Building a Multi-Faith Space
Written by Hollie Panther
DEI Lead, Mental Health First Aider, secondary Science & Psychology teacher and Teach First Ambassador.
Experiences of, and learnings from, establishing a space for prayer and celebration of religious diversity in a secondary school.
The last school I worked in had a majority non-religious student population, but a diverse spread of religions among those who did follow a faith; many religions had just one follower within the student body. A parent of one such student had mentioned that they were uncomfortable being open about their faith due to the amount of discrimination they’d received in the past. As D&I Lead, a large part of my strategy to improve religious inclusion in the school was to open a Multi-Faith Space. When I started, there was no designated place to pray; my previous school did have a prayer room, but it was hidden away and only students or staff who asked about it were encouraged to use it. I wanted to create a space that people from all religions could use, so that it would encourage some sense of community, which I thought those who were the solo followers of their faith within the school might’ve been lacking. I also wanted it to be a place of celebration and curiosity, so that any student could learn about diverse faiths if they wanted to. The space was initially opened as a work-in-progress during Ramadan, to give Muslim students a place to pray and be away from food if they needed it. During this time I also designated a toilet block for Wudu, the practice of washing before prayer, and delivered whole school talks educating students about Ramadan and how to support students who were fasting. Feedback from this was unsolicited and overwhelmingly positive — parents of Muslim pupils wrote in to the school to congratulate and give thanks for the ‘exemplary inclusion effort for Ramadan’; my wish is for this approach to Ramadan to become the norm in all schools, so all pupils can celebrate the diversity of religious practices alongside one another.
Working alongside the Multi-Faith Space was the Religion & Spirituality Society, which I established as a student-led club who met at lunchtime to explore and learn about various religions. The leaders of the society planned activities and presentations for the group, and brought in occasional themed snacks too — I’m hoping the society will meet in the Multi-Faith Space going forwards, to ensure they are surrounded by diverse religions, with the opportunity to learn about them being easily accessible.
The Multi-Faith Space is two small rooms off of the Library, where I have put up shelves on each wall and designated each of the six walls to a major world religion (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism). I reached out to religious leaders in the community to see if they would be happy to donate a copy of their religion’s text or any artefacts that could go on the shelves. This took the form of finding email addresses of local Mosques, Churches, Gurdwaras etc, or filling in contact forms on their website, and Googling ‘free copy Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist etc text’, and making sure in my message I invited them to send my request on to anyone else they thought might be able to help out. As a result of this I had an incredible array of items gifted to the Multi-Faith Space by several local religious groups, and had an insightful and useful meeting with the representative of Judaism from the West Sussex SACRE (every county council have representatives of world religions, who are keen to come into schools to deliver lessons / assemblies etc on their religion, I’m hoping the next D&I Lead and teachers of RE will be able to make use of this otherwise untapped source after my introductions — none of the RE teachers in the school had heard of them). Several sources of items and books posted them to me or dropped them in to the school, but I also visited several organisations to collect their donations, which I really enjoyed, as it took me to places I wouldn’t have ordinarily visited within my local community.
I organised a Grand Opening for the Multi-Faith Space to which I invited all the local contributors, as well as staff and religious students. The student leader of Religion & Spirituality Society was invited to cut the ribbon; it was a great opportunity for me to connect up school staff and the pupils who will be running the Religion & Spirituality Society next year with community religious leaders (over donuts and cookies), so that they are able to lean on them for support with the society and also with RE teaching as the school grows. One community attendee at the Grand Opening came from the Baháʼís, a religion I admittedly hadn’t heard of when they initially made contact, but which I learnt much about through talking to this local follower at the event. They also donated several items and books to the Multi-Faith Space, and though they didn’t have a designated wall and shelves, I set up a table in the space to display their information, and was really glad to be representing a greater diversity of faiths than I had originally planned for.
I had a student volunteering with me for their Duke of Edinburgh’s Bronze award, who helped me plan the space and also worked in the Design Technology (DT) room on a signpost to go outside of the Multi-Faith Space, which featured laser-cut arrows, each one with a different place of worship on it — ‘Hindu Mandir’, ‘Sikh Gurdwara’ etc. Unfortunately, because the student could only work on this under supervision by the DT teacher, due to technology issues and absence, the sign was not finished in time for the Grand Opening — I look forward to seeing photos of it in pride of place when it’s completed in the Autumn term.
My advice to anyone thinking about building such a space would be to absolutely go for it — the only spend was on the shelves and snacks for the Grand Opening, as well a couple of items to represent religions who didn’t get back to me to contribute anything. The rest was furniture that was already in the school, and the items and books gifted by the religious community were invaluable — so it’s doable on a tiny budget, I would just encourage anyone wanting to build one to start early, and get your message with the call for help / donations really clear and send it to as many people as possible, ideally alongside an invite to a Grand Opening — and then chase them up if they haven’t replied; I got the impression that everyone wanted to help, but that sometimes there are multiple people within a place of worship who read the emails, so they may not get picked up the first time around.
