Belonging Matters
Written by Laura McPhee
Laura McPhee is Director of Education at University Schools Trust. Prior to this, Laura was an experienced headteacher. She has a proven track record of leading transformational change management and successful school improvement journeys across London. Laura is a facilitator for the National Professional Qualification facilitator for Headship (NPQH) and a School Improvement consultant. She holds a number of trustee positions and enjoys guest lecturing for ITT courses. She is the author of 'Empowering Teachers, Improving Schools: Belonging, Psychological Safety & School Improvement' and a co-author of 'Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage in Schools.'
As part of this series I’ll be catching up with professionals who share a keen interest in all things related to belonging, inclusion and psychological safety…
This week I’m joined by Sarah Wordlaw, Headteacher and author of ‘Time to Shake Up the Primary Curriculum’ and ‘M is for Misogyny: Tackling Discrimination against Women and Girls in Primary School.’
Sarah Wordlaw, Headteacher & author of ‘Time to Shake Up the Primary Curriculum’ & ‘M is for Misogyny.’
’Q) Can you describe a time when you felt like you belonged?
A) The first time I felt like I genuinely belonged in a professional space was probably when I attended London South Teaching School hub’s Diverse Leaders event. Prior to this I don’t think I fully acknowledged or even realised that I hadn’t felt that sense of connection; until I was invited to a space where all of a sudden, I wasn’t the minority.
As for life beyond school, that would have to be the first time I attended a Pride event. I distinctly remember thinking, these are my people! Again, there was that sense of connection. It was as if someone was holding a mirror up. We had a shared experience, a shared story.
When you start to consider intersectionality and all of the complexities that brings, it gets really interesting. I have mixed heritage, so I suppose I’ve always felt as though I straddle two worlds, without necessarily feeling like I belong to either. I’ve needed to move between spaces seamlessly and code switch.
Of course, our lived experience informs how we engage and interact. We have all have layers to our identity and experiences that inform our choices.
Q) What strategies have you found helpful for building psychological safety in self and others?
A) I’ve found being honest about myself and my identity has really helped to build connection. When you’re able to share parts of yourself and parts of your identity, then I think that builds credibility and trust. You’re able to say – you know who I am and what I stand for, let’s move forward together in this shared vision (whatever that may be). This has become more pronounced for me as I moved through my leadership journey. As a less experienced leader, I wasn’t necessarily ready to do that. I was concerned about how I would be judged and what other’s perception of leadership was. Over time I’ve come to believe that who we are, is how we lead; that’s what I’ve come to value.
When it comes to developing others, I think fostering a culture that enables team members to share ideas and challenge the status quo is really important. That means as leader I have to model being flexible in my thinking and demonstrate that I’m open to being challenged, as well as challenging others; that we’re all in this together!
Q) What advice would you give your younger self?
A) I think it’s important to take space and acknowledge that whatever has taken place in the past; you did your very best with the information that you had…
So perhaps on reflection I would simply say to myself, it’s ok to ask for help and that you don’t always have to be ‘the strong one.’
Q) What does the sector need to consider when it comes to developing psychological safety?
A) Meaningful connections and relationships with each other are invaluable. Too many ‘wellbeing’ initiatives today are surface level. Treats in the staffroom are nice, but it won’t have the impact you’re looking for. We need to really understand our teams and a culture of psychological safety enables this. It’s more than a nice to have, it helps with staff retention and of course once we take the time to know and understand our teams and ensure everyone is pulling in the same direction – we’re able to enact our vision and strategy in a much more meaningful way. Who wouldn’t want that for their pupils and wider school community?
The forty year apology: My biology was never the problem
Written by Ashtrid Turnbull
Ashtrid Turnbull is a biologist, a deputy head, and a mother of neuro-distinct twin daughters. Over thirty years in education, she has witnessed how high-achieving, neuro-distinct women across all sectors trade their physical health for professional and personal acceptance.
I have spent twenty seven years as a biologist and a senior leader. For nearly three decades I have lived a double life. In public I am the composed executive navigating the high stakes complexity of professional leadership. In private I have been the woman perpetually apologising for the mess of her own mind.
I have watched countless women like me, the high fliers, the multi taskers, the chaos wizards who can stabilise a company in a crisis but lose their keys while they are still in their hand, be told they are faulty.
We were told that our brains lacked the hardware for focus. We were told our spontaneity was a lack of discipline. We spent years accruing a staggering amount of shame while we tried to squeeze our expansive, electric brains into a dull grey box of neurotypical expectations. I am part of the system that helped build that box. For that I am truly sorry.
The December Revelation
In December 2025, a landmark international study was published in Psychological Medicine by researchers from the University of Bath, King’s College London, and Radboud University (Hargitai et al., 2025). It did the one thing no one has bothered to do in forty years of clinical research into neurodiversity. It stopped looking only for what is wrong with us. Instead, for the first time in a study of this magnitude, they looked at our strengths.
The researchers found that traits like our spontaneity and our ability to hyperfocus are not just personality quirks to be managed. They are biological protective factors. They are linked to higher creativity and a type of psychological resilience that the world desperately needs.
This is the flipping of the script we have waited for. The science finally proves that we are not broken. We are simply a collection of immense strengths that have never been capitalised on properly because the system was too busy trying to medicate them away.
The Metabolic Cost of the Mundane
As a biologist this finding wrecked me. It confirmed that our brains are not generalists. They are specialists. We are built for the high signal and the high stakes. We do not have an attention deficit. We have a biological refusal to waste our life force on the mundane.
When we are forced to operate in environments that prize compliance over brilliance, we pay a massive metabolic cost. We are high definition systems being forced to run on a less than optimised dial up network. The exhaustion you feel is not a character flaw. It is the result of a high torque system being forced to idle for too long. Understanding how to integrate this knowledge into a world that still values the grey box is how we begin to explore the uncomfortable middle ground.
The Ownership of the Middle Ground
I am done with the two extremes of this conversation. I am tired of the ‘ADHD is a superpower’ fluff that ignores the daily struggle. I am equally tired of the ‘just try harder’ boardroom culture that ignores the reality of our biology. The truth is found somewhere in the middle.
Empowerment is not about waiting for the world to become completely ADHD or autism friendly. That is highly unlikely to happen. Real empowerment, the ultimate unmasking, is about taking ownership of your own biology and the energy ledger that comes with it. This requires a three way pact of responsibility.
