Education

Diversity in children and young peoples’ reading

Sarah Bagshaw-McCormick portrait

Written by Sarah Bagshaw-McCormick

Sarah Bagshaw-McCormick has 25 years experience in schools, professional development and leadership. She has spent the last 5 years working in teacher-education, with a focus on teacher and leader professional development as a learning designer. Over her career, Sarah has developed expertise in literacy, English, and school leadership. Throughout this work, Sarah finds and creates opportunities to embed and champion Social Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging.

The global culture wars are busy creating division within and across communities. And, much too close to home, schools are banning books and removing them from the shelves of libraries for questionable reasons. Let’s reflect on why diversity in children’s reading is good.

For some time, following the events of 2020, schools, libraries and the publishing industry were making positive headway in diversifying the representation in books made available to children and young people. But in the last 12 months that has changed. The political landscape and divisive political narratives have had a tangible effect on the proportion of children’s books written by and featuring diverse characters (Inclusive Books for Children, 2025). 

It is ironic that, in this national year of reading, I (and others) should have to make a case for considering and championing of diverse representation in texts. In this blog I will invite you to consider the role that diverse representation in texts can play in bringing us together and the benefits of diversity of representation in the texts read by all pupils. 

Diversity of authorship and representation means books that are written by, and feature characters, experiences and places that encompass a diversity of experiences, cultures or backgrounds. This can include racially diverse writers and characters. It can include a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, encompassing different homes, such as flats, council houses or temporary accommodation, or it can include characters with disabilities, both learning and physical.

Reflection

Consider your own experiences of the world growing up and now. Is it easy for you to find books that feature characters like you, and experiences that are familiar to you?

Three decades ago, Sims-Bishop (1990) provided us with the analogy of books as mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors to describe the role that books can have in allowing children to see themselves in books, see others in books and enter whole new worlds through books. This is reinforced by more recent evidence, which suggests that narrative fiction has the potential to support young people to understand themselves and others. Let’s start by exploring the ideas of books as mirrors, windows and doors. 

Mirrors 

There is a power to seeing characters like you in print. Whether the thing you have in common is your age, gender identity, disability, home, or socio-economic status. Reading texts with central characters, events and settings that young readers relate to is important. 

Relating to characters in stories make children feel seen, in being seen they feel important and find comfort in knowing that others are experiencing the same things as them (Santi, 2023). This empowers young people, not only allowing them to see themselves in texts, but also to understand themselves more deeply (Santi, 2023). This has a positive impact on young peoples’ self-esteem (Koss 2015; Wopperer, 2011). 

In addition to this, books that are representative of young peoples’ lives and interests are beneficial for encouraging volitional reading. Diverse texts enable young people to access books which are personally meaningful by reflecting and representing their identities, lives and experiences (Picton and Clark, 2022). 

Windows 

In addition to understanding themselves, diverse authorship and representation in texts enables children and young people to understand and experience other people, their lives and experiences, through interacting with texts. In fact, this has the potential to change children and young peoples’ attitudes to people whose identity or points of view differ from their own (Kaufman and Libby, 2012). By reading books which expose children and young people to different cultures, perspectives or experiences than their own, they are enabled to pay closer attention to the needs of others. Reading texts with diverse authors and diverse representation can help children to develop empathy (reference). 

Sliding Glass doors 

The texts children read offer them opportunities to enter into new worlds, both realistic and magical. Neuroscience has explored how readers experience immersion into these worlds and the benefits of this. 

When people read fiction, research suggests that their brain reacts in ways that are very similar to the way it reacts to ‘real life’ experiences. When children and young people are actively engaged in reading, it is thought that reading is a form of neural simulation, which enables them to practice socio-emotional responses in a low-stakes environment (Tamir et al, 2015). This also allows children and young people to experience situations they’ve never experienced themselves, which is beneficial, because of its potential to positively impact their attitudes and behaviours in relation to their peers and others in their communities. 

“Children… want to see the world reflected back at them just as much as they want to read about worlds they don’t know” (p.22 Excluded voices report). 

Reflection

How do the texts in your library and classroom provide children with mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors? 

Where might you improve your offer? 

How could you find out whether the children agree with you? 

So, we know that in providing children with these mirrors, windows and glass doors is beneficial, but beyond this analogy there are wider benefits of accessing texts with diverse authors, settings, experiences and characters. 

Access to diverse texts is inclusive. The presence of texts that reflect the realities of children and young peoples’ lives communicates pupils’ value. This can support belonging, make young people feel welcome and create psychological safety (Bulatowicz, 2017; Lifshitz, 2016).  

More than this seeing characters who share their background, identity and experiences (particularly characters who are complex, successful and vibrant) expands young peoples’ sense of what is possible for them (The linking network, 2024). This provides young people inspiration, which informs their future aspirations, and makes concrete the reality of the adage ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’. 

Access to and engagement with diverse texts supports readers to build personal connections to characters and stories (Hafflin & Barksdale-Ladd, 2001). These diverse stories are also supportive of young peoples’ autonomy in reading choices (Webber et al., 2024). These positive experiences support their reading motivation (Cremin, 2023 -NATE), which in turn positively impacts children and young peoples’ volitional reading. 

The opposite is also true. When books that reflect diverse experiences of the world are not available to young people it excludes them from seeing themselves as readers, can signal a lack of importance and lead young people to conclude the literacy and literature are not for them (Bronson, 2016; short, 2018). 

So, it is essential that we choose to surround children with books that are affirming, communicate their value and offer them opportunities to explore their own and others’ identities. 

“We know that if children feel invited into the world of books, when they recognise elements of themselves in the pages, they are more likely to form a love of reading”. (P.4 Excluded voices report). 

Reflection

What do the books available to children in your setting communicate to them? 

Do the texts available support reading motivation and volitional reading? 

How could you check with the children and young people? 

If you are looking for diverse recommendations for children and young peoples’ literature, please join me at my teachers’ reading club at The House of Books and Friends on the 14th April.

or

Subscribe to my blog, where I will share reading recommendations following the event. See my previous reading recommendations for children and young people here.

References

Bishop, R. S. (1990, March). Windows and mirrors: Children’s books and parallel cultures. In California State University reading conference: 14th annual conference proceedings (pp. 3-12).

Bulatowicz, D. M. (2017). Diverse Literature in Elementary School Libraries: Who Chooses and Why? (Doctoral dissertation, Montana State University).

Cremin, Teresa (2023). Motivation and reading: Focusing on disengaged readers. Teaching English(32) pp. 32–36.

Hefflin, B. R., & Barksdale-Ladd, M. A. (2001). African American children’s literature that helps students find themselves: Selection guidelines for grades K-3. The Reading Teacher, 54(8), 810-819.

Inclusive Books for Children. (2025). Excluded Voices report. https://www.inclusivebooksforchildren.org/excluded-voices-report

Kaufman, G. F., & Libby, L. K. (2012). Changing beliefs and behavior through experience-taking. Journal of personality and social psychology, 103(1), 1.

Kucirkova, N. (2019). How could children’s storybooks promote empathy? A conceptual framework based on developmental psychology and literary theory. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 121.

Koss, M. D. (2015). Diversity in contemporary picturebooks: A content analysis. Journal of Children’s Literature, 41(1).

Picton, I., & Clark, C. (2022). Seeing yourself in what you read: Diversity and children and young people’s reading in 2022. National Literacy Trust. PISA (2011). Do students today read for pleasure, 1057-1092.

Santi, E. (2023, May 12). Reading and narrative fiction: Understanding ourselves and others. BERA. https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/reading-and-narrative-fiction-understanding-ourselves-and-others

Tamir, D. I., Bricker, A. B., Dodell-Feder, D., & Mitchell, J. P. (2016). Reading fiction and reading minds: The role of simulation in the default network. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 11(2), 215–224.

The Linking Network. (2024, December 4). Diversity in children’s books: Why representation matters. https://thelinkingnetwork.org.uk/diversity-in-childrens-books-why-representation-matters/

Webber, C., Wilkinson, K., Duncan, L. G., & McGeown, S. (2025). Motivating book reading during adolescence: qualitative insights from adolescents. Educational Research, 67(1), 79-97.

