Our executive group members undertook 3 x 2 hours sessions over a 6 week period starting in January 2021.
The sessions was strategic and high level, giving a broad picture of the current national context in relation to race and ethnicity and included tools for EG to use at their level. The programme was contextualised and took into account recent activity from staff and student’s networks i.e. call for action/demands after the death of George Floyd that EG needed to respond to.
The sessions covered the following areas:
1. Where have we been?
· Scene setting and expectations of the group.
· Context setting: what’s the conversation going on nationally? In the HE sector?
· Sharing concerns and challenges of talking about race and having these conversations
· Exploring privilege and white privilege
~ Mid-session tasks~ The group will be set a video/TED talk to watch and an article to read
2. Where are we now?
· Reflection on session 1 and mid-session tasks
· Micro-aggressions and language. How do we spot it? How do we challenge and change? Practical tips for constructive challenge and how to role model this as a leader.
~ Mid-session tasks~ The group will be set a video/TED talk to watch and an article to read
3. Where do we go next?
· Reflection on the journey so far
· How to start conversations about race – including rehearsing starting the conversation
The sessions were well attended with the majority of EG members attending all 3 sessions. Evaluation feedback was requested at the end of each workshop and the next workshop was designed based on the comments and suggestions received following an iterative approach. The first 2 workshops were mostly about building basic knowledge and understanding around the challenges surrounding race equality whereas the last workshop was a lot more practical with the group discussing how they would respond to the call to action from staff and students. A number of “next steps” were agreed with the consultant and a follow-up workshop is planned for 2021-22.