Whole school approach to racism and racist incidents: guidance

Targeted responses: Responding to racism and racist incidents experienced by school staff

A whole school approach to anti racism should include acknowledgement that staff may be affected by racism in the workplace, and measures put in place to ensure that any incidents will be dealt with robustly. The person displaying the behaviour could be another staff member, a young person or a member of the wider school community.

In line with ‘Teaching in a Diverse Scotland’, the term ‘minority ethnic’ is used to describe staff from an adversely racialised background in this chapter.

Why it is important to tackle racism and racist incidents amongst staff

Everyone has a right to live free from discrimination, all the time, whether they’re at work or at school. Experiencing racism or a racist incident at work can have a long-lasting negative impact upon an individual’s mental health, as well as their sense of safety and wellbeing at work. Current evidence shows that racism and racist incidents against staff are key barriers to the successful recruitment, retention and progression of minority ethnic staff.

Legislative protections for staff

Schools and Local Authorities, as employers, have a duty of care towards employees, a responsibility to foster good relations between groups, and to tackle discrimination. Relevant legislation includes:

• Human Rights Act 1998
• Equality Act 2010
• Public Sector Equality Duty
• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
• Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021

What to do when experiencing or witnessing racism against staff

All reports of racism or racist incidents made by a staff members should be treated seriously and with sensitivity. If a staff member has concerns, they should speak to their line manager in the first instance, or another member of senior management team.

It is important that all staff feel safe, supported and confident to report any prejudice-based incidents. Schools should have a clear, well-communicated procedure for steps to take following reports of a prejudice-based incident such as a racist incident. This may include:

• appropriate support offered to the staff member in the immediate aftermath and in longer-term
• a process to record and monitor incidents experienced by staff members
• a risk assessment conducted and discussed with the staff member in relation to what mitigations or preventative steps to be taken by the employer to reduce or eliminate the risk of reoccurrence
• consideration of the response to the person who has exhibited racist behaviour
• provision made for review of the risk assessment, and the effectiveness of the measures adopted

Where possible, those reporting racism should be kept appropriately informed about the outcome of any investigation and how the matter was dealt with.

Often, those directly affected by racism may feel uncomfortable reporting the incident themselves, and may wish to involve a colleague, trade union member or member of Human Resources for support.

Actions for Local Authorities and school leadership

As part of a whole school approach, school leaders should foster a culture where:

• racist attitudes towards staff are always challenged
• staff are encouraged and supported to report racism that they experience
• minority ethnic staff are not expected to lead anti-racism work
• Staff witnessing racist incidents are encouraged to offer support to anyone affected and to report the incident as soon as possible

Line managers and senior leaders should understand how to support an individual experiencing racism and the procedures for reporting and dealing with the incident. Schools should recognise that staff affected by past or current experiences of racism may require measures to support them, for example in relation to any current safety concerns or mental health and wellbeing issues. It’s important to work with staff to decide what measures may be of help, as a trauma-informed, supportive, and empowering approach is most likely to promote safety and recovery. This includes being aware of different supports that can be offered to staff such as special leave, flexible working, employee assistance programme, or safety planning.

Local authorities and schools should have clear and robust policies and procedures related to preventing, dealing with, and recording, instances of racism and discrimination against staff. It is vital that this is clearly communicated to staff members. School leaders should ensure that all staff have access to information about school and local authority policies and other relevant support services if they experience a racist incident.

Reported incidents should be closely monitored in order to identify trends or emerging issues. This should be used to inform school improvement plans and further engagement. Dealing with an instance of racism against a staff member should also be treated as a health and safety issue and relevant local authority procedures followed.

Supporting adversely racialised staff

School leaders should be mindful that past experiences of racism may be distressing, and talking about racism as part of whole-school actions to address racism and racist behaviour can bring up difficult feelings for those with personal experience. To manage this, schools should:

• inform all staff of training sessions ahead of time, acknowledging the potential impact on staff affected and reminding staff of support options
• allow staff to determine their own engagement with anti-racism work in school, for example by inviting staff to volunteer rather than appointing them
• make it clear that staff affected by racism should not feel any pressure to share their experiences
• outlining what steps a member of staff could take if they have any concerns.