Ankhara Lloyd -Hunte, Diversity and Equality Associate

Teachers from BME Backgrounds and Career Progression

Results from a survey carried out by Powney et al (2003) indicated that

52% of classroom teachers from Black and other Minority Ethnic Backgrounds (BME) remain as classroom teachers compared with 29% of white women and 35% of white men.

cited in Tony Bush et al (2005)

Career Prospects

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

Senior Leadership and Ethnicity: 2011

Group BME % Nationally

Nos.White

Nos.BME

Teachers 5.7% 465,188 32,730

Headteachers 2.3% 23,897 564

Deputy and Assistant Heads

3.4% 44,421 1837

SWC 2011

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

Headship and Ethnicity: 2012

Region BME %

Nationally 2.5%

East Midlands 2 %

West Midlands 3%

East of England 1%SWC 2012

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

On your table identify what you see as the top 3 reasons why there are so few heads from BME backgrounds

3 minutes

Barriers

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

• Lack of confidence

• Geographical Restrictions

• Negative Beliefs

• Lack of clarity

• Lack of preparation

Internal Barriers

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

1. How much thought have you put into what would be the ideal next post for you?

2. Why do you want to be promoted?

3. How focused and committed are you?

4. What is your success strategy?

Internal Barriers: Lack of Clarity

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

1.What level of preparation do you anticipate as being necessary for your next step promotion?

2.You are the CEO of Me, Myself and I incorporated - What is your marketing strategy?

Internal Barriers: Lack of Preparation

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

Marketing

Negative Marketing Positive Marketing

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

• Disillusionment • Concerns regarding work-life

balance• Lack of information and knowledge• Lack of career planning• Racism unrecognised

Internal Barriers

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

Disillusionment

‘I left that school because I felt undervalued [...] and not even being offered promotion, not even being suggested. You’ve been there such a long time; you’ve got all these skills, why don’t you go for this job? I don’t remember ever having a conversation in all the schools I’ve been in. I never remember ever having a conversation anywhere, regardless of my qualifications, in any of those schools.’

Black Teachers in London (2006) Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

1.Indentify the three toughest internal barriers for you

2.Share one of your barriers with a talk partner

3.Identify two solutions

Internal Barriers

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

BME teachers • in the toughest schools• given the toughest classes• more likely to fail or burn out• Not fully supported school

leaders

External Barriers

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

• Lack of support

• Discrimination

• Exclusion

• Marginalisation

• Overseas qualifications not recognised

• Cultural dynamics

External Barriers

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

• years of being overlooked• repeated “failure” at interview• Lack of fair and accurate interview feedback• Doubts about experience and or

qualification

“You apply for something and you don’t get

it so you don’t apply for a while. You don’t want to go back into it.”

Black Teachers in London (2006),

Lack of Confidence to Apply for Senior Posts

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

Concern for Work/Life Balance

•BME families tend to be larger than their white counterparts•Children in BME families tend to be younger than for their white counterparts•Gender roles traditional for many BME families•50% African-Caribbean households single female

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

Lack of Head teacher support for career progression can take many forms including

– Not being given acting up opportunities– Restricted access to CPD– Outright blocking to attending CPD– Refusal to sign NPQH form– Refusal to recommend for threshold– Telling an aspiring head they’re not ready without making a considered assessment-

External Barriers: Lack of SMT support

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

Line manger role pivotal in providing first leadership experiences via

• Being delegated stretch tasks• Recommendations to SMT for acting up opportunities• Recommendations to SMT for substantive posts• Support and encouragement around job applications

External Barriers: Lack of Line Manager Support

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

LA support is also critical to the development of BME leaders.

“Most support came from my General Inspector who was very clear about issues of race – felt able to discuss issue with him that I would otherwise have kept to myself. This was very empowering and also allowed me to depersonalise issues and deal with them in a seemingly professional way- despite hurting inside.”( female Asian primary)

Bush et al (2005)

External Enablers Lack of LA Support

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

External Barriers: Discrimination at Interview

• Most governing bodies (GBs) not racially and culturally diverse

• Some GBs fearful of parental response

• Tendency to play it safe• Giving vague feedback

often reported

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

External Barriers: Exclusion from informal networks

“As a Muslim who goes to pubs and clubs I can get comments from Muslim colleagues and friends. Not in terms of my career progression, but certainly makes you feel … a lot of work needs to be done in communities to respect individuals as individuals.” Tony Bush et al (2005)

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

External Barriers: Career Marginalisation

• EMA/ equal opportunities/community cohesion posts are places where BME educators most likely to be and most easily promoted

• EMA post often most vulnerable

• EMA posts tend to be lower status posts

• BME teachers over-represented in pastoral roles

• BME teachers under-represented in curriculum roles

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

• No qualification equivalence agreements

• long route to QTS

• 20 years experience and more not recognised

External Barriers: Overseas Qualifications not recognised

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

• Bespoke BME Personal development

• Bespoke BME Leadership Development Programmes

• Coaching and Mentoring

• Career Guidance

• Access to local and national BME educational networks

• Opportunities for shadowing successful BME leaders and

• Early Access to Leadership Stretch Opportunities

Solutions

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

– Ofsted Shadowing

– Aspire to Senior Leadership

– BME Headteacher Internship Programme

– BME Deputy Headteacher Internship Programme

– MA in Education and Leadership

– NPQSL etc

Solutions

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

• Range of posts

• Range of contexts

• Range of pathways

Solutions: Early Career Guidance

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

• Training followed by coaching yields best results ( Leadership training essential)

• Return on investment (ROI) established in business world

• Coaching and mentoring skills central to effective leadership and management

Solutions:Coaching and Mentoring

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte

Ankhara Lloyd-Hunte