‘Break the Cycle’ is a movement aimed at “generating racial equality in educational leadership”. This year its national conference will be online with the theme: “Time for Change: How a Racist Education produces a Racist Culture”.
Organiser Steve Chalke explains in this article the need to break the cycle of racism and inequality by “creating an education system that dismantles, rather than reinforces, racism.” Referencing the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston, Chalke says that “lasting change has to be more than symbolic; it must become systemic” and that the real question is: “how do we turn this moment into a movement? A movement that serves as the harbinger of genuine transformation? Racism is the complex system of privilege and legacy, advantage and disadvantage, power and poverty. It is explicit and implicit. It is conscious and unconscious. It is the air that we breathe.” Chalke believes that education can be “the engine of social and cultural change we long for. I believe that education can be the most potent driver towards equity and true opportunity.”
The conference is on Saturday July 18, 10am to 1pm, hosted by Oasis Charitable Trust and sponsored by the Time Educational Supplement. Speakers include Professor Robert Beckford, educator, author and award-winning broadcaster; Tessy Ojo, CEO of The Diana Award; Lord Michael Hastings. Tickets are free and can be booked here.
Read more about the Break the Cycle movement here.
