Teaching

“Third Space” Mentoring for Diverse Trainee Teachers

Written by Hannah Wilson

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

We can develop our beginner teachers to know their craft and know their subject, but where is the space to know themselves? Navigating teaching as a cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied white woman meant I was often in the majority in most spaces I occupied in my early career. As I progressed in my career I experienced some sexism but on the whole I was left pretty unscathed, my identity was not something that came up.

Our friends at Now Teach have coined a layer of support/ piloted an approach called “Third Space” Mentoring where their career-changing trainee teachers receive triangulated support from a subject mentor, a professional mentor and a ‘3rd space’ mentor, someone with shared lived experience.

At the Belonging Effect we already support hundreds of ITTE and ECF providers through our DEIB training, coaching and consultancy, alongside hosting virtual annual conferences in January and June for each cohort. But, over the last few years we have been thinking and talking about this approach as a team and we have been considering how we can further support the development and retention of trainee and early career teachers who hold diverse identities and who come from marginalised communities.

For our BE team and for the ITTE and ECF providers we work with, we often get asked to support teachers who are struggling, not in the classroom, but in navigating their identity. The trainee is perhaps the only person with their identity in the cohort or in the school. There often is not a mentor in their school nor in their provider who shares their lived experience. One provider reached out for help and advice as they had a Muslim Asian Hijabi woman training to teach science, and she had been placed in a school with an all-male science department, with a male mentor. We provided a safe space for her to work with a mentor who looked like her, who understood her and could help her navigate the unique barriers she was facing.

So in a nutshell, “Third Space” mentoring involves creating a supportive environment where individuals can develop skills and find new perspectives. The space creates a pause between different roles and tasks, where a person can use the time to reflect, re-center and decompress. This neutral space enables collaboration and focuses on an individual’s holistic development. The safety of the space enables an exploration of authenticity and vulnerability, being guided by someone who has walked a similar path.

Through “Third Space” mentoring we can ensure that we are helping our trainees by triangulating their subject development, their professional development and their teacher identity development. Here is some helpful research from McIntyre and Hobson (2015) entitled: Supporting beginner teacher identity development: external mentors and the third space: McIntyre and Hobson 2015 pre-publication.pdf In it they cite a range of theoretical frameworks:

“While the concept of identity is understood and employed in different ways by different writers (Beijaard et al., 2004) and is problematic (Roth, 2008), our own conceptualisation is informed by poststructuralist accounts of identities as multi-layered, multifaceted, dynamic and constantly evolving or in continual flow (Hall, 2000; Gee, 2000; Hamilton, 2010). We also recognise that identity transmutations are linked to socio-contextual factors and to power (Lumby, 2009; Beauchamp and Thomas, 2009), a point which is especially apposite for understanding teacher identities, with some writers seeing these as particularly vulnerable, unstable and susceptible to school and national policy pressures and contexts (Lasky, 2005; Leaton Gray, 2006)”.

Why is this an important development?

With an increased focus on DEIB and representation we know that ITTE and ECF providers are consciously trying to attract and recruit more diverse candidates so that our workforce better reflects the communities that we serve.
We need to design more inclusive approaches and spaces to better support our trainees.
We need to train our staff in our provider and hold to account the staff in our placement schools to do the work – to unlearn and to relearn, in order to fully commit to ensuring that our trainees can flourish and thrive.

How does it differ from conventional mentoring?

The “Third Space” can be the transition between activities, a chance to pause and reflect, rather than the activity itself.
It can also refer to a physical or metaphorical space that is neither home nor work, allowing for different kinds of interactions and collaborations.
The “Third Space” can be a site of cultural hybridity, where new identities and perspectives are formed through the intersection of different cultures.

What are the key aspects of “Third Space” mentoring?

Individualised support: Working with a dedicated coach/ mentor to develop your own program of inquiry and practice, supporting you in navigating life’s challenges and making lasting changes.
Developmental support: Mentoring can help with specific issues like career direction, professional development, and learning new skills.
Collaborative problem-solving: Creating a neutral space where people from different backgrounds can come together to share perspectives and find innovative solutions.
Holistic approach: Focusing on helping individuals integrate their values and find balance in both their work and personal lives.

Are there some examples of how “Third Space” Mentoring can support, develop and retain diverse trainees?

Age – we support career changes and those trainees who are shifting their professional identity from being the expert in one field to being the novice in another field.
Disability – we support trainees who are neurodivergent in processing school life, in self-advocating for what they need whilst developing coping strategies.
Parenthood – we support trainee parent-teachers in navigating their caring responsibilities and in managing their additional responsibilities.
Race – we support trainee teachers who are racialised as being black and brown, in exploring their experiences and in considering the weight of representation.
Sexuality – we support trainee teachers who are LGBT+ in ensuring their safety and in navigating any challenges they face with their community.
Wellbeing – we support trainee teachers in building a toolkit of strategies to manage their own mental health and wellbeing.

How can we help?

Would your trainee teachers and early career teachers benefit from an additional layer of mentoring as they navigate their way in the education profession?
We have a brilliant team of experienced coaches and mentors who want to provide an extra layer of support, virtually, to your ITT trainees and possibly to your ECTs at your sibling providers too.
We hope this will support trainees who are navigating their identity and lived experiences as they develop their professional identity, enabling them to flourish and thrive, to stay and succeed in the teaching profession.
We are running another pilot of our “Third Space” DEIB Mentoring for ITTs and ECTs in Spring and Summer 2026.

How do we register our interest?

The “Third Space” DEIB Mentoring for ITTs and ECTs pilot will run from January-July 2026.
Your trainees can join a virtual mentoring circle for 4 x 1hr half-termly group sessions.
Our Belonging Effect Associates will hold a safe virtual space for them and their peers to explore identity themes such as: age, disability, faith, menopause, mental health and wellbeing, neurodiversity, parenthood, race, sexuality and intersectional identities.
Places are £200+VAT per participant.
Fill in this Google form to express an interest: https://forms.gle/5dLN9fzQ8qBeaCvw9
Contact Hannah@thebelongingeffect.co.uk to book places for your trainee and early career teachers.

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by Hannah Wilson

Seen, Valued… and Able: Designing Classrooms for Social and Academic Belonging

Written by Tricia Taylor

With more than 25 years’ experience teaching and leading in schools across the UK and the USA, Tricia founded TailoredPractice to bridge the gap between research and classroom practice. Driven by a passion for making learning work for everyone, she now partners with schools worldwide to translate cognitive science into practical strategies that challenge and support all learners. A regular Learning & the Brain Conference speaker and author of Connect the Dots: The Collective Power of Relationships, Memory and Mindset, she is also Head of Teaching and Learning at Mallorca International School.

Belonging isn’t separate from academic teaching. Strategies that build knowledge—when done correctly—also build belonging.

A heartfelt card from reception (kindergarten) child to a headteacher, which says: “I love it how you always pay attention to me when I am talking.”

I know the headteacher who received this on the last day of term. She kneels to students’ height, meets their eyes and listens without rushing. It’s powerful when that’s modelled from the top. Behind the scenes, great leaders, like this one, also put systems in place so belonging is as much social as it is academic. Yes, we greet students at the door AND we also design routines, teaching strategies and feedback structures that help every students feel seen, valued and able to learn.

Belonging has two strands

In school, when we talk about ‘belonging’, we often focus on the social—names, greetings, being known. That matters. But students also need academic belonging: the steady sense that their thinking belongs here, that they can see what ‘good’ looks like, and that there’s a fair and achievable route to get there. The strands work best together: warmth without stretch becomes ‘nice but low challenge’; stretch without safety shuts down risk-taking.”

Social belonging: feeling accepted, respected, included, and emotionally safe with peers and adults.
Academic belonging: feeling like a valued, accepted and legitimate member of the subject community—“people like me do this work here”—with clear expectations and support to succeed.