On the whole, I really enjoyed building the Multi-Faith Space and I’m really proud of what I achieved with this — the Grand Opening was on my penultimate day working at the school, so it really feels like a legacy I’m leaving behind; a tangible asset to the school community that will continue my work without me.
Representation, Challenges and the Importance of DEI in Schools
Written by Taiwo Bali
Taiwo Bali writes education updates, teaching tips and well-being related content for secondary school teachers.
From receiving hate mail to leading a booming community that celebrates all people, Hannah Wilson has shown her commitment to DEI. She sat down with Beyond Digest to share why she believes DEI is essential in all schools.
Hannah Wilson is a leadership development coach and trainer with a passion for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in education. She is the Co-founder of #DiverseEd, an organisation dedicated to tackling issues faced by underrepresented communities and furthering DEI in schools.
Her former roles as a Secondary English Teacher, Head of Secondary Teacher Training and Founding Executive Headteacher allowed her to develop rich expertise in education. Hannah kindly spoke to Beyond Digest about her journey with DEI and the importance of diversity in schools.
Q: What sparked your passion for diversity and inclusion?
H: As a student doing GCSE English I was indignant about the lack of diversity in the curriculum. It just never sat right with me. I was exposed to postcolonial literature at university and learned about topics such as diversity in social justice during apartheid and the caste system in India. It was really interesting for me to look at literature in that way and also the critical theory around it. So when I trained to be an English teacher, I guess I just brought that into my teaching and into my curriculum design because I worked in quite challenging schools. I worked in a boys’ school in Kingston, I moved to an academy in Mitcham and then an academy in Croydon. I’ve taught really diverse students and I think when I’m looking to see whether they see themselves in the displays and in the library, in the curriculum, you can see the disengagement because they can’t.
Q: What has being a DEI ally taught you?
H: As I’ve been promoted, I’ve thought about what I can do in my roles as a curriculum leader, pastoral leader and headteacher to help affect change. When I co-founded #WomenEd we had lots of conversations about gender representation, but quite quickly, the feedback from the network was that it felt like it was white feminism as opposed to true feminism because it was a group of white women predominantly talking about it. At events, I put myself in a room with all black teachers, talking about their experience of education and headship. At that moment my bubble got popped and my own privilege got checked. Even as someone who felt quite aware of some of those issues, I discovered a whole trench load of information that I didn’t know. That’s when the need to diversify the organisation became the top priority.
Q: As someone who ran a school, why do you think it’s important to have a diverse SLT?
H: I have worked in six different schools and the SLT and governing bodies never represented the children. When I left London and then moved up to Oxford to be a headteacher, I recruited a very diverse team because I care about diversity. I recruited a diverse SLT because I knew it was going to be part of our school culture, policy and practice. Diversity needs to be humanised so by having a visibly Muslim member of SLT who did assemblies about Ramadan and spoke to the children about his faith, he demystified and de-stigmatised what it meant to be Muslim. He educated the children and their parents on his faith. We also had openly gay and bisexual members of staff which supported young people who were exploring their own sexual orientation and allowed parents and carers in same-sex relationships to feel accepted. Visible representation and role modelling made the children, parents and fellow staff feel safe.
Q: How important is it for young people to see diverse staff?
H: I worked in schools with 55% black boys and there were no black men on the governing body. For me, there needs to be that mirror, there needs to be a reflection of the children we are teaching and the communities we are serving. Young people need to be able to see themselves in the staffing, leadership and governance. There’s great irony in a young person walking through their school and not seeing themselves. I have done talks at heads conferences where quite often, people think their school is more diverse than it is. You may have diverse adults in the building but what job are they doing? Are staff from underrepresented groups in positions of power and can they influence decision making? What messages are the children receiving about their future prospects and opportunities to succeed? We tell young people they can be anything they want but we implicitly cap their potential by not being intentional about who is appointed into which role. We can’t say one thing in assembly and then on staff recruitment day, do something completely different. Young people have got to see it to be it.
Q: What challenges have you faced in championing DEI?
H: After moving to Oxford, I think my team and I were all a little bit shocked that the DEI work we were doing in schools in London, Reading and other parts of the country felt really alien in this part of the world. I got quite a lot of pushback because they weren’t quite ready for it. The challenge came from the people in the wider community. We had parents and carers who chose not to send their kids to our school because they didn’t want their kids to go to a school where there were LGBTQIA+ posters in every classroom. I had parents say to me, your school is beautiful, I love your vision for education, take those posters down and I’ll send my kids to your school. It didn’t sit right with us so we kept them up. This was part of our school culture and ethos. We were committed to creating psychological safety and a sense of belonging for all children. It all kicked off when one complaint from a parent ended up in the local media and the story went from regional to national. There were nasty comments from a popular newspaper’s readers and 3000 comments in a local Facebook group and I even received 86 letters threatening my life. DEI brings the worst out of people sometimes.
Q: How did the negative press impact the DEI work you do?
