, examples or other forms of feedback and this is likely to impact upon its potential as an interactive tool.
Accessibility
3.11 Navigation around the site is straightforward and it is easy to see at a glance the overall content of the site. However, the full menu of information available can only be viewed by section once the user is within the pages of a particular part of the site. For example, within Faith and Festivals there are eight subsections that can only be viewed once in that section.
3.12 The information is displayed clearly but there is perhaps the opportunity to vary the style and presentation of the information. For example, the inclusion of checklists for action, summaries of key points and case study boxes would be an advantage. In particular, it would be beneficial to see model policies along with sample reporting/monitoring forms on the monitoring of RIs section.
3.13 The site does helpfully refer and signpost the user to additional information and sites. However a brief synopsis of the documents that require downloading and acknowledgment that the materials have been reviewed would be very valuable so that users know that their time and effort is being invested wisely.
Informative
3.14 The anti-racist toolkit presents the information on the site in a logical and clear way and it provides an overview of a range of issues relating to race equality.
3.15 Whilst the site does provide information, it does not always offer practical assistance for teachers in sections such as the Raising Awareness About Racist Incidents - What a School Can Do, it discusses the issue but the only practical advice is to do awareness-raising and then directs the user to other research.
3.16 Within the site there are some out of date materials that should be removed and more relevant developments that are not featured or referenced. The site also takes no consistent view on what might constitute best practice. In addition, there could be more information about ways and means of implementing suggestions, e.g. how teachers should go about raising awareness of race equality within the school.
3.17 The materials that are referenced rely on a small number of sources ( e.g. City of Edinburgh Council, General Teaching Council). There is a wider range of useful research and documentation that could be referred to on a site of this nature. This includes:
- the experience of ME pupils in Scotland 6;
- the experience of "mainly white" schools in England 7;
- Promoting Race Equality: Making It Happen, HMIe;
- Research by Lemos and Crane 8.
Practicality
3.18 It is important to note that the site addresses general race equality issues; it is not dedicated to addressing RIs. In fact only one section out of twelve deals specifically with this issue. The site does address the under-reporting of incidents, defines incidents and outlines the National Priorities for Education, as well as providing examples from schools about the work they are doing under these priorities.
3.19 It might prove helpful for teachers if the links between effective responses to racist behaviour/incidents and the national priorities could be made more explicit. Classroom staff will want to know how an approach might be linked to all national priorities, particularly in cases where they have little or no experience of race equality and teach in schools with mainly white pupils.
3.20 From the perspective of the intended audience, it would be worthwhile if there was more material relating to the rationale behind the need for effective responses to RIs. This would go beyond the offence caused and look at the impact as well as the wider social context for racist behaviour and developing pupils to become active citizens in a pluralist society. If the focus remains too clearly on offensive behaviour, the audience might have greater difficulty in moving beyond questions of political correctness and the views of the ethnic majority.
3.21 For the benefit of teachers, greater clarity of the information on the site could include clear reference to the statutory obligations of authorities and how these convert to school based policies. For example, the Commission for Racial Equality's Code of Practice is a statutory code and the general duty applies to all relevant functions and policies. This may not be apparent to the teacher starting from a relatively low base of knowledge in this area.
3.22 There are a few inaccuracies that could confuse the user. There is not a legal obligation to promote anti-racism, as the site claims. Some of the terms used have little or no meaning beyond the site itself e.g. 'ethnic discrimination', 'negative discrimination' (this is not recognised terminology) and there is likely to be confusion caused by the discussion of the use and meaning of the term 'ethnic minorities'. There is little value in introducing this debatable issue in a practical tool like the website.
3.23 To increase clarity and reduce confusion a re-focus on the issue of any effective policy should be harassment on racial grounds. Any discussion about the application of this should start with the definition of racial grounds provided in the Race Relations Act. The site provides guidelines ( e.g. it refers to the need for schools to have policy and curriculum approaches) but provides no actual guidance other than reference to City of Edinburgh Council guidance and other links.
Summary
3.24 The anti-racist toolkit website provides a good basic source of information on promoting race equality and recognising racist behaviour in a school environment. While this would have been a useful tool in 2001 when it was launched it needs to be updated and expanded to take account of the current policy and legal infrastructure.
3.25 Significant changes have taken place in the race equality arena and these are not reflected in the site which leaves significant sections out of date and potentially confusing.
3.26 The role and purpose of the site is stated within the introductory pages. However, further clarity is needed as to the objectives of the website and whether it should:
- signpost users;
- collate guidance;
- identify good practice;
- provide a practical approach.
3.27 Assuming all these objectives are met, the site would require considerable reworking. In addition, the site would benefit from the inclusion of worked study examples for self-learning or case studies designed to illustrate a point.
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