Why Race, Education and Wellbeing can’t be viewed in isolation.
by Flavia Ojok and Chanette Barnard
Race, Education and Wellbeing are often very distinct aspects of many people’s lives. Some people don't even have to think about all three areas, they are never questioned, they're taken as givens. Assumed. At times taken for granted. Some can go through life just thinking about their wellbeing, for others the focus is just based upon their education and their experiences through education. It is not until you sit down with a Black female for example and begin to reflect back on your own experiences, then you really begin to understand just how much these are so intrinsically and uniquely linked; and on a daily basis form the influence for one's interactions and potential life chances.
For example, if we think about the key stages of education and the educational experience what comes to mind? As an educational staff member, this might be successfully creating and delivering a well-rounded curriculum. As a new undergraduate student, who is about to start their undergraduate experience at a university outside of their hometown, the concern is about making friends. As a year 11 student, getting through your GCSEs might come to mind. Often the focus may be on one element: education. However, more often, unconsciously all three areas are impacted and play a large role. Race, education, and wellbeing.
For each of the scenarios painted above, a strong toolkit is needed to be able to navigate through them. The most vital tool in one’s arsenal is positive mental health and wellbeing. Where does one get such a thing? How does one acquire the necessary skills to build such a toolkit? Can one simply purchase it? Borrow it? If one already possesses it, how does one protect it? The answers to all these questions are a mixture of self-reliance and external influences. Affirmations, positive self-talk, resilience training, self-worth, self-belief, reflection, and a strong support network are just some of the factors we access and know influence our mental health. So, it is easy to conclude that having these tools at your disposal when faced with the above scenarios within your educational career and experiences, one may feel more capable to contend with such experiences.
If we now add race into the scenario painted above, for many it adds an extra layer or load to the experiences; not always is this negative, but unfortunately at times it is and when it is, this leads to negative educational experiences which in turn trigger negative consequences for one’s mental health and wellbeing. For example, an ethnic minority staff member wanting to successfully create and deliver a well-rounded curriculum, may not be given a seat at the table to affirm and share their ideas and instead they are side lined and silenced. This may only happen once, or it may happen on multiple occasions; ultimately the impact is the same. They are left with the belief that their knowledge is not worthy, which in turn translates to ‘they’, as an individual not being worthy. When one’s sense of self-worth is diminished the impact is a slow and steady erosion of confidence; maybe that staff member stops putting themselves forward, maybe their lessons are less engaging, maybe they feel compelled to leave or fail to put themselves forward for a promotion. These might seem like small changes within themselves but they continue to compound and erode one's sense of self-worth and value, having a detrimental and long lasting effect on one's mental health and at times lead to a perpetual cycle.
And what of the Black undergraduate student who has recently started a new university, outside of their hometown, who is concerned not only about their academic outcome but who also wants to make friends and enjoy an active social life. What if they find themselves on the receiving end of microaggressions, subtle forms of racism, exclusions from events, or even more overt acts of prejudice and racial abuse? Do they know where to turn to for support? Do they know how to manage the racial abuse when it comes from someone they considered a friend? More often than not, the answer to these questions is no, and subsequently the young adult is left on their own to deal with the scenario, questioning if they are right or wrong, debating if the scenario even happened, which is heightened if no one believes them. This has a knock-on effect on their ability to engage in their lectures, their ability to complete assignments, their motivation, and their sense of self-worth. Long term this could go on to affect their final grade and even their job prospects.
What about the South Asian year 11 student, trying to focus on getting through their GCSEs but they are filled with anxieties about their exams, there is a level of expectation from their teachers, based on their sibling’s experiences. There is a pressure, either real or perceived from their parents, that they should achieve certain grades simply by working hard. But actually, no-one has asked this student how they feel? No one has taken the time to discover that they are struggling to manage these pressures alongside being isolated from their peers because of recent events in the media. They are being targeted with racist slurs and comments, quietly, delivered daily and even from the mouths of their own teachers. How do they begin to focus on those grades and the work it takes to attain them, when they feel under attack in the very space they are supposed to feel safe? Again, we see a heavy mental load being placed on a young person, and a pivotal moment in their life. These grades will impact their future studies, their job prospects, and their long-term quality of life.
We give you these scenarios to highlight the intrinsic nature of education, race, and wellbeing. Ignoring one aspect as a detrimental effect that could be potentially life-threatening. So how do we combat this? How do we stop these cycles? How do we help support those outlined in the scenarios above? We really do believe the answer lies within education itself; by establishing and instilling anti-racism from early years right the way through to higher education, we know the direction can and will change. This is what we are so passionate about. We want to offer support and initiate that drive-in others to see real change as they acknowledge how education, wellbeing and race are so heavily interlinked and that their influences can impact the life chances of generations. Imagine going through an education system where your whole self is accepted, your history and heritage is understood, you as an individual is both advocated for and accepted. Imagine the impact that will have on your wellbeing. Your ability to believe in yourself, your achievements, and your lifetime ambitions!
This will just follow through to your adult life; when you leave education, that groundwork of self-belief instilled in you through an education system that took the whole you into account will just build your confidence. Which will influence things like your belief that you can go for that job role and succeed, you do know what you are talking about in a team meeting, you can grow and use your professional network. This is something we know and have seen the effects of. Simply put, instilling ant-racism works, it is not a tick box we know it is as big as an organisational culture change. However, as we say here at Empower My Voice, you must think about your why! You must think, who am I doing this for? And the most self-assured answer must be doing it for yourself. It is how you reassure your sense of self.
Directors of Empower My Voice Ltd.
Flavia has worked within the education sector and more specifically within widening participation for a few years. She is wholly passionate about channelling the aspirations of young people by producing opportunities that open doors and ignite drive and passion.
Chanette has 6 years of experience within the field of education as a Teacher of History. Chanette channels her passion for educating others by delivering racial literacy training that encourages open dialogue around race and identity.