The discussion touches upon representation, how we can avoid tokenism, and evaluating the resources and examples we use to deliver our curriculum.
We ask how we can include all students in our classrooms and ensure everyone feels that they belong and welcome – how can we build connections with our students. We ask what schools are doing right and touch upon some examples of diversity and representation.
We discuss how we can relate to emotions rather than characteristics, and how we can connect with pupils from a diverse range of backgrounds.
Other themes include advocacy & allyship for our diverse colleagues, BAME & LGBT+ representation, and the experiences of children in care in our classrooms.
Our host is Adele Bates, who supports school leaders and teachers to work with pupils with behavioural needs and SEMH. She is the author of Miss, I Don’t Give A Sh*t: Engaging with challenging behaviour in schools (Sage & Corwin). Adele's guests are:
- Steven Russell is the founder of Elements SEMH Support. As a child, he lived with nine foster families, was placed into two children's homes and attended five schools. This experience has led him to create Elements.
- Yamina Bibi is an English teacher and assistant headteacher from east London who also works on issues of diversity and inclusion. She is a #WomenEd London Network Leader and among many things Yamina is a leadership coach and supports women and women of colour to take on leadership positions.
This episode follows on from Adele’s previous SecEd Podcast (May 2021) which considered diversity and inclusion across school culture, the curriculum, and the teaching workforce (https://bit.ly/3nMQQrj)
You can listen to this episode of the SecEd Podcast above. To hear other SecEd podcasts, or to subscribe for free to new editions, search for 'The SecEd Podcast' in your podcast streaming application of choice. Or visit www.sec-ed.co.uk/podcasts
For details about The SecEd Podcast, or to suggest future topics, email editor Pete Henshaw at editor@sec-ed.co.uk