Students’ experiences of race, language, gender or identity can shape whether they feel safe and legitimate in the classroom community, socially, emotionally and academicially. As Glenn Whitman from the Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning writes, “Belonging is not a monolithic thing you either have or don’t have … each student will feel a sense of belonging in some spaces but not others.”

Barriers to belonging (what we saw)

This year, when the teachers and I brainstormed barriers to belonging, we could see both social and academic situations when students lack that sense of belonging.

Social (& emotional) barriers. Mispronounced or shortened names; not knowing who to sit with at lunch; wondering “Does my teacher like me?”; cliques and subtle hierarchies; loneliness; curriculum or displays that don’t reflect students’ identities; inconsistent behaviour norms — “I don’t know how to act here”; lack of trust that it’s safe to be yourself.
Academic barriers. Unclear success criteria; errors made public with no way to repair; low-challenge tasks that signal low expectations; speed mistaken for worth while the class moves on; English as an additional language without scaffolds; risky participation structures (like round-robin reading or hands-up dominance); tracking/setting that labels students.
When they overlap. Participation feels risky or pointless; attention shifts to self-protection and working memory overloads with worry. The result is less learning.

What students say works

When teenagers describe classes where they belong, two themes surface. They feel they belong when (1) teachers intentionally build trust and peer relationships, for example, using seating to encourage peer interaction rather than as punishment—and when (2) teachers use supportive structures: rehearsal before sharing (turn-and-talk), specific and actionable feedback, clear scaffolding of complex concepts, and treating wrong answers as opportunities for growth rather than labels of who is “smart” or “dumb.” (Keyes, 2019). Together, these strategies draw in students who might otherwise hold back—socially, emotionally, and academically.

Classroom strategies — a dual purpose

Have a look at these common high-impact strategies for budding knowledge and see how—when done correctly—they also create a sense of academic belonging:

Strategy	What is it?	How it connects to belonging
Spaced retrieval	Short, low-stakes questions on prior learning, spaced over time (no peeking).	Early wins and visible progress show “I can do this here.” Thinking hard to retrieve is valued over ‘the right answer’.
Hands-down questioning (Question → pause → name)	Ask, wait 3–5 seconds, then invite a student by name.	Protected think time; wider participation beyond the quickest hands.
Oracy (talk partners)	Structured partner talk with sentence stems and rotating roles.	Every voice rehearsed, heard and valued; confidence and precision to share ideas increases.
Checking all for understanding	Mini-whiteboards, exit tickets, “show me” checks—then adjust teaching.	Everyone’s thinking counts; mistakes become next steps, not labels. My teacher is paying attention to my progress.

Make them routine

Belonging grows when school feels reliable: steady relationships, clear expectations, visible support, fair access. That happens when our best strategies run as predictable routines. Predictability lowers anxiety, frees working memory and signals a way in… every lesson.

Let’s take a popular strategy like the Do Now — a 2–3 minute starter students begin immediately on entry. Four quick steps:

On screen before entry: three retrieval questions (last lesson / last week / last month).→ students walk in knowing what’s expected. The clarity signals: “There’s a place for me here.”
Students get straight to work: 2 minutes of quiet thinking and recording answers.→ Everyone has something they can attempt. Early wins show: “I can do this.”
Teacher scan: circulates, glances at responses, offers a quick prompt or encouragement, and notes who might need support.→ The teacher is paying attention; my thinking matters.
Whole-class spotlight: share one item together; mistakes are treated as part of the process.→ Errors aren’t labels; they’re part of learning. Students feel safe to take risks.

Same time, same steps, every day: the routine creates early wins and builds academic belonging.

Leaders set the tone

When a school leader models real attention—and builds systems so every adult does the same—students sense they matter. In the lesson, they run a simple test: Can I see what “good” looks like? Do I have a fair shot at producing it here? Is someone paying attention to my thinking? Good design lets them answer yes, yes, and yes.

So leaders, If belonging is an initiative in your school, make sure the strategies you model in professional development build belonging socially and academically. It’s not either/or — both matter.

Rethinking Normality in Uncertain Times

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.

In the unique context of international schools, where educators and students navigate diverse cultures, languages, and constantly shifting global realities, the idea of “normality” becomes especially complex and fluid. Normality is a cultural construct, constantly reinforced by politics, media, and rituals, not a natural state that we are pulled out of and then simply fall back into once circumstances allow. I was recently asked how, in the midst of today’s wars and crises, one can possibly “restore normality” and how teachers, who are confronted with this longing for stability every day, can take such a demand seriously.

What we call normality in everyday life and leisure is itself an artifact. Politics, talk shows, and public rituals generate their own images of normality. Here lies the danger of what might be called a ”normalization conservatism”: a desire to return to an imagined state of stability. Yet normality cannot be simply retrieved. It is manufactured with all the means of artifice.

And so the real problem shifts. The issue is not the absence of normality, but the attempt to reproduce it artificially. This attempt is carried by a strange mixture of fear and arrogance: fear of the unpredictability of the present and arrogance in believing that politics, media, or public speech could create a truly stable foundation. The result is an echo of rituals, slogans, and symbols that produce the appearance of security, without offering real orientation.

What often goes unnoticed is that tensions persist even beneath these efforts. In education, for example, teachers may feel the impulse to fit students into neat frameworks, an attempt to create order and stability. But such frameworks can quickly become another burden of responsibility, placing conformity above growth. If we give in to this impulse too often, we risk reaching a dead end, both our own creativity and that of our students may be abruptly set aside when the next societal or political storm arrives.

Normality, then, is not a return but always a creation. It does not emerge from artifacts, from the decorative gestures of politics, or from the ritualized dramaturgy of talk shows. It arises in the concrete ways we speak with one another, work together, and share responsibility. As a teacher, this means I cannot give my students normality. But I can create spaces where openness, uncertainty, and incompleteness have a place. Precisely because we are sometimes surrounded by fear and arrogance, we must learn that normality does not grow out of incantation, it grows out of practice.

Specific classroom strategies that create space for uncertainty, agency, or open-ended outcomes.

The royal road to practice lies in learning to hold uncertainties, to walk through them with students, and to live them rather than escape them. This requires a healthy rhythm between individual and group work, staying with themes long enough for them to unfold, and deliberately extending the passages of our interactions. Such practices are not simply pedagogical choices, they are acts of resilience.

Again and again, students emerge in our classrooms who appear to falter, whose productivity declines, or who withdraw across different subjects. Dominant opinion often interprets this as laziness, distraction, or failure. Yet what if such moments are signals, pointing to something deeper, a crisis of orientation, a struggle with culture, or an unresolved question of identity? Many students’ identities are inseparable from their artistic identity. The way they make sense of the world is through creative exploration, improvisation, or resistance to rigid forms. To dismiss their “lostness” is to miss the chance to witness identity in the making.

This is especially visible in international classrooms, where cultural displacement and multilingual realities amplify the experience of being “lost.” Students navigate between home and host cultures, between different languages, and between competing expectations of success. Their sense of orientation may collapse under these pressures. But often, it is precisely in their artistic or non-linear responses in music, storytelling, visual projects, or collaborative improvisation that they begin to negotiate belonging and articulate identity. Teachers who recognize this see disengagement not as absence, but as the raw material of presence.

Practical strategies for teachers and school leaders:

Invite multiple modes of response. Allow students to express their understanding not only in writing or tests, but through drawing, movement, dialogue, or digital creation.
Stay with the “lost” moment. Instead of rushing to correct or redirect, ask reflective questions: What feels unclear? How does this connect to your experience? This validates disorientation as part of learning.
Normalize cultural reflection. When productivity drops, explore whether it relates to questions of belonging or cultural dissonance. Invite students to connect class themes with their lived realities.
Value artistic identities. Encourage students who process through music, art, or performance to bring those forms into academic spaces. In doing so, schools acknowledge that intellectual and artistic identities are often inseparable.
Hold open-ended outcomes. Frame tasks where the goal is not a single right answer, but exploration and meaning-making. This helps students see “lostness” as an entry point into dialogue, not as failure.

