Conversations That Matter: From racial trauma and discrimination in schools and communities, to respecting and celebrating difference and diversity.(policy to implementation)

Presenters: Trauma-Informed Schools UK: Racial Trauma Team All the presenters: registered psychotherapists, senior educationalists and Dexter Dias QC prominent Human Rights Lawyer (murder, crimes against humanity, terrorism, war crimes, human trafficking, modern slavery and genocide) are expert trainers in racial trauma, equality and diversity at the same time as being experts by lived experience. All presenters are also trauma-informed professionals with experience in health, education, social care, statutory, charity and independent sectors. All are educated and informed about ACEs, relational developmental perspectives, safeguarding and ethics, neuroscience, Conversations That Matter, multi-disciplinary practice, safeguarding, child protection, creativity and the arts, and much more.

Overview The aim of the webinar is to raise awareness of relevant issues related to racial trauma, inequality, intersectionality, discrimination, power, privilege, positioning and social justice. The objective is to promote anti-discriminatory practice and a movement towards anti-oppressive practice in schools and organisations which is trauma-informed and culturally competent. In terms of radicalisation, it is well-known that some radicalised individuals have suffered appalling racial trauma as children and often in school. This was so utterly dehumanising (without the protective factor of an emotionally available adult), that they then go on to dehumanise others. (hurt people hurt people). The training on this webinar, once implemented in schools, aims to prevent this from happening.

The webinar is an opportunity for a range of voices to reflect and articulate in dialogue about some of the complexities which relate to structural inequalities, institutional racism, and systemic discrimination. This includes challenging oppressive and discriminatory practices and the impact of these on children, young people, family, and community mental health and emotional wellbeing. The webinar training can then be used for the purpose of policy formation, professional training and public education in places like youth services, youth justice, schools, community projects, police, prison services, social care, charities, local authorities, higher education, health care and multi-disciplinary practice.

Expected outcomes would include the acknowledgment of racism as a public health crisis including the recognition of implications for safeguarding, quality assurance, implementation of policy, procedure, praxis, and regulation.

Content to include:

• The presenters’ own experiences of racial trauma when they were schoolchildren, and what schools can do differently for the children and young people in our schools today.
• The psychology of intolerance of difference and ‘the human fear of otherness’
• Structural racism and its impact on child development. How schools and communities can support children and young people to free themselves from family indoctrination about stereotypes and perpetuation of in/outgroups.
• Now the Black Lives Matter marches are over, how to keep the dialogue going in each school, organisation and community
• How to inspire children and young people from all cultures, backgrounds, religions to care deeply about matters of social injustice and abuses of power (historic and current) just as so many are now passionate about climate change.
• Through the imparting of fascinating knowledge (psychology, sociology, neuroscience, history) powerful film footage and motivational speakers visiting schools, empowering children and young people to care passionately about social justice and then to know how to be part of the change they want to bring about.
• To support children and young people to know that transformational change cannot be done on your own; it has to be a collective movement. Enabling pupils and students to be passionate about their collective responsibility for the change they want to bring about.
• Educating children and young people about what discrimination feels like: the terrible ‘absence of feeling acknowledged for who you are, over and above the colour of your skin’ (Anthea Benjamin).
• Interventions to support children and young people to think and feel about the impact of racial trauma and other forms of discrimination (for some on a daily basis). How anyone who is discriminated against in terms of race, colour of skin, sexuality, gender, religion ends up feeling battered, traumatised, abused from being the recipient of utter contempt, hatred, verbal and/or physical violence, only seeing someone as an IT not a Thou, reducing someone to only their skin colour/their sexual preferences, religion etc.
• Research groups in schools: researching lived experience - enabling pupils and students to listen in depth to each other’s experiences of attacks on difference, and of social injustices and abuse of power.
• How to heal community discrimination, abuse of power, verbal/physical violence by getting the whole school/community behind transformational change and celebrating diversity rather than feeling threatened by it.
• How schools can celebrate and share cultural narratives through exhibitions, talks, workshops, musical and creative art events.

Development of cultural competencies and knowledge of the impact of racial trauma will need to be fully understood and integrated within the context of all public health, education and social care provision. The film is committed to the development of clear frameworks for evaluating policy, procedure, and practice, supporting individual and community welfare through systemic and institutional transformation.