Teachers map their DNA to challenge discrimination

Teachers at a Kent school have submitted their DNA for profiling to identify their heritage.

Nairet Morales, a teacher at Folkestone School for Girls, wanted to find a way to unite the students and highlight their similarities.

A global map was created to include all the teachers that participated and a breakdown of their DNA results, where they were born and where they initially thought their roots may lie.

The ancestry project was designed to "encourage pupils to be more open-minded about immigration, their heritage, and their minority peers".

Ms Morales said she hoped to demonstrate "we're not always what we seem" and many of the staff were "surprised by their diverse results".

She said: "We want our girls to know that as human beings there is much more that unites us than divides us.

"Mass migration is one of the big global challenges of our time. We wanted the girls to have a better understanding of this often very polarising topic.

"The Ancestry project aimed to really illustrate that immigration has always happened.”

Headteacher Mark Lester said the initial inspiration for the project came from a photo of the England football team, asking what would the team look like without immigration.

"And we thought, what would our school look like without immigration?" he said.

"We have teachers from Cuba, Jamaica, France, Spain and Germany and we have a lot of students come from Nepal."

Ms Morales said the overall response to the project had been "very positive".

"The school has always been inclusive. However the girls weren’t necessarily aware for example just why there was such a big Nepali community in Folkestone; now they are.

"We strive to ensure that our girls leave us knowing that it’s not what we are or who we are that matters but how we are," she said.

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