How can only 18 black teachers working in Liverpool represent a diverse teaching workforce? A critical narrative

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper follows on from the authors’ previous research into minimal Black teacher representation in Liverpool schools [Boyle, B., and M. Charles. 2010. “Tightening the Shackles: The Continued Invisibility of Liverpool's British African Caribbean Teachers.” Journal of Black Studies 42 (3): 427–435]. It is based on a re-examination of their findings of Liverpool's Black teachers’ historic institutionalised invisibility [Swann Report. 1985. Education for All. Report of the Committee of the Enquiry into the Education of Children from Ethnic Minority Groups. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.] and an interrogation of the situation as revealed by the 2015 data. The article uses as its evidence base, questionnaire responses and data from a sample of interviews with the current 18 Black teachers. Despite the voices of Black teachers being marginalised and even less likely to be heard, it is vital that the pedagogies of Black teachers contribute to a ‘dismantling of binaries and hierarchies that privilege Eurocentric paradigms of teaching’ [Escayg, K. 2010. “Diverse Classrooms, Diverse Teachers: Representing Cultural Diversity in the Teaching Profession and Implications for Pre-Service Admissions.” Canadian Journal for new Scholars in Education 3 (2): 1–8, 4].