H: People get loud, defensive or just spew hate because they think their actions will stop you. If anything it made us even more committed to the work because it showed the ignorance and lack of empathy in some people. I do a lot of work talking about values and ethics and for me, remaining committed to DEI is ethically the right thing to do. My values drive this work. Though advised not to, I wrote a blog post to address the negative press because I didn’t want to be silenced as a woman. I didn’t want to be silenced as a school because we were committed to this work. The blog went viral. I think we had about 14,500 thousand hits and I got a lot of disclosures from other heads and school leaders around the country who had been in a similar situation and were happy I spoke out.
Q: Where can schools get DEI training?
H: After the death of George Floyd schools needed to do something about DEI but didn’t know how to get started. Everyone in my network was looking for training. DEI is very overwhelming because it touches every single policy and practice. You don’t know what you’ll find out about your school until you start looking. It is a difficult and emotionally draining journey to go on and schools need support. The #DiverseEd website is a one-stop-shop for all aspects of DEI training. We use the directory to signpost specialists so if schools need anti-racism, menopause awareness or gender identity training they can find the best trainers. #DiverseEd now works with 185 organisations that are tackling DEI all over the world. We also offer toolkits and reading lists based on different aspects of DEI for schools to use.
The #DiverseEd community continues to grow. Last year they held its first virtual event (June 2020) which had a reach of 13,500 people from around the world, who joined for 5 hours on a Saturday morning to listen to all things DEI. The next free event will be held virtually on the 22nd of January 2022. Find out more here.
Hannah and her friend Angie Browne have also joined forces to create a programme to help schools navigate DEI. Both former headteachers use their expertise in headship to offer paid leadership training courses in governance training, SLT training and diversity masterclasses. The training covers topics ranging from inclusive language to curriculum development and now has 20 cohorts of leaders, which is a testament to the value they offer.
DEI should be an integral part of every school. Having a safe learning environment that celebrates diversity and raises aspirations is something all young people deserve. How does your school tackle DEI? Share your thoughts with me via Twitter.
Find Hannah @Ethical_Leader and #DiverseEd on Twitter and #DiverseEd via the website.
‘There was no one left to speak out for me’
Written by Matthew Savage
Former international school Principal, proud father of two transgender adult children, Associate Consultant with LSC Education, and founder of #themonalisaeffect.
Over the past week, most of the candidates for the leadership of the UK government have been seeking power in part through rabidly attacking an already marginalised and vulnerable group, in scenes reminiscent of some of the most repugnant moral panics in the darkest corners of history.
Every day, my two adult trans kids wake up to a world whose media and politicians render their very existence problematic, dangerous and contingent. This week, along with the hundreds of thousands of other trans and non-binary people in the UK, they are especially under attack.
In order to help my children, and an entire community, gain and retain protected access to the very same things you would wish for yourselves and your family – the right to be, love, and be loved unconditionally – I would like to invite you to consider some of the following steps:
LEARN: In a time where lies run rampant, read and discover the truth about trans identity and what it means to be trans or non-binary today. I provide training for schools across the world on this, and I am happy to signpost resources on any possible question you might have too.
LISTEN: Listen to the voices of trans and non binary adults and young people. Here is a very powerful, short film which makes this point far more powerfully than I can: bit.ly/3yHxGJ2. And listen to my podcast, “Jack and Me”, on Apple (apple.co/3HI5SXA), Spotify (spoti.fi/3MqC3OU) or wherever you get your podcasts.
CHALLENGE: Once you have listened and learned, be brave enough to challenge and inform others. This is where the most potent activism happens – in everyday conversations. This is where minds are changed.
ADVOCATE: Speak truth to power. Our government and our media need to be held to account. And give voice to the voiceless. There are lots of ways we can do that, from letters to petitions, and in the very choices we make.
I believe that our country is so much better than this. I believe that, in years to come, we will look back at this time with the same horror and shame with which we remember the provenance of Section 28.
But I also believe that the only way that the benevolent many can drown out the noise of the hateful few is if we do not stay silent. In this, I am reminded of Niemöller’s 1946 poem:
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
Please stand with me, and speak out for my two children too – because #TransRightsAreHumanRights.
Tackling Sexism in Schools Needs to Start with the Curriculum
Written by Rachel Fenn
Co-Founder of End Sexism in Schools and former Head of English.
End Sexism in Schools (ESIS) is a grassroots campaign organisation set up in 2020. Our aim is to support girls and boys to fulfil their potential, without gendered expectations, in a safe and supportive school environment.
Over the past two years, numerous scandals have revealed the widespread extent of sexual harassment, sexism and misogyny in schools, with Ofsted’s 2021 report into this commenting on how boys have a sense of ‘superiority’ that makes them feel they can treat girls as they wish. The answer to this has been to overhaul the PSHE curriculum to explicitly teach consent, but we know that this is merely treating the symptoms, not the cause.
The reality is that women are virtually invisible within the content of the academic curriculum, and we draw a direct line between this invisibility, and the sexual harassment boys inflict on girls. Without ever hearing women’s voices, reading and discussing women’s experiences, and learning to value and respect women’s contribution to the world, is it any wonder that boys grow up viewing women as inferior, and worthy of little respect?
