New initiative to tackle racial tensions in schools

Lightpost Theatre Company, The Black Pounds Project and Titan Partnership, alongside Birmingham Repertory Theatre, have announced Lightbearers - a new initiative which aims to remedy some of the racial tensions that exist within school environments.

The Lightbearers initiative aims to address the myriad of fundamental faults within the UK 's education system which act as a driver not just for exclusion, but also for the over representation of Black adults within mental health and criminal justice settings.

Lightbearers will provide a series of workshops to be developed by Black mentors, working alongside teachers in mainstream schools to jointly articulate their experiences and create a strategy for change.

Experienced drama and workshop facilitators will manage a series of workshops and, where applicable, use elements of performance to convey a message.

CJ Lloyd Webley, Lightpost Theatre 's lead artist and creator of Lightbearers, said: “The Lightbearers initiative will allow us to remedy some of the racial tensions that exist within school environments between staff and students.

“The issues that the Black community face are very specific - this project allows us to raise awareness as we begin to tackle some sensitive issues. ”

Black and mixed heritage pupils have rates of permanent exclusion three times that of the student population as a whole.

There are a multitude of contributing factors to this disparity, including staff being unaware of how microaggressions have a negative impact on culturally marginalised groups, the reinforcement of existing racial tensions and a lack of Black educators throughout the mainstream education system, from nursery to university level.

This contributes to the wider issue of Black children not seeing themselves represented in environments where they spend the majority of time during key developmental years.

CJ added: “We will provide a space for staff to reflect on their own unconscious biases towards Black students in a safe space which will provide room for growth and transparency. Conducting anonymous surveys during sessions will allow staff to understand themselves and each other better without fear of judgement.

“We hope that Lightbearers will begin to be a catalyst for similar initiatives throughout our schools and begin to drastically needed change. ”

If you are a practitioner, teacher or researcher interested in the Lightbearers project please email [email protected] for more information.

Pictured: Lightpost Theatre Company taken by Kris Askey