Headteachers, teacher unions and education authorities acknowledge the need for more teachers from black and ethnic minority communities. This book draws on the life histories of headteachers, advisors, teachers and student teachers from black and ethnic communities to find out what their working lives are really like. Detailed case studies and quotations bring out their stories. The text examines how those in positions of influence are seeking to transform schools and improve their pupils' life chances. How do they achieve success and challenge racism? While celebrating black and ethnic minority achievement in education, this book also looks at the costs of success for individuals. It explores the complexities of the lived experience and tensions which can develop between teachers' professional identities and their political identities as black people.

Author Biography

Audrey Osler is Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Birmingham, England. She has taught in both primary and secondary schools and was formerly Head of a Teachers' Centre in Hertfordshire. She is the author of Speaking Out: Black Girls in Britain and the co-author of Teacher Education and Human Rights.