What we owe ourselves: We owe ourselves self knowledge. We must understand that our rapid scanning of a room is actually a high speed search for a signal. We owe ourselves the bravery to say that while we can solve a crisis in ten minutes, we cannot sit in a two hour meeting without a total exhaustion of our internal resources.
What we owe others: We owe the world clear communication about how we operate. We owe them the effort to find systems that actually serve our high signal hardware, rather than pretending that yet another paper planner is going to save the day.
What others owe us: Others owe us a willingness to adapt and a recognition that focus looks different in a neuro distinct brain. They owe us the space to be brilliant even if it comes with the beautiful, creative mess that often follows in our wake.
Driving the Hardware
The 2025 research is our scientific permission to stop pretending. It is our evidence that our traits are the very things that make us capable of the brilliance the world so desperately needs right now.
We are the ones who stay calm when the atmosphere reaches boiling point, but lose our minds over a tax return. We are the ones who see the patterns others miss because we are looking at the whole sky, while they are staring at the pavement.
We are the ones who can synthesise a thousand disparate data points into a single visionary strategy in an afternoon, but forget to eat because our internal focus is so absolute. We are the architects of the unconventional and the first responders to the impossible. Our brains do not lack order. They simply operate on a frequency that a linear world has forgotten how to tune into.
I am done with the narrative of the broken woman. I am finished with the idea that our worth is measured by our ability to perform administrative gymnastics in an environment that drains our batteries to zero before lunchtime.
It is time we stopped apologising for our hardware. It is time we stopped trying to patch a system that was never actually glitching. We are not a problem to be solved. We are a biological resource to be understood, respected, and finally, driven with the skill and the pride that this incredible machinery deserves.
Call to Action: If this resonates, I want to hear from you.
Whether you are a woman in leadership navigating your own metabolic debt, or a mother supporting a neurodivergent daughter through the triple jump years of Year 10 to university, you are not alone in the mess. It is time we stopped apologising for our hardware and started driving it with pride.
I am currently developing a framework to help chaos wizards move past the narrative of disorder and towards a model of cognitive efficiency.
References: Hargitai, L. et al. (2025). Playing to your strengths improves wellbeing in ADHD. University of Bath. Read the study summary here.
What does it mean to grow up mixed-race in a world that is obsessed with tidy boxes and simple definitive answers, and what does a journey towards belonging look like?
Written by Emma Slade Edmondson
Emma Slade Edmondson is a sustainability consultant, writer, journalist, podcaster, TEDx speaker, presenter and founder of ESE Consultancy. She is recognised as a Forbes 100 environmentalist and is deeply interested in an intersectional approach to environmentalism. She is the co-host of the Mixed-Up podcast, the co-author of The Half of It and the author of Mixed.
It took me a long time to understand that ‘belonging is not a destination – it’s a journey’. It was journalist and broadcaster Afua Hirsch that first shared this nugget of wisdom with me during an interview on my podcast ‘Mixed Up’ and I’ve carried it with me ever since.
When I was young I remember there being a lot of questioning… What felt like an incessant need for others to unpack and define ‘who’ and perhaps ‘what I was’ seemed to be to an underlying theme. From quite a young age – I believe I knew instinctively that this was inextricably tied to the idea that I was a mixed-race child, and later as the boom and bust of youth arrived – a mixed-race teenager.
Filling out school forms – I often ticked the ‘other’ box, wondering which part of me it was meant to capture…P.E teachers reading me in a sea of caucasian children as ‘Black’ would ask me why I couldn’t, or worse – wouldn’t fulfill my potential on the running track – you see “they could tell by looking at me that I had the potential”…I remember classmates telling me what they thought I was, as if my own story were a puzzle they could confidently solve.
And outside of school hours when I was seen with my family – I fielded questions about whether I was adopted? Where was my Black parent? How could this be my mum? Why didn’t we look alike? Were those my step brothers?
The last question I found always left a particularly bad taste in my mouth as we never use that kind of language in my household. My brothers are my brothers – it’s as simple as that..
Some days, I felt like I could belong across cultural divides. Other days, I didn’t feel I belonged anywhere at all. And I don’t think I became aware of this until I was in my 30’s but those small moments, a question in a hallway, a look of confusion at a family gathering quietly shaped how I saw myself.
There wasn’t one particular moment when things changed for me but I do know that finding my voice and the confidence to assert myself and my identity began with creating space for other voices. In 2020 I launched the Mixed Up podcast – exploring race, identity and belonging through the lens of the Mixed race identity. The podcast was born from a simple idea: that mixed heritage people were asking for a safe space to talk about who they are,about their lived experiences and their histories without having to simplify them, and without judgement?
What I learned through those conversations surprised me. Again and again, guests shared the same sentiment – they were not just asking to be seen, but to be understood. Belonging, I now know, is as much about fostering community and confidence and creating spaces for others as it is about finding out where you fit..
The podcast became a space for conversation rather than answers. I wanted to hear how other people navigated their own layered identities, how they made sense of heritage, of multiple and blended cultural touchpoints, language, and belonging.
Through interviews with ordinary mixed race people wanting to share their stories to those with extraordinary stories of displacement and loss, anti miscegenation and adoption – to conversations with mixed actors, historians, psychologists and even a pretty iconic moment with Mel B – each episode was part therapy, part learning curve. Through this dialogue, I started to see my own experiences reflected back to me and I felt an immense sense of connection and pride.
I wanted to keep sharing the beauty and the challenge of what I’ve learned through all of the insight and the stories I’ve been gifted by so many people over the years and writing Mixed– (a children’s book dedicated to exploring and celebrating your mixed identity) felt like the perfect next chapter.
I wanted to create something young people can hold in their hands and something families and educators could return to for support. In a world where identity is often debated or categorized, it is my hope that the book offers gentle guidance, that it can facilitate reflection, recognition, and a permission for children to see themselves, not as half – but as whole – not as too much of one thing and not enough of another – but whole.
There are two things I really love about ‘Mixed – Explore and Celebrate Your Mixed Identity’. Firstly – that the book is based on the idea of pen pals so each chapter starts with an inspiring letter from a Mixed Race icon with lots of wisdom to share. I loved pen palling when I was young and I feel like it opened up the world to me, teaching me the importance of asking questions and learning about others. I wanted to reintroduce this idea to children.