For we and our students are no longer confronted merely with crises but, in some cases, with their full collapse, coming at us in ever shorter intervals. This is why education cannot content itself with rituals of stability or the repetition of normality. To face collapse together means cultivating classrooms where uncertainty is not feared but explored, where trust outweighs control, and where collaboration becomes stronger than competition. Schools that dare to do this resist the conspiracy of appearances make visible a different kind of strength: not the fragile stability of order imposed, but the durable stability that grows when responsibility is shared, when openness is lived, and when the courage to learn is greater than the fear of loss.

2. Examples of school policies or leadership decisions that actively disrupt traditional norms in service of deeper collaboration and equity.

School leaders must learn to operate in settings that are far from a neatly swept house. Crises bring with them heightened psychological reactions, and when class sizes are too large, these reactions are often funneled into a vacuum, where learning, creativity, and engagement wither. Smaller classes are therefore a crucial condition for sustaining real interaction and meaningful reflection.

In such an environment, leaders do not impose superficial order; they cultivate spaces where uncertainty can be navigated, where students’ emotional and cognitive responses are recognized, and where teachers and leaders alike learn to stay with complexity rather than erase it. It is precisely this tension between unpredictability and deliberate guidance that allows classrooms and schools to become laboratories for resilience, collaboration, and shared responsibility.

3. Illustrations of how collaboration with other schools or nontraditional partners have tangibly reshaped practice, mindset, or outcomes.

Partnering with neighboring schools to exchange teaching resources, working with local NGOs or universities to ground projects in real-world issues, and engaging with artists, entrepreneurs, or community leaders can dramatically expand what counts as educational expertise. But these partnerships are not only about content or skill-sharing: they are spaces to gather experience, to encounter moments where emotions surface, and to practice navigating uncertainty together.

In the face of unprecedented crises that often bring destruction and disorder, such collaborations create rare opportunities to learn resilience, empathy, and adaptive problem-solving. By intentionally engaging in these exchanges, educators and students alike confront challenges that cannot be fully simulated in traditional classrooms. They experience firsthand how to act, respond, and reflect when circumstances are unpredictable, complex, and emotionally charged.

4. Practical alternatives to standard rituals, such as how grading might be approached differently, or how assemblies can be reimagined to reflect openness and inclusivity.

Many teachers experience a chill down their spine when so-called assemblies run like clockwork, sanitized and rigid, and disconnected from the lived realities of students. This subversive view of rituals challenges the assumption that standard assemblies and classroom routines are neutral or harmless. In fact, such rituals can produce psychological strain, particularly when they clash with students’ attention spans, motivation, or digital habits. Traditional timetables and fixed hours are not merely organizational tools, they are deeply pedagogical structures; if they do not fit the learners, the potential for growth collapses.

In response, assessment and classroom practices must be reimagined. Exams and grading are no longer merely measures of performance, but opportunities to engage students in democratic processes, critical reflection, and the creation of meaning. Flexible, collaborative settings allow learners to grapple with texts, ideas, and questions in ways that cultivate agency and resilience. Assemblies, too, can be transformed into forums where students and staff co-construct agendas, share inquiries, and participate in discussions that matter, fostering inclusion and shared responsibility.

Importantly, this approach integrates the realities of crises overload, digital distractions, and emotional stress directly into the design of teaching and ritual. By doing so, schools create spaces that do not simply simulate “normality,” but actively cultivate engagement, critical thinking, and emotional competence, even amidst disruption.

I have come to see that what often presents itself as normality is a kind of conspiracy: a fragile arrangement of fear and arrogance that pretends to provide stability while suppressing creativity, trust, and resilience. Observing how leadership constrained by competition and territoriality can limit possibilities, I realized that ideas flourish only when shared openly. This insight became a compass; true leadership requires courage, openness, and collaboration beyond conventional boundaries. In practice, this means designing lessons with open-ended outcomes, rethinking rituals like grading and assemblies, giving students real agency, and creating spaces for reflection and shared responsibility. Normality is not a return to order it is a creation, emerging from daily practices of trust, courage, and collaboration. And so the question is: in times of crisis, do we cling to artificial rituals of stability, or do we dare to create spaces where something genuinely new can emerge?

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by Hannah Wilson

Inter Faith Week

Written by Sarah Bareau

Regional Advisor with Jigsaw Education Group. Primary teacher and RE Lead.

Inter Faith Week takes place annually in November and many places of worship open their doors to the wider public. But what does ‘interfaith’ actually mean and is there a place for it in our schools?

Interfaith refers to encounters that aim to increase understanding between people of different faith groups. Whilst the term ‘faith’ implies religious belief, interfaith is increasingly inclusive of those with non-religious worldviews.

Interfaith work supports many schools’ values, especially those that are centred on empathy, kindness, community or diversity. It’s an opportunity to enrich pupils’ cultural capital and personal development: by learning about the beliefs and traditions of others, we better understand and refine our personal worldview.

This year’s theme is ‘Community: Together We Serve’. Community is always at the heart of Inter Faith Week and our schools are communities too – including staff, pupils and their families. Interfaith activities provide opportunities to explore a wider range of worldviews than the standard RE curriculum allows. They can be both a mirror to reflect pupils who are under-represented and a window through which to encounter unfamiliar beliefs and lived experiences.

One starting point is investigating census data relating to religion. As well as looking at recent statistics, consider previous years and what they might look like in the future. For example, currently 6% of the UK population identifies as Muslim, but this rises to 10% in the 5-15 age range (source: https://mcb.org.uk/resources/censussummary2025/).

Service is also an integral part of this year’s theme. Each year, Inter Faith Week takes place just before Mitzvah Day, a Jewish-led day of social action, which now includes people of all faiths and none. The original meaning of ‘Mitzvah’ is a commandment from God. It has also come to mean an action to carry out the commandment, doing good and helping others. This contributes to Tikkun Olam (repair of the world), which comes from an early Jewish code called the Mishnah.

This year’s theme could inspire you to explore practices rooted in service across diverse worldviews e.g. Sewa (in Sikhi and Sanatana (Hindu) Dharma) and Zakat (in Islam). You could look at examples from religious texts, such as Jesus washing the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper, and non-religious stories, such as The Starfish Thrower, thinking about how these might inspire people’s actions today.

What are the challenges of interfaith encounters?

The most meaningful interfaith work includes holding challenging conversations around areas of disagreement. This needs to happen within a safe space, where participants show respect to those with a different point of view. It is important to ensure such interactions end with repair and reconnection. This could be achieved by returning to shared values and acknowledging each person’s identity beyond their religious or non-religious beliefs.

It can also be challenging to find authentic representation of different faiths when the school or local community is not diverse. See if there is an existing interfaith group in the area, reach out to local RE advisors and explore online resources such as the RE Hubs website.

Planning meaningful interfaith work in schools

Contact theory (or contact hypothesis) was proposed by Gordon Allport in 1954 and continues to be used to facilitate encounters between members of different social and cultural groups, with the goal of increasing understanding between them. There are four key features of effective practice:

Equal status of participants

In the classroom, this includes setting expectations for respectful curiosity and recognition that everyone has their own identity and point of view, whether that is informed by a religious or non-religious worldview or not.

A common goal

Effective interfaith work has an intended outcome. It’s an opportunity to draw together learning about different worldviews under a theme, allowing differences of beliefs and practices to be acknowledged within a shared context. Outcomes could include artwork, creative writing, oral presentations or action such as fundraising or litter picking.