When our founder first made this connection and began to campaign to change the curriculum, she was met with a problem: she had no concrete evidence to back up her claims. Research into the content of the curriculum in secondary schools was limited, and little proof beyond anecdotal evidence was available to demonstrate the extent of the problem. As such, ESIS’s first project was to uncover gender bias in the teaching of English Literature at Key Stage 3 (school years 7-9) in England’s schools. English was chosen due to it being a core subject studied by all pupils to the age of 16, and it being straightforward to identify gender bias in the curriculum content by collating data on the sex of authors and protagonists on set text lists.
In 2021, using a small army of volunteers, we researched the English curriculum in nearly a third of England’s secondary schools. With no requirements to teach any specific texts other than Shakespeare, schools have free rein to teach what they like at Key Stage 3. Given this freedom, the lack of diversity we uncovered is shocking. Our key findings are as follows:
- 82% of novels taught feature a male protagonist
- 77% of schools teach one or no whole texts by female authors across the three years of KS3, with 44% teaching none at all and 33% only teaching one; this is out of an average of nine whole taught texts across the three years
- However, the actual number of whole novels taught by female authors is likely to be even less because a larger percentage of male authored texts were mandatory (as opposed to being on a list of choices) than female – 68% compared to 57% respectively
- 99% of plays taught are by male writers, only 1% by female, and only 2% have a lead female protagonist
- A small number of schools account for the majority of female-authored texts taught; 16% of schools teach 50% of those listed in school curricula
Coupled with the fact that only 7% of pupils study a book by a female author at GCSE, this means that most children educated in England will go through their entire compulsory education never having studied a whole text (as opposed to an extract, poem or short story) by a female author. Considering that schools have free choice of the texts they teach, and that 77% of secondary school English teachers are female (the highest proportion of any academic subject), the fact that most are continuing to fall back on the teaching of male authored texts with male protagonists is powerful evidence of how engrained misogyny and patriarchal values are embedded in our society.
English is just the tip of the iceberg; the invisibility of women is evident in every area of the academic curriculum, and it is our mission as an organisation to carry out the research required to prove this, and then campaign for change. PSHE cannot continue to be touted as a panacea for solving misogyny in schools when every other lesson pupils attend teaches them that women have no value. Cultural change will only happen when the academic curriculum is overhauled to create an equal space for women’s achievements, voices and experiences alongside those of men.
You can read our report into the English curriculum here. If you’d like to join our efforts to End Sexism in Schools, we are always looking for new volunteers. Please do contact us at endsexisminschools@gmail.com.
Education DEI Calendar 2022-23
Written by DiverseEd
Diverse Educators started as a grassroots network in 2018 to create a space for a coherent and cohesive conversation about DEI. We have evolved into a training provider and event organiser for all things DEI.
We know that it is really hard to keep on top of all of the awareness and celebration days, weeks and months to include in the school calendar!
We also appreciate that it is equally difficult to know when to schedule/ host a DEI event without causing an unintentional clash or how to find out what DEI events are happening.
So we are proposing a work-in-progress solution which will evolve and grow as others contribute to it to co-create a comprehensive resource to make all of our lives a little bit easier…
The Education DEI Calendar 2022-23 is a draft – it is not perfect, it is not complete and it is in no way trying to exclude any key dates! Please bear that in mind as you review it and share solutions instead of problems if there are things you would like to suggest we add/ change as it evolves.
At the moment it captures lots, but not yet all, of the key dates from the following free resources which we signpost to people in our network:
- The CIPD Inclusion Calendar 2022
- The Dual Frequency Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Calendar 2022
- The Inclusive Employers’ Diversity and Inclusion Calendar
- The James Wants to Know You Diversity Calendar
- The NAHT Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Calendar 2022
- The NHS Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Events Calendar 2022
We have collapsed lots of these dates into a spreadsheet to make it more educator-friendly – so that you can filter by month, week, day and date to see what is going on. (You could also copy and paste it alongside your school calendar or your school’s assemblies schedule to cross-reference where themes are being explored).
We have not yet added all of the religious and cultural days as this will probably need another column as there are so many dates to be aware of. This will be the next layer of detail so keep checking back as it evolves over the summer break ready for the new academic year and start of term.
Note that when there is more than one theme on any given day/ week/ month we have sorted them by A-Z so that there is no perceived hierarchy. Also that when an awareness week is split across two weeks we have shifted it to the week it falls in the most.
Remember that you always have creative license to make these dates work for you, your school and your community – for example, some themes might need an awareness assembly before it falls on the calendar, others may require a celebration event following a key date. Consider how to streamline how many of the dates you want to mark so that it does not create overwhelm for staff nor students.
We have highlighted the weekends for all of the grassroot networks who host DEI events – the idea is that organisations in our network will be able to edit/ add dates of events with contact details and links to register/ book a ticket.
Do help us grow and improve the Education DEI Calendar 2022-23 by making suggestions and giving us feedback here. We hope you find draft 1 helpful to get you started!
