8 thoughts on “Blog Post 3: evaluating approaches to addressing racism”

1. Thank you Dayna for your thoughts in this blog.

   Your reflection on the UAL’s EDI report and the persistent attainment gap at CSM highlights the ongoing challenges in achieving equity in educational outcomes.
   Your critique of diversity training, drawing from Asif Sadiq’s Ted talk, resonates strongly and your personal experience with UAL’s anti-racism workshop further illustrates this issue.

   I definitely agree with your feelings about the Channel 4 video – it seems that many of us feel the same way! Your suggestion for a more inclusive approach, involving diverse facilitators, is a thoughtful solution that could enhance the effectiveness of such exercises. I commented this on Sid’s blog, there is an alternative to the traditional privilege walk by Dr. Jane Bryan, who proposes a version of the privilege walk where rather than asking participants to ‘step ahead’ the idea is that who suffer disadvantage ‘step into the circle’ so that they are still ‘together’ rather than being left behind because of their disadvantage. There’s a video example here: https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/step-inside-the-circle/

   Your critique of the Telegraph film about Advance HE’s impact is well-reasoned, particularly regarding the positionality of the presenter James Orr. This highlights an issue in how discussions about race and privilege are often framed and led in media and academic contexts. I like the quote you highlighted from Sadiq – about true change going beyond the boxes and I think this unit in particular has left me thinking about how we can design initiatives that encourage genuine, deep-rooted change rather than box-ticking exercises.

   Given your role in object-based learning education, I wonder if you’ve considered how you might incorporate some of these insights into your own practice? Are there ways to use objects or artefacts to facilitate discussions about race and privilege that avoid some of the pitfalls you’ve identified in other approaches?

   Best, Yasi

   Reply

   1. Hi Yasi,

      Thank you for reading my blog and writing a thought-provoking comment.

      I love the alternative privilege walk you introduced our group to. Step into the Circle is a much more inclusive and effective approach to illustrating systemic racism. I wonder how many educators use it in their teaching practice.

      To answer your question, yes, we actively seek to acquire objects that have potential to spark important group discussions and critical thinking about issues, such as racism. Here is a link to a garment I frequently use in teaching by a talented Black student, called Angelica Ellis, which represents her personal response to the Black Lives Matter movement that followed the murder of George Floyd: Full Metal – Results – Search Objects – UAL (arts.ac.uk). It is a powerful object for storytelling and enables me to facilitate difficult discussions with students in a warm and safe way.

      Best wishes,
      Dayna

      Reply

2. Hi Dayna, thank you for sharing. I agree with Yasi that I found your UAL data collection on the attainment gap at CSM very useful, which you seem to imply is a direct result of the lack of B.A.M.E staff employed without explicitly saying so. Your observation is powerful and I encourage you to speak it loudly and clearly as it seems to connect with your personal experiences as well as your comments on the Channel 4 and Telegraph online videos – believing the individuals leading the exercise or conversation would be better suited if they represented the racial content being explored. This relates to Bradbury’s article which offer’s practical ways of thinking how to approach these situations that I found intriguing and I wondered if you had any thoughts on these? While I agree it is imperative to have greater representation of diversity in teaching, the position of defaulting to a marginalised person directly impacted by inequality to address inequality is a problem that interests me. While on the one hand it seems the sensible thing to do, it is also a complex issue raised by Kwame Anthony Appiah TED (2014) from the previous workshop resources, where it perpetuates the problem – deferring responsibility to others in order to avoid absorbing the implications of inequality by those with the most to gain from it. I think we can make a connection between Appiah’s comment on not defaulting to the marginalised to “teach” white people about racism/faith/disability etc and that there needs to be proactive learning. I think a curious aspect of the Telegraph Online video was how it used voices of male academics of colour (Ahmed and Harinam) to enact support of the male white academic voice (Orr). This and Harinam’s comments represent an aspect that “undoes” the argument for forefronting individuals based on their race/faith/disability, as it is Harinam who argues against inequality at Cambridge based on reductive statistics. I’ve been reading the short essay Notes on Queer Formalism and it makes a powerful point and asks apt questions that I wonder if we might apply to our conversations on race/faith/disability? I’m not sure if I agree with it but it does propose something worth considering, ‘Is it morally tenable to discuss queer formalism if and only if the historian or critic is queer? I hope not. Am I only writing this because I myself am gay? I have no privileged access to issues of gender and sexuality. No one does, irrespective of one’s gender or sexual expression.’ I wonder how we might consider this in relation to our own contexts?

   Reply

   1. Hi Michelle,

      Thanks for your considered comment. It made me reflect further on what I wrote, as well as what our blog group wrote in their respective posts.

      I do feel quite strongly that the attainment gap between white and ethnic minority students is largely attributed to the lack of diversity in our teaching staff. I joined our PgCert colleague, George Barker’s, panel discussion with some Black students studying Fashion at CSM, at the UAL Education Conference last week to hear their lived experiences and what they want from their tutors.

      The students touched on another point you made, which is that it is not their responsibility to educate their white tutors. They can work with them by helping them understand their concepts and research, but they will not work for them. A level of curiosity and empathy is required from all staff in order to bridge the gap.