Wopperer, E. (2011). Inclusive literature in the library and the classroom. Knowledge Quest, 39(3), 26.

by Hannah Wilson

Closing the Gap by Valuing Multilingualism

Soofia Amin portrait

Written by Soofia Amin

Soofia Amin is the Multilingual Trust Lead for Tapscott Learning Trust (TTLT). She is also a Specialist Lead in Education for Multilingualism with vast experience in supporting multilingual pupils and their families. Soofia is passionate about developing excellent practice for multilingual pupils whilst promoting their first languages as a resource in both the classroom and the wider school community. She strongly advocates for a whole-school approach to multilingualism and uses her own school’s example to provide effective models of practice for others.

This post was originally published on the Research Schools Network through the work that Soofia does with East London Research School.

I recently visited a primary school where low writing outcomes for multilingual children had led leaders to search urgently for ways to “close the gap.” For many school leaders, this phrase often leads to discussions about data dashboards, targeted interventions, and heightened accountability measures.  These discussions often neglect one key factor: the children’s first languages.

Many children in this school confidently use two or three languages and travel regularly to their countries of origin. Leaders worry that this rich linguistic exposure might be contributing to weaker writing outcomes. While understandable, this view risks misidentifying the problem.

The challenge here is not multilingualism. Rather how much we, as educators, value and use the children’s linguistic proficiency to further their learning, including their writing. If we focus intentionally on using the multilingual children’s rich language skills to support learning, particularly their writing development, outcomes could look very different.

Building Strong Foundations Through Explicit Language Instruction

Language and subject learning develop together. Children do not learn content first and language later; they learn both simultaneously. Evidence from Cummins states that,

“Conceptual knowledge developed in one language helps to make input in the other language comprehensible.” (Cummins, 2000,p.39).

Therefore, embedding spoken language approaches across the curriculum can strengthen literacy and attainment when language is taught explicitly and in context. For multilingual learners, this means making the language demands of lessons visible and teachable.

In practice, this involves modelling how this language is used in speech and writing.

Classroom example: Year 5 science (States of Matter)
 The educator explains evaporation using sentences such as:
 “When water is heated, it evaporates.”
 “As a result, the liquid changes into a gas.”

The educator unpacks key vocabulary like evaporate and evaporation and gives children sentence stems to support their explanations. Alongside the science objective, sits a clear language objective. Children now have the words and sentence structures they need to explain their thinking clearly.

Strengthening Learning Through Cultural and Linguistic Connection

Multilingual children bring a wealth of cultural and linguistic knowledge into the classroom. When educators recognise and build on this, learning becomes more meaningful and inclusive.

Schools that invest in understanding children’s linguistic backgrounds are better placed to design teaching that connects new learning to what children already know.

In practice, this means:

  • Gathering information about a child’s home language/s and experiences
  • Using this knowledge to make lessons more relevant and accessible

Classroom example: Year 5 science (States of Matter)
The Educator invites children to share where they see evaporation at home: drying clothes, steaming dumplings, or burning incense. Then explicitly links these examples back to the scientific explanation.

By connecting the abstract concept of ‘evaporation’ to something tangible like ‘incense’ or ‘steaming,’ the child is able to relate to it.

Deepening Understanding by Harnessing Home Languages

Research and classroom practice both show that strong first-language skills are crucial for developing English proficiency and achieving academic success.

“The idea that a multilingual classroom is not only beneficial to EAL students but to non-EAL students (suggests) the need for a strategic whole-school approach to language teaching and integration.” (Arnot et al., 2014,p.7)

In practice, schools should:

  • Encourage translanguaging as a learning strategy. Translanguaging enables children to first process complex cognitive tasks in their strongest language, before expressing them in English. 
  • Encourage families to use first languages to support key topics and concepts

Classroom example: Year 5 science (States of Matter)
 The children use their first language to clarify why the change is happening. Once they have secured the concept, they then describe it in English.

The child is not cognitively overloaded. They use their first language to handle the heavy lifting of thinking, and only then move on to using English to demonstrate their understanding.

Final Thoughts…

Closing the gap for multilingual children requires a clear understanding of how language underpins attainment, a commitment to evidence-informed practice and a shared vision that places language at the heart of curriculum design. 

When leaders get this right, the impact is profound – not only for multilingual children, but for all learners. Prioritising language isn’t just an inclusion strategy; it’s a school improvement strategy.

References

Arnot, M., Schneider, C. and Welply, O. (2014) School approaches to the education of EAL students. Cambridge: The Bell Foundation.

Cummins, J. (2000) Language, Power and Pedagogy: Bilingual Children in the Crossfire. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

by Hannah Wilson

Mirrors and Windows: Rethinking the Curriculum for Inclusive Classrooms

Amy Wilby portrait

Written by Amy Wilby

I am an experienced senior educational leader, currently serving as an Assistant Headteacher with responsibility for Curriculum, as well as a Trust-wide DEIB Champion, edublogger, and proud mum to a 21-year-old son. Since qualifying as a teacher in 2009, I have built a career rooted in both academic excellence and strong pastoral care. I bring extensive experience across middle and senior leadership, including roles as a Specialist Leader of Education (SLE) and Associate Assistant Headteacher. I hold an NPQSL and a master’s degree in educational leadership, and I am deeply committed to evidence-informed practice, drawing on educational research to enhance teaching, learning, and curriculum design.

Walk into most classrooms and you’ll see a curriculum that has been carefully planned, structured, and sequenced. In most schools, this planning is grounded in research, designed to support the acquisition and retention of knowledge.

But there’s a deeper question we don’t ask often enough:

Who gets to see themselves in it, and who doesn’t?

This is where the concept of mirrors and windows becomes essential to inclusive education.

The idea is simple, but powerful:

  • Mirrors: Students see their own identities, experiences, and cultures reflected
  • Windows: Students gain insight into lives and perspectives different from their own

A truly inclusive curriculum does both, consistently, not occasionally.

Because when students only experience windows, they may feel invisible.
And when they only experience mirrors, they miss the opportunity to understand others.

What do we mean by ‘mirrors and windows’?

If we want genuinely engaging and inclusive classrooms, we need both.

The problem: Representation is often surface, level

Many schools are already working to diversify their curriculum, but often in ways that don’t go far enough, or lack careful consideration of how content is framed.

You might see:

  • A one-off lesson or assembly, such as during Black History Month
  • Efforts to diversify reading materials in the library
  • Occasional references to global perspectives, often framed as ‘meanwhile, elsewhere…’ and confined to specific subjects

These are well-intentioned, but they risk becoming add-ons rather than meaningful integration.

And students notice the difference.

Why this matters for belonging

Students can tell when inclusion is occasional, symbolic, or performative, and this can have the opposite effect to what is intended.

Instead of feeling seen, they can feel outside the main narrative.

Curriculum is not just about knowledge, it’s about belonging.

When students consistently see themselves reflected through the Mirrors of the curriculum:

  • Their sense of legitimacy increases
  • Engagement improves (with positive effects on attendance and behaviour)
  • Confidence grows
  • Equity becomes something that is lived, not just discussed

At the same time, windows help to build:

  • Empathy
  • Cultural understanding
  • A broader view of the world

This isn’t an ‘extra’ it’s foundational.

What this looks like in practice

Creating an inclusive curriculum doesn’t require starting from scratch. It’s about intentional, thoughtful adjustments over time.

To begin you could consider the following:

  1. Audit what’s already there

Start by asking:

  • Whose stories are centred?
  • Whose voices are missing?
  • Are certain groups only represented through struggle?

This process is often revealing.

Too often, diverse histories are framed primarily through oppression. A more balanced approach:

  • Includes innovation, leadership, and cultural contributions
  • Presents individuals as active agents, not just recipients of injustice

This doesn’t ignore difficult histories, it places them within a fuller, more accurate context.

  1. Move beyond ‘add and stir’

Inclusion isn’t about inserting isolated examples, it’s about integration.