Because the book features letters from the likes of poet – Dean Atta, footballer Ashleigh Plumptre, actress Jessie Mei Li, author Jassa Ahluwalia, and activist Tori Tsui among others – readers will get insight into a range of lived experience perspectives that traverse different cultures and ethnicities. I hope readers will feel seen and that parents and educators will use these letters as tools to foster conversation and exploration with their students.
Secondly I’m really proud of how many practical exercises I’ve been able to include in the book that can be done between a child and a parent, caregiver or educator – from working on talking about our Mixed identities and learning to describe ourselves in a way that suits us, to learning terms and language like ‘cultural homelessness’and ‘misidentification’ to help us describe uncomfortable interactions and situations that might come up for us.
Ultimately I hope this book helps its readers – whether mixed children, parents, educators or otherwise – understand and appreciate that the mixed race identity is best approached as an ongoing conversation, and a dialogue – not a destination or a foregone conclusion.
My Top Tips for Educators who want to include and facilitate exploration of the mixed-race experiences of their students:
- Normalise multiple heritages in the curriculum – represent mixed-race voices across subjects wherever possible.
- Create space for student storytelling – invite learners to share their intersecting identities. Ask them to share how they identify themselves and why whenever you can. You may find this is a surprising and delightful question. *The first time I was asked this was by a guest on my podcast when I was well into my 30’s and I must say it was an epiphany moment for me.
- Address assumptions gently – guide students to question fixed labels and fixed categories, especially when they don’t feel like they fit.
- Model inclusive language – celebrate rather than erase nuance and complexity and avoid flattening storytelling or description that involves multiple cultural POVs.
- Partner with families – ask what cultural strengths they’d like reflected in class.
Celebrating Multiculturalism at Home & School
- Build festivals of culture that go beyond tokenism.
- Showcasing music, food, stories and languages from all backgrounds and celebrating mixed heritage families where these cultures may intersect and overlap is more important now than ever given the current geo-political context and the political landscape Britain is facing. Cultivate ways to remind students that their layered cultural heritage is something to be explored, shared and celebrated.
- Foster curiosity over correctness – teach children to ask about their classmates’ heritage or identity with respect. Asking rather than telling others about their identity is key.
Supporting Linguistic Diversity
- Value home languages as intellectual assets.
- Celebrate code-switching as a cognitive and cultural skill, not a deficit or a deceit. Often Mixed Race people’s ability to move through different cultural landscapes can be described as deceitful, dishonest or duplicitous – we need to normalise the idea of being able to straddle worlds and cultures when you’re of mixed heritage because it may be part of your identity fluidity and daily vernacular.
You can get your copy of Mixed – Explore and Celebrate your Mixed-Race Identity here.
The Power of Storytelling for Change
Written by Orla McKeating
Entrepreneur, coach and motivational speaker
In Irish tradition, “the gift of the gab” is more than being good with words. It reflects a long-held belief that speech itself is a kind of gift, one with the power to connect, heal and shape the world around us. It’s also a friendly, light-hearted way of saying someone talks a lot and tells stories. Something I’ve been told I have many times throughout my life.
Historically, storytellers and poets held significant social power. Words had the power to heal, inspire, unite, and drive meaningful change. Using our words was not merely a skill, but a responsibility. Culturally, this reflects the role of storytelling as social glue – a tool for connection, a means of using our voices with purpose and power. In the world we live in today, this beautiful, free and powerful tool is needed more than ever to create change.
In my years of working in inclusion, I have been using stories for social change the short-term impact has been huge. The girl in the hijab in an online story session whose face lit up when she saw someone like her in The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad. She lit up, bounced out of the room full of excitement and energy, and brought her mother into the room to show her. Or the deaf girl in a mainstream school who had never once spoke about her disability to her classmates and after a story in sign session, she skipped into school the following day with more books about the deaf experience, so proud of her identity. Representation matters and these tiny shifts in how we share our stories in learning spaces can literally change lives.
Why does Storytelling Matter?
1.Storytelling Builds Connection
Stories can create an emotional bridge, it can build empathy and helps people feel. When we connect emotionally to a topic, we can become more curious, open and engaged. It opens a tool for conversations, especially difficult ones, and it can turn something abstract – like identity, justice or belonging – into something real.
2. Stories help children see themselves and others
Representation matters deeply in education. The concept of mirrors, windows and sliding doors by Dr Rudine Bishop allows children to see their lives, cultures and experiences reflected to them affirming identity and self-worth. Mirrors reflect children’s own lives and identities back to them, helping them feel seen, valued and affirmed. Windows invite children into others’ lives helping them develop empathy, challenge stereotypes and understand perspectives beyond their own. And sliding doors invite children to step into another world, to imagine themselves in different contexts, perspectives and possibilities.
3. Storytelling makes Complex Topics Accessible
Uncomfortable or difficult topics like race, immigration, disability or big emotions can be challenging to navigate. Stories can offer a gentle and powerful entry point to this. Through characters, narratives and lived experiences, children can explore these topics gently, engage in important discussions and critical thinking in an accessible and sustainable way.
4. Storytelling invites Participation not Perfection
Stories open space for conversation as opposed to ‘correct answers. They encourage reflection, questioning and conversation. Through stories we can encourage children to learn that their voices matter, they can disagree and still be friends and that learning is something we do together.
5. Stories can change lives
Every one of us has a story that they heard that changed their lives. Whether it’s a book, a film, history or a family anecdote. Stories create memorable, meaningful and long-lasting change. And we all have a story to tell.
If stories shape how children see themselves and the world, the stories we choose, and how we hold space for them, really matter. How can we build storytelling as a tool into our learning spaces? Whose voices are centred? Whose voices are missing? What stories do we tell ourselves? And how can we use our gift of the gab to ensure that all voices are seen, heard, valued and celebrated?
Still I Rise Stories is a space for adults, educators, teachers and any person who are using stories to open conversations about identity, belonging and justice. If this work resonates, join our community here – a space to reflect, learn and grow through story.
I can teach a diverse curriculum!
Written by Yvonne Eba
Yvonne Eba is a current head of English in a Catholic school and PhD student who is studying Education. She is currently writing a thesis based around race, racism, masculinity within the student experiences of British Nigerian men. Within her role as head of department she has transformed the curriculum by intentionally adding more diverse texts and poems. She is focused on building a rich, ambitious and holistic curriculum in a school which is predominantly black. She has dedicated the last decade developing young people through workshops, fellowships, tuition and mentoring.
