ACT submission to Commission of Race and Ethnic Disparities

ACT and The Commission of Race and Ethnic Disparities

Last week ACT submitted to the call for evidence by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities. Our submission focussed on the role of citizenship education in relation to one question: How should the school curriculum adapt in response to the ethnic diversity of the country?

Today we are sharing our response which includes four recommendations:

I.    Ofsted need to undertake an urgent programme of inspections into the curriculum including ‘deep dives’ into Citizenship and other subjects to assess the impact of teaching race equality and ethnic diversity and promoting social cohesion.
II.    DFE should update curriculum guidance for subjects highlighting where Citizenship contributes to teaching about the diversity of the UK and important concepts relating to politics, justice, equality, and rights for all citizens.
III.    All initial teacher training courses should require a module on Citizenship education to support new teachers in developing their subject knowledge and pedagogy in relation to teaching about  and promoting equality, diversity, and citizenship.
IV.    DFE should provide support to subject associations including ACT to develop CPD for existing teachers on adapting, updating, and diversifying the curriculum to reflect the changing ethnic diversity of the country, the importance of teaching equality and promoting social cohesion.

Our work on promoting diversity and equality continues through the development of a new CPD course: Beyond Black History Month – teaching race  and equality in citizenship. The next edition of our journal, ‘Teaching Citizenship’ will also focus on this theme.

You can read more about the Commission and its work here