Advice request: white teacher heading pupil group in school

[sadmillenial]

Firstly, i know this isn't a board for white women to ask for things, so please don't think i am expecting responses from everyone and if you think its inappropriate then report it

My pupils at school have asked to create an African and Caribbean group to discuss amongst themselves and socialise in a predominantly white school. No teachers of colour want to lead the group, so i was asked by a pupil to be the staff member associated with it (which is necessary for safeguarding reasons)
I would never pressure a black colleague to get involved in pupil groups simply due to their race, so i'm in a position where i either accept or it doesn't happen and i do think its important for pupils to have a space of their own

i suppose my reason for posting is simply this - what do you think would be useful for this group? at the moment i am taking my lead from the pupils and we have had a group meal at a local restaurant, we have talked about the riots and one of the pupils has delivered a presentation about their family who were part of the windrush generation. From experience though, teenagers can get swept up in GCSE/A Level stress and have weeks where they need the group but dont have the space to organise things and i want to be able to support them when that happens

There are plenty of Indian teachers in India who are Christians of various sorts, Muslims, Jains and Sikhs. The Indians who attend their classes only care about where they’ve trained and qualified, and how well they teach. Those trained at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in Mumbai or Pune are highly sought-after, regardless of their specific religious practices. Interesting how Sadhana evolves…

It's a challenge. Same as if I was asked to run the LGBT group not because I'm not an ally, but because it would be highly cringe for me to go in going Hey girl, let's watch Heartstopper/Love Simon/RPDR/It's a sin/Angels in America etc
I'd give it my best shot but not my place unless I was doing the health side - how to use condoms, PreP etc
Even then, I'd be scared of causing offence or having a parental complaint.
So all I'd do would be to facilitate a discussion/safe space like in PSHE and above all, listen not preach.
You're in the same spot. I've taught Diversity and Discrimination but it's tricky if you are white - you can come over as White Saviour or talking about something you're not going to ever face. If you end up leading any of it, you need to call yourself out there/explain how you may have been prejudiced against for your sex/age but never faced racial discrimination.

This is why they need to be running and leading the activities really.
It's still better someone is supporting the group rather than it not running at all.

We have had a group meal at a local restaurant, we have talked about the riots and one of the pupils has delivered a presentation about their family who were part of the Windrush generation
Has your English dept got National Theatre schools subscription?
I haven't checked it for a while but they might have some theatre that the kids could watch and you provide the popcorn.
Also, the English dept can guide you as to what poetry they have done/will do/could do. Iirc there used to be Poems from other cultures on the syllabus and, if interested, your students might want to pick one and "teach" it.
BBC Bitesize has a fair amount.
But that sounds more school than socialising! Would be good for revision purposes mind.
Thirteen by Caleb Femi - BBC Bitesize 10 minute podcast

As a white African, the first few posters are being ridiculous. This is clearly a group for children who are black or brown, not children who are "from Africa".

I would join a group for "South Africans in England", sure. But I wouldn't join a group like the one OP is mentioning.

I don't have an opinion on the OP's overall request. I'd be inclined to want to ask my black or brown colleagues if there are any reasons why I shouldn't take it on, but I think that conversation is one that would depend very much on the cutlure at the school and your relationship with those colleagues so it's not a definitive answer.

it's a great idea and the school should be supporting this but it should be someone with a strong link to that culture. although the students have identified you as acceptable the school head should be doing more to find a more suitable person.

Jain and Sikh are Bhakti faiths yes.

Yes, a British Asian colleague of mine speaks of the "burden of representation."

While these are all very true and definitely things they’ll have to face, I think it’s really important that we do everything in our power to raise the racial esteem of young black people. They’ll already know about all the injustices they’ll have to face because the likelihood is they’re already facing it.

If injustice and oppression are things that they bring up as they brainstorm, by all means it should be discussed, but there are so many positives to being Black which will be hidden and taken from them throughout their lives. Let them see those.

Absolutely. I was once asked to lead an assembly on racism following a series of racial incidents amongst our pupils. I said no - that’s a job for white teachers!

Maybe something about Black history, if there’s a way of presenting it that teens would be interested in? There’s lots that doesn’t get covered in school, both in terms of Black people in the UK and then the history of the different countries in Africa which is obviously a massive topic but maybe there are resources for kids out there somewhere. Quite a lot of teens think history = boring which is a shame.

Can Black people just meet and simply exist without the theme revolving around being Black? They could just have the space to meet and talk about inventing something, scientific experiments, patenting, changing the world, being charitable, looking after communities, homelessness, abused animals, engineering ideas, self-help, self-build homes, property maintenance, financial responsibility, cooking, safe sex, respectful relationships, property management, growing food, book clubs, radio presenting, gardening, DIY, comedy, gaming, etc.

Why does it always have to be about Black suffering, history, 'cultural' and stereotypical things, 'the arts and music', etc? It's so limiting and keeps Black youths here stuck in this restrictive identity of 'being Black means this, this and that only. Never veer away from it'.

Let them meet and create/ talk about whatever is of interest. They don't have to be little political and social justice newsreaders and warriors all the time especially when it only has to do with race too. Seeing the world from a place of defeat and deficit like a poster wrote all about how 'they'd be seen as x and work twice as hard to be y and all the obstacles in the world will be placed on them because they're black'... It's so depressing to read and such a burden on young shoulders. It breeds inner rage against the world.