Intergroup cooperation

Collaboration and cooperation are essential life skills. Groupings for interfaith experiences should ensure that young people work with those from different backgrounds to achieve together. Depending on the age of pupils, varying levels of adult support may be needed to ensure all members of the group are able to participate and succeed.

Support of authority beyond the group

Inviting the Head Teacher, a member of SLT or a governor to take part in the session or speak to young people afterwards demonstrates how the school values interfaith work. Young people could also present their experiences and learning to other year groups or to parents.

Just as schools embed anti-bullying work year-round, so too can interfaith become a regular part of the curriculum. In addition to Inter Faith Week, opportunities include World Religion Day in January, and festivals celebrated by communities represented in the school and local area.

Further resources

Jigsaw Education Group are please to share free resources to help your school engage in Inter Faith Week. Visit our website for more information: https://jigsaweducationgroup.com/resources/

For additional resources for schools, visit https://www.ifw4schools.co.uk/

More information about Mitzvah Day can be found here: https://mitzvahday.org.uk/

The census data for England and Wales from 2021 can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/bulletins/religionenglandandwales/census2021

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by Hannah Wilson

Flags: When Patriotism Becomes Politics

Written by Hannah Wilson

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

We have all seen them. Driving up the motorway, crossing a roundabout in town, suddenly there it is: the Union Jack, or the red-and-white St George’s Cross, flapping over a bridge or painted over the crossing. No football tournament, no royal celebration – just flags, bolted into the landscape.

Let’s be clear – they are not innocent festive decorations (although some people are pretending/ or are naively thinking that they are in support of the World Cup Rugby and the UK Women’s team, the Roses). They are bold political statements.

On a Personal Note

I was back on the road for the start of term INSETs this week and as I drove from Bath to Worcester to Manchester to Matlock back to Bristol and then home to Bath, I lost count of how many flags I saw. I would guess 150-200 flags heading North and the same again heading South. It was noticeable which regions had a higher density and where they felt angrier in their positioning.

As I drove to a school in Manchester on Friday morning to join a MAT’s new staff induction day I felt sick to the pit of my stomach as I approached the school – they were everywhere, on every lamppost, gate and fence.

The sense of unease did not leave me all day. It felt hostile and threatening, despite them not being aimed directly at me. So, I asked the CEO and Executive Team of the MAT if I could speak to the elephant in the room, as I was concerned for the psychological safety of the staff who were gathered in the theatre, a visibly diverse workforce, many of whom had travelled from out of region. They agreed. They later asked me for some advice on how to navigate the start of term with the increasing tensions. I have been thinking about it ever since and what I would do if I was going back to being a school/ trust leader this week.

From Bunting to Battle Lines

In the past, flags have been raised for a coronation, for the Jubilee, or when England is playing in a World Cup match. The flags meant celebration, collective cheer, and coming together as a community, united through the event or the love of the game.

Now? The flags have become a different sort of shorthand. Reform UK supporters and far-right groups have learned that flags are cheap, visible, and impossible to ignore. Hang a Union Jack on a motorway bridge and the daily commute has been turned into a stage for politics.

My fear? How long will it be until the flags become bolder and braver, until the swastikas appear, until the ‘whites-only’ narratives of racially segregated nations get scrawled as graffiti beside them?

Why Roundabouts and Bridges?

Because they are public, they are prominent, and they belong to no one in particular. A roundabout or a bridge or a lamp post does not in theory need permission. It is ultimately a free billboard – one dressed up as patriotism but actually conveying hate.

In conversations with others about the growing campaign and visibility, I have heard two new phrases in the last week:

“Going roundabouting” has become a new hobby – people are taking their partners and their families out on the weekends to support the campaign and spend the day painting the flag on empty canvases.

“Your xxx looks like they go roundabouting” has become a new slur – playgrounds and classrooms will be divided by those who support and those who oppose these territorial and divisive behaviours.

Start of Term

As most UK schools re-open for INSETs, induction days and start of term this week, this cultural shift across the nation matters for educators. Symbols carry lessons. The flag on a bridge is far from neutral. It is an explicit message: “This is ours.”

Depending on who sees it, it can feel like pride… or it can feel like a warning.

It might as well say: “We belong here. You do not”.

What does this mean for schools?

Our Senior Leaders will need to be visible – out on the gates, being the gatekeepers to the school’s boundaries.
Our Safeguarding leads need to be anchoring this in the start of term KCSIE updates.
Our Site Teams need to be vigilant and see if they begin to appear as graffiti on tables, on walls in our schools.
As educators we need to be checking in on the welfare of our pupils and their parents/ carers.
As employers we need to be checking in on the welfare of our employees.

Patriotism or Exclusion?

This is the heart of the issue. For some, these flags are a rallying cry for “taking the country back.” For others, they are an unsettling reminder that national identity is being policed in plain sight.

Educators need to help young people ask:

Who is claiming the flag?
Who is being included, and who is being left out?
When does pride tip into nationalism?
Why do some groups use symbols instead of words?
How do different flags make different groups of people feel uncomfortable?

We also need to acknowledge that it is difficult to talk about one flag without considering other flags. People will ask why it is okay to fly the Pride flag and not the St George’s flag. Or why the Pro-Palestine flags have been vetoed but the St George’s flag has been supported and stays up.

Pulling flags down is also not the answer, if anything it is the reaction some are looking for to then escalate things. As schools, colleges and MATs, we thus need to consider our approach and our standpoint to flags and we need to apply it consistently for all flags, for all groups.

Why It Matters in Classrooms

What is important to remember is that all students will see these flags – on the way to school, on TikTok, in the news. If we ignore them, we leave the interpretation to whoever shouts the loudest. By unpacking the symbolism, we show students how politics works in the everyday: not just in Parliament, but in the quiet tying of a flag to a lamppost.

Flags are not the problem. The problem is when they stop being about unity and become markers of division.

Last September, we started term with a sense of unease post the faith and race riots of the summer. This September, we start the new term with a sense of unease about flags being weaponised. Both make our school communities feel unsafe, excluded and leads to people questioning their place and sense of belonging.

Final Thoughts

If we ignore it and we do not speak up, we feed the problem.

Check out a blog by Bennie Kara called ‘Flying the Flag’ and a No Outsiders Assembly on flags by Andy Moffat.

You may also want to speak up by signing the Hope Not Hate petition against the biggest Neo-Nazi music festival in Europe being held in Great Yarmouth this weekend.

Teaching Ideas for: Flags, Symbols, and Meaning

1. Spot the Symbol

Show images of flags in different contexts:
A street party with bunting
A football stadium
A motorway bridge with political slogans nearby
Ask: “What’s the difference between these uses? How does the same flag carry different meanings in each place?”

2. Timeline of the Union Jack

Research the history of the Union Jack and St George’s Cross.
Students create a visual timeline: how has the meaning shifted from empire, to WWII, to the 1960s mod culture, to football, to today’s political movements?
Prompt: “Does a symbol’s meaning change with time, or do we change how we read it?”

3. Bridge or Billboard?

Debate exercise:
Group A argues that putting flags on roundabouts/bridges is legitimate free expression.
Group B argues it is intimidation or exclusionary.
Group C acts as judges, deciding which arguments were strongest.
Reflect afterwards: “How do we balance free speech with community impact?”

4. Flags Without Words

Discuss why groups use flags instead of leaflets, speeches, or adverts.
Activity: students design a non-verbal symbol or image to represent a cause they care about.
Prompt: “What does your design say, and how might others read it differently?”

5. Critical Media Watch

Collect recent headlines or social media posts about flags and patriotism.
Analyse language: is the coverage celebratory, critical, neutral?
Prompt: “How does the media shape whether we see flags as pride or protest?”