For example:

  • Literature: diversify authors across the year, not just within one unit, include local, national and international texts
  • History: embed multiple perspectives within the same topic, rather than adding them at the end
  • Science: highlight contributions from a wider range of scientists and challenge assumptions about who belongs in the field
  1. Avoid single stories

Be careful not to reduce groups to one narrative.

  • Don’t present marginalised groups only through struggle
  • Include stories of success, leadership, creativity, and everyday life

Students need multidimensional representations.

They should encounter people as fully human, complex, nuanced, and varied.
This leads to richer learning and a more honest curriculum.

  1. Make it subject, specific

Inclusion is not just a humanities issue, it is a whole, curriculum responsibility.

  • Maths: use real, world problems that reflect diverse contexts
  • English: select texts that provide both mirrors and windows
  • Geography: avoid deficit narratives and explore cultural diversity with depth
  • Science: challenge narrow perceptions of who can be a scientist.

Every subject has a role to play.

  1. Involve student voice

Ask students directly:

  • Do you see yourself in what we learn?
  • What would you like to see more of?

Their responses often highlight gaps that adults may overlook—and involving them builds both agency and belonging.

Common pitfalls to avoid

Even with strong intentions, there are common missteps:

  • Tokenism: adding one example and considering the work done
  • Over, correction: forcing representation in ways that feel inauthentic
  • Stereotyping: simplifying identities rather than showing complexity
  • Inconsistency: inclusion appearing in isolated moments rather than as a sustained approach

Inclusion works when it is planned, consistent, and authentic.

What you can do tomorrow

If you’re not sure where to start, begin small:

  • Gather feedback from a class or year group (through a form or discussion) – The Global Equality collective has a fantastic platform for gathering student and staff voice and producing kaleidoscopic data to help to understand where any gaps exist.
  • Review an upcoming scheme of work and ask: Where are the mirrors and windows?
  • Identify one meaningful change that improves representation

You don’t need to do everything at once, but you do need to start intentionally.

Final thought

An inclusive curriculum isn’t about ticking boxes or meeting requirements.

It’s about answering a simple but powerful question:

‘Does every student feel seen here, and are they being helped to see others?’

When the answer becomes consistently  ‘yes,’
you’re not just delivering content, you’re building belonging.

Further Reading

Bhorkar, S., Campbell, R. and Claro, J. (2025) ‘Beyond the tick-box: diversity in the curriculum’, Impact: Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching. Available at: https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/beyond-the-tick-box-diversity-in-the-curriculum/

Bishop, R. S. (1990) ‘Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors’, Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, 6(3). Available at: https://scenicregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mirrors-Windows-and-Sliding-Glass-Doors.pdf

Geographical Association (n.d.) Cultural diversity in geography education. Available at: https://geography.org.uk/ite/initial-teacher-education/geography-support-for-trainees-and-ects/learning-to-teach-secondary-geography/geography-subject-teaching-and-curriculum/teaching-thematic-geography/cultural-diversity-in-geography-education/ 

Kara, B. (2020) A little guide for teachers: diversity in schools. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

The Global Equality Collective Global Equality Collective KnowHow. Available at: GEC KnowHow

Pearson (2023) Pearson School Report: Diversity and Inclusion. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20231204193347/https://www.pearson.com/en-gb/schools/insights-and-events/topics/diversity-inclusion/schools-report.html

Teach First (2020) STEMinism: How to encourage more girls to study STEM subjects. Available at: https://www.teachfirst.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-02/teach_first_steminism_report.pdf

by Hannah Wilson

Teaching Teens About the U.S. – Iran Conflict: Building Context and Curiosity in the Classroom

Zahara Chowdhury portrait

Written by Zahara Chowdhury

Zahara leads on equality, diversity and inclusive education in higher education. She has over a decade of experience in middle and senior positions in secondary education. Zahara is author of Creating Belonging in the Classroom: a Practical Guide to Having Brave and Difficult Conversations. She is founder of the School Should Be blog and podcast, a platform that amplifies diverse and current topics that impact secondary school classrooms, students and teachers.

Secondary students today are growing up in a world where global politics shape their lives more than ever before. The ongoing tensions between America and Iran can feel far removed from British classrooms, yet understanding them helps young people make sense of international relations, energy security, and differing systems of governance.

While the conflict between America and Iran is fundamentally connected to wider Gulf States, their politics and history, it is also distinct. The Iran–U.S. relationship centres on power, ideology, and regional influence, shaped by Iran’s changing political regime since the 1979 revolution and America’s strategic interests in energy, trade, and security.

And yes, teachers are already under immense pressure. Here is another topic that society expects teachers and schools to ‘take care of’. It’s a tough and exhausting gig. But also one that our students want and need us to explore with them. 

Topics like this require both time and sensitivity to unpack. This blog and lesson outline are designed to offer a way in, curiosity first, expertise second.

Lesson outline: Exploring the Iran–U.S. Relationship

Lesson Objective

To help students understand how different forms of governance, lived experiences, and global relationships shape international conflict and cooperation.

Before the Lesson – Independent Exploration

Some of these curiosity questions can be set as homework, pre-reading and post-research, giving students time to explore, think and come prepared with ideas. Teachers can take the same approach — set aside a couple of hours for a “deep dive” using trusted sources such as:

Be aware that students will likely use social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube for information. It’s worth pre-empting this and giving advice on how to stay safe and critical online:

  • Be mindful and present when watching; if anything graphic or distressing appears, mute or report the content immediately.
  • Remember the task is academic — the goal is to understand, not consume upsetting material.
  • If students find good, informative videos, encourage them to fact-check using class knowledge about research skills, misinformation and disinformation.

Important!

If you’ve got to this point in this article and realise your students may not yet have a strong grasp of misinformation and disinformation, this is a perfect moment to connect with colleagues through a systems-thinking approach. Work across subject areas — such as PSHE, tutor time, History, Politics, and English — to design a mini integrated curriculum plan. This helps all students develop the confidence to evaluate complex global issues critically and respectfully.

In line with systems thinking, you can also communicate proactively with parents or carers, explaining how the school intends to approach this subject in a politically impartial, research-informed, and curriculum-aligned way. Reassure families that lessons are guided by teacher professionalism and inclusive pedagogy and practice, and that the goal is always to make school a safe space for information, understanding, empathy, and compassion.

Now…back to the plan: 

Starter Discussion – “Understanding Perspectives”

Drawing on pre-reading or factual handouts you’ve distributed, design group, pair or a class wide discussion with the following questions: 

  • How is Iran governed? How is America governed?
  • What might life look like for a teenager growing up in Tehran compared to London or New York?
  • How does my lived experience in a Western democracy shape how I understand Iran or America?
  • How can I “decentre” my perspective to appreciate experiences beyond my own?

Main Exploration – “Why the Tensions?”

You could set the following as group based research questions, ask students to prepare mini presentations or use an impactful teaching and learning approach that suits the students sitting in front of you: 

  • Why does America care about Iran? Why does Iran care about America?
  • What is Israel’s role in this picture? Why is there animosity between Israel and Iran?
  • What are their main trade or economic interests (oil, security partnerships, military influence)?
  • What are the key political and sociological issues at play — religion, nationalism, sanctions, regional security?
  • How does this conflict affect my life now or in the future (energy costs, migration, security, global cooperation)?

More Activity Ideas:

  • Use a map from Prisoners of Geography to explore how geography shapes power and alliances.
  • Role-play a UN negotiation between the U.S., Iran, Israel, and neutral nations (if your school has a debate club or a Model the United Nations team and club, draw on this expertise). 

Reflection or homework task: write a reflective paragraph on how your perspective changed during the lesson. Give students a phrase bank with compassionate, thoughtful and evaluative language and literacy (knock on the door of your English and History, Philosophy, RE teacher friends…they’ve probably got a document full of these, ready to go).

Teen-Friendly Facts: Understanding the Context 

Put the below into a reference crib sheet for students to have to hand during the lesson. Ask them to construct questions based on these facts. If you don’t know the answers, that’s fine! It’s another research project sorted. 

