Unlearning Structural Racism in a School Context

This thesis explores how teachers and school leaders in England unlearn structural racism through participation in the Anti-Racist School Award. With little existing literature on contemporary experiences of leading anti-racism in schools, the study follows twelve participants at various stages of the Award process during a pivotal global shift towards anti-racism. Addressing three key research questions, the study examines motivations for engaging with the Award, schools' experiences throughout the process, and the expected and unexpected outcomes. Using Critical Race Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies, it analyses data from surveys, interviews, reflections, and a focus group. Findings reveal that while participants recognise racism as socially constructed and deeply embedded, it remains a persistent force in schools. Despite post-George-Floyd commitments to anti-racism, teachers' limited racial literacy leaves them vulnerable to entanglement in interest convergence, using the tools of whiteness, and questions of culpability. The study calls for robust racial literacy, awareness of white supremacy culture, and critical self-examination as essential markers of anti-racist professionalism. Sustainable anti-racism work requires continuous racial literacy, which is capable of identifying and disrupting the ways racism iterates to remain an available tool for ordering society.