6. Personal Reflection

Journal exercise: “When have you seen a flag displayed in public? How did it make you feel? Did you feel included, excluded, or indifferent?”
Emphasise that different reactions are valid — it’s about recognising diversity of perception.

These activities help young people see that symbols are never neutral. They are tools of communication, belonging, and sometimes exclusion. The aim is not to tell students what to think, but to give them the vocabulary to analyse and question what they see.

Leading the Diverse Curriculum: How do we do this meaningfully, without crashing and burning?

Written by Bennie Kara

Co-Founder of Diverse Educators

There has never been a more urgent time for schools to reconsider what and who our curricula are for. In a world that is increasingly complex, diverse and interconnected, the curriculum must be more than a list of knowledge to be delivered. It must be a living, breathing framework for belonging, identity and justice. Leading the Diverse Curriculum (a 6 part training programme delivered over the course of the year) invites school leaders and educators to step back from the pace of everyday delivery and ask a foundational question: What does our curriculum say about the world and about the children in front of us?

Many schools are already aware that diversity and inclusion cannot be confined to a calendar event or a themed display board. The desire for a more equitable curriculum is present, but the path forward is often unclear. What this training offers is not a prescription, but a set of tools, questions and frameworks to help schools develop a curriculum that is thoughtful, principled and inclusive in both design and impact.

This work begins with vision as a guiding principle. Schools are encouraged to interrogate what it really means to have a diverse and inclusive curriculum. What values underpin our curriculum choices? How are these reflected in the lived experience of students across different subjects? These questions are not abstract. They demand honest dialogue among staff and between schools and their communities. By rooting curriculum development in a shared vision, the programme fosters a collective sense of purpose.

But clarity of vision must be matched by curriculum integrity. Diversity is not achieved through surface-level representation. It is not enough to add a new text to the reading list or a new historical figure to a lesson. A curriculum that serves all students must be rooted in sound curriculum thinking. This means understanding the principles of sequencing, coherence, and progression — and then asking, “Who is this for?” and “Whose knowledge is being centred?”

Throughout the programme, schools are supported to reflect critically on the content they teach and the underlying messages it conveys. There is space for genuine professional introspection, not just about what we teach, but why we teach it in the way we do. Educators are invited to hold up a mirror to their curriculum, to see whose voices are included and whose are absent. This is not about blame; it’s about building the confidence and competence to lead change in a meaningful, sustained way.

This work is not confined to theoretical ideals. The training is grounded in practical strategies and real-world application. Schools are encouraged to examine their current curriculum policies, subject intentions, and implementation models with new eyes — through the lenses of equity, identity, and justice. They are the lived experiences of our students. When schools begin to map the curriculum through these lenses, the gaps and opportunities become clearer, and the work begins to feel possible.

A particularly powerful aspect of this training is its emphasis on evaluation. Too often, curriculum changes are made without a clear sense of how success will be measured or what the impact should be. This programme supports leaders to think strategically and to consider change models and implementation strategies that go beyond intent and move towards sustainable, embedded practice.

This requires courage. It requires schools to look inward and confront the emotional realities of leading this work. There will be discomfort. There may be resistance. But this training does not shy away from that: it acknowledges that curriculum change is emotionally charged because it speaks to identity, belief, and culture. The programme offers space for staff to explore these emotions safely, while building the emotional literacy required to lead through discomfort and challenge.

Another vital strand of the training is the role of student and community voice. An inclusive curriculum cannot be created in isolation from the people it is designed to serve. Too often, students are passive recipients of curriculum decisions. This programme challenges that norm, encouraging schools to create authentic, safe spaces for students and families to share how the curriculum lands with them.

This is not easy work. It is demanding, nuanced, and often personal. But it is also deeply hopeful. At a time when education is increasingly shaped by outcomes and data, this training reminds us of the transformative power of the curriculum. It reminds us that the stories we tell in our classrooms — through literature, history, science, art — shape the self-worth, aspirations and worldviews of our students.

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by Hannah Wilson

Ten years of ‘No Outsiders’ assemblies: driving inclusion at a whole school level

Written by Andrew Moffat

Andrew Moffat has been teaching for 25 years and is currently PD Lead at Excelsior MAT. He is the author of “No Outsiders in our school: Teaching the Equality Act in Primary Schools” and “No Outsiders: everyone different, everyone welcome”. In 2017 Andrew was awarded a MBE for services to equality and diversity in education and in 2019 he was listed as a top ten finalist in the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize.

No Outsiders assemblies are 10 years old this month! Hooray! This is amazing – it’s gone by in a flash and I can remember each one like it was only yesterday … all 693 of them and with over 300,000 views.

The point of a No Outsiders assembly is to make the ethos real. The No Outsiders scheme is based on 43 picture books with a progression of lesson plans written for children in Reception to Year 6. The picture books are great; I’m using some wonderful authors and classic reads in there. Some of the picture books are based on real life stories, but it’s still different to discussing a photo taken of a real person in the last week.

I realized in the early days of introducing the scheme in my school, that the lesson plans were not enough. You can’t build a whole school ethos on 6 lesson plans in each year group spread over the year; you need a weekly inclusion injection. Assemblies are the way to do this – everyone together discussing and driving the inclusive narrative. My aim was to find interesting current pictures to discuss with children and find ways to reach a ‘No Outsiders’ conclusion: “That’s why we say there are no outsiders here- everyone is welcome.” The assemblies became a key driver in our effort to develop the inclusive language and understanding. Everyone attended the weekly assemblies, and I encouraged staff to comment and relate to their own experiences in front of the children. Furthermore, as all the teachers were in the assembly, they would be referencing it throughout the week with their class.

I was worried when I first started doing the assemblies that we were summarising with the same sort of conclusion every week and I was reflecting whether children might get bored and start blandly replying, “No Outsiders” to every question, but it never happened. Even so, I started thinking about better questions and discussions; foster empathy skills and critical thinking; get a debate going with the children- ‘why does that person think that?’ and give them space to consider new and different ideas to their own.

Oracy changed everything. I remember attending an oracy inset at my school in about 2021 and it was a game changer. The oracy lead at the time suggested we worked together and used No Outsiders assemblies to teach oracy and it was a perfect solution to both our aims.

The aim in oracy is to teach children to speak; to use sentence stems and articulate their feelings; to agree and disagree. Disagreeing is ok as long as you disagree respectfully. This was key for No Outsiders because I could put in to practice this idea that different opinions were ok as long as you voiced them with respect and non-judgement. The ability to hold two points of view and balance opinions has always been central to a no outsiders ethos- I’m not teaching children what to think; rather I am teaching children to think. Now, using oracy, I had strategies and literally scripts (sentence stems) that I could use to encourage children to see other points of view and articulate those points of view in a reasoned manner, without necessarily agreeing with those points of view.

The first No Outsiders assembly was published on June 27th 2015. Looking back at my first attempt., it’s very different to the No Outsiders assemblies I am publishing today. It’s short, there are few questions and there is no attempt at recognising different points of view. Still, it’s a good first attempt and interesting to see how far we have come since June 2015.

Here it is (June 27th 2015): https://no-outsiders-assembly.blogspot.com/2015/06/assembly-picture-1-british-values.html

The picture shows a hand holding an old photo at chest height of an army squad. The focus is on the photo and the medals pinned to the jacket of the person holding up the photo. We can’t see their face.

Our activity:

Sword Beach, France Normandy veteran Alan King, from the Norwich and District NVA, holds a photo of himself (front second left) and his comrades from B Company taken on VE Day 1945, as dozens of British veterans made a cross-Channel pilgrimage to Normandy to honour the legacy of comrades killed in the D-Day landings 71 years ago. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

Who is this man?

Why does he wear medals?

