We are delighted to be continuing our collaboration with the Portal Trust on this important issue. Our earlier study gave mixed-heritage young people in London a rare opportunity to speak about their educational experiences in their own terms. This new project turns what they told us into practical resources, designed with teachers themselves, so that the research does not sit on a shelf but changes what happens in classrooms."
Dr Ayo Mansaray, Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Education and Policy
22 July 2026
New toolkit to support educational experiences of mixed-heritage young people
Researchers at King's are developing a toolkit to help secondary school teachers and leaders recognise and respond to the distinctive experiences of mixed-heritage young people.
Developed in collaboration with the Portal Trust, the Mixed-Heritage Teacher Toolkit builds on a study published in September 2025 that charted the educational journeys of mixed-heritage students within London’s diverse educational landscape.
Led by Dr Ayo Mansaray, Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Education & Policy, the study found that young people are being grouped into broad monoracial categories that they do not identify with and treated through ethnic based assumptions by teachers and institutions.
Launching in early 2027, the toolkit aims to address both the institutional defaults that produce invisibility, and the everyday interactions teachers can recognise and intervene in. Developed by a team comprising of Dr Mansaray, Dr Christina Richardson and Dr Sarah Steadman from the School of Education, Communication and Society, the free-to-use toolkit will comprise of self-guided professional development modules, classroom lessons and short videos and animations produced by the Portal Trust with young people.
To mark the launch of the project, investigators have undertaken a number of workshops and sessions. On 1 July, Dr Mansaray gave the opening keynote at the KCL PGCE Partnerhip Conference, entitled 'Visible yet unseen: mixed-heritage young people and the paradox of recognition in schools'.
Later that day, he was joined by Dr Richardson to run a workshop on "Racial literacy and mixedness: building classroom resources with teachers', introducing the toolkit and sharing sample materials from both strands.
Finally, the research and toolkit was presented to teachers and teacher educators from across the Circle U. Alliance (including Pisa, Paris Cité, Humboldt-Berlin, and UCLouvain) at the University of Pisa from 6-10 July. This extended the project's reach into European inclusion and anti-racism networks and gathered feedback on how the themes register across different education systems.
In this story
Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Education & Policy
Senior Lecturer in Language Education
Senior Lecturer in English Education