      I also appreciate what you wrote about the Queer essay you are reading and think you made a valuable point about linking it to our discussions of race, disability, and faith. I would encourage you to follow this intersectional approach in your blog and intervention.

      Best wishes,
      Dayna

      Reply

3. Dear Dayne
   Thank you for your blog post 3
   I really enjoyed reading your evaluation in addressing racism. You refer to the Cambridge Dictionary of the Definition of racism which is a good starting point to discuss this very sensitive subject. The definition states: “policies, behaviours, rules, etc, that result in a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race.” I liked that you have highlighted the meaning of the word as a starting point to your blog-so that we are focused on how higher education is affected by its meaning and to start the discourse to resolve it.
   Your reference to UAL’s latest EDI report that statistically shows the disparages, between white and students of colour. You point to the fact that this is made worse by the 23% of academic staff at UAL identify themselves as Black, Asian, Minority, Ethnic. I am hoping that UAL continues its drive to improve on these figures, especially the recruitment of academic staff of colour as this will reassure students that their work will be judged fairly (with cultural understanding and perspective), encourage students to engage in their education and challenge and correct any biases that are embedded in the institution.
   You reference the TedxCroydon talk about diversity, equity and inclusion. Asif Sadiq (2023) presented the argument that diversity training is often biased, ‘constructed stereotypes and Eurocentric-superior ideologies with fixed forms of teaching and learning. I sense your passion on this sensitive point that you want to challenge, UAL’s anti-racism workshops does consider the spectrum of minority ethnic groups and put in systems to recognise and tackle the racist effects.
   I am conflicted in how to confront racism within my practice at Central Saint Martins that also effects technical/academic staff and facility teams.
   I have read the blogs of our fellow colleagues and there has been a common reaction to the Channel 4 video about white ‘privilege walk’ has influenced all of us; sharing the same consensus that it was very difficult to watch and that they used children to demonstrate disadvantages that racism inflicts. It is a powerful tool to use, and I agree with you, your concerns that one student who is white feeling uncomfortable and isolated; saying, and I quote: ‘Henry, how you feeling being right at the very front? Feels quite weird because if you think about it, I think all of us should be at the same point, but sadly the questions, the ways that they were put didn’t favour some people which I think is quite unfair?
   I think your approach to have a fuller understanding of racism-should have had a teacher of colour asking the questions and another teacher consoling students’ reaction to their ‘racial position’ on the field.
   Maybe they should have created fictional characters to demonstrate the effects of the ‘privilege walk’, what do you think?

   This is a very good blog that provokes further discussion.

   Kind regards
   Michael

   Reply

   1. Hi Michael,

      Thank you for your meaningful comment.

      I am happy to hear you liked my approach of starting my blog with the Cambridge Dictionary’s definition of racism. I felt it was important to contextualise my writing.

      I understand why you feel conflicted as to how to approach confronting racism within your practice at CSM, but I don’t think you should put all of the responsibility on your shoulders. Perhaps, you could start by leading curious discussions like we had had in our workshops with your team?

      I think your suggestion to use fictional characters in the Privilege Walk is a great way to prevent ostracising minority students. Although, it is the responsibility of staff to read the room and support students who represent those minority fictional characters that would be left behind.

      Best wishes,
      Dayna

      Reply

4. Hi Dayna,

   It was really interesting to read your blog post on race.

   I think highlighting the really stark attainment gaps at UAL is a pertinent way of pointing to the existence structural racism.

   Dayna’s response to Asif Sadiq’s video, by referring to their own experience of UAL’s anti-racism workshop as, not ‘consider[ing] the spectrum of minority ethnic groups who also suffer the consequences of institutional racism,’ rightly questions the way that anti-racism training is framed and by doing this in the context of UAL points to a failure to treat structural racism in the University setting. I agree that the dominant perspective of education ‘is Eurocentric and drawn from dominant cultures.’ Samantha Renke’s criticism of the medical model of disability for causing a biased, negative portrayal of disability in society highlights the effect narratives, models and frameworks can have on how we perceive others’ experiences. I agree that group and experiential learning are valuable ways of addressing diversity.

   I also agree that the Channel 4 video felt cruel, I wrote something similar in my blog. It felt as if the shock tactic was aimed at the audience, not only the young participants, but ethically speaking treating young people that way was unfair and troubling to watch.

   I agree with Dayna that ‘it would have been more credible and impactful if [the video on AdvanceHE] was led by a presenter of colour with lived experience of the “institutional racism” referenced by the co-chair of the Race Equality Governance Committee’. The use of the white privileged presenter seemed intentional though to create an ideologically-weighted argument against the Race Equality Charter from the perspective of valuing ‘free speech’. For me, the video was a conservatively framed criticism of AdvanceHE’s work. I agree with Dayna that the Race Equality Charter seems like a good aim for Universities to reach but she makes a good point about the use of an award being potentially superficial.

   Thanks again for your post, it’s been really interesting to respond to.

   Best wishes,

   Sid

   Reply

   1. Hi Sid,

      Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on my blog post. I am glad to hear so many of the points I made resonated with you.

      I think you are right in questioning if the positionality of the interviewer for the Telegraph film was intentional in order to create an ideologically argument against the Race Equality Charter. The film could have been impactful, but the unsuitable interviewer limited its potential to achieve that.

      Best wishes,
      Dayna

      Reply