Exploring Expertise: Shades of Bias - Discrimination Oppression and Racism in social work and beyond

[00:00:00]Welcome everyone. I hope you can hear me. If not, please do signal um or put a message in the chat. Uh welcome to exploring expertise um organized by Coram BAAF with BAZWAA and Race Equality Justice Family Network.

[00:00:15]Thank you so much for joining us today.

[00:00:18]Um you can see uh a rough plan of our agenda. There is a lot to cover, uh but I'm going to leave you with the expert hands of our chair Irene in a moment. Uh before we start the event, um I wanted to just share a little bit of information about Coram BAAF. We are the UK's leading membership organization for professionals working across adoption, fostering, and kinship. We uh do a number of things uh including being a training provider, a publisher, but also uh producing practice notes, bringing together uh community of practitioner professionals, and also providing advice and information.

[00:00:59]>> My name's Naveen. I'm the managing director of Coram Intercountry Adoption Cent- um service center, sorry.

[00:01:07]Um I'm also the chair of Coram BAAF Black Minority Ethnic Perspective Advisory Committee.

[00:01:13]I've done 40 years in social work. 30 years of those has been as a manager.

[00:01:18]Um I've specialized in um in adoption and fostering work. I've worked in residential. I've um specialized or so disenchanted with the lack of children's voices in the care system that for 10 years I specialized in setting up children's rights services and managing children's rights services.

[00:01:40]So I I don't know a very varied social work career. Um and I am so delighted to be a part of today um of this workshop because through all my social work experience and my experience as a manager, understanding, managing, supporting people who have experienced racism, being a part of being the only black manager in the room in many occasions, um and really tackling and looking at these issues has been such an integral and important part of my life and often the reason why I've changed jobs so many times over my social work career cuz you can kind of only push things so far before you realize you have to move on.

[00:02:24]Um so I am really delighted to be a part of this. I've not used Shades of Bias myself, but I can see so many times where I could have used it. So to have a tool, a reflective tool that actually enables people to think about the issues, be able to reflect on the issues, and to enable people to bring it into your workplaces and find a solution to those issues in a way that's not as confront totally confronting, I think it's really um exciting. Um so I'm really delighted to be a part of of today, and I'm going to allow the panel um and the people who are participating in presenting today to talk next. So I'll hand over to Wayne, who's the star of the show.

[00:03:12]>> Very much not the star of the show. It's uh you know, um it's a level playing field this morning. I'm really pleased to be here. I'm really pleased um with the invite from Coram BAF and to be able to partner with the Racial Justice Family Network on behalf of BASW. So yeah, thanks for the invitation. I'm conscious of time this morning, and I really want to background myself and foreground the panelists as well. So I'm going to get straight to it. I'm going to share my screen, which I hope you can see now.

[00:03:42]And I'm going to take you through briefly what Shades of Bias is, what it's about, and how it can be used.

[00:03:49]But before I do that, just very quickly about myself, here's a slide with just a very brief overview of my professional background.

[00:03:58]I'm not going to dwell on that in any great depth, but just so you've got some understanding of that. Those are some of the the different roles that I've undertaken in the past and that have led me to this point working for the British Association of Social Workers, also known as BASW.

[00:04:17]This slide here just outlines the work and the remit and role of BASW.

[00:04:22]That we're a professional association for social workers established in 1970.

[00:04:28]We're a member-led organization like Coram BAF and we promote social work, the interests of those working within the profession, and of course those who access services.

[00:04:39]And we have roughly 22,000 members across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

[00:04:46]And we pride ourselves on being the independent voice of social work and social workers.

[00:04:54]So, I'm going to take you very briefly through what to expect in terms of Shades of Bias, in terms of what it is, how it can be used, what its origins are, how it can be utilized more widely.

[00:05:07]I'll summarize with some infographics, and then we'll have a brief look at Exemplar 1 for Shades of Bias.

[00:05:19]So, please bear with this wordy slide.

[00:05:21]I'd like to just set the foundations in terms of what Shades of Bias is.

[00:05:25]So, it's a versatile case study template designed to enable critical reflection on how discrimination, oppression, and racism manifests in social work and beyond.

[00:05:38]It's a simple process for documenting, analyzing, and addressing instances of bias, whether it is experienced or observed or perpetrated by the person or people responsible.

[00:05:55]Shades of Bias embraces intersectionality and is underpinned by the protected characteristics of age, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, and so on.

[00:06:07]And that's of the author or user of the form as per the Equality Act 2010.

[00:06:15]The temp- the template also captures more nuanced and multi-layered discrimination such as classism, microaggressions, neurodiversity, sexism, etc. Based on anti-discriminatory, anti-oppressive, and anti-racist values and ethics, Shades of Bias helps to create a culture of accountability, inclusion, self-expression, and hopefully a systemic change.

[00:06:48]I have to emphasize that Shades of Bias is more than a tool for documenting racism. Because of some of the work that I've embarked on and Baswa and the colleagues and members over the last several years, there is sometimes that assumption that it is purely about racism, but it actually covers all of the different protected characteristics as I mentioned before.

[00:07:10]It's a multi-dimensional framework for healing, self-examination, and transformation across policy, practice, and education.

[00:07:20]Shades of Bias provides a cathartic and therapeutic benefits which empower people to analyze and respond to experiences of bias and various forms of discrimination.

[00:07:34]By validating lived experiences, Shades of Bias is both a self-help resource and a practical tool, giving it unique emotional and strategic functions aimed at hearts and minds.

[00:07:49]It is intended for Shades of Bias to become the standardized framework for documenting discrimination and exposing harmful systemic patterns that are often ignored.

[00:08:03]So, thank you for bearing with that wordy slide. I hope it set the foundations and the grounding about what Shades of Bias is.

[00:08:10]You'll see the definition of bias there that we're working with also.

[00:08:14]And when you get your copy of this presentation, you'll be able to look at the hyperlinks that are scattered throughout that slide and throughout this presentation and look at some of those other definitions in more depth.

[00:08:29]Here is an infographic just to summarize what Shades of Bias is about in terms of its purpose, the people it supports, the process itself, and its provisions.

[00:08:47]I'll give you a moment just to have a look at that.

[00:09:06]Okay, so just moving on.

[00:09:09]I'd like to just give you a bird's-eye view of the form itself in terms of the content. The format of the form is different to this and you'll be able to find it on the Shades of Bias webpage.

[00:09:20]It's downloadable in a Word format, so people are able to adapt and modify the form. It is just a template.

[00:09:27]Um but just to take you through its contents now very briefly, I'm not going to cover all of this verbatim, you'll be pleased to know, but just to give you the headings that there is a case study title, which is important for the person completing the form to give it a title for quick reference so that they're able to refer back to the form as and when needed quite easily, especially if they're filling out multiple forms over different periods or covering different scenarios.

[00:09:56]The user is then encouraged to give some background and context, and you will see there a list of prompts which are not exhaustive. As I say, the form is able to be adapted, so there may well be some prompts there that are relevant to the scenario the user is wanting to capture, or they may want to change the phrasing and so on.