Three Employee Rights Workers in Graduate Roles Should Be Aware Of
Written by Lance Craving
Freelance Content Producer and Researcher
Having graduated from university and/ or your teaching training pathway, now’s the time to apply your newfound knowledge to your first teaching role in the big wide world of work. Whilst this is an exciting time, it’s also a chapter of your life that involves lots of apprehension and perhaps anxiety around taking the next step.
There will be so many new challenges, and suddenly you’ll have to contend with all of the responsibilities that come with any form of employment. To make the transition a little easier, it’s essential that you are aware of your employee rights and any obligations your employer will have towards you, so you know what to expect. These may change as you undertake different roles, but for graduates, here are three things you need to know when starting your new job.
Written terms and conditions
If you have gone straight from school to university to a teacher training pathway, there’s a chance that your entry position in the school system could be your first experience of employment. If this is the case, you’re likely to be unfamiliar with employment contracts, so it’s vital that you familiarise yourself with what should be included in yours. If you’re ever unsure, speak to family members, student services or senior members of staff at your school to ensure nothing has been missed out, and you’re not being unfairly treated.
You may not have necessarily received anything in writing pertaining to your employment status, but there will still be a contract in place. The contract will detail all of the rights and obligations both yourself and your employer have to one another during your term of employment. It is important that you keep a copy of the contract to hand, to prevent any disputes further down the line.
Pension contributions
If you’ve just finished studying, chances are you won’t be worrying too much about your pension contributions – it’s a long time until you’ll see them again, after all. But even in the early stages of your career, it’s worth considering how you want to approach your pension payments, since the earlier you start, the longer you’ll have to save up for your retirement.
Most teachers who are working in state schools will be automatically enrolled into the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. This was set up to help secure the financial future of those working to educate the younger generations, but the scheme underwent a major review in 2015 which could affect what you’re entitled to. Be sure to check which terms apply to you to prevent any confusion further down the line.
Rest breaks
Whilst a teacher’s daily timetable will be structured slightly differently to a standard 9-5, you are still entitled to lunch and break times like workers in any other profession. As the amount of break time teachers have varies from school to school, you can expect to see your employer’s expectations outlined within your written contract.
Under the UK Government’s School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), teachers are entitled to at least one break every teaching day for a “reasonable length” of time. This typically equates to 20 minutes (but it can be more), which is often taken between 12pm and 2pm.
Why We Need Anti-Sexist Language Resources in the Curriculum
Written by Sophie Frankpitt
Applied Linguistics undergraduate at the University of Warwick
A culture of sexual- and gender-based violence is being enacted through our words. But we still aren’t listening – and we still aren’t talking about language.
In June 2021, the government published a review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges. It showed us that sexual- and gender-based violence is rife, and that girls are disproportionately affected. The figures were stark, but for many of us that did not come as a surprise. What came as a surprise for me is that – as far as I’m aware – no-one pointed out that most of the sexual harassment was perpetrated through language.
I’m a Linguistics undergraduate, which means that studying language is what I do. Ever since the review was published, I’ve spent days rereading it, trying to work out how to articulately say that this survey shows us how important language is. It is through working with Our Streets Now for the last few months that I have been able to work out how to say what I think needs to be said.
The review stated that 92% of girls thought sexist-name calling happens a lot at school, and 80% thought that unwanted sexual comments are a regular occurrence. Other recent studies have also shown us that sexual- and gender-based violence are often perpetrated through language. For example, in 2018, Plan International reported that 38% of girls experience verbal harassment at least once a month. This is likely to be higher amongst women of colour and those in the LGBT+ community. In the National Education Union’s (2019) study, over a quarter of teachers hear sexist language daily at school. On Our Streets Now media, the campaign against Public Sexual Harassment, you can see various testimonies that explain the effects of verbal (and other) harassment.
You might say that sexist language is the least of our problems, and that we should be dealing with things like physical harassment. But sexist language establishes a conducive environment for sexist behaviour. It enacts and builds a culture in which sexual- and gender-based violence is standard. This means that, by using and hearing sexist language, a culture of sexual- and gender-based violence is normalised. There are many, many studies that have shown the detrimental effects of sexist language on wellbeing. And this is why language is important.
Part of the reason language is powerful is because it shapes our worlds often without us even realising. Within our words lie our values, our beliefs, and our identities. Because of this, language has a massive role to play in the fight for gender equality.
The first step is recognising how important language is – and thinking and talking about it much more than we currently do.
Secondly, we can incorporate teaching about anti-sexist language use into the curriculum. Our Streets Now currently has – and is working on – resources for schools that examine the role language has to play in combatting Public Sexual Harassment. The resources educate about Public Sexual Harassment, ranging from topics like being an active bystander to recognising victim-blaming narratives.
And finally, we can make Feminist Linguistics more mainstream. Language affects all of us, so it’s damaging to keep it confined within academia. Every day and for everything, we use language – so we should all understand the power that words hold. There are a few resources that can help us to learn a bit more about language. I’d recommend starting with the blog language: a feminist guide, taking a look at Our Streets Now’s website, and learning about feminists (such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Amanda Gorman, Laura Bates –Every Day Sexism and many more) who use language to empower, uplift, and educate.