  • In 1979, Iran’s monarchy was overthrown, and the Islamic Republic was established under religious leadership.
  • The U.S. and Iran were once allies, but relations fractured after the revolution and the embassy hostage crisis.
  • America worries about Iran’s nuclear programme and regional influence; Iran sees the U.S. as a threat to its sovereignty.
  • Iran and Israel have longstanding animosity rooted in ideological and regional rivalries.
  • Energy and oil play a central role in both countries’ interests in the region.
  • Economic sanctions have shaped everyday life in Iran, affecting trade, inflation, and access to technology.
  • Conflicts in neighbouring countries often draw in both Iranian and American involvement.
  • Global politics already impact young people — from energy costs to international study opportunities.

The book, Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall, is absolutely brilliant and when I read it over 5 years ago, it majorly informed my approach to critical thinking and teaching historical context in my subject area – Marshall now has a series and a Prisoners of Geography version for primary school children – I highly recommend it. 

And lastly, my book,  Creating Belonging in the Classroom by Zahara Chowdhury to support you to navigate difficult conversations and subject matter in the classroom.

By approaching difficult world events with openness, curiosity, clear boundaries and compassion, teachers empower students to manage complexity, not avoid it. Schools can and should be safe spaces for curiosity, evidence-based discussion, and the building of informed, empathetic young citizens. And, we are all more than equipped and able to do it – we just need to trust ourselves – and schools need to trust their staff too. 

by Hannah Wilson

Understanding the Experiences of Black Teachers in London: Why Mattering Matters

Tara Elie portrait

Written by Tara Elie

Tara Elie teacher, psychologist, lecturer and coach. Tara has diverse experience in education and Learning and Development spanning over decades. She is renowned for her engaging training delivery, both face-to-face and virtually. Her performance background, alongside her passion for supporting individuals and organisations to flourish and thrive, characterise her delivery style. Tara has completed research on Black Teacher Mattering which she is delivering in keynotes. She is passionate about teacher wellbeing and uses the theories of Positive Psychology to inform her work with all clients with a proven record of success. Tara stands for social justice and social change. She appreciates and celebrates the individual, their differing backgrounds, cultures, experiences, perceptions, and values.

Introduction

Understanding the experiences of Black teachers is essential if we are serious about improving well-being, retention, and professional fulfilment in education. Conversations about diversity in schools often focus on pupils, yet far less attention has been given to the psychological experiences of teachers themselves. One concept that offers a powerful lens for exploring this is mattering – the sense that we are valued and that what we contribute has value.

Psychologist Morris Rosenberg (1985) described mattering as an individual’s belief that they are important to others and able to make a meaningful contribution. When applied to the experiences of Black teachers in London, this idea moves the conversation beyond statistics and into the lived realities of belonging, recognition, and professional identity. Understanding whether teachers feel that they matter – to colleagues, to leaders, and to the wider system – may help explain why some remain in the profession while others leave.

Why Representation Still Matters

The relative scarcity of Black teachers makes this question particularly important. Representation in education is not only about fairness in employment; it also has wider implications for students, schools, and communities. The Black Teachers in London report, commissioned by London Mayor Ken Livingstone, highlighted a clear relationship between the success of Black teachers and positive outcomes for Black pupils. In some London boroughs, nearly half of pupils were Black, yet only a small proportion of teachers shared that heritage. Increasing diversity across all levels of education – from classroom teachers to leadership and governance – was identified as essential for improving representation, aspiration, and achievement.

However, addressing the shortage of Black teachers requires more than recruitment initiatives. It requires a deeper understanding of how teachers experience their professional lives, how valued they feel, and whether they believe their presence makes a difference. Without this understanding, efforts to improve diversity risk focusing only on entry into the profession rather than on belonging within it.

A Gap in UK Research

Much of the existing research on mattering in education has focused on students, particular subject areas, or the education system in the United States. In the United Kingdom, despite ongoing concerns about a lack of diversity in the teaching workforce, relatively little research has explored the experiences of Black teachers themselves.

This gap is especially significant in London, where teacher shortages have historically been higher than in other parts of the UK and where the student population is among the most diverse in the country. Exploring the lived experiences of Black teachers in London can help build a clearer picture of what supports – or undermines – their sense of belonging, confidence, and professional fulfilment. Understanding these experiences is essential if diversity efforts are to be meaningful rather than symbolic.

A Positive Psychology Perspective

This research approaches the topic from a Positive Psychology perspective, the scientific study of individual, group, and community flourishing (Hefferon & Boniwell, 2011). Rather than focusing only on problems, Positive Psychology asks what enables people to thrive. Applying this perspective to teaching allows us to consider how feeling valued influences motivation, self-esteem, and commitment to the profession.

When teachers experience a strong sense of mattering, they are more likely to feel engaged, resilient, and able to sustain their work over time. For Black teachers, the experience of mattering may be shaped by factors such as representation, recognition, relationships with colleagues, opportunities for progression, and the extent to which their perspectives are heard. These factors are closely linked to recruitment and retention, but also to well-being and professional identity.

Beyond Recruitment: The Importance of Belonging

Teacher shortages are often explained through workload, accountability pressures, and working conditions. While these are important, psychological factors such as belonging and value may be just as significant. Exploring mattering offers a way to understand inclusion at a deeper level. Policies can increase diversity, but they cannot by themselves create environments in which teachers feel respected, listened to, and able to contribute fully.

Listening to the lived experiences of Black teachers in London can help develop a more nuanced understanding of what supports their flourishing and what undermines it. This understanding is essential if schools are to move beyond representation alone and towards genuine inclusion.

Why This Matters for the Future of Education

Improving diversity in education is not simply about numbers. It is about creating professional cultures where teachers feel that they matter – where their presence is recognised, their work is valued, and their contribution is meaningful. When teachers experience this, the benefits extend beyond the individual to pupils, colleagues, and the wider school community.

Understanding mattering is therefore not only a psychological question, but an educational one. If we want a teaching profession that is diverse, sustainable, and capable of supporting all young people, we must pay attention to whether those within it feel that they truly belong.

by Hannah Wilson

What do school governors need to know about DEIB?

Hannah Wilson portrait

Written by Hannah Wilson

Founder and Director of the Belonging Effect (formerly Diverse Educators).

School governors play a strategic, not operational, role in DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging). What they need to know can be grouped into purpose, legal duties, oversight, and culture.

  1. What DEIB means in a school context

Governors should understand that:

  • Diversity: The range of identities and experiences in the school community (e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, SEND, religion, socioeconomic background).
  • Equity: Fairness, not sameness – recognising that different pupils and staff may need different support to succeed.
  • Inclusion: Creating systems and practices where everyone can participate and thrive.
  • Belonging: Pupils, staff and families feel respected and safe in the school.

DEIB is not an add-on – it affects outcomes, wellbeing, safeguarding, staff retention, and reputation.

  1. Legal and statutory responsibilities (UK-focused)

Governors must ensure the school complies with:

  • Equality Act 2010: Protects nine characteristics (e.g. race, disability, sex, religion). Requires schools to eliminate discrimination, advance equality, and foster good relations.
  • Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED): Schools must show due regard to equality in decisions and policies.
  • Safeguarding duties: Discrimination, bullying, and exclusion can be safeguarding risks.
  • Ofsted expectations: Inspectors look at inclusion, behaviour, curriculum breadth, and how well vulnerable groups are supported.

Governors do not deliver DEIB – but they are accountable for whether it is happening effectively.

  1. Strategic questions governors should ask

Governors should be able to challenge leaders with evidence-based questions such as:

Pupils:

  • Are there attainment, behaviour, attendance, or exclusion gaps between groups?
  • How does the school support pupils with SEND, EAL, or from disadvantaged backgrounds?
  • Do pupils report feeling safe and that they belong?

Staff:

  • Is recruitment and promotion fair and transparent?
  • Are there disparities in staff retention, progression, or disciplinary action?
  • Is staff training in equality and inclusion effective and ongoing?