At the tender age of 15 I was uniquely passionate about being able to teach kids life transforming lessons within the confinements of a classroom or lecture hall. I found it odd that kids weren’t being taught the purpose behind their subject or life long learning skills attached. i.e Why are kids not taught in Maths the art of saving, investment and tithing or taught in English how to write and compose an effective CV. This passion consistently grew and when I started my company at 21 ( shout out to Life Creations) we created sessions and packages which did exactly that – taught kids things they could use outside the classroom.
But this wasn’t enough.
As I became a Head of English I finally saw this dream come to life again but I had no idea how much work, brain power, focus and buy-in from a team it would take to actually manifest it. I have been watching and reading numerous articles by Dena Eden ( Director of Secondary English curriculum) who states the importance of consistency in curriculum starts with ” texts studied, sequencing of units and lessons and the pace of lessons”
So flash back with me and picture this – I was in a new school, new role and I had heaps of ambition and zeal to:
” transform the lives of young people through the power of challenging , ambitious texts and units which were personal to them“.
I was passionate about:
” ensuring ideas around marginalising black people or the discussions around who can say the N word or not when reading out an extract were no longer normalised or championed through texts like Of Mice and Men. Which were branded outdated yet needed?”
and I wanted students
“to see and read authors and poets from diverse backgrounds within the context of: race, gender and class”
whilst
“still getting them GCSE ready and abiding by the demands of the national curriculum”.
It’s been a journey, tussle and challenging but with some giants and shakers on the team and the never-ending grace of God we have made some shifts and changes. The last HOD I spoke to reassured me that her curriculum changes and the seamless nature of its delivery took five years inclusive of assessments and consistency.
It’s important on this journey that you pace yourself and get feedback from your team and students on how they feel it is going.
Here’s five things I have learnt so far :
- Make the curriculum ambitious: it is absolutely imperative regardless of the demographics of students you have that the texts you choose challenge and enrich them. This can be intentionally captured through the tier of language used and the content within the chosen text/ unit and the big ideas and questions which are evoked.
- Make it accessible for your team : getting a buy in isn’t always the easiest thing and resistance is inevitable at first. But don’t take it personal; as human beings we are creatures of habit and it’s a natural reaction for people to feel underprepared or scared of change. However ensuring the lessons provided along with the new units, week by week plans and DO NOWs are of a high quality will often make the process swifter for your team. It is important that there is unification of moral purpose as we teach according to our experience, beliefs and morals which could often add to the complexity of running a team. So providing strategic resources would help each teacher feel confident to approach and teach the new text. This is your time as a HOD to overcommunicate, overcommunicate and overcommunicate again. Also be transparent with your team that this is NEW to you too!
- Make purposeful assessments : it is important that when building your curriculum you are intentional about what you are testing the students on during your lessons and at the end of the unit. It is imperative that students are being tested on the skills and knowledge you have taught them throughout the set time. i.e If you have been teaching them Frankenstein (play version) and analysing the purpose of language in key extracts the end of unit test will not be an imaginative writing piece from the scientist if these skills haven’t been taught. I always think about what we are assessing the students and how this is preparing them for their greatest assessments in y11 which are their GCSEs. From year 7 we look at language analysis which will help them in the Language Papers and analysis of extracts whilst providing them questions in an exam style layout which helps them for literature
- Make it personal : don’t just follow trends ensure your curriculum represents the cohort of your kids you are teaching. Ask yourself genuine questions : can they relate to these characters? Is this personal to them? Will they feel represented? Will they be inspired? What type of learners would you like them to leave as?
- Make it literacy and oracy inclusive : ensure you provide space for students to discuss their thoughts and demonstrate their understanding of the new topic at hand. It is good to address misconceptions consistently during DO NOW tasks, live marking and through plenaries however it is even better when the kids can articulate their understanding or lack of it themselves
I still have a long way to go but my word for the year to my team was this will become “seamless” in fact the word for the year is “seamless” ( by fire and force!).
I have taken out a lot of texts, bought new texts, returned some texts, changed some units and its content, revised, redrafted, dipped into the budget, took advice, listened a lot, spoke a lot, asked a lot, vented a lot and finally realised this isn’t about what I want to teach them its about what is best FOR their academic development.
So I am in an honourable position to be able to be part of history – I am currently speaking with other HODs on ways they can get the best English curriculum for their kids.
Do connect with me to see our latest curriculum map and to discuss ways to help shape English together!
Unity at a Time of Polarisation
Written by Johnoi Josephs and Omena Osivwemu
Johnoi Josephs is an award-winning educator, mentor, and Assistant Principal in South London, co-founder of Black Men Teach, and a specialist in Student Climate and Culture whose work centres on representation, visibility, and creating environments where young people can truly thrive.
Omena Osivwemu is a Policy Officer specialising in Race Equality in Education for the largest education union, a freelance writer and speaker, and education and antiracism consultant. Formerly a Primary Teacher, Humanities Lead and School Governor, she has taught in Key Stage 1 and 2 across England and Spain. Currently, Omena works with a range of organisations, such as The Black Curriculum, Lit in Colour, BLAM UK, and BERA.
Political players who are stoking division, hate and fear across our nation and around the world, are better funded and more organised than we have seen in our lifetime. We are witnessing rising misinformation, conspiracy and hateful violence in society, which is bleeding into our schools and colleges. We must ensure classrooms are safe spaces for all pupils to develop historical understanding, critical thinking and media literacy. Classrooms should be the place where children and young people express their ideas, listen to others and develop their empathy and mutual respect- especially in disagreement. Thus, educators are called to be courageous and stand up against hate in all its forms- be it racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, misogyny, transphobia and homophobia, or anti-migrant sentiments- because we need unity at a time of polarisation.
This was the theme for the NEU’s (National Education Union) annual Black Educators Conference 2025 (BEC), which unified over 600 Black and Global Majority heritage (GMH) educators together in Birmingham across a weekend in November.
“The best BEC I have attended!” (NEU member & teacher)
Attending BEC as a first-time delegate and workshop facilitator, I (Johnoi Josephs) found it an energising and grounding experience. The theme, Unity at a time of Polarisation, could not have been more fitting. What struck me was the collective understanding that meaningful change does not rest on the shoulders of a few. As the conference reminded us, it’s better when we all do a little something, than when some of us do a few things. That framing alone speaks directly to school leaders like myself, navigating increasingly complex educational landscapes.