Conversion therapy is a safeguarding issue for educators
Written by EJ-Francis Caris-Hamer
Mx EJ-Francis Caris-Hamer is a PhD student at the University of Essex within the Department of Sociology. Ze has worked, as a qualified teacher, within the education sector for 20 years, working in both 11-19 sector and Higher Education.
I woke up this morning to read the news that a leaked document shows the government decided to U turn on their commitment to ban conversion therapy. In 2018 the conservative government pledged to ban the practice (Government Equalities Office, 2018) and this was confirmed in the Queen’s speech in 2021 (ITV News, 2022). My heart truly sank hearing this news because it felt as though the U turn was a decision based on political interests rather than an evidence-based health decision (Cramer et al, 2008; Independent Forensic Expert Group, 2020). Fast forward to the BBC News, 46 minutes ago, the updated stance reads that the conservative government now does plan to ban conversion therapy practices in England and Wales for sexual orientation identity, but will remain legal for transgender identities (BBC News, 2022).
What is Conversion Therapy (CT)?
Conversion Therapy (CT) is also known as ‘Cure’ therapy or ‘Reparative’ therapy. It is any “form of treatment or psychotherapy which aims to change a person’s sexual orientation or supress a person’s gender identity” (Stonewall, 2021). These therapies are both unethical and harmful to the person undergoing such treatment and have been condemned by the World Health Organisation and NHS (The Guardian, April 2021) and the United Nations in June 2020 (Stonewall Survey, 2020).
Why is CT a safeguarding issue for educators to be aware of?
The charity Galop surveyed 5000 LGBTQIA+ people in February 2022. They found that 1/3rd of those surveyed suffered abuse from a relative due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity and for 2/3rds this started when they were under the age of 18, worryingly 30% were under the age of 11 (Galop, 2022). If you identify as trans or non-binary, you are more likely to be subjected to abuse (43%). Abuse includes verbal threats, harassment, facing threats or actual homelessness, and even physical violence. 5% reported relatives subjecting them to conversion practices and the statistic increases to 11% if the person identified as trans or non-binary. Thus, it is essential that the government should also include gender identity when considering a ban of CT.
As educators, it is essential to have an awareness of these statistics and practices, just as we perceive FGM, we should be perceiving the findings from Galop and CT practices as coercion and abuse. As Leni Morris, CEO of the charity Galop, states:
“Anti-LGBTQIA+ abuse from family members is often misinterpreted by statutory services as ‘generational differences’ or having ‘different values’ rather than seeing it for what it is really is – domestic abuse” (Brooks, 2022).
Thankfully and rightly so, today we would never accept such justifications in relation to domestic violence. We need to consider Anti-LGBTQIA+ abuse in the same sense.
What can we as educators do to support young LGBTQIA+ people?
As part of safeguarding, we need to demand from school leaders the time and space to understand the potential harm that families and CT practices can cause the students we teach. We need to recognise the signs of students who could be vulnerable. It is important to recognise that identifying as part of the LGBTQIA+ community is not a safeguarding issue per se, but Anti-LGBTQIA+ abuse including CT practices is a safeguarding concern and the harmful impact it has on students. Even more importantly, students need to be empowered to spot the signs for themselves, or their peers (in support of the ‘no bystander’ agenda). This can only be achieved through awareness.
As a PhD researcher addressing queer inclusion in education, I have heard stories of teachers explaining how students have been threatened with CT by their parents or other authority/guardian figures. As a qualified teacher myself, I also recognise the time constraints that educators have when trying to find the time to research and become increasingly aware of the issues surrounding abuse for LGBTQIA+ young people. As a result, I attach two resource documents as a starting point:
Document one – This is for all staff working in education. This document is to inform you regarding the impact of CT practices and support organisations for young people. This document can be used to inform you as an educator to discuss with students and can be converted into a CPD session under the umbrella term safeguarding.
Document two – Lesson plan which can be delivered to students as part of PSHE/RSE and Citizenship. This increases their awareness and helps them to maintain safeguarding for themselves and their peers regarding CT practices. As educators, we should be campaigning to ensure that such lessons are taught within PSHE.
Sometimes to ensure effective safeguarding practices, we have to embrace our roles as trailblazers, reaching beyond the limitations of current legislation. The right thing to do is always the right thing to do.
References:
BBC News (2022) Conversion Therapy: Ban to go ahead but not cover trans people. Available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60947028 Accessed: 01/04/2022.
Brooks, L. (2022) Third of British LGBTQIA+ people experience abuse by relatives. The Guardian. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/01/third-of-young-british-lgbtq-people-experience-abuse-by-relatives Accessed: 01/04/2022.
Cramer, R.J. Golom, F.D. LoPresto, C.T. Kirkley, S.M. (2008) Weighing the Evidence: Empirical Assessment and Ethical Implications of Conversion Therapy, Ethics & Behavior. 18(1), 93-114. DOI: 10.1080/10508420701713014
Galop (2022) LGBTQIA+ Experiences of Abuse from Family Members. Available: https://galop.org.uk/resource/lgbt-experiences-of-abuse-from-family-members/ Accessed: 01/04/2022.
