How heads can lead on anti-racism in Scotland’s schools

As the national professional association for secondary school leaders, School Leaders Scotland (SLS) stands firmly against racism, xenophobia, intimidation and hate in all their forms. The events witnessed across Scotland last week, in which individuals and communities were targeted because of their colour, race or ethnicity, were deeply concerning.

In response, we must be explicit in naming and challenging racism. Words matter. Leadership matters. Public discourse must never be used to justify or legitimise racism, xenophobia or the scapegoating of individuals and communities.

We therefore welcomed the first minister’s unequivocal condemnation of the racism seen across Scotland and his criticism of language that, in his view, contributed to fuelling hostility, fear and hatred. Public leadership has consequences, and the language used by those in positions of influence shapes the climate in which our young people learn and grow.

‘Schools do not exist in isolation’

Schools do not exist in isolation; they reflect the hopes, strengths, challenges and tensions in the communities they serve. When racism and disinformation become normalised in public discourse, they inevitably find their way into classrooms and school communities. School leaders cannot remain neutral in the face of prejudice or discrimination.

There can be no place in our schools for language or behaviour that divides communities through fear, misinformation or scapegoating, or that portrays Black, Asian and minority-ethnic people and New Scots as outsiders or strangers. Anti-racist education must be proactive, embedded throughout the curriculum, relationships and wider culture of our schools; as leaders, we must equip our communities to recognise and question harmful and prejudicial narratives.

This message was reinforced last week when the SLS core team attended the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) council at the University of Warwick, alongside colleagues from across the four UK nations. At a time of growing division and uncertainty, ASCL general secretary Pepe Di’Iasio urged educational leaders to be bold and brave in helping young people develop the confidence, courage and wisdom to shape a better society.

That call resonates strongly with SLS and our responsibility to support our members’ anti-racist leadership, through partnerships and professional learning. Programmes such as Education Scotland’s Building Racial Literacy, alongside resources developed by Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) and Educators for Peace, provide valuable opportunities to facilitate informed discussion, counter misinformation and foster the knowledge, empathy and vocabulary needed to actively challenge racism.

Professional learning programme

SLS is therefore delighted to be partnering with TIE to offer a professional learning programme for 2026-27, focused on knowledge building, case studies and leadership responses to issues of disinformation, racism and misogyny, through an online programme, culminating in two in-person symposia. We are also privileged to be involved in leading the Scottish government-funded pioneering programme on multilingual New Scots, school leadership and refugee-language integration, alongside the University of Glasgow’s Unesco Chair on Refugee Integration through Education, Languages, and the Arts (RIELA) and Centre for Transformative Change in Schools (CenTCS).

This will strengthen multilingual education, language leadership and refugee integration across Scottish secondary schools, supporting school leaders to embed multilingual and intercultural practices while championing the visibility and value of New Scots’ languages across the education system. In doing so, it will advance Scotland’s wider commitments to inclusive, anti-racist and intercultural leadership, and support the ambitions set out in the New Scots refugee-integration strategy-delivery plan.

As school leaders, we have a professional and moral responsibility not only to respond to racism when it occurs, but to foster anti-racist school communities in which every child is valued, every language is respected and every learner experiences a genuine sense of belonging. That means naming racism, dismantling the narratives that sustain racism and ensuring that Scotland’s schools are places of safety, inclusion, opportunity and hope for every young person.

‘Schools cannot act alone’

However, schools cannot tackle these challenges alone.

Political leaders of all parties, public bodies, media organisations and digital platforms have responsibilities in shaping public discourse and challenging the spread of misinformation and hate.

The choices we all make now will shape the Scotland our young people inherit. Together, we must make sure this is a society more inclusive than the one we have now.

Alison Mitchell is School Leaders Scotland’s professional learning and policy officer, Kirsty Ayed is SLS president and David Barnett is SLS general secretary