[00:10:18]But the second heading there is around background and context, so really providing that to set the basis for the rest of the the template and what's captured.

[00:10:30]The next heading there is the nature of the incident, and you will see there some prompts to capture the nature of it.

[00:10:38]And again, there's some um there's some definitions there with hyperlinks attached to those. So, as you're completing the form, you may well want to refer to those particular terms.

[00:10:49]There may well be additional terms that you want to incorporate.

[00:10:54]Need to reiterate it is a template and it can be adapted and modified.

[00:11:02]So, those are the first three headings.

[00:11:08]The next heading is how was the situation handled?

[00:11:13]And you'll see a list of prompts there also.

[00:11:18]And hopefully by capturing this information, it enables the user to think about the context, how the situation was handled, and all the other factors that have led to the the outcome or scenario that they find themselves in.

[00:11:37]The fifth heading is around reflection and learning.

[00:11:40]Again, you'll see a list of prompts there.

[00:11:44]I have to emphasize that the form isn't an exam, so it's not imperative that every prompt is is referred to or or answered.

[00:11:55]It really is just to guide people.

[00:12:03]Okay. It is a relatively short form. So, the last two sections is a section of reflection and learning specifically for the person or people responsible for bias.

[00:12:15]And you will see some specific prompts for that group there also.

[00:12:24]And then there's a free text box for other comments or reflections.

[00:12:31]Now, hopefully you will have seen that Shades of Bias can be completed by victims and survivors, witnesses and observers, and also the person or people responsible for bias. So, it can be completed from those three different perspectives for any situation where bias is suspected or confirmed.

[00:12:52]I just like to add in terms of the group of people responsible for bias that the premise of Shades of Bias is that as human beings, we are all culpable of bias and that is innate in us. And that there is a positive and negative aspect to bias also.

[00:13:09]Shades of Bias does focus more on the sort of negative aspects or outcomes for people, so that they're able to reflect on that and hopefully find a positive outcome or solution.

[00:13:21]But I just need to emphasize that fluidity of bias and um know, that relevance to all of us really as human beings and being um susceptible and culpable of bias at different times.

[00:13:37]So, just to underline, Shades of Bias is a practical, structured, and reflective tool that empowers and equips people.

[00:13:45]Unlike many reports that merely outline problems or recommend solutions that are not implemented, Shades of Bias is a universal template to document, analyze, and support people in real-world scenarios.

[00:14:01]People completing the form can complete the Word version for their own personal or private use or, you know, part of the process they might find themselves in such as supervision or team meetings and so on.

[00:14:14]Or they can send them through to ourselves at BASW.

[00:14:18]We have uh considered and talked about possibly publishing anonymized case study templates in the future. We're not completely committed to that, I have to say, but people are welcome to send those through to us anonymously and of course make sure that uh anonymity and confidentiality is respected as well.

[00:14:38]So, yeah, just to quickly reiterate, there is a Word version of the form which is downloadable from the Shades of Bias webpage. There's an online version of the form also via the Shades of Bias webpage, and there's a PDF version as well.

[00:14:55]Okay, let's moving on.

[00:15:00]So, what are the origins of Shades of Bias?

[00:15:02]It was developed by myself and the Black and Ethnic Minority Professionals Symposium, BEPS, and the Professional Capabilities and Development Group, the PC&D Group, which are both groups at BASW.

[00:15:16]It's also been endorsed by the Anti-Racist Movement, ARM, and School of Shabs.

[00:15:21]Following concerns raised by Black and Global Majority Black BASW England members, including practice educators who reported racism with students and organizational practices, students themselves who reported racism in social work placements and academic settings, newly qualified social workers who encountered racism in recruitment, everyday practice, career progression, and workplace cultures.

[00:15:54]These concerns were escalated through BASW's committees and representations were made to key stakeholders and partners highlighting systemic racism in social work education, early career pathways, and relevant regulatory frameworks.

[00:16:13]Shades of Bias's publication also coincided with the Child Safeguarding Review Panel report It's Silent Race Racism and Safeguarding Children, which highlighted a lack of accountability in addressing racism in safeguarding practices.

[00:16:31]Shades of Bias is also informed by BASW's Code of Ethics, Social Work England's Professional Standards, and the Social Care Workforce Race and Equality Standards, the Social Care RES.

[00:16:45]And it's also a logical progression from the Anti-Racism in Social Work Activities report, which BASW published in 2021.

[00:16:55]So, you'll see that the origins of Shades of Bias are very firmly from an anti-racist position and standpoint, but actually as a tool it is universal and supports lots of areas in terms of discrimination and different intersectionality and needs.

[00:17:14]The lack of tangible reforms and anti-racism in social work underscores the need for a practitioner-led tool that empowers individuals to document and challenge all forms of discrimination in all settings, hence the conceptualization of the template.

[00:17:32]Shades of bias is part of a wider Hearts and Minds campaign to promote social justice in social work.

[00:17:44]Now, this slide is a wordy slide. I'm not going to cover it verbatim, but I wanted to just give you an overview of how Shades of Bias can be utilized more widely in policy, practice, and education.

[00:17:56]I will give you a moment just to decipher that. You will get chance to look at it in more depth when you get your copy of this presentation.

[00:18:04]But, I hope that illuminates the multiple uses of Shades of Bias.

[00:18:21]You'll also notice that personal use is also captured there as well, as people are able to use it personally as well as professionally.

[00:18:36]Okay, I hope you had a chance to give that a quick skim read. I'm going to move on.

[00:18:42]There is a bold advertising campaign that accompanies Shades of Bias. This is one of many, many adverts.

[00:18:49]Again, I'll give you just a moment to decipher that.

[00:19:09]You'll see that the slogan for for Shades of Bias is reveal, reflect, and repair. Hope that's become apparent through my presentation and as to its relevance.

[00:19:21]So, to summarize, Shades of Bias is a reflective framework for humanizing people's lived experiences, promoting accountability and growth, and informing policy reforms.

[00:19:34]By embedding Shades of Bias in policy, practice, and education discussions, we can challenge discrimination, oppression, and racism, amplify marginalized voices, and create a profession that is truly committed to social justice.

[00:19:50]The hope is that Shades of Bias becomes conventional and always usable during incidents of social injustice.

[00:19:58]And that's a link to the webpage there.

[00:20:01]I'd encourage you all just to have a look at the webpage just whilst you're on the call now with us because we're about to look at exemplar one, which you will find on that webpage.

[00:20:13]And I would encourage you just to have a a look at that case study as that is going to inform the next three activities that we're going to look at as well with our panelists.

[00:20:25]Thanks so much for listening to me this morning, and I hope that wasn't too much too much of a rambling from me there, and I hope it was coherent and made sense. I'm going to hand back to Irene now.

[00:20:37]>> Thank you very much for that, Wayne.

[00:20:39]>> Thank you.