Government Equalities Office (2018) LGBT Action Plan. Available: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_da ta/file/721367/GEO-LGBT-Action-Plan.pdf Accessed: 27/09/2021.
Independent Forensic Expert Group (2020) Statement on Conversion Therapy. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. 72 Available: https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S1752928X20300366?token=8C9A2BA4EA68E779A55552541F25EF74A6AC11D3BD64468097DE1C0B9C2A010FAA1064483ABF807884D555610390F27B&originRegion=eu-west-1&originCreation=20220402095216 Accessed 01/11/2021.
ITV News (2022) Exclusive: Government ditches ban on conversion therapy, according to leaked document. Available: https://www.itv.com/news/2022-03-31/exclusive-government-ditches-ban-on-conversion-therapy-leaked-document-shows Accessed: 01/04/2022.
Stonewall Survey (2020) Conversion Therapy and Gender Identity Survey. Available: www.stonewall.org.uk/system/files/2020_conversion_therapy_and_gender_identity_survey.pdf Accessed: 08/09/2021.
Stonewall (2021) Conversion Therapy. Available: www.stonewall.org.uk/campaign-groups/conversion-therapy Accessed: 07/09/2021.
The Guardian (April, 2021) Why are gay conversion practices still legal in the UK? Available: www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2021apr/02/why-is-gay-conversion-therapy-still-legal-uk Accessed: 07/09/2021.
A Call for Action
Written by Esther Mustamu-Daniels
Esther Mustamu-Daniels has 20 years of teaching experience working in London and the Middle East as a Class teacher, Education officer, Middle Leader and DEI Lead. Currently working at British School Muscat, Esther co-leads the DEI work across the whole school.
I read the most horrific story of a child being sexually assaulted by police in her school. Her teachers did nothing to protect her. Her parents were not called. She was strip searched while in the middle of an exam while on her menstrual cycle. She was not allowed to clean herself after. She was not checked upon to see if she was ok and then she was sent back to her exam to continue it. All by people who are supposed to protect and look after her. All I kept thinking about was what if this was my child? This happened two years ago and the conclusion of the investigation is that ‘racism was likely to have been an influencing factor’.
Unacceptable. The child is now in therapy traumatised by these events and now self harming.
What if this was your daughter? What would you do?
I have been thinking about the reports of Ukraine. How our children feel hearing these reports. Not only of the African students who have been denied entry on to trains and through borders but also of the reporting. How black and brown lives are deemed lesser and how this is normalised in our media. What impact is this having on our children? On all of them? How wars in certain countries are acceptable but in others ‘horrific’. How western media is more sympathetic towards a ‘type’ of refugee. What are we sharing with our children? With all of them? What are we teaching them? What kind of world are we showing them exists?
There are so many stories in the media that show our children the unjust and prejudiced way of the world; how can we counteract this? How can we show them that they are all important? That their lives matter? Put yourselves in their shoes and think about the messages that they are receiving. Think about what you can do to counter that.
If you are a teacher, what do you show your children? The stories and images you choose to share have a huge impact. The authors you share and the lessons you teach that include positive role models, narratives and histories will all have an impact. Are you considering the impact that current events are having on your children? What are you doing to support them? Are you calling out if you see racist or biased behaviour?
If you are a leader, what are you doing to counter these messages? Are you holding spaces for people to share and raise concerns with you? Are you actively trying to ensure that your establishment does not reinforce these messages? What policies do you have in place? What training do you have in place? If you are not aware or are not sure how to navigate these situations, are you seeking support and advice from those who do know?
This is a call for action to break these biases. Are you aware of what some of your children and colleagues may be facing? Are you aware of some of their experiences? Could you even be responsible for some of their experiences? Imagine it was you? Imagine it was your family? What would you do? What will you do? What action will you take? What will you do today to support our future generations and all of our children and adults who are impacted and continue to be impacted by the traumas they witness?
Take action for what is right in whichever area you occupy. We all have the power to take this action and make a difference so that the bias stops. So our children and our communities are safe; psychologically and physically. What will you do?
Making the DEI mission of your school mean more than just words.
Written by Rob Ford
Rob is an educator for nearly 30 years, a history and politics teacher, a school leader in various schools in the UK and was principal of Wyedean School in the UK, before being appointed as Director of Heritage International School group.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter”. MLK
As my colleague sobbed with frustration and emotion in my room one afternoon, after a long day at school, going through what had just happened in class, I realised in that moment how powerless I felt there and then as a person but I knew how powerful my school’s culture, ethos and policies truly were in these awful moments. More than just words when put to the test to support my colleague as she asked for my help as a school leader.
My colleague, an international teacher, had been on the receiving end of a racist comment and it underlined to me just how much work we still have to do in our schools and communities to ensure such hurtful and offensive moments don’t happen especially when it comes to the words, beliefs and actions of children and young people in our care.
When we found the students responsible and put in place the necessary sanctions & follow up actions warranted, the comment from one parent said this to try and downplay the incident; “It’s like he was at the same table when the waiter was abused but all get thrown out of the restaurant”.
