Anti-Racism Conference, July 2024

Conference for schools: Reckoning with Race: Anti-racism in schools - pain, perspectives, and possibilities. 
 

Call for papers

The murder of George Floyd in July 2020 shone a brighter spotlight on the vexed reality of racism around the globe. The salience of structural and institutional racism, particularly pushed to the fore by anti-racist activists globally, resulted in a new wave of protest and advocacy. Whilst much has been achieved in education, the reality is that the pervasive force of racism and its output - racial inequalities - remain ubiquitous. Schools commit to promoting racial justice and to advocate anti-racism but do not always know what to do or how to go about a practical implementation of anti-racist policies and practices. 

As institutions which often replicate and maintain structures of power, schools are critical in the struggle against racism. Schools can offer opportunities, spaces and education to address racism. 

The Research School at St Claudine’s Catholic School for Girls, London NW10, has been working towards developing an anti-racist education for the past 3 years. We strive to live our lives as an ethical community committed to challenging any form of racial discrimination in our school and the education that we offer. Reckoning with racism takes courage. We choose not to accept structural inequalities as they exist in society, but to accept the responsibility for changing them.

This national conference aims to bring together those working in education who are committed to anti-racism but grappling with key issues, and those seeking to develop and embed school cultures in which anti-racism can thrive. 
 

The conference title is: 'Reckoning with Race: Anti-racism in schools - pain, perspectives, and possibilities.' 
 

Aims 

This conference aims to:

• Promote a deeper understanding of key issues in education relating to anti- racism

• Evaluate key developments in promoting anti-racism in schools since 2020

• Bring together a community of thinkers, researchers and educators to advance, both practically and ethically, anti-racism in schools 

• Strengthen and renew the commitment to anti-racism in schools 
   

Call for papers 

We welcome the contributions, research perspectives, philosophies and teachings from educators, practitioners and academic researchers. 

We warmly welcome school leaders, teachers and academics who wish to attend and participate in this gathering of minds, in what we hope will be a time for deep reflection and renewed action. 

Confirmed speakers: 

Jeffrey Boakye is an ex-teacher turned writer, speaker, broadcaster and educator, with a particular interest in issues surrounding race, masculinity, education and popular culture. Jeffrey was an English teacher for 15 years and now provides training for schools, universities and businesses on race, identity, masculinity and education. He is also Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Manchester’s Institute for Education.

Jeffrey publishes a very popular Substack newsletter - Are You Sitting Comfortably?.

Jeffrey co-hosts BBC Radio 4’s double award winning Add to Playlist. He received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Leicester in January 2023.

Annie Tagoe  is a British track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter.She was chosen to represent Great Britain at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August 2023. She is also a model and has candidly spoken about her experiences of racism.  Annie is an alumna of our school.
 

Date:
Friday 5th July 2024 from 10:00 am to 4.00 pm.  

Venue: 
St. Claudine's Catholic School for Girls 
Crownhill Road
London 
NW10 4EP
www.stclaudines.co.uk

Cost:
The cost of the conference per ticket is £75 and £50 for concessions. 

Tickets can be purchased via Eventbrite here

Submitting a paper

Speakers wishing to present a paper as part of the shorter sessions of parallel papers, please send a title and abstract of no more than 300 words along with a professional biography of up to 200 words, to researchschool@stclaudines.co.uk  by Wednesday 26th March 2024.  If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.