Rachel Fleming:

Both Pieces of Us and Pieces of Us – What’s Next? cover many themes, including education, services for children and community and leisure. However, as we know the committee is interested in equality issues, and racism in particular, we will focus on these issues and recommendations.

In Pieces of Us, children of colour described both overt and covert displays of racism in their everyday lives, which had an effect on speaking out against racism. Having experienced racism, many children did not feel safe. These children also felt that others view them as a homogenous group rather than considering their unique experiences of racism. Children also experienced racist bullying at the hands of their peers in school. Some children also experienced racism from their teachers. Most of the children experienced microaggressions in school and the wider community. The microaggressions came from teachers, peers and other adults. This led some children to feel ashamed or embarrassed about their culture when their food or cultural expression was questioned. Racism was also at a systemic level. Many children questioned the narrow content of some subjects, such as history, and the lack of education on other cultures.

In Pieces of Us - What’s Next?, children made several strong recommendations for change and improvements for children of colour in Ireland. These include improved teacher training, changes to the curriculum and changes to the wider school environment. The children had many suggestions about improving inclusion and diversity in school and how inequality and discrimination can be tackled. First, children recommend more teacher training, including mandatory courses on different cultures and anti-racism and unconscious bias training for teachers and guidance counsellors. Children believe that there needs to be more diversity in the curriculum. They recommend changes to the CSPE, SPHE and history curriculums. They believe there should be education on microaggressions, systemic racism and black history. Children also suggested changes in the wider school environment. This includes anti-racism policies in all schools, which are separate from anti-bullying policies. The children believe there should be sanctions for students and teachers who breach anti-racism policies. Additionally, children want to see greater representation of teachers from different races, cultures, religions and gender identities in schools. They also want greater acknowledgment of different cultures and religions throughout the school year, not just one-off culture days.

We look forward to telling the committee more about these issues in our discussion and we would like to give some quotes and examples from the children. We are aware that members would like to discuss AI and we have many opinions that we are eager to share.