Anti-racist reading lists for staff

How to use these lists

Read as many of these books as you can, and share the lists with your staff, too. 

This reading should help your team to:

• Get an understanding of concepts like racism, anti-racism, white privilege, and unconscious bias
• Reflect on how these concepts impact your school community (staff, pupils and families), your curriculum, and the society we live in
• Reflect on what you're doing already in your school, and where you can do better

Some of this reading will present opposing views, but it should support you in thinking about these issues and considering different perspectives.

These books should help you and your staff to lead whole-school discussions about racism and whiteness. It'll also be particularly helpful for the staff involved in reviewing your curriculum to make it more inclusive – we'll be publishing content on this soon.

If you're looking to improve diversity in children’s books, we have book lists here.

Essential reading

You might not have time to read everything, but these books are a great place to start.

Race and anti-racism

• How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi
• Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire, by Akala
• The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, Reni Eddo-Lodge

White privilege and whiteness

• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo

•  White Privilege: The Myth of a Post-racial Society, Kalwant Bhopal

Race and education

• Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire
• Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, Bell Hooks
• You Wouldn’t Understand: White Teachers in Multiethnic Classrooms, Sarah Pearce

Further reading, watching and listening

If you’ve got more time, or if you’ve already read the books above or want to gain a deeper understanding, have a look at:

• This collection of more than 100 books, collated by the BAMEed Network
• A range of podcasts and videos, collated by the BAMEed Network
• Anti-racist education: selected reading from the Chartered College of Teaching 
• This selection of books on the Springer Nature website, free to download

This is CPD: set aside time for reading, reflection and discussion

Encourage staff to do some of this reading in their own time (and expect that some staff will want to), but be mindful of staff workload. Put aside a staff meeting or INSET for people to catch up on this reading and discuss it within directed time.

You should use your CPD budget to buy these books. Keep copies in your staff room or lend them out to staff.

You might also consider setting up a reading group that meets once a term or once a month, to give staff a space to discuss the books they’re reading and reflect on how they’re impacting their practice.

The views within these books do not necessarily represent those of The Key, and links to sellers do not constitute an endorsement from The Key.