Carina shares her experiences of the #InspiringDiversity Conference

 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion day  

Four of the most important days in our teacher training year have to be our “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” days. I promise, Adam has not paid me to write this… Amongst the entire 21/22 cohort of Inspiring Leaders, I had the absolute pleasure of listening to several amazing speakers, talking all things diversity. Welcoming us to NTU for the day, was our own Adam Brett who introduced us to a quick video on diversity (#InclusionStartsWithI). If you want to watch it again and review those statistics, I definitely recommend doing so… with a pack of tissues.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g88Ju6nkcg 

Kicking off the day, we had the amazing Claire Birkenshaw, a Childhood and Education lecturer at Leeds Beckett University.  Claire explained so succinctly what DEI is, why it is important and most of all, what our role as educators is, when it comes to DEI.  I cried and I was left speechless, in absolute awe of this keynote speech. The passion for being an educator rang throughout Claire’s speech and has fueled a spark in me to make sure I do better and make a difference, for the students in my care.  

After a small break and a caffeine top up, I made my way over to the incredible Azuraye Williams’ “Women in Education…” workshop. Azuraye is a primary school teacher and also the PE, Science AND DEI lead at her school. It was lovely to share a room with several other women who are embarking on this role as an educator. While the statistics here were no better than earlier, I am proud to belong to a cohort that recognizes the statistics and who, at the heart of things, want to see a change. Something I am looking forward to implementing in my life is breaking those gender stereotypes we see in education -the day before I observed a year 7 class doing an intro to science class drawing what they thought a scientist looked like… 3 of them were female. In following lessons, we plan to introduce them to many female scientists. 

Fast forward to the afternoon and I find myself at the workshop of Adam Brett – our very own SCITT lead- “LGBTQ+ inclusion in classrooms”. I have pages of notes here and a list of resources and networks that help the LGBTQ+ community. My takeaway from Adam’s workshop is to unpick students behaviour, to disrupt the narrative, be steadfast and to share the positive stories. So many of the stories told about the LGBTQ+ community are negative and it could be much more harmful to only show that side. In his talk, Adam said, “Recognise the difference you make in your classrooms”, something I truly find to be at the heart of the reason why I wanted to become an educator. To BE the change and difference for the future generation of students.  To do this, we must be able to provide security and safety to the students we teach. It is through routine and trust we are able to so. 

Our Q&A panel with all speakers really allowed us to have an insight to the workshops we missed – If only we were all given time turners to see all the workshops! In answer to a question on how to deal with situations of being upset/offended, Shonagh Reid, currently a DEI consultant, gives such a succinct solution – take time to do things on your OWN terms, challenge the situation when YOU are ready and always go in with a solution. This is something I plan to use in my every-day life, not just in school as an educator.   

I’ll leave with my pledge; six points I have taken from across the day: 

  • Show humanity  
  • Promote understanding 
  • Challenge prejudice 
  • Be Inclusive 
  • Foster positive relationships with every student 
  • Make a difference. Every day. #InspiringDiversity 

Carina Jolly, Chemistry trainee 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Joline reflects on moving from Germany for her teacher training

Image
Before the start of teacher training, I was worried about feeling like a stranger, and like I did not belong in an English high school. It's crazy what can happen when you're brave enough to take a leap...  I only came to England earlier this year; knowing that I wanted a change of career, knowing it should be in a school, not knowing how to get there without any experiences or even a native level of English. As a person who always preferred learning on the job over theoretical learning, I couldn't find the right way into teaching in Germany as you've got to sit 5 years at university first before you can finally use your gained knowledge as a teacher in classroom. I don't feel like I need to say that it wasn't the right thing to do.  I was incredibly happy when I got offered a place in the Redhill SCITT. Being in a school, while learning the necessary skills in additional sessions outside of school, is fantastic. And my first couple weeks at my placement school
Read more

'Is anybody there?': Training to teach with virtual students

Image
This time last year, I was eagerly awaiting September which would mark the beginning of my teacher training. Having worked in a school for a number of years as a Teaching Assistant, I had a clear idea of what my teacher training year would entail: developing engaging lesson plans; implementing behavioural management strategies; differentiating activities; familiarising myself with the school curriculum; and forming positive relationships with my students.  My vision for January 2021 was full of these ideas. When I pictured where I would be, I imagined myself in a lively classroom, making use of the dialogic teaching strategies which were at the centre of the educational ideology I had developed during the Education Studies modules of my undergraduate degree.  The reality of January 2021 as a trainee teacher is much different. Of course, beginning teacher training during a global pandemic was always going to pose challenges and unforeseen changes to education. In the first term of teach
Read more

Sally, our Teaching School Director, talks about her own experience of teacher training

Image
To be or not to be a mentor…   I am not sure if there is any more important time in a te aching career than those formative first years as a trainee and newly qualified teacher. It is in our early careers that we establish our identity as a teacher, develop our good (and bad) habits and begin to become the expert in the classroom. I still use some of the resources I made in my very first terms as a trainee. I may have adapted and refined them but essentially the skills I was learning then have stood me in good stead and helped me build a strong foundation for what has turned out to be a successful and rewarding 30-year career in education.   I was lucky. I had the huge good fortune to train with an amazing mentor who hugely influenced the teacher that I became. To this day I will stop and think about what my mentor would have done in certain situations or how she would have taught a certain grammar point. I still look back in admiration at the amount of time and energy she devoted to h
Read more