[00:20:42]>> So, we are going to move forward with exemplar one as Wayne has indicated.

[00:20:51]Um Wayne, you were going to introduce the exemplar, and then we would hear from the from the three people.

[00:21:00]>> Happy to do that. No problem. Let me share my screen again. So, this is the introduction to Shades of Bias on the exemplar. I think we can skim through that because I've just taken you through the presentation.

[00:21:13]But this is the introduction to exemplar one then that's going to inform our next three activities.

[00:21:21]So you will see the case study title is being completed.

[00:21:26]And the title is covert racism in team meeting.

[00:21:32]The next section, the background and context, which I shared earlier, and the prompts also, you'll see that those have been completed.

[00:21:41]And the person completing the form is a senior social work practitioner.

[00:21:48]Their ethnic group is black Caribbean.

[00:21:50]They're male.

[00:21:52]They've got 14 years experience of working in social work.

[00:21:57]Their workplace setting is in adult services for a local authority.

[00:22:02]And their role in relation to the incident is that they were directly impacted. They were a victim and also a partial witness. That's how they're describing themselves.

[00:22:13]There's a date and time of the incident, which is kind of irrelevant for the purposes of this session, but might be useful in in real life.

[00:22:22]And the setting was an internal team meeting by Microsoft Teams.

[00:22:29]The nature of the incident, so again, some of these prompts hopefully are familiar from my presentation.

[00:22:35]I said before it wasn't an exam, so it's really important people keep that in mind and they don't try to answer every prompt or make it too laborious.

[00:22:45]But in this case with the exemplar, I'm going to read this briefly for you.

[00:22:51]So during a virtual team meeting focused on resource allocation, I raised concerns about the underrepresentation of culturally appropriate services in our locality.

[00:23:04]My comments were met with visible discomfort and eventually interrupted by the team manager who stated, "We mustn't make everything about race.

[00:23:14]We all have to manage with what's available."

[00:23:18]Several colleagues nodded in agreement while one rolled her eyes visibly on camera.

[00:23:24]The conversation quickly moved on without addressing my point.

[00:23:29]This was not the first instance of such behavior.

[00:23:32]Over the past year, my attempts to raise race-related systemic issues have consistently been minimized, ignored, or reframed as personal grievances.

[00:23:43]My expertise in anti-racism was subtly questioned in prior supervision and I've been excluded from strategic work streams despite having previously led such initiatives elsewhere.

[00:23:57]The author then goes on to describe the emotional impact.

[00:24:02]So, their immediate feelings were of embarrassment, isolation, and frustration.

[00:24:08]Built-up emotional fatigue from repeated invalidation.

[00:24:13]Questioning of professional value and internalized self-doubt.

[00:24:19]The professional impact was a loss of motivation to contribute meaningfully in team meetings.

[00:24:26]Avoidance of future race-based discussions due to fear of further marginalization.

[00:24:34]Increased workload burden due to lack of managerial advocacy on culturally specific cases.

[00:24:42]And the wider impact is that other staff of color have privately expressed similar concerns but feel unsafe about raising them.

[00:24:52]One junior black colleague reached out afterwards thanking me for saying what needed to be said.

[00:24:59]In terms of how the situation was handled, again there's some prompts there.

[00:25:05]And the user has captured the following.

[00:25:08]I documented the incident immediately for my own records.

[00:25:13]I raised the issue with my manager in supervision the following week.

[00:25:17]The manager became defensive and reiterated that I was reading too much into things.

[00:25:23]I escalated to human resources under the EDI or equality, diversity, and inclusion inclusion policy.

[00:25:31]But no formal investigation took place.

[00:25:35]I was instead invited to an informal restorative chat with the manager, which I declined due to lack of psychological safety.

[00:25:44]While the incident was logged internally, there was no clear accountability, acknowledgement, or redress.

[00:25:52]The emotional harm was never recognized, and there were no visible steps taken to prevent recurrence.

[00:26:00]Okay, and the next heading is reflection and learning.

[00:26:04]Again, you'll see the prompts there as a guide.

[00:26:08]And the user has captured the following.

[00:26:11]The manager could have validated my concerns and opened the space for meaningful discussion rather than silencing the issue.

[00:26:20]Human resources could have followed policy frameworks for complaints involving racial dynamics.

[00:26:27]The team could have benefited from facilitated anti-racism training to address underlying cultural defensiveness and unconscious bias.

[00:26:38]Bias can be overt or subtle. Minimizing racial concerns is itself a form of bias.

[00:26:46]Emotional labor often falls on minoritized professionals to educate others without support or protection.

[00:26:55]Institutional defensiveness perpetuates harm and obstructs learning.

[00:27:01]Allies are often passive or silent, which reinforces oppressive dynamics.

[00:27:08]Following informal advocacy, the local equality, diversity, and inclusion board agreed to review cultural competence standards in supervision and meeting protocols.

[00:27:21]A reflective group was piloted for staff of color, but participation remains low due to mistrust in leadership.

[00:27:30]Shades of bias is now being trialed in two service areas for feedback and potential integration into formal reflective tools.

[00:27:40]Using this template allowed me to structure my experience clearly, especially in a system that often gaslights or downplays racial harm.

[00:27:51]The prompts helped me reflect without re-traumatizing.

[00:27:56]It validated the complexity of bias, not just what happened, but how it lands emotionally and systemically.

[00:28:04]I will use this tool in future supervision and share it with trusted colleagues.

[00:28:10]Thanks for bearing with me there. The next section, the final section, is not completed cuz it's not applicable in this case.

[00:28:17]And there aren't any other comments or reflections, but I hope that gives you a good insight into how the form could be completed from the perspective of a victim and survivor.

[00:28:28]I'll hand back to you, Irene, if that's okay.

[00:28:30]>> Thank you. Thank you, Wayne. What we're going to do is we thought we'd make you um engage. Um so, what we want to do we've got some three mentimeter. We're doing going to move that now. Yes?

[00:28:42]That's just good.

[00:28:44]So, um I've everybody got Have we set that up for people to be able to participate in that? Do we go to the slide? I'm into meter slide or people got it on their phones? Good.

[00:29:01]Okay.

[00:29:03]>> Oh, so people have been doing it as we go. So, >> Okay. So, if people could complete we've got three um polls set up. One is what type of bias is this? And if you could just indicate by using a maximum three words in terms of what the what you believe the bias to be, if people could you take put the meter meter on their phone if you use the the QR code there.

[00:29:34]Don't know if that's the right initials, but >> That's it. Yeah.

[00:29:37]>> Good. Okay.

[00:29:40]And then if people can just type in their responses to that. So, what type of bias was was identified?

[00:29:53]Thank you.

[00:29:59]So, when for those people that are familiar with meter meters as if the words are big that means lots of people are using the same words. So, it just highlight them more.

[00:30:12]>> Oh, if this was Family Fortunes, I think we'd have some top answers there of racism >> [laughter] >> really racism, discrimination, oppression, ignorant um Okay.