Over the course of the weekend, we joined the charismatic Jeffrey Boakye on his journey from classroom teacher to widely recognised author and broadcaster. We learnt a thing or two from Dr Lesley Nelson-Addy’s edifying keynote exploring key research reports on issues of school exclusion, misogynoir and the Eurocentric curriculum (see Runnymede Trust’s reporting below).
Central to the conference was the plight of overseas trained/ migrant teachers, who are actively recruited in their home countries, often by large multi-academy chains, to plug the gaps of the teacher recruitment and retention crisis here in England. Yet, once recruited, these overseas trained colleagues receive little relocation support or induction, and are facing inequitable, exploitative pay and working conditions. (Read more here and here.)
BEC 2025 illuminated these issues and more, such as the stunted progression of Black and GMH teachers and long-overdue anti-racist curriculum reform. We explored legal, academic and lived-experience insights that challenge the systemic injustice and inequities facing migrant and racialised staff and pupils in our schools. Esteemed speakers included Professor Paul Miller, a leading voice in Black and migrant teacher experiences in the UK, and Rajiv Sharma, a Public Law Barrister specialising in Immigration and Asylum work. Equally, a selection of the many grassroots organisations doing the work in our schools, communities and institutions were a part of the conversation, including but not limited to, Nadine Bernard and Aspiring Heads, Leaders Like Us, Lit in Colour, The Black Curriculum, Black Men Teach, Justice 4 Windrush, Educate Against Islamophobia, Maslaha and more.
One of the most personally resonant moments came from Jeffrey Boakye’s reminder: “If we are not at the table, we are on the menu.” As a Black school leader, this landed heavily. BEC reminded me that leadership does not exclude us – school leaders – from our community. If anything, it calls us to be even more present. Our communities, our unions, our institutions are strengthened when we take our place within them.
What I appreciated most was being in a space that spoke directly to my visible intersectionality as a Black educator. The language, the framing, the unapologetic celebration of identity and contribution, these were affirmations I didn’t realise I needed. And beyond the sessions, the atmosphere mattered: the laughter, the connections and reconnections, the sense of shared purpose. The “vibes” were not incidental; they were part of the learning. They reminded me that remaining in this profession is not only a career decision, but also a duty of representation, community, and continuity.
Educators left with their commitment renewed, their belonging reinforced and a reminder that unified we are strong and can collectively push for change in education and beyond!
If you too want to unite our communities in love, hope and unity, join the Together Alliance and stand against those sowing division and hate.
Useful links & resources:
- Join the Together Alliance and stand in unity against the far-right.
- Black Men Teach programmes: teacher training, pupil mentorship and values development.
- The Anti-Racism Framework is free to download and supports educators and leaders to develop a whole-school anti-racism strategy.
- Thinking Beyond the Box: A collection of recommendations for change by Black researchers and practitioners.
- NEU’s model policy for Overseas Trained Teachers sets out a comprehensive framework covering ethical recruitment and relocation support to induction, pay, and progression.
- Lit in Colour: Free Teaching Resources KS1- 5.
- Runnymede Trust Report (2025) – History on loop: the sustained impact of school exclusions on Black communities.
- Runnymede Trust Report (2024) – Misogynoir in the Workplace: Understanding the Experiences of Black Women in Leadership Positions.
- Runnymede Trust & Lit in Colour Report (2021) – Lit In Colour: Diversity in Literature in English Schools.
Belonging, Empathy, and a Curriculum that Sees Every Child
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.
Belonging is not a bonus; it is a basic human need. Students who feel unseen, misunderstood, or undervalued will never thrive, no matter how carefully a curriculum looks on paper. Too often, belonging is treated as an afterthought- diversity weeks, a handful of posters in corridors, or the occasional themed assembly. These gestures may be well-meaning, but they fall short. True belonging requires more than decoration. It demands integration, empathy, and truth-telling.
Empathy has been stripped from education by a Eurocentric curriculum. When children encounter only one narrative, their own reflected back endlessly, or someone else’s never shown, they are denied the chance to be curious about differences. This absence breeds prejudice, isolation, and a narrow sense of the world. Representation matters, but not as an add-on or a gesture. It matters because it reflects humanity in its full breadth.
Learning outcomes are directly shaped by belonging. Research shows that students who feel they belong are more likely to achieve academically, develop social intelligence, and build resilience. A school that makes children feel like outsiders, whether because of race, culture, gender identity, or ability, unintentionally closes doors. Belonging must be woven into the fabric of school life from the start, not treated as an optional extra. When it is cultivated intentionally, young people gain the freedom to be curious, to trust, and to empathise. Without it, they turn elsewhere for meaning- often online, where they encounter narrow and sometimes toxic narratives about themselves and others.
Our most powerful tool for building empathy is storytelling. Stories act as mirrors, windows, and sliding doors: mirrors so children see themselves reflected; windows so they can look into other lives; and doors so they can step into perspectives far from their own. When children never see themselves in a story, they are told- silently but forcefully- that they are invisible. When they never encounter differences, they are denied the chance to develop empathy. Books, films, oral histories, and local community stories should not be treated as extras outside the ‘real curriculum.’ They are the curriculum.
Narratives that exclude Black contributions to science, art, geography, and literature are not neutral; they are erasure. Inclusive education cannot be about “adding diversity” on top of a whitewashed foundation. It must be about truth-telling. Black histories should be present in every subject, in every classroom, and in everyday conversations. Integration often provokes discomfort, but discomfort is not failure. It is learning. A curriculum rooted in truth will not always feel comfortable, but it will always be necessary.
Grades, too, can be barriers to belonging. Exams reward memorisation under pressure, punishing those who do not thrive in such conditions. For many learners, especially those from marginalised groups, this reinforces inequity rather than reducing it. Success needs to be redefined. Coursework and project-based assessment can value creativity, local histories, and lived experiences. A ‘D grade’ (which, in modern terms, equates to a Grade 3) may reflect extraordinary resilience and achievement in context. True equity means measuring children not against a singular rubric, but against their own journeys.
In classrooms, empathy cannot be demanded without exposure to difference. Curiosity grows when children encounter diverse stories and have safe spaces to talk about identity, race, gender, and belonging. Teachers play a vital role here. Students learn not only from what is said, but from what is modelled. When teachers show curiosity, challenge harmful narratives, and treat difference as opportunity rather than threat, they teach children to do the same.