Who do you think is in the photo he holds?

What happened on June 6th 1944?

Why does Alan King want this photo to be seen?

What do you think are his feelings about that time?

The obvious change over the last 10 years is the development of questions. I would still use the photo today but if I were writing this assembly in 2025, the questioning would be completely different. Here’s a plan using the same picture but ten years on. The questions to ask the children use italics.

Our activity:

What do you see in the picture? What do you think this story is about?

There are two pictures here, how do you think they are related?

The photo shows Alan King who is a France Normandy Veteran.

What is a Veteran?

What does “France Normandy” mean – what famous event happened on the beaches at Normandy in WW2?

Alan holds a picture showing his comrades, taken on VE day in 1945. Alan is in the picture on the front row, second left.

Why do you think Alan is holding this picture?

What is VE day, what does it stand for and what happened on that day?

We can’t see Alan’s face in the photo today; we just see his medals and the old Alan in the photo he holds. Why do you think the photographer chose to do this?

Do you think the photographer should have sown Alan’s face? What are the arguments for and against this decision?

This photo of Alan was taken in 2015 as dozens of veterans crossed the English channel to Normandy to honour the legacy of comrades killed in the D-Day landings on June 6th 1944.

What were the D-Day landings, what happened on that day?

Why do you think veterans chose to make the crossing again 71 years later?

- On the day in 1944 how many people do you think were involved in the crossing? (there were 175,000 soldiers involved.) Why only dozens today?

Why do we still remember that time when it was so long ago? Why not forget about it?

What can we learn from Alan?

Why is this about No Outsiders?

Which British value is this about?

I love the questions about the focus of the image- why can’t we see Alan’s face? This is a great debate, and we can encourage pupils to think about and articulate both sides of the argument using sentence stems such as:

“I would like to start by saying…”
“I can see both sides: on the one hand, ___________, on the other…”
“One argument might be…”
“Building on…”
“That’s an interesting point, have you thought about…”

Today I always end my assemblies with the two questions, “Why is this about No Outsiders?” and, “Which British value is this about?” to ground the discussion in our school and link it back to the experience of the children in school.

So, how should I finish this ten year anniversary blog post? It can only be to choose 5 of my favourite assemblies. It’s an impossible task to choose 5 out of over 500 so I will select 5 assemblies that reflected key events at the time. A key strength of these assemblies is I can write them quickly in response to any news event that I think schools need to talk about. I can respond right away, and schools can use the resource the next day.

1 – The death of Queen Elizabeth II

The photo shows thousands of people congregating outside Buckingham Palace.

I struggled at first to think of an angle that linked to No Outsiders and then when commentators kept referring to the stability and constant presence that the Queen represented in their lives, I realised my focus could be on how equality laws and attitudes have changed while she was on the throne and also how people from different backgrounds felt the same way about her. This assembly is by far the most viewed assembly of the last ten years. https://no-outsiders-assembly.blogspot.com/2022/09/queen-elizabeth-ii-1926-2022.html

I did meet the Queen in 2017 when I received a MBE. I had about one minute with her, and she asked what I did in school. I told her what No Outsiders was aiming for and how we taught it in schools – I got in the protected characteristics and British Values! I think she didn’t quite know what to say at first and my boyfriend in the audience who was watching said you could see her concentrating and thinking of a reply. Then she said, “Very important for all our futures, I should think.”

2 – England losing the Euros final 2024

The photo shows Gareth Southgate in a kit on a pitch cheering. The impression is he has just scored a goal.

The Euro final between England and Spain was held on a Sunday evening in July 2024 and I knew that the game was going to be the only topic of conversation in school the next day. It had to be the theme for the Monday morning assembly, but I didn’t want to be writing an assembly at 10:00 on a Sunday evening about the result. I needed an assembly that could be used in schools the next day regardless of the result.

I found a fantastic article on radio 4 about Gareth Southgate and a speech he gives to the players in the changing room before every match. In the speech, Gareth talks about what it means to be English and about Pride in the game. He also says this:

“I am the England men’s football team manager. I have a responsibility to the wider community to use my voice and so do the players. It’s their duty to interact with the public on matters such as equality, inclusivity, racial injustice, while using the power of their voices to help put debates on the table; to raise awareness and educate.”

A Head teacher contacted me after using this assembly to say it visibly lifted the children on Monday morning after they came in despondent and disappointed because of the result. That was exactly the response I hope for. This assembly became the third most viewed of the ten years.

3 – General elections

The photo shows Prime Minister Theresa May standing alongside Lord Bucket Head at the count in her constituency for the general election.

General elections give us a wonderful opportunity to talk about British values and this picture from 2017 says it all. It’s a perfect vehicle to get children discussing democracy and how it works.

The assembly also referenced Mr Fish Finger who stood in Westmorland and Lonsdale. Questions to consider included:

37,469 more people voted for Theresa May than voted for Lord Buckethead; why?

Do you think Lord Buckethead and Mr Fishfinger wanted to win?

Why do you think Mr Fishfinger and Lord Buckethead stood for election?

Some people voted for either Mr Fishfinger or Lord Buckethead. Did their votes count? Why?

Should Lord Buckethead and Mr Fishfinger be allowed to take part in elections? What would happen if they won?

What does this story demonstrate about democracy in the UK?

Why is this about No Outsiders?

4 – Fish and Chips

The photo shows Gary Lineker in a cafe tucking in to a plate of fish and chips.

When the horrific violence against refugees erupted last summer in Southport and across the country, I published assemblies for schools to use when they returned in September. In the autumn term 2024 I was invited by a school in Southport to deliver No Outsiders training to their staff. Five other local schools joined the training and the local police also came.

This assembly was a direct response to any voices arguing refugees are not welcome, by making clear how England has benefitted from refugees. In a short video, Gary Lineker celebrates National Fish and Chip day, by asking where all the food on his plate originates.

I recently asked the Head Teacher of the school where I delivered training to reflect on the impact of that training a year later and here is his response:

“The No Outsiders programme has had a huge impact at our school. The assemblies are fresh, relevant and provide wonderful opportunities for interactive assemblies that cover vital issues. In addition, the units of work for classrooms provide a depth of discussion that has really improved provision at our school. The programme has been embraced by the whole school community and is one of the most positive things we have undertaken in the last few years.”

5 – Start of a school year

The photo shows a sky dive formation involving 113 people making a flower shape in the sky.

The most re-used assembly of the last ten years has placed this one as the second most viewed overall. It’s perfect for the first assembly of a new school year. I find small ways to update it every time I repost, but the essence remains the same. It uses a photo of a world record flower formation skydive performed by an international crew and asks what is the impact when people of different nationality, gender, religion etc work together. Why don’t all the black sky divers stay together, and the white sky divers stay together? The flower formation took 13 attempts to get right; why didn’t they give up after 5?

There’s also a lone figure top left who is not part of the formation – who are they, what are they doing? What do you think people are shouting to them? My most recent update included questions about how the photo was taken- from what angle and form where? And how long would the divers have to make the formation? What can we learn from them?

https://ks1no-outsiders-assembly.blogspot.com/2024/09/start-of-school-year.html

I want to say thank you to anyone who has used a No Outsiders assembly over the last ten years and also to anyone who has got in touch to give feedback. I can’t see a time when I won’t be writing and publishing these assemblies; I think I’ll be writing them long after I am retired! The assemblies still give me joy both to write and deliver, and when things get challenging in the world outside, they give me hope. These assemblies are my way of saying “It’s going to be ok – we can get through this together. Together we are strong.”

Here’s to the next ten years. Cheers!

