EDI Webinar 2 - Understanding common microaggressions in schools - Tuesday 27 February 2024 (Online)

Owing to the disconnect in understanding between discrimination reported by minority members of school communities, and the ways that they are understood by non marginalised groups, this webinar will focus on how they manifest in the form of microaggressions, aiming to create greater awareness and understanding of student, parent and staff decreased sense of belonging, and complaints. 

In a safe, interactive, case study and discussion based setting, the session will enable attendees to reflect on the manifestation of microaggressions, identify them and their prevalence. It will also empower attendees to disrupt incidents in real time with particular focus on the complexity of intervening in what are often well meaning or banter based comments/incidents. 

ACEN recognise this as an essential area of training for schools to directly impact on the student experience and we are confident that attendees will understand the importance of this to be rolled out school wide.

Aisha Sanusi

Aisha Sanusi is the co-director of the African Caribbean Education Network (ACEN), an organisation working to ‘address inequity and racial justice by improving Black underrepresentation and experiences in influential education and workplace environments'. ACEN has worked with over 50 independent schools across the country and engaged with over 20,000 teachers and students in areas of racial literacy and cultural competency. Aisha has a background in marketing and communications, with a particular focus on communication and content strategies for organisations operating in diverse/cross-cultural spaces. In the past, she has worked with political and charitable organisations operating in the areas of race inequality/equity. Aisha sits on the education advisory board for the Black Equity Organisation and is lead D&I Governor at St Paul’s school.

Dr Malcolm Cocks
Malcolm is an Inclusion expert and English Teacher with 15 years’ experience. He is on the advisory board for the African and Caribbean Education Network with a particular focus on Research, Policy, and Teaching & Learning.
He is also on the Steering Group for the Schools’ Inclusion Alliance and remains committed to helping schools foster anti-racist cultures and champions the inclusion of pupils and teachers with African and Caribbean heritage.
Malcolm has worked as a teacher and/or Inclusion Lead in some of London’s most prominent Independent Schools. He studied for his BA at Oxford and his PhD at King’s College, London. He has lectured in Literature and Visual Cultures at the University of London and in 2014, he was elected to a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Shakespeare’s Globe. He has recently embarked on a research project at the University of the West Indies with a focus on decolonised curricula & inclusion