Illustrating perfectly with the choice of words that even the most liberal, educated, wordly wise and enlightened of school communities, especially those with many nationalities and a strong global outlook, need to continue to work together with the whole community, to challenge and change such mindsets. In contrast, the students were actually very contrite, apologised, owned their responsibility and repaired the damage done with their teacher who was prepared to move forward with them on this basis.
We cannot ever be silent on such issues as school leaders, nor should we feel powerless individually to tackle these issues successfully. We need to prioritise clear policies, culture, staff training and meaningful education in schools around issues & attitudes such as racism, nationalism, prejudice and hate that, unfortunately, have become more widespread in the 2020s around the globe. Doing nothing or hoping it won’t ever be something you will have to address is not an option either for any school leader.
Your school culture is not international because it says it in the title.
It is always quite surprising how many school leaders feel that issues around racism will never affect them because they are “an international school”. This is a very false assumption as much as stating how many different nationalities are in the school community. It doesn’t mean a school is diverse, equitable or inclusive and it’s a “lazy assumption” and derelict to avoid having a practical strategy in place because you say you are in the school’s name. Words matter here.
You need a robust Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy in place.
Your DEI policy should sit alongside the handful of ones, like Safeguarding, SEND, Teaching and Learning, Complaints, that you have in crumpled paper form, covered in notes and highlighter on your desk as a school leader because they are used as part and parcel of daily school life. There are some really effective, comprehensive and robust DEI policies out there to look at and adapt to your school.
Your DEI policy needs to be regularly reviewed, a governor responsible, a senior leader made responsible for it, and for it to be made publicly available, for your whole community to be aware of it with the key points clear. Get good outside experts to scrutinise it and for them to challenge you as a leader, your governors and your team on it as COBIS did to me and my school last year as part of our standards accreditation.
You need regular CPD for staff awareness and all your team believe and operate in this culture.
I couldn’t imagine annual staff training in August or regular CPD throughout the year, without time spent on our DEI, any more than I would leave safeguarding, the fire drill or Teaching and Learning out of what is central in the education and duty of care towards children. There are some incredible voices and forums out there for schools to follow and engage with and bring that outside expertise and experience to your school. Especially for schools and communities operating in homogenised and monoglot environments. Your DEI policy needs to be even more central in your strategy.
There are some incredible voices and forums out there for schools to follow and engage with and bring that outside expertise and experience to your school so tap into it; for example we have used Jon Gibson and Backdrop Education for staff training around inclusion and equity, America House in Chisinau extensively on diversity training, our governors have worked with Jackie Beard, a NLG and used the DEI programmes from NGA. COBIS have been working with Angela Browne and Hannah Wilson to deliver DEI training in schools and we are signing staff up for this outstanding & highly recommended programme for the courses this year. We also follow Hannah’s work in offering free DEI conferences and webinars to educators in the UK and around the World.
Raise student (and parental) awareness regularly, celebrating and commemorating our global, diverse communities in school daily life.
This is where you need to be prepared to be less than silent, especially in a World of labels thrown at schools such as “woke” or “cancel culture” for daring to celebrate and commemorate events in the global calendar such as Black History Month or Holocaust Remembrance. Do not shy away from what may be perceived as difficult topics or fearful of reactions.
In those school boards in the USA, where some parent groups are challenging schools for holding Black History Month events this February, because they believe it is teaching “CRT” (critical race theory), school leaders are tackling this challenge head on legally as we finally see this “false equivalence” called out and for a many, a hill definitely worth a stand on.
In Eastern Europe, the ugly racism black English footballers endured recently playing Hungary, became a very good debate topic for our IGCSE and A Level students and I was proud to see all of them call it out for the hate and ugliness it was. These are not the values these students want or their part of the world to be associated with.
We also are facing in Eastern Europe the contextual challenge of the conflict of Russia towards Ukraine, with students of both countries in our community, so we have worked with teachers on how to handle difficult questions on it and deal with issues that may arise from students in a safe arena of dialogue. This is the very reason why we educate children.
Make your community more inclusive and diverse.
This should include a recruitment policy that is more than just centred towards white Anglo-American educators and truly brings the global community to your school. I still hear the positive words of one of my students when she said coming to Heritage is like going abroad each day.
The same is about the speakers you have in school, the role models for children chosen and what you study in the curriculum. I have no issue with special days or months for events in the global curriculum calendar because it is a good excuse to highlight the work that is consciously there daily and it is not just for one day.
Schools shouldn’t worry about the odd criticism on social media because you celebrate or commemorate one day either, as long as this isn’t the only time some topics or events are looked at and studied. A “one off” is not a school culture but it is a good starting point to build on. Throughout this academic year, the UN’s #FightRacism campaign has underscored so many wider curricular events especially through whole school assemblies and cross curricular days we have aligned with as a school.
Conclusion.
We should live up to our school’s mission, culture and ethos, especially where we want future leaders to lead with the very values we claim we are about in our schools to young people including diversity, equity, justice and inclusion for a better future. Or as school leaders we will end up remaining silent on what matters most.