headteacher-secondary

30 teachwire.net someone from a similar background and realising what it’s possible for them to do.” The be-all and end-all None of the three, however, have any explicit policy on the make-up of their teaching staff, their sentiments largely echoing each others'. “What's more important is that they're being taught by a good teacher,” asserts Birbalsingh. Similarly, Ismail observes that, “For me, whilst diversity is important, the first thing is having talented people. I think sometimes we can get caught up with diversity for diversity’s sake, and miss out on talented people as a consequence.” Bergin meanwhile concludes that, “You can't just throw somebody in, or presume they think [ethnicity] is the be-all and end-all of who they are, because it won't be. Every person is different.” Bergin goes on to suggest that governors can often be overtly anxious about diversity among staff, but maintains that it takes time to build the right people, Y our school should have a diverse teaching staff. That’s a pledge enshrined in the government’s 2018 Statement of intent on the diversity of the teaching workforce (see bit.ly/ ts103-diversity1), which talks of wanting to see ‘More women and ethnic minority teachers’ in leadership, and doing ‘more’ for teachers from the LGBT community and those with disabilities. What national statistics miss, however, are the nuances at play within individual schools, where headteachers must appoint, develop, and empower staff who serve their own distinct community. Every teacher must look at their own school and ask – have we got this right? I spoke to three London headteachers – Mouhssin Ismail of Newham Collegiate Sixth Form, Katharine Birbalsingh of Michaela Community School and Dominic Bergin of The Elmgreen School – about the diversity challenges they have faced when recruiting and supervising staff. Cultural capital “I personally like hiring ethnic minority teachers, just because the kids are 95% ethnic minority,” says Katharine Birbalsingh. “If this were a majority white school, then I might not be concerned. And it would be a bit hard if all the teachers were men, or were women. I suppose I’d go out of my way at that point.” For Dominic Bergin, having teachers and students who share heritage allows school to be a more relevant and positive experience: “There are such complexities around these communities’ achievements, around their families’ experience of schooling and the rich cultural capital those families have,” he says. “The school should reflect that.” For these three headteachers, a key consideration is having adults who can share relevant experience, and for students to see role models they can identify with. “I actually think it's less important when it comes to their teachers,” Birbalsingh says. “It’s more important that lawyers, doctors, management consultants and so on come and talk to them, so that they can imagine that those paths are also open to them.” Mouhssin Ismail adds, “It's important to have a diversity of views and perspectives, because it enriches the conversation. There are some students who don't think Oxford University is for them. Part of it is seeing someone who looks like them, but more importantly, it’s seeing and for those people to come through. Birbalsingh repeatedly brings the narrative back to her students: “In my earlier days I did surveys with kids, asking whether gender mattered to them, race mattered to them, and so on,” she says. “Every time, 98% of kids would say they just didn't care. What they wanted was a good teacher.” The bigger picture If it isn’t the demographic make-up of their colleagues, then, what does diversity actually mean to these three headteachers? “It's not just about gender or race,” maintains Ismail, “it's also about socioeconomic background. Social class isn’t talked about much, which is a massive issue in terms of glass ceilings. On another level it's about diversity of thought. I want people challenging my thinking, because if they don't, you miss things. Clearly, if you've got people with different viewpoints and experiences, you'll have a more enriching education.” Birbalsingh, meanwhile, prefers to consider wider societal issues when it comes Mix and match To what extent should a school’s leadership try to ensure that its teaching staff is sufficiently diverse? Three headteachers share their views with AdamW. Hunter ... DOMINIC BERGIN