I would like to start this post by addressing the segment from Channel 4. While the “exercise” effectively illustrates levels of discrimination and privilege, its approach is undeniably crude and divisive. This is evident not only in the visible upset of the participating children but also in the polarized reactions from viewers in the comments section. The exercise’s shock value risks overshadowing the emotional and social well-being of developing children, potentially damaging friendships and causing confusion or distress. This approach reminds me of early scientific experiments, which, though often groundbreaking, were conducted in ways that were ethically questionable and sometimes harmful to participants. While the intention to educate is clear, it’s crucial that such lessons are handled with sensitivity, ensuring that they foster understanding without inflicting emotional harm. Additionally, given the deeply complex and nuanced nature of race and privilege, the discussion should be handled with more care and empathy. This video risks overshadowing the message by drawing attention to its confrontational approach rather than fostering meaningful understanding.
This video questions and even criticizes the woke movement, suggesting that there is little evidence of systemic racism in universities. While the lecturers appear cautious, cagey, and even arrogant, they do not fully reflect this sentiment. In contrast, interviews with students and footage of protests reveal a different reality. Unlike the previous video, this one adopts a more considerate and thoughtful approach, allowing viewers to see for themselves how structures of discrimination are deeply embedded in our society. Despite its somewhat antagonistic stance towards the woke movement, the video ultimately highlights systemic flaws, perhaps unintentionally supporting the movement’s arguments.
Asif Sadiq’s speaks about how a lot of diversity trainings are either surface level or projected from a particular point of view -usually Western – which does not necessarily embed other interpersonal dynamics correctly. It is important to fully understand and recognize unique identities and to be able to empathize with others and understand their points of view and what topics like inclusion mean to them. Another great point he makes is the concept that diversity inclusion is not global and should be addressed locally to the given country/community. This is very fascinating as it also reflects Steven Johnson’s principles of emergence. His book explores how local interactions and simple rules can lead to complex, organized behavior at a larger scale. Just as Johnson emphasizes the importance of local actions over global directives in self-organizing systems, Sadiq suggests that diversity and inclusion efforts need to be tailored to the specific cultural and social contexts of each community to be truly effective. (I will be using this relationship for my Intervention/reflective report to in attempt to create a framework for inclusive environment in the classrooms).
Lastly, these sentiments are echoed in the academic works of Bradbury (2020) and Garrett (2024), which critique and explore how racism shapes educational outcomes and career trajectories. Bradbury (2020) employs a Critical Race Theory framework to analyze assessment policy (Baseline Assessment) in England, highlighting how it disproportionately disadvantages bilingual learners and perpetuates systemic inequalities. I can personally attest to this, as when I arrived in the UK and began my GCSEs, I was automatically placed in the bottom Math set despite having considerably advanced math skills.
Similarly, Garrett (2024) explores how racism influences the career trajectories of racialized minority PhDs in UK higher education. The study reveals that racialized individuals frequently encounter barriers in their academic careers due to ingrained biases and discriminatory practices, which limit their opportunities and shape their imagined futures. Both academic journals expose the flaws in the educational system that reinforce systemic inequalities, emphasizing the need for more inclusive and equitable approaches in education and career development.
References:
Channel 4. (2020) The School That Tried to End Racism. [Online}. Youtube. 9 September. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I3wJ7pJUjg
Orr, J. (2022) Revealed: The charity turning UK universities woke. The Telegraph [Online]. Youtube. 9 September. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRM6vOPTjuU
Sadiq, A. (2023) Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Learning how to get it right. TEDx [Online}. Youtube. 9 September. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR4wz1b54hw
Johnson, S. (2002). Emergence : the connected lives of ants, brains, cities and software. London: Penguin.
Bradbury, A., 2020. A critical race theory framework for education policy analysis: The case of bilingual learners and assessment policy in England. Race Ethnicity and Education, 23(2), pp.241-260 (Accessed 9 September)
Garrett, R. (2024). Racism shapes careers: career trajectories and imagined futures of racialised minority PhDs in UK higher education. Globalisation, Societies and Education, pp.1–15. (Accessed 9 September)
4 responses to “Task 3 [Race]”
Zhan this is an excellent post with good analysis and reflection on the Sadiq, A. (2023) Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Learning how to get it right. TEDx [Online} film and the issues facing diversity training, a lot of it coming from the viewpoint that a lot of it is at surface level, and as Sadiq phrases it, the dominant majority. I really like how you linked this to Steven Johnson’s Principles of Emergence, and how small actions can lead to change on a larger scale, where actions should be delivered at a local level to improve the quality and impact of the training provided.
This outlook and approach are brought into your thoughts on your intervention and your concern with encouraging students to work with others from different backgrounds and identities. This is something that I too have been considering, especially in encouraging collaboration and trying to break cliques that may form, particularly with students who only work with those from a similar background. I’m looking forward to seeing how you put this into practice and it would be good to compare approaches to this.
Thanks for the comment, Darren, this is an interesting one – when I was writing my blog posts I had discussion about them with my friends and colleagues, and this is the topic that got the most attention. It seems like a lot of people recognize this issue and would like to contribute in solving it. My focus comes from Asif Sadiq’s point which is reflected in Steven Johnson book- about keeping the solutions local- and Steven also expands on different factors/principles that foster communities, so I would like to use that as basis for my research. Additionally, I have conducted a questionnaire, I tried to gather a diverse spread of opinions from, alumni, technicians, academic support and others to get a wider understanding of how we can improve the integration in an inclusive way.
Wonderful insightful. A real strength here is the emphasis on tailoring diversity and inclusion efforts to local contexts, inspired by Asif Sadiq’s TED Talk. This approach resonates well with Steven Johnson’s principles of emergence, suggesting that localised actions can lead to more meaningful and sustainable outcomes. I like the ideas around integrating students – early interventions and diverse grouping techniques. Like so many great ideas and possibilities around these topics, I wonder how we might measure/capture the effectiveness of these interventions in promoting inclusivity and reducing xenophobia?
Thank you for your response, Jesse. Hopefully the connection that I made has some merit, as it is based on nature and the way things develop naturally. At this point, I am not sure if this intervention is measurable in a tangible way, but I would like to integrate something that seems beneficial and more inclusive based on our resources and my experience.