MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT :
DIVERSITY , EQUITY AND INCLUSION AT DULWICH COLLEGE ( SINGAPORE )
Every year , the staff , students and parents at Dulwich College ( Singapore ) choose a theme to bind and unite us . In previous years , we have been the change and celebrated our heritage , our home . We have also paid it forward , reached for the moon and focused upon kindness . This year , we settled on ‘ Better Together ’, which seemed entirely apt in a global pandemic .
Better Together also lent itself well to another dimension : diversity and inclusion . Few would argue with the notion that a diverse and inclusive society is the way forward so we felt that a starting point for realising this should be an examination of where we were at as a College within our own context . We needed to ask the questions : how diverse and inclusive are we as a community ? What are the subliminal messages that this sends out ? Are we perpetrators and victims of unconscious bias and what effect is this having on our children as we nurture and guide them to adulthood ? How are we going to help them to make tomorrow ' s world a better one for all ? To help us ask these questions , and more importantly to support us in coming up with honest answers , we worked with a Diversity , Equity and Inclusion ( DEI ) consultancy Include
Consulting ( referred to us by the
British Chamber of Commerce – a constant source of information ), who have particular expertise in supporting organisations in this area . We felt it was important to bring on board an objective external entity who would hold us to account and wouldn ’ t shy away from the challenging conversations .
In the first six months , they have helped us to set a framework and budget , set up an initial steering group , audit policies and procedures , run parent , student and staff focus groups , interview a number of leaders and subject matter experts , conduct a staff survey , compare ourselves against the Global Diversity , Equity & Inclusion Benchmark ( which sets out standards based on organisations around the world ) and draw up a clear action plan .
So what did we find out ? As always , our wonderful students are one step ahead of us in their passion for this topic and their foresight in setting up student-led action groups . Parents are supportive and keen to see progress and staff are very clear in where they see inequity : whether that ’ s for international teachers , local teachers , assistant teachers or business support staff .
We felt it was important to bring on board an objective external entity who would hold us to account and wouldn ’ t shy away from the challenging conversations .