Curriculum & culture:

  • Does the curriculum reflect diverse voices and experiences?
  • Are incidents of bullying, racism, sexism or homophobia recorded and acted upon?
  • How does the school engage families from different backgrounds?
  1. Policy oversight (not micromanagement)

Governors should ensure the school has clear, up-to-date policies and that they are working in practice, including:

  • Equality and accessibility plans
  • Behaviour and anti-bullying policies
  • SEND policy and provision
  • Admissions and exclusions
  • Complaints procedures

They should look for impact, not just paperwork.

  1. Data literacy and proportionality

Governors need confidence to:

  • Interpret equality and pupil outcome data without jumping to conclusions
  • Understand that unequal outcomes don’t always mean discrimination – but always warrant investigation
  • Balance DEIB work with the school’s context, avoiding tokenism or box-ticking

Good governance focuses on patterns and trends, not isolated incidents.

  1. Tone, language, and leadership

Governors set the tone. They should:

  • Use respectful, inclusive language
  • Avoid politicising DEIB or treating it as “optional”
  • Model curiosity rather than defensiveness
  • Support leaders when DEIB work attracts challenge or misunderstanding

Silence or avoidance can be interpreted as indifference.

  1. What governors should not do
  • Do not manage individual cases unless part of a formal panel
  • Do not impose personal ideology
  • Do not expect quick fixes – culture change takes time
  • Do not delegate all DEIB responsibility to one staff member
  1. Continuous learning

Effective governors:

  • Undertake regular training on equality and inclusion
  • Stay aware of local community needs
  • Reflect on their own board’s diversity and skills mix

In short:

School governors need to understand DEIB well enough to ask the right questions, meet legal duties, hold leaders to account, and ensure every pupil and staff member has a fair chance to succeed and belong.

by Hannah Wilson

Permeable Minds: How Omission Forms Meaning

Rachida Dahman portrait

Written by Rachida Dahman

Rachida Dahman is an international educator, a language and literature teacher, and an educational innovator. She started her career in Germany as a teacher trainer advocating the importance of relationships above academics. She then moved to Luxembourg where she teaches German language and literature classes to middle and high school students. She is an award-winning poet, co-author of the best-selling book, ATLAS DER ENTSCHEIDER Entscheiden wie die Profis- Dynamik, Komplexität und Stress meistern.

Judgment Formation and the Ethics of Attention in the Classroom

In classrooms where books are read and texts are discussed, students absorb invisible hierarchies of attention and recognition. They learn not only from what is articulated, highlighted, and rewarded, but also from what is omitted, overlooked, or left unspoken. Meaning moves through the room, through the questions asked and the questions avoided. It shapes perception long before students can fully name what they are absorbing.

Schools often articulate strong commitments to inclusion, wellbeing, and safety. These commitments are serious and necessary. Yet institutional language alone does not guarantee coherence in practice. Posters are displayed. Assemblies are convened. Mission statements are published. Classrooms, however, are governed less by rhetoric than by attention. Every emphasis, every silence, every interpretive choice participates in shaping what students come to trust, recognize, and regard as real.

The ethical management of attention in classrooms determines whether institutional commitments become formative realities or rhetorical contradictions.

Policy and Practice

A structural tension exists between policy ambition and classroom practice. Policy speaks in generalities; teaching unfolds in particulars. It is in those particulars, especially in the study of literature, that judgment is formed. Choices about naming, framing, or highlighting elements of a text carry consequences beyond the immediate lesson.

Serious education has never prioritized comfort. What matters is judgment: the capacity to perceive complexity, to recognize human dignity in its specificity, and to interpret without erasing. When this discipline falters, the erosion is quiet but cumulative. Students internalize patterns of recognition and omission long before they can articulate them.

Naming and Omission

When identities within a text are left unnamed in discussion, students learn more than the assigned content. They learn which dimensions of human experience are treated as central and which as peripheral. A novel may be analyzed for structure, language, or historical context. Its craft may be examined in detail. Yet if the marginalized identities shaping its characters’ positions remain unacknowledged, students absorb a hierarchy of relevance.

In classrooms where misogynistic rhetoric is analyzed as a stylistic device but not named as misogyny, some students fall silent, others detach. The discussion continues, yet something has shifted. The omission itself communicates.

Not all silence is harmful. At times, restraint creates space for reflection rather than hierarchy. The distinction lies in pattern. Occasional discretion differs from consistent omission. When particular dimensions of human experience are repeatedly left unnamed, they become less thinkable. What becomes less thinkable gradually becomes less real within the intellectual life of the classroom. Recognition requires courage. Silence is often easier.

Permeable Minds

Developing minds are permeable. Adolescents are not passive recipients of content; they are active interpreters, scanning for relevance, legitimacy, and recognition. Permeability is not fragility. It is the very process of formation.

Educational environments shape judgment through repeated signals of importance and marginality. Over time, these signals accumulate. Institutional language cannot substitute for interpretive practice. The ethics of education resides not only in declared commitments but in the disciplined management of attention within the classroom.

Teachers and school leaders carry responsibility for what students see, hear, and internalize, for what is named and what remains unspoken.

The Double Bind

Schools frequently emphasize care, belonging, and safety. Yet everyday pedagogical practices may convey a different message: indifference, irony without scaffolding, or humiliation without commentary. Students encounter structural contradictions, what Gregory Bateson described as a double bind: two incompatible messages delivered within a relationship that cannot easily be exited or openly challenged. 

  • Students are told their wellbeing matters.
  • They are simultaneously expected to endure unexamined provocation.
  • Students are told inclusion is foundational.
  • They encounter subtle forms of elitism that reproduce exclusion.

A school may hold a wellbeing assembly, then require students to analyse a text containing degrading rhetoric without space to acknowledge discomfort. The institutional message is “your wellbeing matters.” The pedagogical message received may be “your response is irrelevant to serious analysis.”

When students are instructed to “separate personal feelings from intellectual rigor,” the lesson conveyed can become that emotional experience disqualifies serious thought. The result is rarely open rebellion. It is more often a quiet destabilization, a subtle erosion of trust in the coherence of adult authority.

The Erosion of Trust

The most serious consequence is not offense. It is the gradual erosion of trust. Trust in the teacher’s coherence. Trust in institutional language. Trust in the alignment between word and action. In socially polarized contexts, this erosion matters. Authority experienced as inconsistent cannot stabilize conflict. When institutional language loses credibility, its capacity to guide and de-escalate diminishes.

Research consistently underscores the importance of perceived fairness and relational trust. Students’ sense of psychological safety depends less on the absence of challenge than on predictable and ethical adult authority. Young people do not reject rigor. They struggle when the signals they receive contradict one another.

Coherence as Professional Responsibility

Pedagogy does not promise comfort. Challenging texts and unsettling questions are essential. The question is not whether students encounter difficulty, but whether difficulty is framed within coherent ethical practice.

Public commitments to wellbeing must be mirrored in classroom decisions. Text selection cannot be merely private taste. Provocation cannot be detached from responsibility. Critical distance cannot become an alibi for indifference. Ignoring queerness in texts about queer lives, failing to address antisemitism in Jewish literature, or omitting misogyny in feminist texts constitutes erasure. Erasure teaches students that certain realities do not merit acknowledgment within serious intellectual work.

Teachers operate under real constraints: time, curriculum mandates, community expectations, and political scrutiny. Ethical attention does not require exhaustive commentary on every identity dimension. It requires awareness of pattern. The question is not whether everything is named, but whether repeated omissions accumulate into hierarchy.

Influence in classrooms is inevitable. What circulates within that influence must therefore be examined.

“All one-sidedness remains one-sidedness and carries its own suffering within it. Whoever reduces, constricts. And whoever constricts, causes harm.” – Carl Jung

From Reflection to Action

The dynamics described here have direct implications for practice and policy.

For Teachers

  • Name identities deliberately. Where relevant, acknowledge historical context, ethical tensions, and marginalized positions within texts.
  • Distinguish restraint from erasure. Consider whether silence creates space for thought or unintentionally signals irrelevance.
  • Reflect on attention patterns. Notice which perspectives are consistently elevated and which remain peripheral.
  • Model moral attentiveness. Demonstrate that intellectual rigor and ethical recognition are not opposing commitments.

