萊拉·莫蘭

From curricula to leadership， we need to transform the experience of education.從課程安排到管理層面，我們需要變革教育體驗(yàn)。

The Black Lives Matter campaign has thrown a long-overdue， and much needed， spotlight on the racial inequalities in our school system.

As a former teacher， I firmly believe in the transformative power of education. At its best， it enhances the lives of individuals and improves our wider society. So， the changes I want to see to our curriculum are not just important because they will broaden students understanding of history or help them appreciate more varied literature， although these benefits are， in themselves， incredibly important. I also believe that starting in our schools is crucial if we are going to unpick the systemic racism and other inequalities which are still all too pervasive in our country.

Research published by the Guardian earlier this summer showed that only 11 per cent of GCSE students were studying a module which referred to black peoples contribution to Britain， and fewer than one in ten were learning about the empire. The English curriculum offered by exam board AQA includes only five texts by Black， Asian and other Ethnic Minority authors， out of a total of 54， despite calls to increase diversity in recent years.

The Impact of Omission campaign， which has done research into the impact of leaving out elements of our nations history from what young people are taught at school， has published powerful testimonies. It quotes one survey respondent who said： “I hated history in school…[which] entirely skirt[ed] around everything which would have been important for me to know in my adult life… I deeply resent the quality of my history education.”

This is a young person who has been unforgivably let down by our education system and there will be millions of others who have felt the same. I cannot imagine how the government can fail to recognise how urgent and how vital this change is. It is incredibly disappointing that the schools minister has turned down calls for a review. I for one will not stop fighting for this change， and I know that determined activists who are driving the campaign will not give up this fight either.

Making these reforms to the curriculum and exams could be relatively straight forward， if only the government would agree. What would come next， in terms of embedding changes into the ethos and day-to-day running of schools， is perhaps the bigger challenge.

The Diversity Reform Initiative， an organisation that campaigns on racial inequality， miseducation and disadvantages within the education system， makes a number of practical recommendations for what should be done， alongside changes to the curriculum.

Among the important steps it has called for is “more racially inclusive teacher training which will allow for teachers to be better educated and sensitive to racial differences between students and trained on how to manage these differences.”

Teacher training is currently insufficiently diverse and does not prepare teachers for subjects that are at present unfamiliar. Making initial teacher training more racially inclusive by helping teachers to be sensitive to cultural differences， to avoid instigating microaggressions and to be confident to call out racism， is an important first step.

The Diversity Reform Initiative also recommends making “sociology， pol-itics and psychology accessible from a younger age to educate children on the society， communities， and institutional oppression.” Giving children the skills and resilience to identify， confront and overcome prejudice， discrimination and institutional racism is such an important role that schools can play. We need to weave positive messages of equality， inclusivity， and empowerment into everything we teach young people.

We must also do much more to increase the diversity of the teaching workforce， particularly in senior leadership roles. Currently more than nine in ten school headteachers are white and this needs to change.

By discussing a wider range of historical perspectives， we can give the next generation more chance of understanding the issues around racial inequality which still impact us today. As another participant in the Impact of Omission research noted： “Its vital to further educate children in primary and secondary school about the impacts of what black people face due to our barbaric ancestors. How its now deeply embedded in our society to view black people differently and how to this day is having fatal repercussions.”

With greater knowledge we can begin to understand areas of our recent history too. Both our failings as a society， such as the disgraceful treatment of the Windrush generation1， but also the overwhelmingly positive contribution black people and people of all ethnicities have made to our society in all aspects of life.

None of what I have described here is a new problem， and I am far from the first person to call for these changes. But I sincerely hope that the powerful protests and the phenomenal surge of activism in recent months will be the real wake-up call our society so desperately needs. Sadly， our education system—from Whitehall down to individual schools—is no exception. Tough questions need to be asked and real action needs to be taken.

But， if done right， our schools can be a driving force for genuine， positive change for generations to come.

“黑人的命也是命”運(yùn)動(dòng)已使人們開(kāi)始關(guān)注我們學(xué)校體系中存在的種族不平等問(wèn)題，這種關(guān)注是迫切所需，早該到來(lái)。

曾經(jīng)身為教師的我，堅(jiān)信教育有能力帶來(lái)變革。若充分發(fā)揮其作用，它能夠改變個(gè)人生活，并帶來(lái)更廣泛的社會(huì)進(jìn)步。我期待的課程改革之所以重要，不僅是因?yàn)樗鼈儗⑼卣箤W(xué)生對(duì)歷史的理解，或幫助他們學(xué)會(huì)欣賞更多元的文學(xué)作品，盡管這些方面本身也極為重要。我還相信，如果要消除我們國(guó)家仍然普遍存在的系統(tǒng)性種族主義及其他不平等現(xiàn)象，從學(xué)校開(kāi)始至關(guān)重要。

《衛(wèi)報(bào)》今年夏天早些時(shí)候發(fā)表的一項(xiàng)研究顯示，只有11%的英國(guó)初中畢業(yè)生學(xué)到過(guò)關(guān)于黑人對(duì)英國(guó)的貢獻(xiàn)的知識(shí)模塊，而只有不到十分之一的學(xué)生學(xué)到過(guò)有關(guān)大英帝國(guó)的歷史。盡管近年來(lái)人們呼吁增加多樣性，但是在英國(guó)資格評(píng)估與認(rèn)證聯(lián)合會(huì)提供的共由54篇課文構(gòu)成的英語(yǔ)課程中，只有5篇的作者為黑人、亞裔和其他少數(shù)民族。

