1. ‘Learning Together’ Event 11th June 2015 Rolle 605, University of Plymouth
Engaging in the debate and promoting good practice in tackling racism locally, nationally and globally

2. The history of an open network across the South West
Originally established in 1999 and called the Anti-Racist Practice Development Forum, the network:
Developed specific Anti-Racist Standards to provide a framework of expectation within anti-oppressive practice in social work at Interim & Final degree levels. These were adopted by Plymouth, Cornwall & Exeter social work programmes. (Bellinger, Elliott and Stopard, 2003).
Foundation level standards were subsequently added to encourage students to consider how “we are all products of our own history and reflect our ancestral and cultural heritage, personal experiences and immediate cultural context.” (Jelley, Horton and Soper, 2004).

3. Anti-Racist and Anti-Discriminatory Practice Standards
Known as the “ARAD Standards”, the framework emphasised how:
understanding of ourselves is not static
continual questioning of who we are and the language we use is essential for on-going professional development

4. Renaming
In October 2005 debate within the Anti-Racist Practice Development Forum meetings focussed on the desire to become less ‘anti’ and more ‘pro’(active) in promoting good practice in race relations and developing global perspectives in social work. The forum was consequently renamed the Forum for Race Equality and Diversity Awareness

5. Review of the ARAD Standards (Boyce et al, 2008)
CEPPL* funded research into the use of the standards in practice concluded that we need to:
work to the two key principles of ‘holistic assessment’ and ‘engaging in the debate’
review the language used
provide safe environments for students to explore and discuss their understanding and learning, and
provide consistency of message across the whole programme including teaching, practice and assessment.
*Centre of Excellence for Professional Practice Learning

6. Consequently a Cornwall & Plymouth FREDA subgroup (including members of the Service User and Carer Consultative Group, students, practitioners & academic staff) was established to act on the research and to:
focus further on the move away from ‘anti-racist’ terminology towards the ‘promotion’ of race equality
maintain the focus on the specific impact of racism, deconstructing the illusion of ‘race’
look at how this impacts on the wider issues of institutional and personal discrimination including the transferability of ideas to other oppressions.
The work resulted in the development of new standards, known as the:
Standards for the Promotion of Race Equality, Human Rights and Social Justice

7. Standards for the Promotion of Race Equality, Human Rights and Social Justice
Key Principles
Students need to demonstrate an ability to ‘engage in the debate’ and:
Consider how social justice and human rights are important to social work practice, personally, locally, nationally and globally.
Understand the history of racism and other forms of discrimination and the implications of this history for contemporary social work.
Analyse the inherent complexities of their own and others’ identity.

8. Standards for the Promotion of Race Equality, Human Rights and Social Justice
Levels: The notion of progression is a key concept in terms of developing:
Understanding (Critical reflection)
Thinking (Critical analysis)
Doing (Taking appropriate action to counter racism and other forms of oppression)
From Stage 1 to Stage 2 and Stage 3 (and on into qualified practice)

9.
Review of the Standards for the Promotion of Race Equality, Human Rights and Social Justice

10. Aim of this Review and Evaluation
Our purpose
To evaluate where the teaching about race equality, human rights and social justice happens on Social Work programmes.
To evaluate where the learning about race equality, human rights and social justice happens on Social Work programmes.
To identify, explore and build on best practice examples of where the teaching and learning happens in practice.
To learn through the process of the evaluation itself using this learning to review the FREDA research into the Standards (Boyce et al, 2008).
To examine congruence with the PCF domains 2, 3 and 4 and any areas which continue to be unique to the Standards for future reference in the teaching and learning process.

11. Methodology
Draws from Action Research ideas and Appreciative Inquiry* to:
identify examples of best practice of teaching and learning to guide further progress
ensure inclusivity in the review process (service users and carers, practice learning staff, agency staff and others with an interest in the programme)
Please feel welcome to join
*Appreciative inquiry refers to learning from success
(Bellinger and Elliott, 2011)

12. Findings so far
Identified examples of good student practice in promoting race equality, human rights and social justice.
Identified areas of uniqueness in the Standards to guide future teaching and learning

13. The FREDA Standards 2015 Core Ph ilosophy: Be a Learner –
Engage in the
debate
Engage in a
learning and development
process to help you to understand the
history of racism and other forms of
discrimination
Analyse the
complexities of your
own and others’
identity
Consider how social
justice and human rights
are important for social
work practice personally,
locally, nationally and
globally
Examine how racism and
other forms of
discrimination are
manifested and
maintained in society
today and explore the
implications for your own
social work practice .
The FREDA Standards 2015

14. Mapping the Standards to the PCF Areas of Specificity Unique to the Standards
Key principle:
Understand the history of racism and other forms of discrimination and the implications of this history for contemporary social work.

15. Programme Learning Outcomes in relation to Race Equality specific to the FREDA Standards
Professional development:
Understand your own entry point into the debate on race equality and diversity and what relevance the issues have to you and social work.
Show an ability to critically reflect on and analyse issues of race equality and diversity, and examine your own views.
Values:
Demonstrate an understanding of power and the impact of oppression and describe some of the ways in which racism combines with other forms of oppression.

16. Knowledge:
Demonstrate an understanding of the historical context of racism and other forms of discrimination and their relevance for contemporary social work - how racism is manifested and maintained in society today.
Demonstrate an understanding of legislation relating to race equality, social justice and human rights, including your own agency’s Race Equality schemes (or equivalent). Explore how this impacts on your practice experience.  
Make use of local, national and international research to develop your understanding of issues to do with race and culture.
Skills
Critically analyse a range of approaches to anti-oppressive practice and consider how you are transferring ideas to inform your own anti-racist within oppressive practice.

17. Next steps
Asking students for examples of their most successful teaching experiences in relation to the FREDA Standards and building on these.
Disseminating examples of best practice in teaching and learning about race equality, human rights and social justice.
Developing the curriculum to reflect the FREDA Standards in the learning outcomes without becoming too prescriptive.

18. Alexis Wright from Njenni Enterprise - Ending Violence Against Women and Girls
Alexis will now be speaking about Female Genital Mutilation as an abuse issue which is often misconceived as an issue of culture and ethnicity rather than a human rights abuse against women and girls.

19. The focus for the rest of this morning’s session is our learning in understanding and challenging FGM as a safeguarding concern.
This afternoon we will break into small groups to focus on what we have heard and learned from today in relation to the promotion of race equality, human rights and social justice with reference to the FREDA standards.

20. References
Bellinger A. and Elliott T. (2011) ‘What are you looking at: The Potential of Appreciative Inquiry as a Research Approach for Social Work’ British Journal of Social Work Vol 41 (4) p Boyce P., Harrison G., Jelley M., Jolley M., Maxwell C., Soper S., Wattam E., White G. (2008) “Executive Summary: Review of the anti-racist standards within anti-oppressive practice”. Commissioned by the Practice Learning Business Group, BSc(Hons) Social Work University of Plymouth. Research funded by CEPPL. Butler A., Elliott T., and Stopard N. (2003) ‘Living up to the standards we set: A critical account of the development of anti-racist practice standards’ Social Work Education, 22 (3): Jelley M., Horton V. and Soper S. (2004) “Foundation Level Standards for Anti-Oppressive Practice.” University of Plymouth, Practice Guidance Handbook.