For Policy-Makers

  • Align language with classroom reality. Commitments to inclusion and wellbeing must be actionable within pedagogy.
  • Support teacher agency. Provide professional development focused on interpretive ethics and moral formation. Enable educators to name identities responsibly without fear of reprisal.
  • Evaluate coherence, not only compliance. Assess how students experience recognition and omission in daily classroom life.

Closing Reflection

Classrooms are not neutral spaces. Every discussion, every interpretive choice, every sustained omission participates in the moral formation of students. Teachers and policymakers share responsibility for the ethical conditions under which judgment develops.

When coherence is present, trust strengthens. When word and action align, authority stabilizes rather than destabilizes. By honouring the permeability of young minds, education can fulfil its promise of inclusion and prepare students to engage thoughtfully and thoroughly. In times marked by social fracture, that coherence is not an optional refinement. It is a professional necessity. Without trust, education cannot endure.

by Hannah Wilson

Adoption Doesn’t End the Trauma

Ian Timbrell portrait

Written by Ian Timbrell

Ian has worked in education for 18 years, including as a teacher and deputy head teacher and now supports schools develop their provision for LGBTQ+ and adopted pupils. He is the author of 'It's More Than Flags and Rainbows', a guide to supporting schools become more LGBTQ+ inclusive.

When we adopted, I think I expected a sense of arrival. A feeling that we had reached the end of a long and intense process and could finally breathe. In reality, adoption was not an ending at all. It was the beginning of a very different journey, one that far fewer people truly understand.

There is a widespread belief that trauma ends at adoption. That once a child is safe and loved, the hardest part is behind you. Our experience, and the experience of many families I have spoken to, tells a very different story. Trauma does not disappear because circumstances change. It stays with children as they grow, shaping how they see themselves, their families, and the world around them.

What shocked me most was how quickly support fell away once adoption was finalised. During the assessment process, you are surrounded by professionals, advice, and scrutiny. Afterwards, it can feel as though the scaffolding is suddenly removed. Families are expected to cope, to manage complex behaviours and emotions, and to do so quietly, often while being told how “lucky” everyone is.

Adoption touches every part of family life. As children grow older, particularly during the teenage years, questions about identity and belonging resurface with force. Life stories are revisited. Feelings of loss, anger, and confusion come to the surface. These are not abstract emotions. They show up in daily life, in school, at home, and in relationships.

One of the least understood aspects of adoption is contact with birth families. For those outside the adoption world, this is often difficult to grasp. Contact is not simple or tidy. It carries hope and heartbreak in equal measure. For children, it can reopen wounds they do not yet have the words to describe. For parents, it can be painful to watch your child carry feelings you cannot fix or protect them from.

Schools and wider family networks often struggle to understand this reality. Behaviours are framed as poor choices rather than expressions of distress. Parenting is judged without recognising the context. There is an unspoken expectation that adopted children should be settled, grateful, or resilient. When they are not, families can feel blamed and deeply isolated.

As an LGBTQ+ adoptive parent, there are additional layers. Our families are often more visible, and that visibility can bring both connection and silence. Sometimes it feels as though acknowledging the challenges of adoption is seen as too complicated, or as though we are already asking enough of people simply by existing as a queer family.

Things are slowly changing, but more education, connection and understanding are still needed around the realities many adopted families experience. Adoption can be an incredible thing, but it does not exist in a Disney daydream.

I am writing this as an individual, shaped by my own experience as an adoptive parent. I am also the founder of More Than Flags and Rainbows, and these two parts of my life are inseparable. This reflection comes from moments of joy and pride, and from moments of exhaustion, fear, and uncertainty. It comes from recognising how many families are quietly navigating similar paths without enough understanding or long-term support.

That is why, through More Than Flags and Rainbows, we are working to build networks for adoptive families and LGBTQ+ parents that centre lived experience and community support. Our aim is to create spaces where families can connect, share experiences and feel less alone in the challenges they face.

If this resonates with you, you are not alone. And struggling does not mean you are failing.

by Hannah Wilson

A Curriculum for Connection: What the 2028 Reforms Mean for Belonging in Schools

Chloe Watterston portrait

Written by Chloe Watterston

Chloe is an educator, athlete, and advocate for inclusive, curiosity-driven learning, dedicated to creating spaces where every young person feels safe, valued, and empowered. Her work across mainstream and SEND education, community projects, and curriculum reform is driven by a passion for amplifying marginalised voices and breaking down barriers to learning.

The recently announced curriculum reform by the Department for Education (DfE) sets out a refreshed national curriculum for England, to be implemented from September 2028. GOV.UK+1 The changes include clearer structuring of subjects, stronger foundations in oracy, reading, writing, mathematics, inclusion of media/financial literacy, and a new ‘core enrichment entitlement’ (arts, sport, nature, civic engagement). GOV.UK+1

In discussing these changes, the theme of belonging – feeling valued, included, connected and confident in one’s place in school, learning community, and future society – merits explicit attention. When students feel they belong, they are more motivated, resilient, engaged and ready to learn. For learners who may feel marginalised, including those with additional needs (SEND), neurodiversity, gender/ethnicity minority status, or from disadvantaged backgrounds, belonging is especially critical.

Why belonging matters in the curriculum context

Belonging in a school setting means that students feel they are part of the community, their identities and contributions are valued, they have agency and voice, they see themselves reflected in the learning and expectations, and that the pathways ahead feel achievable and meaningful. Research shows that when belonging is strong:

  • Pupils show higher engagement, better behaviour, more perseverance and stronger outcomes.
  • Belonging helps mitigate the harmful effects of marginalisation, discrimination, or social isolation.
  • A curriculum that simply transmits knowledge without fostering connection and relevance may fail to engage those who don’t see themselves in it.

In the context of the new curriculum, which emphasises knowledge, skills for life and work, enrichment in arts/outdoor/civic life, and digital/financial literacy, belonging becomes the lens through which these ambitions must be refracted: how do all pupils feel that this curriculum is for them, they can access it, succeed with it, and feel part of their school’s learning community?

For example, the government’s own press release highlights that enrichment activities and arts broaden confidence, social capital and resilience. (GOV.UK) The blog from the Education Hub emphasises inclusive support for children with SEND and stretching the most able. (Education Hub) Both show levers that can support belonging – but only if consciously leveraged.

How the new curriculum offers opportunities (and challenges) for belonging

Opportunities

  1. Wider access to enrichment
    The ‘core enrichment entitlement’, guaranteeing every pupil access to arts/culture, nature/adventure, sport/physical activity, civic engagement and life skills, is a powerful vehicle for belonging. These are contexts where students can engage beyond exam-driven subjects, collaborate, explore identities, build peer connection and feel part of something bigger than school. Schools that deliver this well can foster strong community, inclusive opportunities and shared purpose.
  2. Broader subject choice and removal of restrictive performance measures
    The reforms signal the removal of the EBacc as the sole performance metric and encourage breadth (arts, languages, humanities) in student choice. This means more students may find subjects that resonate with their interests and identities, helping them feel ‘in the curriculum’, not excluded by narrow expectations.
  3. Strengthened foundations and structured progression
    The reforms emphasise clearer sequencing of knowledge, stronger foundations in oracy/reading/writing/math, and logical structuring of subjects. A well-sequenced curriculum supports all learners to feel they are building, succeeding and belong in the journey, rather than lost or left behind.
  4. Focus on life/skills, digital/media/financial literacy
    Recognising children as future citizens, consumers and workers, the curriculum includes media and financial literacy, computing/data science and climate education. When learners see relevance of what they are doing to their world and future, they are more likely to feel the curriculum connects to them, increasing belonging.