[00:30:29]How many people do we actually have in the room out of interest? I've Oh, 460. Wow.

[00:30:36]>> Yeah.

[00:30:37]>> Okay. We'll just give it a couple more minutes if people want if people want to respond. We'll be able to capture this as a visual as as a result of this and you'll it'll be shared with you as one of the slides.

[00:30:51]Okay.

[00:30:54]>> Great to see people are on track.

[00:30:56]There's lots of relevant comments there, so thank you.

[00:30:59]>> Thank you.

[00:31:03]Should we move to the next one?

[00:31:06]>> Mhm.

[00:31:08]>> So, the next one is how visible was it?

[00:31:13]So, you've got them at the bottom there in terms of how visible was the bias exposed?

[00:31:33]Thank you.

[00:31:47]Okay.

[00:31:49]We're going to move on to the final one, which is who had responsibility? So, again, just in three words max, who did who had responsibility?

[00:32:06]>> Mhm.

[00:32:08]>> Very good.

[00:32:09]>> Mhm.

[00:32:18]>> Thank you. You can see some key ones being highlighted there.

[00:32:22]I think manager and everyone's the the the the biggest ones.

[00:32:26]>> Yeah.

[00:32:33]>> We'll just wait give people one more minute and then we're All right. Now, I'll I'll leave it live so people should be able to continue to respond even when I've turned my camera off the screen.

[00:32:46]>> you. Thank you. Okay, that's helpful.

[00:32:49]Okay. Bearing in mind we have very limited time here then so we will move on to the next exercise which is really um an opportunity to bring this to life in a different way. So, Wayne's kind of giving you the head lines in terms of how the form's been used, but what we're trying to do in this next exercise is to actually use our um Rihanna who's going to be uh Rhian who's going to be the survivor victim and we have um Mel who's going Melanie's going to be the witness observer and we've also got Valerie who's going to be taking on the role of the responsible man.

[00:33:34]Um a responsible manager person, sorry.

[00:33:37]You have to get the right terminology.

[00:33:40]Um so, what we're going to do now is just give them the opportunity. We're going to start with um Rhian who's going to start from her perspective as the victim survivor um and bring it to life a bit more.

[00:33:54]Rhianna.

[00:33:55]>> Thank you very much. Hi everyone. My name is Rhianna. I'm a practice educator.

[00:34:00]Um I just want to um thanks Wayne for showing the example about the victim and survivor's perspective of what happened with him, but I wanted to share with you on the real life uh what I had to go through.

[00:34:13]Um I can't say much uh because of confidentiality and um what I can say the nature of the circumstances was awful. I had to go through something that I've never been through before.

[00:34:27]Um I felt isolated. I I I wasn't being listened to. I was told I was not allowed to speak to anyone.

[00:34:36]The trust issue just went out of the window. I couldn't trust anyone because I wasn't allowed to even talk to anyone.

[00:34:43]I feel that um I was misjudged. There was a lot of competitiveness where I was working as well. So, we do need to put that in aspect as well where you feel that you're undermined on the work that you're doing. And that really plays a a major thing in your confidence, your self-esteem.

[00:35:02]But what happened to me recently was I mean and previously it made me realize that um if I didn't have this tool, I would have If I I wish to God that I did have this tool beforehand, then I could have self-looked at myself what journey that I'm going through, which is horrendous.

[00:35:22]Um so, I had my emotional impact the nature of the circumstances was um it was unacceptable behavior. I don't feel I was supported enough. I felt scrutinized. I felt then I never ever felt that it was racial at the beginning because I was born in England and British and a British Asian person. I've never seen things like that before.

[00:35:45]But um the emotional impact that I had, I felt defeated at the end. I felt no one's going to listen to me. No one's going to support me or help me. There's no way I am going to get that support. I went to different places, asked for support. I had a union.

[00:36:02]Um nothing supported me, even colleagues or friends that I thought would support me.

[00:36:08]And little did I know I did feel really isolated until I spoke to Wayne and I I thought what is this?

[00:36:15]What's um Shades of Bias? Because I've never used it before, to be honest. And I was able to reflect on the way I feel. So, it's in stages. For example, you've got What was the nature of the circumstances. I was able to write a reflective work on myself and how I felt. And it was massive on how I felt on how I was feeling and the repair um I mean through signs of signs of bias, I was able to put it really did make an impact on my professional uh you know, work as well because I was not allowed to work anywhere else until happening. And it really does make you feel that we can't go forward. But by doing by going through this prompt through the shades of bias really helped me through the repair. Now, you've got to tailor it to your own circumstances.

[00:37:16]So, we're all we've all got different circumstances. I would say that please use it. It is used for racism, it's used for competitiveness, undermining. You're able to acknowledge what you're going through and that you're not going out of your mind, you're not going crazy, you're not No, you you have to look at your mental health and everything. And you've got to look at everything and you don't need to justify with anyone. Yeah, if you've got someone that you can trust, fair play.

[00:37:43]But I had no one at that time because your trust goes from everyone because you trust people from who you work with and you you gain that trust as a social worker, as that PCF, that's our Social Work England, BASW, we've got all of that. We're working towards that. But then when it hits you in a large organization, you feel you're on your own, but you're not on your own. There's many of us who are going through it.

[00:38:09]You're not on your own. Please have a look at the signs of bias.

[00:38:14]Uh have a look at it. See what you've been through and look at the repair plan. You may have have ask for more support or but have a look at it, have a read. And what Wayne stated it is really good and I have been It's good for practice educators, for managers to bring into supervision.

[00:38:38]We are already working on EDI, so we're all we're bringing that whole in and I've told Wayne that is fabulous work that you've done. It should be out more, you know, and I've not I've not heard of it before, but I am bringing it out to a lot of places and I would encourage you guys to use it. Thank you very much.

[00:38:59]>> Thank you for it, Rihanna, for that. I mean, that's that's I mean, that's an impassioned personal perspective in terms of how you've been able to utilize this. Um, I think what we're going to move to is um Mel, who's going to do from the observer. Mel, you focusing more on the exemplar itself and what and what are the experiences from that and and highlighting some of the points. Um, thank you, Mel. I hope to see you soon.

[00:39:29]>> Irene. So, just very briefly, I'm Mel Thomas. I'm a practice educator like Rihanna, um, and also member of the BASW's Professional Capabilities and Development Group. I work within adult services at Gloucestershire County Council. That's probably enough about that. Um, so I came at this case study very much from the perspective of somebody who's observed something, um, but not intervened and and so I'm kind of reflecting on it from from that point of view and and the the kind of emotions and uh thoughts that I might have been going through. So, obviously you've already got the case study, you know what what the setting was.

[00:40:08]Um, so yeah, I'm putting myself in the position of a white social worker who was in the team meetings, saw everything happen, but didn't step in.

[00:40:19]So, I was thinking about um um yeah, may- maybe what would be going through my head, sort of thinking how uncomfortable I would feel, how inappropriate it was for a manager to say what they said, and really minimize what the person was saying.

