I would like to begin this reflection by drawing on a resource not listed in the official course materials but one that has deeply informed and contextualised my teaching practice as an educator at Central Saint Martins. Colouring Critique, a research project initiated by UAL Fashion alumna Huguette Tchapi, offers a compelling and necessary exploration of the lived experiences of Black fashion students across the institution. The project not only interrogates how feedback is delivered and received, but also provides a framework for navigating cultural difference within the learning environment. In doing so, it foregrounds the creative contributions and critical perspectives of students of colour, offering space for their work and ancestries to be seen, heard, and meaningfully engaged with (Tchapi, 2024).
Launched in January 2024, Colouring Critique affirmed what many students of colour have been articulating for years: that the feedback they receive often lacks cultural nuance, specificity, and genuine pedagogical care. More than a critique of feedback mechanisms, Tchapi’s work calls into question the foundational assumptions that underpin how we teach, support, and assess students—particularly those from marginalised or underrepresented backgrounds (Tchapi, 2024).
The “fashion feedback gap” Tchapi identifies is not a theoretical abstraction—it is a persistent and observable reality. Too often, students of colour must spend tutorial time explaining their identities, references, and cultural frameworks, only to receive vague or superficial responses. As someone who facilitates tutorials, I have had to ask myself: Would I feel seen and supported if I were on the receiving end of my own feedback? Am I offering responses that are culturally literate, developmentally meaningful, and critically engaged—or am I merely gesturing towards inclusion?
Tchapi’s recommendations—such as longer tutorials, deeper tutor preparation, embedding intersectionality in learning outcomes, and addressing structural imbalances in staff diversity—are not aspirational; they are essential. Her reminder that students are not asking tutors to be cultural experts but rather to approach their work with curiosity, openness, and adequate preparation is both humbling and actionable (Tchapi, 2024).
Building on this, Sadiq’s TEDx talk sharpened my understanding that anti-racist practice is a lifelong commitment. As he powerfully articulates, this work is not a two-hour CPD session or a tick-box policy revision—it demands a sustained willingness to sit with discomfort, confront complicity, and allow that discomfort to shape our pedagogical choices (Sadiq, 2020). Sadiq calls for a localised, context-specific approach to anti-racist training—one that resists generic, one-size-fits-all models and instead roots itself in the specific cultural, institutional, and historical dynamics of the learning environment. He privileges modes of engagement that are relational: storytelling, experiential learning, and collective reflection.
Crucially, the responsibility for this work is personal. As both Sadiq (2020) and Eddo-Lodge (2017) emphasise, anti-racism cannot rest solely on the shoulders of those most affected by structural inequality. The emotional and intellectual labour required to challenge racism must also be taken up by White members of staff. This includes engaging actively in anti-racist self-education, acknowledging one’s own privilege, and taking consistent, informed action. While anti-racism is a collective responsibility, it demands particular commitment from those who benefit from racial advantage. That commitment must be deliberate, sustained, and accountable.
One moment from the Channel 4 video that stood out to me was the privilege walk workshop. While the activity offers a compelling visual metaphor for inequality, I remain critical of its limitations—particularly the way it can centre guilt or pity rather than fostering a deeper structural understanding of privilege. (Morton, 2022) I found myself wondering: what if the facilitators had asked those at the front to slow down, allowing those at the back to move forward and gain advantage in the run? That shift would have provided a more powerful way to embody equity—making it not just a conceptual or visual exercise, but a physically and emotionally embodied experience. As Sadiq (2020) suggests, equity work must be experiential, encouraging us to actively engage with what it means to redistribute pace, space, and opportunity.
References
Eddo-Lodge, R. (2017) Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Morton, B. (2022) ‘Against the Privilege Walk’, Dissent Magazine, Summer. Available at: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/against-the-privilege-walk/ (Accessed: 14 July 2025).
Sadiq, A. (2020) The Power of Everyday Anti-Racism. [TEDxTalk] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/abdullahi_sadiq_the_power_of_everyday_anti_racism (Accessed: 14 July 2025).
Tchapi, H. (2024) Colouring Critique. [Research project] University of the Arts London. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/research/projects/colouring-critique (Accessed: 14 July 2025).
Channel 4 (n.d.) The School That Tried to End Racism. [Video] Channel 4. Available at: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-school-that-tried-to-end-racism (Accessed: 14 July 2025).
2 replies on “Reflections on Anti-Racist Teaching_Blog post #3”
Hi Monika,
I totally agreed, when you described the fatigue students of colour experience in having to explain their cultural references, only to receive vague feedback. “would I feel seen and supported if I were on the receiving end of my own feedback I’ve asked myself similar questions, especially when reflecting on moments when I’ve felt invisible in feedback conversations, either as a student or a colleague.
Your reflection also made me revisit the discomfort I shared in my own blog, about wondering if I was hired to tick a diversity box. It’s painful how often that sense of being “allowed in” doesn’t translate to feeling like the space was ever meant for you. The “fashion feedback gap” you wrote about feels closely tied to what I was trying to unpack with UAL’s anti-racism policies , that sense that inclusion is performed more than it’s felt.
Your reinterpretation of the privilege walk. I’d never thought of that possibility of literally adjusting the pace to embody equity. That image will stay with me. It reminds me how even our metaphors and teaching tools can be reimagined through a more intentional, justice-centred lens.
Thank you for the references, especially Tchapi’s work. I’m excited to dig into “Colouring Critique,” and think more deeply about how feedback is shaped by cultural expectations and unspoken norms.
Hi Monika – my reflections below!
The emphasis that Colouring Critique “calls into question the foundational assumptions that underpin how we teach, support, and assess students—particularly those from marginalised or underrepresented backgrounds” resonates with my own teaching in a different context. The literature I teach for the field of Human-Computer Interaction is absolutely clouded in whiteness – and it means that many of the underpinning ideas I am required teach and use to assess students are not inclusive. Nice to see that these ideas apply to other domains too! An example would be the idea of conducting “user studies”: framing people as *users* is limited and excludes broader socio-cultural context. Do people *use* technology or *co-exist* alongside technology?
Thus, it was exciting to read the questions you posed to help reflect on this. In particular, your asking of “Would I feel seen and supported if I were on the receiving end of my own feedback?” will be a useful phrase I will apply in my next round of marking. In particular, I think the notion of “feeling seen” is super useful!
Your critiques of the Privallage Walk also resonate with my own – I look forward to following up on the resources you mention on your comment of my blog post! I really like the notion that equity work should be experiential also, to encourage active and transformative reflection on the visual representation of inequality provided by Privllage walks, and not just passive observation. I wonder whether theories on experiential learning (e.g. Kolb, 1984) offers any grounding to this idea.
All the best,
Corey
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.