Next come the practical shifts. Local heroes and community changemakers can be celebrated so that children encounter role models on their own doorstep. Equity, diversity, and inclusion must be reviewed with the same seriousness as safeguarding or attainment. Schools can use existing frameworks, such as the Equality Act and the Gatsby Benchmarks, to embed equity into daily structures rather than treating it as an extra burden. Above all, as discussed, storytelling should sit at the heart of the curriculum across all subjects.
Generations of young people are growing up in a world of polarisation, online radicalisation, and systemic inequality. After years of austerity, many are absorbing harmful narratives from the sources they trust most. They deserve better. They deserve an education that reflects them rather than erases them, and teachers willing to model curiosity and courage. As an Anti-Racism in the Curriculum panellist put it: young people are themselves an oppressed group- no one knows what it is like to be a child in 2025 except the children of 2025. Schools must listen to them, reflect them, and prepare them not only for exams, but for life lived with empathy and justice.
Inherited histories remind us that the curriculum is not abstract. It is rooted in the cultures and communities that shape who we are. My poem (see my article next week) – captures this truth:
“For the ones who carry the world in their veins – and make this island beat.”
This is Britain: a mosaic of footsteps, flavours, languages, and inventions, built by travellers, migrants, and dreamers. It is not a fantasy of purity, but a reality of mixture and connection. A curriculum that denies this truth denies the very heartbeat of the nation.
Now education must prioritise empathy with the same seriousness it gives to literacy and numeracy. Belonging should be woven into every subject, student voice must be valued, and leaders held accountable for equity. Success must be redefined so that growth, creativity, and resilience stand alongside grades. Every child should be able to look at the curriculum and find themselves reflected in it, while also seeing and stepping into the lives of others.
Going forward, if we want to raise a generation capable of compassion, critical thinking, and courage, education must be transformed into a tool for connection, not division.
Belonging is the root. Empathy is the bridge. Truth is the curriculum.
Defying Gravity: The Moral and Systemic Corruption of the UK - A Wicked Retrospective
Written by Adrian McLean
Ambassador of Character, Executive Headteacher, TEDx Speaker, BE Associate Trainer & Coach, Governors for Schools Trustee, Positive Disruptor
My family and I were like most people across the country. We had been waiting for the new Wicked film to drop. We booked release day and went in ready for the spectacle. The film delivered what we expected: strong performances, sharp visuals and a story that still hits. But I walked out thinking about something else entirely. Beneath the entertainment sat a message about power, belonging and corruption that felt uncomfortably close to home. That is what pushed me to write this piece.
Wicked lands because it shows how fear, pressure and status can twist people who start with decent intentions. You watch two leaders take different paths, both shaped by the same system that rewards silence and punishes dissent. That world is fiction, but the pattern matches the UK’s struggle with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB). When a system prizes comfort over justice, virtues start to warp into vices and inequality becomes normal.
The Emerald City and the Illusion of UK Stability
Elphaba is excluded from the start. Her difference becomes a tool for control. The Wizard turns that fear into policy by stripping the animals of their rights. Oz calls itself prosperous, but the shine hides a rotten core.
The UK does the same. The claim of stability masks persistent, recorded inequities. Black Caribbean pupils are still excluded from school at far higher rates than White British pupils, which fuels the Schools to Prison Pipeline. Minority ethnic jobseekers continue to submit far more applications for the same employer interest. Data from the Social Metrics Commission shows Black and minority ethnic people are more than twice as likely to experience relative poverty and face higher exposure to fuel and food insecurity. None of this is new. It is repeated in every major review that looks at structural inequality.
The pattern is simple. Exclusion begins with a label, then becomes a story, then becomes a policy. When a state or organisation frames a group as a threat to stability, belonging becomes conditional and rights become flexible. Oz had the silencing of the animals. We have exclusions, unequal labour market outcomes and cost of living impacts that fall hardest on the same groups every time.
Virtues Turned into Vices
Wicked shows that the Wizard’s regime survives because people with influence let their virtues bend under pressure. They do not wake up intending to harm anyone, they drift into it.
Glinda thrives because she is charming and quick to connect. Her core virtue is affability. She wants harmony, status and approval. Under pressure, this slides into moral silence. She denies Elphaba to keep her place in the system and tells herself that compromise keeps things stable.
The UK has Glindas’ in politics, business and education. These are the institutional centrists who talk about fairness without taking risks that would cost them capital or access. They avoid reforms that would unsettle sponsors, investors or senior colleagues. When DEIB becomes politically inconvenient, they retreat. Their instinct for consensus turns into complacency and the result is stalled progress.
Elphaba’s driving virtue is conviction. She sees injustice and refuses to look away. She fights for the animals when no one else will. Under pressure, this hardens into isolation. She stops listening and her stance becomes so rigid that her allies shrink back. The regime uses that isolation to paint her as the problem.
The UK has Elphabas in social movements, school leadership and community activism. They push equity forward when institutions resist. The risk is that their conviction becomes inflexible. When leaders hold the line alone, they become easy to discredit. They get written off as difficult, extreme or disruptive, even when their claims are evidence backed.
The Wizard builds his authority by shaping the story people live inside. He presents order, progress and unity. Behind the curtain is manipulation and fear. His virtue is charisma coupled with organisational skill. Under pressure, this becomes populism. He manufactures enemies to distract from his failures.
The UK has seen its own operators of conformity. The rise of symbolic politics is one example. The volume of flags, organisational figureheads and public posturing has increased while pay gaps, attainment gaps and poverty rates keep widening. It is easier to demand visible allegiance than to fix structural problems.
A core tactic in this pattern is the creation of a convenient scapegoat. In Wicked, the Wizard convinces the public that Elphaba is responsible for every disruption in Oz. The accuracy of the claim is irrelevant. The story does the work. Parts of UK discourse follow the same script when complex economic pressures are reduced to a simple claim that immigrants are the cause of national strain. This persists even when economic data shows that immigration contributes net labour, tax revenue and essential workforce capacity. The point is not evidence. The point is to give the public a target that keeps attention away from systemic failure. When critics raise equity issues, they are dismissed as divisive or ideological. This mirrors the way the Wizard and Madame Morrible brand Elphaba as wicked to steer attention away from his regime.