[00:40:36]Um you know, I I we were talking about resource allocation. My colleague was making a valid point, and it is really important that we cater for for um diverse needs.

[00:40:47]What was difficult or what it added to the difficulty, I think, was that other people on the call seemed to be siding with the manager. There I noticed one member of staff roll her eyes. Um and the issue was shut down.

[00:41:01]So, I really wanted to say something, um but I'm new to the team. I didn't know what to say without coming across as confrontational.

[00:41:11]The person making the comments was the team manager.

[00:41:15]And appeared to be sort supported by other senior members of the team, so I felt quite intimidated.

[00:41:20]If I confronted those comments, would they then take issue with me? Would I become a troublemaker?

[00:41:27]Um also, I've read about the term white savior. I thought would stepping in um would my colleague think I was trying to rescue him? Would that make him feel disempowered?

[00:41:39]I hope that someone else might step in and say something, but nobody did.

[00:41:43]I felt deeply uncomfortable, embarrassed.

[00:41:46]I hope my colleague wouldn't think that I shared the the manager's views.

[00:41:52]Um my colleague seemed really withdrawn afterwards, and I felt really guilty for not supporting him in the team meeting.

[00:41:59]And I was going to check in, but I didn't know what to say, and then he went out on a visit, and I was busy, and the moment was gone.

[00:42:07]Um I'm feeling I may have made the wrong move coming to this team. As social workers, we should all demonstrate anti-oppressive practice. And if this isn't in place at the top of the organization, then it's encouraging poor practice.

[00:42:21]Um So, just thinking about how the situation was handled, obviously, instead of shutting the conversation down, the manager should have forwarded the worker's observations to the commissioning team to highlight gap in gaps in local provision.

[00:42:38]And if I could change one thing, I would have supported my colleague and been a better ally.

[00:42:44]So, in terms of my reflections, um I think when the perpetrator of a racist comment is in a position of power, it might feel more difficult to challenge.

[00:42:55]But in the future, I'd have the courage to challenge by asking the manager, "What do you mean by that?" Or um maybe just saying, "Actually, I think they were raising a valid point. And And who would be the best person to talk to in the organization about this?"

[00:43:12]I think if it's too difficult to challenge in the moment, think about who you might bring this up with. And And yeah, and and what where you might go.

[00:43:21]As an observer, sometimes it's hard to know what to say and be a good ally. But by being too worried about saying the wrong thing and ending up saying nothing in this situation, I wasn't being an ally.

[00:43:34]In the future, I'd show allyship to the worker outside of the meeting by approaching them and validating the point they've raised, checking they're okay, and asking whether there's any support that they might need.

[00:43:46]I could raise what I've observed in supervision, complete a Shades of Bias template, um as we've done today.

[00:43:52]Um So, now I've upskilled myself reading my organization's equality, diversity, inclusion policy, which states that workers should report discrimination, bullying, unfair treatment, harassment that they experience or witness. So, just highlights my responsibility.

[00:44:12]And then also looking at Social Work England. So, 6.1, Social Work England professional standards, we should report allegations of harm and challenge and report exploitation, any dangerous, abusive, or discriminatory discriminatory behavior or practice. We should reflect on our learning on our working environment and challenge practices.

[00:44:36]We should raise concerns about organizational wrongdoing. And then also the the the professional capabilities framework sets out some behaviors. We should be promoting excellence in practice. We should raise issues of poor practice.

[00:44:52]We should recognize and manage conflicting values and ethical dilemmas in practice.

[00:44:58]We should routinely interrogate the principles of and entitlements to social justice, social inclusion, and equality in practice.

[00:45:06]And we should explore, identify, and communicate to supervisors and managers how organizational practice can improve to support better social work practice and citizen outcomes.

[00:45:18]So, that's me.

[00:45:20]>> Thank you so much for that. And I think it was a wonderful example of you had from Rihanna that the pain of it all, the the the you know what it is and then being silenced. And actually to give the opportunity cuz so often there are bystanders who never get the opportunity to do that important bit of reflection to be able to move forward and to then engage in the process wider on what you've described and being given that opportunity in that observer role to to then reflect on the learning for next time. And I think that as social workers I do think and you've highlighted those key points as social workers I think it's so critical to important for us to be able to do that and to use it effectively in that way.

[00:46:04]So, thank you. I think that was a a really good example following also that the the the passion that you shared, Riana, in terms of and the silencing and that disempowerment and then what you've grown from that, but then to see if you'd have had that support and that openness to be able to have that contribution from others.

[00:46:22]So, we're going to move on now to hear from Valerie, who's got the unenviable position of being the responsible person. So, um do you want to introduce what who you are and what your reflections are from that perspective?

[00:46:38]>> Yeah, so just >> [clears throat] >> just a bit background. So, I'm a business change lead in adult social care. I've got background in mental health social work and substance misuse and I'm a member of the Bass Up Black and Ethnic Minority Professional Symposium. So, for me, I'm going to be looking at person responsible, um which was quite a challenging challenging report to write. So, I understand that the incident uh and my response contributed to like the minimization of my colleague's concern around racial inequality and culturally responsive practice.

[00:47:16]The incident took place within the workplace set setting and our organization had EDI inclusion policies and anti-discriminatory practice guidelines. However, discussions about race and the cultural responsiveness were often limited within the organization, which um due to operational pressures was always taking precedence.

[00:47:40]However, now that I look back at the meeting and how it went, I would say that there were it shows there are warning signs within the organizational culture and it's relating to race and inclusion and having previously been acknowledged, but not explored in in a meaningful way. I had not fully considered how my own defensiveness and leadership style may have contributed to create an environment where race-related discussions felt uncomfortable or unsafe.

[00:48:12]So, during the meeting that took place, a colleague raised concerns that some services avail some services available um were not to to black and ethnic minorities were not adequately meeting cultural and religious needs. So, my immediate response was to redirect the discussion towards precious and service limitations.

[00:48:32]At that time, I believed I was maintaining a focus and ensuring meeting remain productive. However, now through my reflection, I have also recognized that my response minimized a legitimate concern about racial inequality and cultural responsive practice.

[00:48:49]Of all my Although my comments were not intentionally discriminatory, they reflected unconscious bias and reflect and represented a form of covert racism.

[00:49:00]Rather than creating a space for discussion, my response contributed to culture where concerns about race could be dismissed instead of explored.

[00:49:09]This impact um This This impacted my colleagues significant significantly as they felt unheard, frustrated, and undervalued. As a result, trust, psychological safety, and confidence in my leadership would would have been impacted.