Challenges & caveats

  1. Implementation lag and teacher capacity
    The final curriculum will be published in spring 2027, with first teaching from September 2028. During this transition period, there is a risk of uneven implementation or confusion, which can lead to pupils feeling disconnected if their experience is patchy.
  2. Risk of ‘token’ enrichment without inclusion
    Simply providing enrichment access does not guarantee belonging. If, say, arts or outdoor adventure are offered but some pupils feel they are not for “people like me”, or logistics exclude them (SEND needs, cost, transport, culture), then belonging may not be improved. Schools must ensure inclusive design.
  3. Potential for widening gaps
    The reforms point to stretching the most able, but also supporting all, including SEND. If schools focus solely on high-attaining students or areas they excel in, then pupils who previously felt marginalised may continue to feel outside the mainstream. Ensuring belonging means deliberately designing for all.
  4. Balancing knowledge-rich and inclusive culture
    A knowledge-rich curriculum is desirable, and sequential structure is important. But if it becomes rigid, high-pressure or alienating for some learners (including neurodiverse pupils, those with ADHD, autism, fibromyalgia etc), belonging may suffer. Teacher professional development, differentiated approaches, and culture matter.

Implications for teachers, schools and learners (with a focus on neurodiversity / SEND)

Given the curriculum changes, how should schools and teachers act to embed belonging and ensure that all pupils, including neurodiverse learners, benefit?

For teachers and curriculum leaders

  • Audit enrichment and access
    Ensure the five enrichment categories (civic, arts, nature/adventure, sport/physical, life skills) are accessible to all learners. Review whether those with additional needs are genuinely included, what barriers exist (physical access, cost, transport, timing, teacher attitudes) and plan accordingly.
  • Curriculum sequencing with connection
    As the curriculum becomes clearer and machine-readable, use its structure to map how learners build their sense of belonging: early success, scaffolded progression, collaborative projects, peer mentoring. For neurodiverse learners, build patterns of success, visible progression, and opportunities for identity building in the community.
  • Inclusive pedagogy
    With the greater emphasis on oracy, reading, writing, financial/media literacy, digital, arts and nature, it is essential to differentiate and scaffold for learners with SEND/ EAL. Flexible formats, multimodal tasks (visual, auditory, experiential), peer support, chunking of tasks and choice all foster belonging.
  • Student voice and representation
    Belonging is strengthened when learners see themselves in the curriculum and have agency. Build in opportunities for pupil voice (which arts projects, which outdoor expeditions, which civic engagements). Ensure neurodiverse and historically excluded pupils are included in planning and leadership of enrichment.
  • Cross-subject and cultural relevance
    The new curriculum emphasises modern issues: fake news, misinformation, media literacy, climate education. Teachers should link learning to real-life contexts that matter to pupils, including those from diverse backgrounds. This helps pupils feel the curriculum is meaningful and they belong in it.

For learners (especially neurodiverse / additional needs)

  • Visible pathways to success
    When a curriculum is new or changing, clarity of “what next” matters. Learners (especially those with neurodiversity) often benefit from knowing how they progress, that they are part of a journey, and what success looks like. Teachers should make progression explicit (e.g., “we’re building our oracy, next we’ll apply it in project X”).
  • Affirmation of identity and belonging
    Schools should affirm that learners’ identities, neurodiversity, mobility/disability, home backgrounds matter and add value. The curriculum enrichment (arts, outdoor, civic) is a chance for learners to engage in ways that connect with them and build confidence, agency and peer connection.
  • Choice and voice
    With the broader subject choice promised (including arts, languages, humanities) there is more opportunity for learners to pick what resonates. Encourage pupils to choose and engage in subjects and enrichment that reflect their interests and strengths, helping bolster belonging.
  • Support and scaffolding
    For neurodiverse learners, the stronger focus on oracy, reading, writing, sequential knowledge, digital/financial literacy means supports must be in place: clear structures, chunked tasks, accessible resources, options for alternative expression (e.g., oral presentations, drama, arts projects). This ensures the curriculum is inclusive rather than exclusionary.

Practical steps for embedding belonging ahead of 2028

Given that the new curriculum will start first teaching in September 2028, schools and teachers have time to prepare. Here are practical steps to embed belonging in the preparation phase:

  1. Whole-school ethos review
    Use this period to revisit the school’s vision and ethos: does it emphasise belonging, connection, inclusion, aspiration for all? Use staff CPD to raise awareness of belonging especially for neurodiverse/SEND learners.
  2. Mapping enrichment and equity of access
    Create an audit of enrichment across the five domains (arts/culture, sport/physical, nature/adventure, civic engagement, life skills). Analyse participation by pupil subgroup (SEND, disadvantaged, minorities) and plan to remove barriers (costs, transport, timing, support).
  3. Curriculum mapping with identity and progression in mind
    As you begin mapping how the new national curriculum will roll out, embed opportunities for student identity expression, cross-curriculum projects, collaborative work, peer mentoring and enrichment that connects to pupil backgrounds and interests. Sequence so early wins build belonging.
  4. Teacher professional learning in inclusive pedagogy
    Provide training on how to differentiate, how to scaffold oracy and literacy for diverse learners, how to include neurodiverse and SEND pupils in experiential enrichment (outdoor adventure, arts, civic participation).
  5. Student involvement and voice
    Involve students now in shaping how the enriched curriculum will look at your school: what arts/culture projects they would like, which civic activities, how to make outdoor/adventure meaningful. Prioritise voice from pupils who often feel marginalised.
  6. Monitoring belonging outcomes
    Develop simple indicators of belonging (student surveys, participation rates in enrichment, cross-group peer relations, retention/attendance of vulnerable groups) and track ahead of and after implementation. Use this data to refine practice.

Conclusion

The new national curriculum announced by the DfE offers a timely opportunity not just to update knowledge and skills for life and work, but to embed a deeper sense of belonging for all pupils. When students feel they belong, that their identities matter, that they are part of a learning community, that the curriculum connects to them and the future, then the ambitions of stronger foundations, broader enrichment and modern life skills become much more likely to succeed.

For teachers, curriculum leaders and school systems, the key will be to move beyond what is taught to how it is taught, who it is for, and how pupils feel as they participate. Schools that intentionally design for belonging- particularly for neurodiverse and disadvantaged learners – will be positioned to get the greatest benefit from the reforms. With the new curriculum rolling out from 2028, there is time now to prepare- to map enrichment, strengthen inclusive practice, and ensure that belonging is not a side benefit, but a core goal.

by Hannah Wilson

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 Consultation

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Written by Belonging Effect

Belonging Effect is committed to shaping intention into impact and supporting people with their Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging strategy and training needs.

On 12th February 2026, the Department for Education published a new draft of the statutory safeguarding guidance for schools and colleges: Keeping Children Safe in Education. 

Amongst other changes, the new draft guidance includes an amended section titled ‘Children who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual’; and a new section titled ‘Children who are questioning their gender’. 

Since the draft guidance was published, these sections specifically have been reported on widely. We have read and listened to much of the coverage from diverse sources, and are concerned to see some exaggeration or misrepresentation of the current situation. To be clear, this is not currently statutory guidance – it is a draft of proposed guidance, which has been opened for a 10 week consultation period ending on 22nd April 2026. Currently, schools and colleges should not make changes which are informed by this draft guidance. They should continue to follow the 2025 version of KCSIE. 

Our intention in this piece is to set out the context in which this draft guidance has been released, the details of the guidance, and provide information about the ongoing consultation as accurately and clearly as we can in order to encourage those involved in education to express their views through the consultation. In order to do so, we have tried to avoid presenting our own opinions in much of the following piece. However, we think it is important to be transparent before we begin. We have worked with transgender, non-binary, and gender questioning students, and we are fully committed to their inclusion and belonging in educational spaces. We believe that any statutory guidance for schools and colleges should provide workable and inclusive guidance that protects all students from discrimination, and ensures safety, dignity and respect for all young people in education – including trans students. With that clear, let’s begin. 

The Context 

Chances are, if you are reading this piece, you are very familiar with the statutory safeguarding guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (often referred to as KCSIE). It was first published in 2014, and is reviewed and updated by the Department for Education annually, with updated versions typically becoming statutory each September. Most years these updates come without consultation, but a consultation or call for evidence may be made when substantive changes are proposed. 

