Anti-racist training for education staff in Wales

As Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic histories and experiences become a mandatory part of the Curriculum for Wales, education staff are to be offered free diversity and anti-racist professional learning.

The Welsh Government has pledged to create an Anti-Racist Wales by 2030, which calls for zero tolerance of racism in all its guises. To do this, its education system must broaden pupils’ understanding and knowledge of the diverse cultures which have built our past and present.

Wales’ first Black headteacher, Betty Campbell MBE, pioneered a curriculum which included Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic histories. One of her former pupils, Chantelle Haughton, Principal Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at Cardiff Metropolitan University, is driving a national approach to empower all educational staff with the knowledge, skills, empathy, and confidence to celebrate and value diversity.

Resources, training, and guidance for educational professionals are available in one place through the DARPL virtual campus. This progressive project is led by a coalition of partners with professional and lived experience to support those working in education to understand and develop anti-racist practice.

The grass roots of the project were sewn earlier this year, with anti-racist professional learning for school-based practitioners. From the autumn term, provision will extend to early years and further education practitioners. A new anti-racist professional learning module for senior education leaders will launch in the Spring.

DARPL has been fast-tracked as one of the new professional learning areas supported by Welsh Government as part of our recently announced National Professional Learning Entitlement. The training is crucial to delivering the Curriculum for Wales and achieving high standards and aspirations for all.