[00:49:27]So, through this uh what I decided to do, I decided to take a step back and look at everything and reflect. So, one of my key learning points was recognizing the difference between intention and impact. I assumed that because I didn't intend to discriminate, my response could not cause harm. I now understand that impact in impact matters most. To support my reflections, I used like the Gibbs reflective cycle, which enabled me to examine the offense systemically by exploring what happened, my feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusions, and my future actions. The incident also reinforced the importance of anti-oppressive practice, anti-racist practice, as well as cultural humility. These frameworks will require professionals not only to avoid discrimination, but to actively challenge inequality and examine power imbalances within professional relationships. So, there were some legislations I considered. Some of them was the Equality Act of 2010, which protects individuals from discrimination and promotes equality of opportunity.

[00:50:38]The Human Rights Act, which supports dignity, respect, and fair treatment.

[00:50:43]The Care Act, which promotes well-being and person-centered practice, as well as the BASW Code of Ethics, which emphasizes social justice, human rights, and anti-oppressive practice. And the Social Work England Professional Standards, which requires practitioners to challenge discrimination and promote inclusion. So, reflecting on my role in the incident um has been challenging, but it has been a very necessary learning for me. And my initial um I recognize that my actions have been perceived as dismissive, invalidating, and and silencing.

[00:51:18]As a result, I have committed to several actions.

[00:51:22]Undertaking further anti-racism and cultural competence training, creating opportunities for open discussions about race, culture, and inequality. Using reflective supervision to examine my own back biases, seeking feedback from colleagues about inclusivity within the team, and reviewing decision-making through an through equality and oppressive anti-oppressive um lens.

[00:51:48]So, overall, moving forward, I am more committed to a more inclusive environment where concerns about inequality are welcomed, explored, and acted upon appropriately.

[00:52:00]Thank you.

[00:52:02]>> Wow, thank you, Valerie.

[00:52:05]I think wouldn't we love it if everybody was able to do that level of reflection and movement through and that make those those changes. Um, I think you've highlighted um, an ideal kind of process that we would want people to go through. Um, and so thank you because that's a a great example of again how it can be used. Um, I know I can see people have been putting things in the chat in terms of other ideas and other things that can be contributed in terms of um, from the perspectives about how it might impact on them. Um, we're going to move to the next part of the, um, discussion which is which I think we've addressed in part in the presentations you've the bits you've already done, but it's to think about one of the important part of this process is about um, um, regenerate and repair. So, um, if you could put in the chat, um, to share any of your reflections, um, and or any ideas about a repair plan, um, which we can then talk about as part of the panel discussion which we're going to move into shortly. So, if you want if you were thinking about it, is there something that you would want to highlight that would be something that you think you'd like to see in a repair plan. Um, we're going to move to the panel now to kind of if if the audience can put things in the chat, but we're going to move to the panel.

[00:53:43]You've kind of highlighted some of the points, but if we could just reflect on, so what are the two key things that you think would be essential for a repair plan?

[00:53:54]Do you want to start with you, Rihanna, again, or >> Yeah, sure.

[00:53:59]I think with myself, because I was so much in self-denial, um, because of the way I felt, um, I did not just trust myself. I know, sorry about that. It's a knock on the door, but, um, it was really, um, I just didn't have that motivation that you stated before, Irene. It's just you you just don't feel like you know, you just feel everything's dark, you know, because you don't trust anyone. You feel isolated. And your family, they're not social workers, so they can't have a discussion with them, so you're very isolated. So, my repair plan was through looking at them shades of bias and actually reflecting on from the beginning to where I was in the middle and where I had got out of what I was doing and what I had gone through, so I was able to channel my feelings through each prompt that it was. So, each prompt on there might may not be what you're searching.

[00:55:00]You're the author of this. It's already been completed. All you've got to think about your circumstances and how it supported how it supports you in the repair, uh, what part when you do get there. So, by the time you've done the emotional impact, the professional impact, and the wider impact, you are able to look at repair and how, um, I think with me it was I kept myself busy. I was very lucky to keep I just went into Buzz to be honest, and it's been keeping me really busy.

[00:55:35]>> What the repair plan? So, two things from the from the survivor's point of view is what are the two things that stand out for you? And it sounds to me like one of those is having a support network. You In this instance, it was having an organization that could provide you with that support that you needed to be seen and to be heard.

[00:55:55]>> Yeah.

[00:55:56]>> So, I think that was that >> That would be That was one of them.

[00:55:58]>> One of them. What would be your second one, Rihanna?

[00:56:02]>> Um I think what the other one was sharing with others or this or the people working people knew what I'd gone through because I wasn't shy then to talk about it. Before, I was embarrassed. I didn't know who to talk to. I felt really embarrassed. I didn't know who to talk to, but then I thought when you get that confidence back, it's building back in again and yourself that respect that you had. And then you see that other organizations and other people know you and through the Shades of Bias, you're able to I identify is So, I think it was talking to others as well, keeping myself busy, and just other people giving me that praise that you're a good worker, you know, and that's where That's why I'm here to tell my story, to say that don't let go, you know, don't you know, if you know there's a logic explanation, do Shades of Bias and you'll get that bit of explanation and then you can work through it through that then.

[00:57:03]That's how I see it.

[00:57:04]>> Yeah.

[00:57:05]>> I think that's really powerful and important and about being validated, about being heard, and being seen as authentic.

[00:57:12]>> Yeah.

[00:57:12]>> Um thank you. That's really helpful.

[00:57:14]>> Yeah.

[00:57:15]>> Mel, I'm going to move to you. If you were to from your perspective and um what would be the two things that you would want to see in a repair plan?

[00:57:25]>> Um I think um it might be some potentially mediation might be helpful to enable um the different parties to be able to come together and um and share their perspectives and how this is it had impacted upon them. So, I think that might be something that might be helpful. Um I think also >> the mediator in that role, Matt? Does that mean internal?

[00:57:52]>> organization, but have we have meeting media I would think an external mediator um you know, so it might be thinking about who might be able to facilitate that. And then I think probably some training and education, maybe some group reflection, um maybe get you know, getting a facilitator in to support with that just to enable people to maybe see things from a different perspective.

[00:58:18]>> Thank you.

[00:58:21]Valerie.

[00:58:22]>> Yeah, um so the first one for me would be to acknowledge the harm. So, I would acknowledge the harm that my response may have had on my colleague to feel um unheard or dismissed, as well as being able to demonstrate that empathy and understanding how the incident has affected them as well as others. My second one as well would touch on showing that change cuz there's so many times you can apologize or you can try and do better, but actually now implementing sus speak actions to prevent recurrence, as well as seeking that feedback. There is this really good quote by Maya Angelou, which is do the best you can until you know better, and then when you know better, do better. So, I would follow that principle in be able to know how I can ensure future discussions can create that space for conversations about race, culture, and inequality, and as well as reviewing my progress regularly.

[00:59:24]>> Thank you. I I they're they're really powerful and very important points. I I think one of the things that that from what you've just said, I think is and what we don't see so often in the workplace is about managers vulnerability and being vulnerable with their staff. So, acknowledging when you've made mistakes, being accepting, thinking about how you can make change or how you improve practice, but that does require a level of vulnerability in for the manager to be sharing their vulnerability. I I I don't know about your experience of working in um local authorities in particular, some of the challenges is around you the vulnerability is not something at senior management level that we are able often people are able to experience and share.

