Keeping Them Out: a study of whiteness in majoritised white senior leadership teams in Bristol schools

This study interrogated why there are sustained white majorities leading schools across Bristol, a city with 22% of its population from global majority backgrounds. Given that only 8% of Bristol school leaders are racially minoritised, this study generated data to explore how majority white cultures sustained and centralised whiteness. Using Critical Race Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies, the study examined how leaders positioned themselves and assimilated when in white majority school leadership settings. Using 31 interviews with senior leaders, archival material about anti-racist resistance in Bristol and counter stories, the methodological design interrupted and explored patterns of whiteness with mostly white people (N-24). The study specifically utilised the concepts of colour evasion, white innocence and historical deficit frames which continue to influence how racism is understood in schools.

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