Teaching in a Diverse Scotland - Partnerships and Professional Learning

Our Teacher Education Partnership places high value on promoting diversity and inclusion across the broad scope of our work together.

This academic year (2021/22) we have been collaborating to move forward our response to the landmark Teaching in A Diverse Scotland report (Scottish Government, 2018) authored by Prof Rowena Arshad and consider the progress made and areas still to be developed in the follow up report from March 2021. The original Teaching in A Diverse Scotland (TIDS) report outlined the significant issues of attracting and retaining Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) teachers in our profession.  The data shows a stark picture and sets an ambitious but urgent target of ensuring that the teaching profession has at least 4% BAME teachers, matching the representation in the wider Scottish population.

Access to promotion and representation in headship of BAME educators was also a key issue identified in both reports.  Our Masters Level Partnership Group (MLPG) as part of the Teacher Education Partnership has an important role to play within this issue as we deliver the Into Headship qualification, which is now a requirement for all permanently appointed head teachers in Scotland. Our newly formed MLPG TIDS working group has been taking action in this area over the course of this academic year.  The working group aims to offer relevant support and opportunities to aspirant BAME leaders. One marker of the work of this group is that we would see an increase in aspirant BAME leaders offered places to take part on the Into Headship programme within 2-3 years.

To support this aim, the working group is taking forward 3 main strands of activity:

• Establishment of a network with and for BAME colleagues linked to Moray House School of Education and Sport & our partnership local authorities, taking positive action to offer places on the next recruitment cycle of courses within the MEd in Leadership and Learning’s Post Graduate Certificates: Core Processes & Middle Leadership and Management
• MLPG group members will undertake some shared professional learning in race equality and anti-racist education, working collegiately to interrogate and consider their leadership development professional learning programmes both at local authority and university level. 
• To host a series of professional learning events for the wider system exploring issues of race equality in education, anti-racism and diversity in the teaching profession.

The first professional learning event took place in February 2022 and focussed on the impact of the initial TIDS report, three years on.  The event was a panel discussion with the author of the original report and chair of the TIDS working group, Prof Rowena Arshad CBE and other key members of the TIDS working group.  To learn more about this event and access audio and video recordings please use the link below: 

Teaching in a Diverse Scotland Blog

The working group is meeting regularly and will review progress and plan appropriate next steps for 2022/23.