在年輕人的在校教育中，忽略了我們國(guó)家某些方面的歷史，對(duì)于由此造成的影響，“不作為的影響”運(yùn)動(dòng)進(jìn)行了研究，并發(fā)表了有力的證據(jù)。它引述了一位受訪(fǎng)者的話(huà)：“我討厭學(xué)校的歷史課……（它）完全繞開(kāi)了對(duì)我成年后的生活起重要作用的一切內(nèi)容……我對(duì)自己所受歷史教育的質(zhì)量深感不滿(mǎn)?！?/p>

我們的教育體系不可饒恕地辜負(fù)了這個(gè)年輕人，還有數(shù)以百萬(wàn)計(jì)的人也會(huì)有同樣的感受。我無(wú)法想象，政府怎么會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)不到這一改革的緊迫性和重要性？令人極度失望的是，教育部長(zhǎng)拒絕了對(duì)現(xiàn)有課程進(jìn)行審查的呼吁。拿我來(lái)說(shuō)，我不會(huì)停止為這一改革而斗爭(zhēng)，我知道，那些下定決心推動(dòng)這場(chǎng)運(yùn)動(dòng)的積極分子們也不會(huì)放棄斗爭(zhēng)。

只要政府同意，對(duì)課程和考試進(jìn)行上述改革就會(huì)相對(duì)簡(jiǎn)單。接下來(lái)要做的，是將變革融入學(xué)校的風(fēng)氣和日常運(yùn)營(yíng)中，這或許是更大的挑戰(zhàn)。

“多元化改革倡議”是一個(gè)針對(duì)教育體系內(nèi)種族不平等、不當(dāng)教育和不利因素開(kāi)展活動(dòng)的組織。除了改革課程外，該組織還就需要采取的其他措施提出一些切實(shí)可行的建議。

它呼吁采取的重要步驟包括“更具種族包容性的教師培訓(xùn)，這將使教師受到更好的教育，使他們對(duì)學(xué)生之間的種族差異感覺(jué)靈敏，教會(huì)他們?nèi)绾喂芾磉@些差異。”

教師培訓(xùn)目前不夠多元化，沒(méi)有讓教師做好準(zhǔn)備來(lái)應(yīng)對(duì)當(dāng)前還不熟悉的主題。通過(guò)幫助教師對(duì)文化差異保持敏感、避免引起微歧視，并自信地指出種族主義的問(wèn)題，讓初期教師培訓(xùn)更具種族包容性是重要的第一步，具體方式可以包括幫助教師保持對(duì)文化差異的敏感、避免挑起微攻擊，以及理直氣壯地呼吁人們警惕種族主義問(wèn)題。。

“多元化改革倡議”還建議“讓兒童從小有機(jī)會(huì)接受社會(huì)學(xué)、政治學(xué)和心理學(xué)教育，了解社會(huì)、社區(qū)和體制性壓迫”。給予兒童一定的技能和適應(yīng)能力，讓他們?cè)诿鎸?duì)偏見(jiàn)、歧視和體制性種族主義時(shí)能加以識(shí)別、對(duì)抗及克服，學(xué)校在這方面能發(fā)揮重要作用。我們需要將有關(guān)平等、包容和賦權(quán)的正面信息，融入我們教給年輕人的每一件事中。

我們必須采取更多行動(dòng)來(lái)促進(jìn)教師隊(duì)伍的多元化，特別是高級(jí)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)崗位的多元化。目前，超過(guò)百分之九十的校長(zhǎng)是白人，這需要改變。

通過(guò)討論更廣泛的歷史觀點(diǎn)，我們可以讓下一代有更多的機(jī)會(huì)了解與種族不平等相關(guān)的問(wèn)題，這些問(wèn)題至今仍然影響著我們。正如另一位參與“不作為的影響”研究的人所指出的：“要進(jìn)一步讓中小學(xué)的孩子們了解，由于我們祖先的野蠻行為，黑人所面臨的種種影響，這一點(diǎn)至關(guān)重要。要讓他們了解，對(duì)黑人的歧視現(xiàn)在是如何深深地植根于我們的社會(huì)并且時(shí)至今日仍在產(chǎn)生致命惡果的。”

有了更多的知識(shí)，我們就可以開(kāi)始了解我們近代史的某些方面。既有我們作為一個(gè)社會(huì)的缺陷，例如“疾風(fēng)一代”遭遇的恥辱待遇，也有黑人和其他各族人民在生活的各個(gè)方面對(duì)我們社會(huì)做出的大量積極貢獻(xiàn)。

我在這里描述的問(wèn)題都不是剛剛出現(xiàn)的，我也絕非第一個(gè)呼吁進(jìn)行改革的人。但我真誠(chéng)地希望，近幾個(gè)月來(lái)有力的抗議活動(dòng)和驚人的激進(jìn)主義浪潮，將真正敲響我們社會(huì)迫切需要的警鐘。可悲的是，我們的整個(gè)教育體系——上至白廳下至各個(gè)學(xué)校——都需要改革。我們需要對(duì)此提出尖銳的問(wèn)題并采取真正的行動(dòng)。

但是，如果措施得當(dāng)，我們的學(xué)?？梢猿蔀橥苿?dòng)未來(lái)幾代人真正積極變革的力量。