Defying the Wizard: finding the mean
Elphaba’s turning point comes when she stops running and confronts the system head-on. She rejects the false choice between silence and isolation. She does not become Glinda. She does not become a fanatic. She chooses the difficult mean between the two.
The UK needs the same shift. Our current system rewards leaders who avoid conflict or leaders who burn out fighting it alone. We need leaders who will act before the next inquiry or crisis forces their hand. That requires policy choices that tackle the structural inequities we keep measuring but rarely fix.
Three moves that will help to shift the system.
- Mandatory and enforced pay transparency
Ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting should match the current gender reporting model with annual publication and mandatory action plans. This exposes the blocks that keep certain groups stuck at the bottom of organisational hierarchies. When data is public, silence becomes harder and accountability becomes real. This cuts off the pattern where affability turns into complacency. - De-biasing the talent pipeline
Hiring and promotion systems need unbiased review at the early stages and consistent scoring frameworks at later stages. Several public bodies and trusts have already piloted these methods with measurable gains in fairness and diversity. The point is not ideology. It is basic organisational integrity. Merit cannot be judged if bias enters the process before talent is seen. This stops conviction from becoming isolated because people no longer have to fight as lone moral actors to access opportunity. - Anchoring belonging in policy
Belonging cannot remain an aspiration or marketing phrase. It needs to sit inside the cost of living strategy, local authority funding decisions and NHS workforce plans. Policies should undergo Equality Impact Assessments (EIA) that account for race, disability, gender and income as a minimum. The data already exists. The gap is political will. Without structural safeguards, the same groups get hit first every time the economy tightens.
The most potent lesson from Wicked is that silence and fear serve the powerful. Until the core structure of the UK (Emerald City) is challenged, the wicked labels, the resulting inequalities and the denial of Belonging will persist.
Call to Action
Belonging will not grow by itself. It grows when people stop accepting shortcuts, scapegoats and silence.
- Challenge claims that have no evidence. Look at the data, not the headline.
- Ask leaders for the numbers behind their decisions and push for policies that close gaps rather than mask them.
- In workplaces, demand transparent reporting, fair recruitment and consistent standards.
- Back colleagues who raise equity issues instead of leaving them exposed.
These steps are not dramatic, but they are the ones that stop a society falling for the Wizard’s story and start shifting it toward something fairer.
What Are You Actually Fighting For?
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.
Closing Reflections on Anti-Racism in Education
For three articles, we have explored the urgency of anti-racism in education: racism as a safeguarding issue, the policy–practice disconnect, and the role of belonging and empathy in curriculum reform. Each piece has shared evidence, strategies, and practical steps for schools and teachers.
But sometimes data isn’t enough. Sometimes policy isn’t enough. Sometimes what we need is language that speaks not only to the head, but to the heart.
This final post in the series is not an essay. It is a poem. A truth-telling. A mirror held up to the contradictions of nationalism and the realities of Britain’s multicultural identity. It is a reminder of why anti-racism in the curriculum matters- not as an ‘add-on’, but as the honest story of who we are.
What are you actually fighting for?
(For the ones who carry the world in their veins – and make this island beat.)
What are you actually fighting for?
I mean-
have you stopped to taste the air you’re breathing?
That air laced with the spices from the corner shop down the road,
the samosa stand next to the bus stop,
the Portuguese bakery with custard tarts that taste like heaven on a tired Tuesday.
You yell about purity with a mouth that still carries
last night’s tikka masala.
And the flags-
Oh, the flags!
You wave them like swords,
St George’s cross stitched bold on cotton,
blood-red lines cutting through white.
But you forgot, didn’t you?
That St George wasn’t from here.
That the saint you scream under
was born somewhere foreign,
his story carried by traders and travellers
long before your postcode was drawn on a map.
Your symbol is a migrant.
Your flag is an immigrant.
But you raise it like a shield
against the very soil it grew from.
And the Union flag-
a stitched-together puzzle of histories,
threads from Scotland, Ireland, England,
woven into a single declaration:
We are many.
We are mixed.
We are made from meeting points,
from ports and ships and stories that came crashing in with the tide.
A union.
A blend.
A patchwork cloak.
You’ve wrapped it tight,
but you’re choking on the irony.
What are you actually fighting for?
Because from here, it looks like fear
dressed up in patriotism,
looks like rage you can’t name,
painted on banners you don’t understand.
Your voice is loud,
but your knowledge is quiet.
History echoes,
and you drown it out with chants
that sound more like hollow drums than truth.
Meanwhile-
your lunch is an onion bhaji,
grease soaking through the paper bag,
and when you stumble home tonight,
you’ll flick through menus like passports:
Chinese, Indian, Thai,
a taste of somewhere else in every bite.
Your belly says yes
to the world you say no to.
It’s easy, isn’t it,
to hate what you don’t know,
but love it on a plate?
To fear what you can’t pronounce,
but crave it for dinner?
Your fork is braver than your heart.
Your stomach more open than your mind.
We see you,
draped in cotton stitched overseas,
trainers made in Vietnam,
phone built from hands in factories
that have never felt British soil,
but hold your future tighter than you do.
You call this pride.
But we call it forgetting.
Forgetting that this island
is a mosaic of footsteps,
a patchwork of prayers,
a hand-me-down jacket
from centuries of travellers.
You wear history
like a blindfold.
What are you actually fighting for?
A myth?
A memory that never belonged to you?
An idea of “pure”
that never existed?
Even the soil beneath you
was shaped by glaciers that wandered here
from somewhere else.
We are a nation
built by boats and borders crossed,
by accents and spices,
by stories sewn into every street sign.
We are not a closed book.
We are an anthology.
And you’re standing in the middle of it
with a marker,
trying to black out pages
that taught you how to read.
So, here’s my truth:
No flag can save you from yourself.
You can clutch it, wave it,
let it snap and crack in the wind
like an angry tongue,
but it will not make you right.
Because that red cross you worship
was carried here by immigrants,
and the jack you wear like armour
is stitched together from difference,
not division.
So we ask you again:
What are you actually fighting for?
Because this island was never yours to guard- it was always ours to share.
And no matter how high you raise that flag,
it cannot erase the taste of curry on your breath,
the Cantonese whispers in your takeaway,
the Portuguese custard on your tongue,
the Turkish barber shaping your hair,
the Nigerian nurse who will hold your hand when you’re old and afraid.
This is Britain.
Not the fantasy you’re screaming for,
but the truth you’re standing on.
