Question reference: S5W-30065
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 19 June 2020
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Current status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 July 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what professional learning is available to established teachers regarding how to (a) address any issues of racism and discrimination in their schools and (b) teach the social contexts of BAME people's experiences, and what information it has regarding the take-up of this, and what support is offered by Education Scotland.
Answer
As set out in the General Teaching Council for Scotland’s (GTCS) Standards for Professional Registration, all teachers in Scotland must have respect for social and cultural diversity at the heart of what they do, engage learners in real world issues and help them to embrace equality and social justice. The National Improvement Hub, managed by Education Scotland, already offers a range of materials to support professional learning and school improvement.
To support this, Education Scotland are developing new professional learning activities with a particular focus on diversity, anti-racist education and culturally responsive pedagogy.
In addition, Education Scotland are also currently developing a race equality resource in collaboration with partners BEMIS and CRER. This is an outcome of the work of the race equality resource group which met as part of delivering the Race Equality Action Plan. This resource will comprise of a set of guiding principles for promoting race equality in education settings and a series of case exemplars.
Curriculum mapping to support a whole school approach to race equality education is at the early stages of development.