Why we need the Checklists?

Checklist Testimonies

This downloadable three-page resource provides an introduction to why the ARAEA Checklists are needed and how they can be used – the resource, published in AD magazine (issue 32, p.15-17) is authored by Marlene Wylie, Sophie Leach and Dr Clare Stanhope and includes the values, views and words of the ARAEA Group. To view the Checklist Testimonies click here Below extracts have been pulled from the ‘About the Checklist’ Page

An introduction to checklists by Marlene Wylie, President of NSEAD, ARAEA member and advisor: 

The daughter of Jamaican parents from the Windrush era, I have been a member of NSEAD for almost 25 years and have served two terms as Vice President. This term has proven to be highly significant and deeply personal. Through my lived experience, I speak to this critical issue of anti-racism with an authentic and profoundly reflective voice. Racism is real. I believe it is experienced in every school, academy, college, and university in this country. The blatant killing of George Floyd in May 2020 for all to witness during a worldwide pandemic, and the subsequent outrage, highlighted the truth that systemic racism threads through societies at every level. The NSEAD mission since 1888 has been to improve art, craft, and design education for everyone. To be true to this, as a woman of colour, and Vice President, I join with my colleagues in our call to action for all art educators to be actively anti-racist and challenge the current colonial and Euro-centric educational landscape. Our members asked for ways to understand better and recognise what racism looks like in our subject. Our checklists are just the start of this vital work.

ARAEA Group:

Just over one-fifth of children and young people living in the UK are from a diverse ethnic community background and are a part of the global majority. Their lived experience will be one where they are likely to encounter racism, live shorter lives and earn less than their white counterparts. We must all be proactive to ensure we remove the injustices brought about by racism. ‘In 2020 we were reminded that systemic racism threads through society at every level. NSEAD holds that art education must not be racist. We must all actively challenge racism. To ensure that our subject and all those who engage in it can be actively anti-racist, we have published the anti-racist art education checklists.

Michele Gregson, NSEAD General Secretary:

Art and art education have a unique power to help us understand challenge racism - but we must also recognise the ways in which it can perpetuate it. NSEAD must and will support art educators to confront racism and exclusion wherever they find it. The work of the ARAEA group will be invaluable for our members and all who share our commitment to being actively anti-racist.