In the KCSIE update for September 2022, under the section ‘Children potentially at greater risk of harm’ a new category was added, titled ‘Children who are lesbian, gay, bi, or trans (LGBT)’. This new guidance was brief, but acknowledged that being LGBT, or being perceived to be LGBT, could be a risk factor for bullying. The following year, in the 2023 September update, this section was slightly expanded. It stated: 

‘203. The fact that a child or a young person may be LGBT is not in itself an inherent risk factor for harm. However, children who are LGBT can be targeted by other children. In some cases, a child who is perceived by other children to be LGBT (whether they are or not) can be just as vulnerable as children who identify as LGBT.

204. Risks can be compounded where children who are LGBT lack a trusted adult with whom they can be open. It is therefore vital that staff endeavour to reduce the additional barriers faced and provide a safe space for them to speak out or share their concerns with members of staff.

205. LGBT inclusion is part of the statutory Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education curriculum and there is a range of support available to help schools counter homophobic, bi-phobic and transphobic bullying and abuse.’

Later that year, in December 2023, the Department for Education published draft guidance relating to trans and non-binary students in schools, which they called ‘Gender Questioning Children’. This was draft, non-statutory guidance, which opened for a 12 week consultation period ending on Tuesday 12th March 2024. You can read more about this draft guidance and consultation here. 

Shortly after that consultation closed, the Cass Review was published in April 2024. The Cass Review was intended to be an independent review of gender identity services for children and young people. It has been widely criticised since its release. Although not an education focused document, the review made some recommendations relevant to schools and colleges. 

In the same year, the UK saw a change of government with a new Labour government elected in July 2024. The Labour government committed to looking at the results of the consultation into the ‘Gender Questioning Children’ guidance and to publishing finalised guidance for schools. They also committed to enacting the recommendations of the Cass Review. 

On 12th February 2026, The Department for Education published a new draft of the statutory safeguarding guidance for schools and colleges, KCSIE. Amongst other changes, this new draft guidance includes an amended section titled ‘Children who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual’, and a new section titled ‘Children who are questioning their gender’. 

In materials published online, the DfE explains their choice to position gender guidance as part of KCSIE, rather than in separate non-statutory guidance as first proposed in 2023. They state that they “propose instead to include this content in KCSIE so that children’s wellbeing and safeguarding are considered in the round, and so that schools and colleges can easily access this information in one place”. 

The DfE also provides some limited details about the results of the consultation. They explain that the consultation into the draft ‘Gender Questioning Children’ guidance received 15,315 respondents and “demonstrated that this is a highly contested policy area with no clear consensus on the appropriate approach, but more respondents expressed negative than positive views about the usability of the draft guidance published for consultation”. 

This draft guidance is now open for a 10 week consultation period, ending on 22nd April 2026. The following sections will set out the details of this proposed guidance, and information about the ongoing consultation. 

The Guidance & Consultation 

Although other important changes have been made, we focus specifically here on the parts of the guidance titled ‘Children who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual’ and ‘Children who are questioning their gender’. 

Part Two of KCSIE sets out the statutory guidance around the management of safeguarding, and it includes a section on ‘Children potentially at greater risk of harm’. It is within this section that LGBT identities are discussed under the following two headings. 

‘Children who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual’

This amended section used to include the word ‘trans’ (2022 & 2023), and later ‘gender questioning’ (2024, 2025). That has now been removed, and this section focuses specifically on sexual and/or romantic orientations lesbian, gay, or bisexual. The draft guidance states: 

“244. A child or young person being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is not in itself a risk factor for harm; however, they can sometimes be vulnerable to discriminatory bullying. In some cases, a child who is perceived by other children to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual (whether they are or not) can be just as vulnerable as children who are. Schools and colleges should consider how to address vulnerabilities such as the risk of bullying and take steps to prevent it, including putting appropriate sanctions in place.”

‘Children who are questioning their gender’

This new section is the result of the 2024 consultation into the then draft non-statutory ‘Gender Questioning Children’ guidance. It includes some general information, followed by specific advice on: 

  • Preventing and responding to bullying  
  • Decision making when a request is made for social transition 
  • Parental Involvement 
  • Physical Spaces (toilets, changing, accommodation)
  • Record Keeping 
  • ‘Children living in stealth’ 
  • ‘Children who wish to detransition’ 

This section of the draft guidance is long so we have not quoted it here in full, but it includes significant changes in how schools should work to support trans, non-binary, or gender questioning young people. We would encourage you to read it in full in the draft guidance released by the DfE, or in this longer article published by Pride & Progress. 

The draft guidance is currently open for a 10-week consultation period, which ends on 22nd April 2026. The consultation invites responses from a variety of educational spaces, and those working in them. 

The consultation is divided into 9 sections: 

  • Section 1 – proposed changes to the ‘about this guidance’ section and general updates to KCSIE 
  • Section 2 – proposed changes to Part one: Safeguarding information for all staff •
  • Section 3 – proposed changes to Part two: The management of safeguarding 
  • Section 4 – proposed changes to Part three: Safer recruitment
  • Section 5 – proposed changes to Part four: Safeguarding concerns or allegations made about staff including supply teachers, volunteers and contractors
  • Section 6 – proposed changes to Part five: Child-on-child sexual violence and sexual harassment
  • Section 7 – proposed changes to Annex B – further information
  • Section 8 – proposed changes to Annex C – the role of the designated safeguarding lead
  • Section 9 – expanding our evidence base

You can view all of the questions asked in each section of the consultation in the DfE consultation document. Section 3 of the consultation is where questions are asked about the proposed changes to Part Two of KCSIE. There are no questions asked about the guidance relating to ‘Children who are lesbian, gay, and bisexual’. Of the guidance relating to ‘Children who are questioning their gender’, three questions are asked. They are: 

  • Question 33: Does the updated section of the guidance on children who are questioning their gender provide clarity about the considerations schools and colleges will need to take into account? 

Yes, No, Not Applicable, No Opinion, Please Explain Further (Optional)

  • Question 34: Do paragraphs 104-115 provide clarity for schools and colleges about their legal obligations relating to toilets, changing rooms, and boarding and residential accommodation? 

Yes, No, Not Applicable, No Opinion, Please Explain Further (Optional)

  • Question 35: Do paragraphs 94-97 provide clarity for schools and colleges about the circumstances in which the school is justified in having a policy of single-sex sports?

Yes, No, Not Applicable, No Opinion, Please Explain Further (Optional)

These questions focus on the clarity of the advice set out in the new draft guidance, but they offer a vital opportunity for those working in education to consult on the workability of this guidance. As stated earlier, we have worked with transgender, non-binary, and gender questioning students, and we are fully committed to their inclusion and belonging in educational spaces. As, in our experience, are the vast majority of those working in the education sector. We believe that any statutory guidance for schools and colleges should provide workable and inclusive guidance that protects all students from discrimination, and ensures dignity and respect for all young people in education – including trans, non-binary, and gender questioning young people. 

Actions you may wish to consider taking

We hope that reading this piece has helped you to feel more informed. Below are some actions you may wish to undertake as a result of what you have read:  

  1. Please challenge any mis-characterisations of this draft guidance. This is not currently statutory guidance – it is a draft of proposed guidance, which has been opened for a 10 week consultation period ending on 22nd April 2026. 
  2. Please contribute to the consultation process, and consider specifically the workability of the guidance set out, and whether it is inclusive guidance that protects all students from discrimination, and ensures dignity and respect for all children in education. You may wish to delay your contribution to the consultation until other organisations have released guidance and support on doing so. 
  3. Consider encouraging colleagues and connections to read about the draft guidance, and contribute to the consultation themselves. The previous consultation had over 15,000 responses – the more people who contribute, the more informed the finalised guidance can be. 
  4. Finally, you may wish to begin considering what policies and practices you may need to review when the finalised guidance is released in September. What has been discussed here is the draft guidance, and no changes should be implemented yet, but it may be a good idea to begin to consider your policies and practices relating to LGBT+ students ahead of the final guidance being released later this year. 

This piece was written by members of the Belonging Effect team and is intended for informational purposes only. This blog was published on 17/2/26, and all information was to the best of our understanding at the time of publishing.

by Hannah Wilson

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