Signposting:

No Outsiders assemblies are published weekly free to access on the No Outsiders website www.no-outsiders.com

Andrew Moffat also sends assemblies in powerpoint form to schools on a mailing list each week. To join the free mailing list and receive the power points, contact Andrew on his school email a.moffat@excelsiormat.org

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by Hannah Wilson

Designing Neurodivergent-Friendly Classrooms: Rethinking Inclusion from the Inside Out

Written by Sana Siddiq

Sana Siddiq is an educator, coach, and creator of The Elevate Framework™, guiding schools to lead with empathy, equity, and emotional safety. Her work centres neurodivergent inclusion, systemic transformation, and holistic development—supporting educators to unlearn outdated systems and build compassionate, conscious spaces where every learner can thrive.

As the educational landscape evolves, the call for inclusive classrooms has grown louder. But inclusion, when viewed through a neurotypical lens, often amounts to little more than accommodation. True inclusion must be co-designed with, not just for, neurodivergent learners—and that demands a radical reimagining of the systems, assumptions, and environments we teach within.

A Paradigm Shift: From “Fixing the Child” to Rethinking the System

Traditional classroom models are built on industrial-era expectations of standardisation, control, and passive compliance. These models were never designed for neurodivergent minds—and expecting children with ADHD, autism, sensory sensitivities, or anxiety to thrive in such spaces without reconfiguration is not just misguided, it’s unjust.

Instead of asking: How can we make this child fit the classroom? we must ask: How can we make the classroom fit the child?

This isn’t just semantics—it’s a shift in power, responsibility, and educational ethos. Inclusion is not the work of putting ramps in place for those who can’t walk the stairs. It’s the work of redesigning the building altogether.

What Does a Neurodivergent-Friendly Classroom Actually Look Like?

Sensory-Conscious Spaces

Sensory overwhelm is one of the most commonly misunderstood barriers to learning. Yet classrooms are often visually cluttered, fluorescent-lit, noisy environments. We must move beyond tokenistic “calm corners” and instead build entire spaces that are:

Predictable in layout
Low-arousal in aesthetic (muted tones, warm lighting)
Flexible in sensory offerings (noise-cancelling headphones, wiggle stools, movement options)

Rather than viewing sensory needs as “special,” we can normalise and embed these supports universally, benefiting all learners.

Regulation as a Collective Culture

Many schools still use behaviourist models—token charts, clip systems, sanctions—that confuse dysregulation with defiance. But neuroscience tells us that the developing brain cannot access executive functioning when in fight, flight, or freeze. What a dysregulated child needs is not a consequence—it’s co-regulation.

Neurodivergent-friendly classrooms:

Teach and model regulation proactively
Offer regular body breaks, movement prompts, and access to regulation tools
Embed emotional check-ins as a non-negotiable part of the day

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

UDL isn’t about creating “special resources.” It’s a mindset that recognises there is no one-size-fits-all learner.

This means:

Offering multiple means of engagement (movement-based, visual, auditory)
Supporting alternative ways of showing knowledge (video, drawing, mind maps, voice recordings)
Designing flexible tasks from the outset, rather than retrofitting support

Agency and Autonomy as Core Pedagogy

Many neurodivergent children feel disempowered by school systems that reward obedience over authenticity. Reclaiming agency is not just empowering—it’s protective.

You might:

Involve students in co-creating classroom agreements
Offer opt-in group work, or self-paced learning tasks
Provide choices in how, where, and when work is completed

Thought Leadership: We Need a Cultural Shift, Not a Checklist

This work is not about box-ticking or surface-level strategies. It is about dismantling ableist structures baked into our educational systems.

We must move away from the deficit narrative that views neurodivergence as a problem to be solved. Instead, we need to centre neurodivergent voices, lived experience, and expertise in how classrooms are shaped. Ask yourself:

Who are our systems currently built for?
Whose needs are framed as “challenging”?
Who has to work harder just to belong?

The answers to these questions reveal more about our values than any mission statement.

Leadership Implications: Inclusion Is a Leadership Practice

School leaders must lead this shift with courage. Neurodivergent-friendly practice must be embedded into:

Curriculum design
CPD and teacher training
Safeguarding and wellbeing policies
Recruitment, voice, and governance

Inclusion cannot rest on the shoulders of one passionate SENDCo or learning support assistant. It must be championed, funded, and normalised from the top down.

In Summary

Designing neurodivergent-friendly classrooms is not about making tweaks to traditional practice. It’s about interrogating the very foundations of what we call “normal” in education. It’s about rejecting the idea that some learners are “too much,” and instead building a world that is wide enough to hold all ways of being.

Because the truth is, what works for neurodivergent children works better for all children: more agency, more flexibility, more emotional safety, more belonging.

And that’s not just inclusion—that’s transformation.

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by Hannah Wilson

How do you plan good lessons on homosexuality when resources only tell half the story? A call for proper representation in religious education textbooks

Written by Jonny Tridgell

Jonny began his career as a secondary school teacher in 2009 and has since been a head of sixth form, head of department and lead practitioner for EDI. He has also worked in teacher education as a mentor, curriculum tutor and general tutor on the University of Oxford PGCE. He completed his MSc in Education (Digital and Social Change) at Oxford in 2024. He is currently working as Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Data and Insights Officer at Jesus College, Oxford, alongside roles as a teacher, teacher educator and researcher.

Imagine you are planning a GCSE lesson on Christian beliefs about homosexuality, but you don’t feel confident about the topic. You might have a theology degree and a PGCE in religious education, but have never really studied queer theology, or maybe you are one of the many non-specialists delivering these lessons in the UK (Orchard, 2024). You’re not sure where to begin planning your lesson. Do you do a debate with the students? Perhaps you could do some textual study, but then which texts? You know that Christianity has often the basis for homophobia, but you also don’t want to suggest to your students that Christianity is prejudiced or bad. So, what do you do next?

You might look for shared resources made by a colleague or look online. You might use AI. One solution would be to use a textbook or revision guide endorsed by your exam board. Jackson et al (2010) found that many teachers used textbooks just for that and in my experience as an educator and researcher, many teachers (including me), still do. Textbooks are helpful for pitching, but also, geared as many are to exams, provide a great deal of reassurance. However, there is a risk to this, because RE textbooks in the UK tend to sanitise and essentialise Christian beliefs about homosexuality and to present these through a Eurocentric lens.

In a recent paper for The British Journal of RE (Tridgell, 2025), I found that textbooks represent Christian approaches to homosexuality in a way that has been sanitised, excising those churches that promote explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ views. These textbooks also generally excluded African Christianities and churches, portraying African Christians as recipients of aid or evangelism only, not as theologians. One reason for this might be a desire to promote community cohesion by only presenting socially acceptable or “positive” views of Christianity as real Christianity (see arguments made by Smith et al, 2018), even if this presents a view of Christianity that is false. The Eurocentric approach here is perhaps even more troubling, given the way this might exclude those whose experience of Christianity is not reflected in these textbooks.

As a gay RE teacher who studied Christian approaches to homosexuality, I can plan these lessons carefully and accurately, and I feel confident about balancing the need for academic integrity with keeping students (and myself) safe in the classroom. My years teaching about Christian attitudes to homosexuality have taught me hard lessons about framing; in my view, it is always best to treat this as a theology lesson, rather than an ethics one – that is, thoughtfully examining different Christian views across the breadth of the religion but never debating whether it is okay to be LGBTQ+ or if homophobia and transphobia are allowed. Importantly, I am not trying to criticise those who lack this confidence or this experience – I understand why someone might reach for a textbook to help plan this lesson – but I am critical of publishers who put out resources that fail to properly help with this planning. RE/RS teachers – especially those who have other specialisms – need proper support and guidance about what to teach and how to teach it. In short, RS/RE textbooks should:

Include the full range of Christian views of homosexuality, including those that advocate for conversion therapy or other forms of anti-LGBTQ+ violence
Include Christianities (both anti-LGBTQ+ churches and those that are affirming, along with those in between) from across the world, including Africa across all areas of Christian life.
Recognise the inherent “messiness” of religion, and that belonging to a denomination does not mean someone’s personal beliefs necessarily fully align with its official teachings
Frame lessons on LGBTQ+ people through theology rather than ethics; it is not safe to debate the existence of LGBTQ+ people nor is it reasonable to ask whether Christianity as a whole is homophobic; better to evaluate how a text is being used, for example, or ask why churches might have different views.