[01:00:09]So, I think but but but it absolutely we are going the bravery of Mel and of Riana to raise their issues, it does require that to be heard and listened to. So, thank you. Is there anything that's in the chat um Augusto or Wayne that >> Yes. I've been uh um >> I've been scanning the uh chat and there's so many good comments in there, there really is. I've tried to pick out themes though. Some of the themes that I've picked out was the need for an apology. I think that's been mentioned by a number of different uh contributors in the chat. Accountability as well.

[01:00:45]Tangible action.

[01:00:47]There's also been mention of integration of shared sub bias into team meetings as a standing agenda item.

[01:00:54]Um the use of a honesty box, I think was also mentioned as well. Protecting people's anonymity so they're able to make suggestions, alter the organizational culture, but do that in a protected way as well. So, yeah, just so many good contributions there in the chat. Thank you everyone for really engaging with this.

[01:01:15]>> Thank you.

[01:01:15]>> Yeah, likewise. Um I think I just want to echo that and there was a lot of acknowledgement and validation, but also um just the difficulty sometimes to deal with it um and confront the reality of it and the tendency to just minimize, especially when you don't have that you don't share that lived experience, so you cannot fully and truly understand how it feels. And even though it feels trivial to you, it can actually be of utmost importance to the person who's experiencing it.

[01:01:48]>> Thank you. It's really important.

[01:01:54]We're going to move on to the last section of of of this um of the panel. So, we've got we are opening it up for um Q&A for questions. So, if people want to put in the chat if you've got questions that you'd like to ask of the panel um and that can be anything in relation to what's been shared or or specifically in relation to implementing Shades of Bias in your workplaces or or any questions that you may have that you'd like to share in the group.

[01:02:26]Do we have any questions yet?

[01:02:30]>> Not yet, but I'm sure we'll have more.

[01:02:33]Perhaps we can start um >> Let's Then should I get the let we can talk with the panel. So, from um So, from your perspective, Shades of Bias presents, and I think Valerie gave a lovely example of this, Shades of Bias presents that everyone is able to be reflective and able to acknowledge their own biases. So, how can we How do you think we can address this with work with with in the workplace where people are not engaging? So, it's a great tool, but it's a tool that needs people to engage.

[01:03:09]So, panel, do you have any ideas around how we could do that?

[01:03:16]Or how we can encourage that.

[01:03:18]>> I'm happy to go first if you like and give our panelists just a little bit of a breather. Um yeah, my thoughts around that is that it could be implemented both proactively and reactively. So, by that, what I mean is that proactively could be the incorporation as colleagues already mentioned in the in the chat this morning about the use of shades of bias in existing processes like supervision, team meetings, annual appraisals, um embedded in the organizational culture by means of a an honesty box, for example. Um and so that those are proactive ways I think that it could be incorporated.

[01:03:59]More reactive ways could be that when incidents occur, so you know, conflict or disputes between colleagues or between professionals and people who access services, complaints, uh and so on. Um in those scenarios, I think Shades of Bias could also have a role. Not to replace existing processes, I think that's crucially important to note, but to supplement existing processes. So, you know, to encourage people to reflect on their actions or inactions. Or if there have been particularly negative outcomes for people, um for whatever reason, then you know, kind of Shades of Bias being used as a reflective tool to analyze that and to look at how you know, how outcomes could be improved in the future, maybe. So, for me, I think I feel it could be incorporated both proactively and uh reactively. The final thing I would just say is that in the current climate, obviously, and quite a few people have alluded to this in the chat, that socially and politically, there's a lot of division within society. So, I think there's ample opportunity really for Shades of Bias to be used professionally in workplaces, but also outside of work as well, both privately and with other people.

[01:05:18]So, my hope really is that it forms part of the solution really in knitting society back together, hopefully. I don't see it as a silver bullet, but hopefully part of the solution. So, yeah.

[01:05:30]>> I mean, that's really helpful, Wayne.

[01:05:32]And certainly, when I was reflecting as you were talking and thinking about this, there's something also about introducing it and the model prior to then not introducing it because there's an issue in the workplace, but introducing it so that people then don't feel affronted or oh, they're using this to attack me because this is a model that we use. So, when somebody is feeling this way, let's do this reflective piece of work, which doesn't have to be doesn't have to take up hours and masses of time, does it? The learning comes from that. But but that's being able to just have something to be able to focus on and do that reflective practice in a meaningful way. I think it's what what I take from using and certainly it's something I would want to take away and look at in for my team and how we would introduce it.

[01:06:19]>> Yeah, definitely. It doesn't have to be punitive, you know, I would echo that.

[01:06:22]Yeah.

[01:06:24]>> I would I would agree with what Wayne is saying as well. I think proactively as well, we could look at education and reflection as well. So, this could be through training within the workplace.

[01:06:37]The people can attend different types of workshops. So, then when these incidents happen, we need to we may need to be reactive. We already have that shades of bias on how to approach it.

[01:06:48]An example for me is Luckily, I knew about the shades of bias.

[01:06:54]So, I knew how to be able So, when an incident did happen and it was and I was actually the witness, it allowed me to take a step back and reflect. It challenged my own values as a person and if I was seeing it the correct way, if it was discrimination, if it was cuz there was so many intersectionalities as well. It wasn't just the race, it was other protected characteristics of that person. So, when I did the Shades of Bias, I it allowed me to open and speak to my managers and my whole team. And through that, it actually led to a meeting with a separate organization.

[01:07:28]So, now we work more in a partnership collaborative way. So, it can also open doors as well in working with other people to tackle all of the inequalities that are happening within the community.

[01:07:41]>> Thank you.

[01:07:45]Does Does any of the other panel members want to contribute, or should we go to some of the questions that have come from the group?

[01:07:55]>> Um I just wanted to say, hi, it's Riana.

[01:07:58]I just wanted to say that um Shades of Bias is um obviously I went to a practice educator conference, and I feel that all of yous that are in uh in this uh session, it'd be great for yous to bring it out to um if you're a student, or you know, to speak to your tutors, or if you're in the a local authority which you think will be able to support for the learning development team, you can bring that out to them, Shades of Bias, and explain to them that it does support an EDI in my view. And um obviously we are working more into and as you know that the EDI is really coming into and a lot local authorities and the way we work and so on. So, I would really, you know, if you can bring it out, that would be fantastic because it is a really good supervision tool as well as training, I would say absolutely um doing the training in this would be fabulous for a lot of the workers understand what Shades of Bias is is, what is discrimination.

[01:09:04]There's different types of discriminations and oppressions and we can we can we can expand it more openly in my view. Um but yeah, I would say yeah, just share it out, you know, all of you if you find it very useful that the way I've spoke about it as well and it it's really supported me and I did and I I'm so happy that I know it exists and it should be out there in all platforms. So please just share it. It would be really good. Thank you.