They should learn to be humans first, not a sub category (i.e 'Black humans'). That's where the inner power and confidence comes from. What do White people do when they meet up? What do Black people in predominantly Black countries do when they meet up? Do that. Just be human and explore anything and everything in the world.

Signed, a Black person who grew up mainly around Black people in a majority Black Country. (I suppose this is a 'privilege' in the UK and why people like me see things differently).

Could students be tasked with chairing it in rotation eg 2 students a term? Then it looks good for them to develop the skills of organising it etc, and then you can observe at the back.

@Tir3dn3ss I think this is very important, as we have to support and encourage our young people to confident, happy and hopefully successful. This, in my opinion, should be done while simultaneously educating them about the challenges their communities have faced. Its the way this part is done that is key.

For example, I recently led a discussion on the topic of protest. We looked at different black community protests from the 1970s onwards, then touched on Stephen Lawrence, then BLM. In each case the concluding part was about what changes came about as a result of these campaigns that now benefit society as a whole. E.g. Baroness Doreen Lawrence's unwavering activism, the changes the Met were forced to implement, other laws which changed due to pressure from black activists, and which have positively impacted society as a whole.

This can empower young people to be society's change makers. The last part of the discussion was what issues they would want to campaign about today, and they didn't pick 'black' topics. They chose homelessness, lack of social spaces, healthcare. Topics any and every young person should care about. Had there been white kids in the room, they would have understood the direct relevance of 'black' history to themselves.

I'm not suggesting the OP should do all this, but they could ask them what issues affect them as young people that they might like to discuss.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone on here, we had our first meeting and i feel much more confident in facilitating this and that the pupils will be the "steering" arm of it.

Our first activity is a "jollof-off" between the pupils as there is a big debate about jollof that I was unaware of but has led to a very good natured competition where some pupils want to cook jollof and bring it in and then put it to a blind vote, haha!

obvs the heavy stuff will be featured over the year, but this seems to be much more in tune with what the pupils actually want from the group so ive spent some budget on a "Jollof Trophy" that can be competed for again in future

plus i get to eat lots of jollof which must be the biggest perk of my job this year....

The heavy stuff may never be featured but that's up to the pupils.

Enjoy the jollof and work out how to say they are all good so they make you more. 😂

Most of those posters are white and ignoring the fact that it was a group for teens to decide what they want to discuss.

Yup, definitely a thing😃

punchng.com/mixed-reactions-as-gambia-beats-nigeria-to-win-best-jollof-2023/

I recently heard a talk, given by his grandson, on John Henry Smythe QC MBE OBE.
A black man who came from Sierra Leone to serve in the RAF. Very interesting life.
Google him if you haven't heard of him, l hadn't.
Not sure where you are in the country, but l believe the grandson goes around giving this talk. I think your students would enjoy it.
(I'm white, if it matters)

@Frankley I feel like something like that could open up very painful conversations about the glorification of colonialism, which may or may not be something the children want to discuss. If you are going to go with something like that, it’s important that they get a balanced outlook and understand why someone like Johnny Smythe may be viewed more negatively by black people than by white people. But, as other posters have said, they likely just want to enjoy being in each other’s company rather than focus on trauma or black service.

The speaker mentioned that he had been to schools and
questions had come from black children,such as why would a black man in another country even think of coming to England to join the RAF. Opening up discussions?
I know I'm not qualified about this, so not helpful at all. Sorry if I've offended

There is an Afro-Caribbean club at the school where I am a governor and I have been privileged to be invited to a few of their meetings OP. In case it is of assistance, in this club each week one member or a group if they prefer gets to ‘lead’ the session and celebrate any part of their culture or heritage that they want to focus on. Sometimes it is about a country, others a personal story of their family background, sharing some music or food or ideas for an event in school, regularly a spectacular presentation about literature, history or language. It is really varied, always hugely interesting and the teacher who runs it very much only intervenes when there is a less confident student to keep things going or make sure they are not left to flail if they are nervous leading (usually by asking other students if they have something to share and prompting to make the discussion a bit wider to ensure everyone can contribute). She is black and one of the most knowledgeable people I know but she never really adds much to the discussion- she facilitates the students. It is an absolutely fantastic group of wonderful students so please do run it in your school, particularly if the students have approached you to do so. Don’t forget you can also invite guests so in my case the students wanted to share how amazing their group was with some governors and also like to regularly have the opportunity to give governors some feedback/ask questions etc but you also may have some interesting parents that they could invite to a session.

Reading your first paragraph and just realising it's not this way in the UK is it? Very sad.

If there is really no alternative -

-Get the kids to discuss and decide topics/activities for the group
-Ask for parent/carer input
-Are there any external professionals you could get involved?

See your role as facilitator rather than group leader. You are there to supervise, keep them safe and support them with the skills they need to create an enjoyable, productive group activity.

Codlingmoths;-
You are right
A white man walks into a room
Nothing gets said
But,
If a black man walks into a room
Everything assumed and said
In this situation mr white
Leave Mr black to speak for himself
And don't patronise /be offended by what gets said either