A country made rich by every hand that built it.
A song of accents rising through city streets.
An anthem of:
borrowed flavours- jerk chicken and jollof, shawarma, sushi, samosas and sourdough, pho, peri-peri, and pints of chai;
borrowed words- bungalow, ketchup, robot, shampoo, khaki, curry, chocolate, chaos, pyjamas;
borrowed technologies- printing presses, steam engines, satellites, trains that run on rails laid by migrant hands;
borrowed clothing- saris and suits, turbans and trainers, jeans born in Italy, stitched in Bangladesh;
borrowed rhythms- jazz and jungle, bhangra beats and punk guitar, Afrobeats shaking London basements;
borrowed stories – sagas, scriptures, epics, and myths ferried here on waves and winds;
borrowed inventions – recipes, languages stitched together like patchwork quilts, passports of possibility, hand-me-down hope,
and second chances.
Lower your flag.
Take a seat.
Hear the harmony in your own history-
This isn’t a solo,
it is a symphony.
And know this:
the strongest nations are not guarded by gates,
but opened by arms.
—-
The poem above speaks directly to the myths we tell ourselves as a nation. It exposes the irony of waving a flag stitched together from migration, while demanding purity that never existed. It challenges us to look honestly at the mosaic of influences – food, music, language, technology, healthcare, labour – that make Britain what it is.
This isn’t just a political reflection. It’s an educational one. When schools shy away from teaching the truth, when they reduce Black history to a week in October, when they treat diversity as tokenism rather than truth- they do children a profound disservice. They deny them the tools of empathy, the skills of critical thinking, and the pride of belonging.
Anti-racism in the curriculum is not about ‘teaching politics’. It’s about teaching reality. It’s about ensuring that when children open a textbook, they see the world as it is: interconnected, complex, and beautiful in its diversity.
Final Messages
- Curriculum is a mirror, a window, and a door. Children must see themselves reflected, see others clearly, and step into unfamiliar worlds with curiosity rather than fear.
- Representation is accuracy. Britain’s history is not monocultural. It is centuries of migration, invention, and exchange. To hide that truth is to teach falsehood.
- Empathy is not optional. It is a skill, and like literacy or numeracy, it must be taught, practised, and embedded.
- Belonging is safeguarding. A child who feels invisible, erased, or unsafe is not protected. Anti-racism is child protection.
Every chant in the street, every flag raised in anger, every online echo of hate is a reminder: education is where we break these cycles or allow them to continue. If we fail to tell the truth in classrooms, we leave children vulnerable to lies outside them.
This reminder is a call to remember that Britain has never been a closed island. It is, and always has been, a crossroads. A patchwork. A symphony. The curriculum must reflect that, not as a concession, but as the truth.
How Unconscious Bias Affects Student Learning
Written by Eleanor Hecks
Eleanor Hecks is a writer who is passionate about helping businesses create inclusive and diverse spaces. She serves as the Editor in Chief of Designerly Magazine.
Unconscious bias in the education sector occurs when teachers or other adults at a school unknowingly inflict biases on students, hindering their learning. Teachers might not even know they possess these biases, let alone that they are hurting students. It is essential to recognize how implicit bias manifests in the classroom and how to keep it from continuing.
Types of Unconscious Bias
Students of all ages are like sponges, and high school students especially carry the skills they learn in high school into the workforce. If they witness and internalize a teacher with hidden bias, that could affect how they treat their classmates and future co-workers. That is why it is crucial to spot and address unconscious bias as soon as possible.
A common way bias manifests is with issues of race. Sometimes, teachers will call on their white students more or assume that because English is not a student’s first language, that student is a poor writer or less intelligent. These are untrue assumptions based on a student’s skin colour.
Teachers might also be unconsciously biased against students with disabilities. They might assume someone with a physical disability has a mental disability as well or give the student more or less work, deeming them unfit for the regular curriculum. These biases harm the students who are directly impacted and the students witnessing it occur, leading to a continued use of these assumptions or feelings of inadequacy.
Other common implicit biases include sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic standing. Treating students differently based on these attributes harms their education and sense of self-worth.
6 Tips to Support DEI Efforts to Mitigate Bias
Many students have overlapping social identities that create compounded experiences of discrimination and privilege, known as intersectionality. This makes it more important than ever to consciously and unconsciously treat all students equitably and respectfully.
Below are some actionable tips to support DEI efforts and mitigate bias.
1. Have Uncomfortable Conversations
Discussions of race or gender are sensitive topics that often make teachers and students uncomfortable. Still, these conversations are crucial to break down hidden bias. Students might feel more comfortable after having their concerns addressed in an appropriate, educational way.
2. Identify Biases
Teachers often unknowingly reinforce biases on students, so it is essential to identify and address them. If a teacher witnesses a student display bias toward a peer, the teacher should calmly intervene and help the student realize why their words or actions are harmful.
Teachers should also serve as positive examples. At the administration level, leaders should hire educators from diverse backgrounds and offer implicit bias training and tests to help support DEI in the school.
3. Foster Teacher and Student Relationships
Fostering a more profound connection allows teachers to understand their students better and identify ways they have misjudged them based on unconscious bias. Hands-on activities are a way to bond and learn, with 86% of teachers reporting increased engagement in the classroom as a result.
4. Adopt a Flexible Mindset
Too often, people believe that ignoring someone’s race, gender or other characteristic is being inclusive. This idea can be harmful, as there are distinct differences between people that should be acknowledged and embraced. Understanding what makes each student unique can help them learn best and prevent them from feeling ashamed of themselves.
5. Provide Equitable Learning for All Students
Separating students based on perceived intelligence can make them feel better or worse than their classmates. When everyone does the same assignment and works together, students have equitable learning opportunities to succeed and feel confident in their abilities.
Teachers should emphasize needs-based support. When a student needs more resources or support to succeed, teachers can provide accommodations to help them fully participate. This could include extra tools, more detailed instructions or a quiet place to work.
6. Assess Teaching Materials
Take note of the teaching material in a curriculum and see where gaps in the knowledge or outdated information exist. Students learn better when they see themselves in the material, and narrow recounts of history or books narratives that center only on one group can harm all students.
Unlearning Unconscious Bias in Classrooms
Implicit bias can harm students and hinder their learning. Educators and administrators must identify their own biases and instances of bias around them to combat these issues before they negatively impact the students.