[01:09:32]>> Yeah, Frankie very much for that. One of the questions that that has been posed from the group is be very interested to understand how the tool can be applied to different forms of discrimination.

[01:09:41]And I think that's a really important point for us just from the trace perspective in terms of and what I've understood from it, really just thinking about when you think about the subject and you think of any discrimination, you can use that's the example you then and you do the same process because the wording and the the terminology that's used in terms of the reflective practice and what you're looking at, describing what the incident is, thinking about what what what are the issues and then doing that reflective practice and then doing that repair work can be applied across any of forms of discrimination.

[01:10:19]But Wayne, do you want to presumably that's been very much a part of the work that you've been doing. Do you want to highlight or say anything around that because I do think it's >> Yes. It's important not to go away thinking this is just something that we're talking about race and racism is something Yeah.

[01:10:33]>> Yeah, I feel very strongly about that actually. It's as I said in my presentation that it's not just a tool to examine race. It does cover all areas of discrimination. It's a universal tool, you know, that's very much the aim of Shades of Bias. In terms of how it can support other aspects of discrimination, we don't claim for Shades of Bias to be the sort of complete or finished article or you know, kind of template in terms of how it can be used by different groups. It's really important that people adapt and modify it for their personal use.

[01:11:06]Um, so, you know, from a neuro-diverse perspective, for example, I'm pretty confident that the prompts that are currently in there probably aren't completely suitable to deal with every scenario that somebody who is neuro-divergent that they'll find themselves in. So, it would be really important for somebody to adapt and modify the form for their particular use around that. Then, that's why it's called a template, you see, and not sort of like it's not expected that in its current form it will be usable by everybody.

[01:11:37]Um, we really want people to personalize it and make it their own.

[01:11:41]Um, so, that's, you know, I can't emphasize that anymore, really.

[01:11:45]>> And it's a free tool that you can actually download and do that with. You can do that in workplace with with people. Yeah.

[01:11:52]>> Yes.

[01:11:53]>> Thank you.

[01:11:54]>> All right.

[01:11:56]I'm still scanning the chat, actually.

[01:11:57]Every time I think I've caught up with it >> to yeah, it's going to be another question that somebody has [laughter] have you kicked off on?

[01:12:04]>> Yeah, can I just say a few things, actually, just to uh address some of the comments in the chat, just cuz I can't type enough to type quickly enough to keep up. Um, the Shades of Bias webpage is a real hive of activity. There's all sorts of resources on there. So, I think some of the questions that I've seen, at least, I think are answered directly by that webpage in terms of different example examples, for example, there's different exemplars around the person responsible for bias.

[01:12:33]There is a different exemplar of specifically Oh, I think we might need to just mute a colleague there, um, if we could, please.

[01:12:41]Um, and so, uh yeah, so, I was just saying that there are different exemplars on there from different perspectives that will hopefully illuminate how the form can be completed from those three different perspectives we talked about.

[01:12:56]Also, there is some guidance on the web page as well. There's brief guidance for people who perhaps are limited on time or, you know, kind of don't have much time to devote to this and would just like a kind of whistle-stop introduction or reintroduction to Shades of Bias.

[01:13:13]And then there's more detailed guidance for people who've got that bit more time and perhaps want to do a deep dive into it. It's as, you know, simple or as complex as the individual wants to make it, really, Shades of Bias.

[01:13:27]Um, like I say, there's lots of information on the Shades of Bias web page. It is a bit busy, I have to say, um, but it's kind of necessary. You'll see lots of focus groups on there that we've had that will kind of explain how it's been used with different groups, social workers at different stages of their careers, right from students, newly qualified workers, people with five or more years experience, managers, senior leaders, and so on. Various focus groups, um, they're cross-cutting in terms of sector as well. So, public sector, local authorities, NHS, private sector, third or voluntary sector as well.

[01:14:10]So, you know, it's really expansive that web page and, uh, it's just about how much time people have got to devote to Shades of Bias, really.

[01:14:18]Thank you.

[01:14:20]>> Thank you.

[01:14:22]Augusta, is there any >> Yeah, I was just going through the chat.

[01:14:25]I may just have caught up uh with the last one, but really, um, the common theme seems to be around, uh, its applicability across different areas and different sectors, and I think we've answered that comprehensively. Someone specifically was asking, um, mentioned, uh, being in work environments with 150 social workers, but with within a wider trust with 8,000 employees. And again, just to reinforce that there is nothing preventing the tool being re-adapted to cater the wider workforce.

[01:15:00]I there was a particular comment that I noted which was we can then if this was introduced, you know, earlier on, we can then not start every job with fear. I just thought that was quite powerful and something to share.

[01:15:14]Here, just to think again about the emotions that some people are actually walking into a new environment with and how and how, you know, they can identify this as a tool that can support that. I don't think anyone should walk into their first day of work with fear, but clearly that is still a shared experience.

[01:15:34]But yeah.

[01:15:36]>> Thank you.

[01:15:38]We're coming to the end. I'm giving strict instructions to make sure we finish on time.

[01:15:44]So, first of all, I wanted to just remind I want to thank Coram.

[01:15:50]Sorry, Baswa first of all for for introducing us and doing the work with this and and for sharing it so openly cuz I think that is that is, you know, that commitment to improving across the way by a tool that's free and we can use it and learn from it. Thank you so much. I think um and I would encourage everybody to make sure you do invest the time and effort to think about it, not just go away from today not taking that on board. I want to highlight for me, I think if if nothing else you take away from today, there's the there's the the the the the three kind of catch words or six sets of catch words for me, which is which I will take away, which is that the importance of reveal, reflect, and repair.

[01:16:32]You know, it's it's good to do reflection and we do a lot of reflection in social work. We don't always prioritize and do the repair work in the way that it needs to be done if we're going to get it right and and improve.

[01:16:46]And the and the other the words that go alongside that is accountability, growth, and self-reflection. So, they're my six takeaways from today, which I just think if we go away with those imprinted and we think about those in everything we do, it will help to inform and us to grow. Um and we all have capacity and should have capacity in the roles that we do to do that learning and do that growth cuz there's always things and areas that we may not have reflected on and understood in terms of the process practice and how we operate. So, please do invest the time and effort.

[01:17:24]So, as I say, thank you to Basworth, thank you to Coram Bafta organizing today, and thank you to the Racial Justice Family Network um for their con- So, how that contributes. I know you've got your paper and your role was part of that, isn't it, Augusta? So, just the importance of all of those of the different organizations coming together to support this and drive this forward.

[01:17:50]Thank you to everybody for coming today for your participation.

[01:17:54]Have I missed anything, Wayne, Augusta?

[01:17:56]>> I don't think so. I'd just like to say thank you to Coram Bafta and to yourself for chairing the event so skillfully as well. Our panelists who contributed so passionately as well. Um you know, I'm really uh like I've put in the chat, feel like a proud dad today with um with creative bias and the panelists and everything, you know, it's just it is it's overwhelming. I'll stop before I start tearing up.