If you are the teacher I described, I would advocate caution and some reflection on whether the resource you are using really reflects the full story. If you are a textbook publisher or academic resource-maker, I hope this serves to call you in; community cohesion requires us to do epistemic justice (Fricker, 2003) to all those in our community – it is not served by pretending the world is not as it is. After all, how can we champion LGBTQ+ liberation and decolonisation if we only tell half the story?

Jonny’s article “Sanitised, essentialised and Eurocentric: an analysis of the (mis)representation of Christian beliefs about homosexuality and African Christianity in English RE textbooks” has been published Open Access here.

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by Hannah Wilson

Nurturing Student Growth

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.

As educators, we often encounter students who challenge the structures and expectations imposed upon them. These students, who may not fit neatly into standardized molds, compel us to reconsider how we approach learning and behavior. Much like many of our students, there are times when we, too, long to respond with greater patience, understanding, and freedom from ingrained patterns. The complexities, emotions, and individuality of each student are not hindrances but crucial elements of a deeper, more meaningful educational experience. It is essential for us, as educators, to defend and embrace these qualities, even in a world increasingly driven by simplification and conformity.

The Role of Schools

Our schools find themselves in a profound dilemma, and this is reflected daily in their operations. What they have lost in recent years is not only method but also mindset: the opportunity for true engagement, for respectful dialogue between teacher and learner, has in many places been replaced by a culture of acceleration. With the introduction of tablets, the human counterpart—the teacher—has been increasingly replaced by interfaces, overstimulation, and self-directed project work. Teachers recede into the background. Not because they are less important, but because the space for relational presence has eroded. And yet this is precisely what children need: a true counterpart. A voice that explains, resists, supports—and yes, sometimes confounds. A presence against which they can push and, in doing so, grow. Whether in the classroom or at home. Learning is not mere data processing. It is a dialogical process, one that requires friction, attention, and relationship. And yet, feelings continue to be perceived as disruptions rather than as language.

A Case in Point: Misophonia

Imagine this: a student, age 9, repeatedly leaves the classroom. The teacher, exasperated, records “disruptive behavior” in the class register. Classmates shake their heads. This student often weeps, quietly, in secret. The cause? The sound of chalk scraping the blackboard causes them physical pain. So does the click of pens. Months later, they are diagnosed with misophonia, a neurological condition in which the brain processes certain everyday noises as stressors, akin to danger signals. This is not a matter of upbringing, but biology. This student stands for countless children whose nervous systems function differently. Many are highly sensitive, open to stimuli, easily overwhelmed. The resulting tension often manifests physically or emotionally, not as defiance, but as a cry for help. Here lies the crux: what we so often interpret as problematic behavior is, in truth, a sign of overwhelm, not rebellion.

In our classrooms sit thousands of children like this student, for whom chalk squeaks are torment. And rather than support, they are given labels: troublemaker, dreamer, problematic child. Yet these children are not deviations, they are indicators of where the system fails.

I recall a moment that encapsulates this dilemma. During a school conference, a senior staff member said to me, “Emotions have no place here (in school).” That sentence not only reveals a deep-rooted fear of the living, but also the difficulty of defending humanity in institutional spaces. Such notions are not merely outdated; they actively obstruct progress. Not just the development of our children, but of the entire system. Because emotions are not obstacles to learning, they are the very foundation of any authentic educational relationship. Without them, we are left with administration, not education.

Supporting Sensory-Sensitive Students

Shift from labeling to listening: If a student repeatedly leaves the room, the behavior is often marked as “disruptive.” Ask instead, What is this child experiencing internally?
Identify triggers: Sounds like clicking pens or scraping chairs may be physically painful for misophonic students. Notice patterns and name them with the student, not over them.
Create safety zones: Offer quiet corners or “calm stations,”not as punishment, but as places for self-regulation and agency.
Use validating language: Say things like, “I can see this is hard for you. Let’s find a way together.” This reframes the classroom as a space of relationship, not control.
Collaborate with caregivers and professionals: Sensory processing differences are not discipline problems. While diagnosis may help, daily support begins with you.

When these realities are ignored, schools become sites of deprivation and of subtle violence. But when they are recognized, classrooms become spaces of repair.

Classrooms as Emotional Architectures

School can serve, not only as a site of academic instruction, but as an emotional architecture, a structured space where feelings are not only expressed but entangled, displaced, and ultimately transformed through relational dynamics. Some examples are:

Parent–teacher storytelling sessions where experiences of conflict or success are jointly narrated and reflected upon.
Classroom-based emotional literacy routines that help children identify and navigate inner states through language, metaphor, or ritual.
Collaborative care circles (a variation of restorative practices) that involve students, teachers, and caregivers in discussing emotional challenges without the pressure of “resolution,” but with a focus on recognition and resonance.
These are low-threshold practices that offer space for reflection and allow children to develop a sense of emotional efficacy and belonging.

The Inner Work of Resistance

In our times, it is of paramount importance to teach children something that often goes unspoken, that the most dangerous path is the one of blind conformity—of falling for vast oversimplifications, whether of a person, a problem, or a system. Children sense when truth is being reduced to something convenient. They feel it deeply, what I would call emotional negative labor which is the quiet, consuming work of learning how to navigate, fit into, or subtly subvert the unspoken rules of a family system or institutional structure. They may not articulate it, but they intuit it—these inner negotiations, the silent effort to belong without betraying the self. Unlike emotional intelligence, which thrives in open, resonant settings, negative emotional labor arises in constricted systems where feelings must be concealed, redirected, or distorted to ensure belonging or avoid conflict. It is not defiance, it is adaptation under pressure. Examples from school contexts include:

A student smiles and nods, but never speaks in class, afraid their real questions might be “too much.”
A child forces themselves to endure loud group work although their nervous system feels overwhelmed, then withdraws for hours afterward.
A teen, praised for being “easygoing,” has learned to suppress discomfort because previous complaints were labeled dramatic or disrespectful.
A sensitive learner, after weeks of masking sensory distress (e.g., from noise, lights, or proximity), begins showing “unexplained” somatic symptoms like headaches or nausea.
A student consistently performs well academically, yet feels depleted and detached, school is a stage, not a relationship.

Naming this invisible labor is the first step toward rehumanizing education. To support them, we must cultivate not obedience but discernment. We must help them understand that systems can be questioned, and that complexity is not a threat, but a form of truth.

What Children Truly Need

If we want students to engage with the world compassionately and consciously, we must create spaces where their inner lives are welcomed not in the distant future, but now. Students do not need rigid templates; they need genuine encounters. They need safety and understanding, especially within the school environment, which must be the protective space we offer in a world that is increasingly loud, fast, and uncertain. When that space feels unstable or unwelcoming, it is not the job of schools to control, but to understand. We must become places where inner life matters. Educators, as the key figures in the daily experience of students, play a central role in this transformation. Education does not begin with a set curriculum; it begins with how we listen, how we perceive students’ worlds, and how we respond to their behaviors. We must be attuned to their complexities and defend the space they need to grow authentically. What is needed is not further fine tuning of performance-based curricula, but a broader distribution of reasonable and vital behaviors that focus on equipping students with practical, adaptable behaviors that serve them in a rapidly changing world.

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by Hannah Wilson

Written by Hannah Wilson

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

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