It was a real shock when I discovered I'd got the top spot on
the Pink List. I wholeheartedly accept it as recognition of all the
tireless work teachers do in schools up and down the country to
implement diversity work into the curriculum to change hearts and
minds. It feels wonderful that recognition has been given to those
of us who work at grassroots level and are fighting every day in
classrooms and schools to achieve equality and change outdated
opinions. It was exceptionally emotional to find out that it was my
students who had voted and thanked me for making their lives so
much easier in school.
I think the momentum has been building over the last year since
I opened my school as a Diversity Training Centre for Teachers in
September 2010, it stirred up a significant amount of media
attention and then was recognised by Ofsted as a centre of best
practice for successfully challenging homophobic bullying.
These acknowledgements have reinforced my total belief in what I
do in that it is a) needed, b) recognised and c) is changing staff
and students' lives. I have been building, developing, refining and
experimenting with this initiative since 2005, consistently trying
to find the best and most positive ways in which to change opinion
effectively. I am at a point where I feel confident in my approach
and now need more headteachers to bring it to the forefront of
their agendas.
I am very keen to dispel the myth that LGBT inclusion in the
curriculum causes more work for teachers, in fact what I found was
that the LGBT content was already there, we were just not
emphasising the "LGBTness" of our projects. For instance the
Humanities department were studying the treatment of the Jewish
people in the prisoner of war camps, so we extended the project to
include the treatment of LGBT people. The Music department were
performing the songs of Joan Armatrading but not highlighting the
fact she was a black lesbian singer/songwriter. Art were already
studying Keith Haring, Grayson Perry and Frida Kahlo, who all fit
perfectly in to our LGBT history month model each February.
My method is not to confront students with LGBT issues but to
seep LGBT people into their consciousness through inclusive lesson
plans along with simply giving young people the facts. For instance
I explain what the words Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
mean along with explaining the laws. Another example is when I
teach my Disco unit, my starter activity is to play them a clip
from Priscilla Queen of the Dessert where the drag queens (one of
whom is transgender) sing 'I will survive' in the dessert to the
indigenous people. Tried and tested resources can be found on the
Schools Out classroom
website.
Current school and government policies give us the legal
framework for our diversity work. Many of the teachers I train feel
relief when we read these policies as they have faced adversity in
their own schools and have not been supported by their School
Leadership Team. Some teachers are being bullied by other members
of staff, some are being bullied by students. One teacher recently
told me that her Head of Year advised her against LGBT work, since
Section 28 has made it illegal! [Section 28 was repealed in
November 2003] So we have to remember lots of schools are not
progressive and have dinosaurs in them with no idea about current
policy!
The main judges of our success, of course, are our young people.
Their honesty is a marker of success. It is lovely to hear students
say that they are not going to use the word gay in the wrong
context anymore. Once the students are given an open forum to talk
about LGBT issues there is soon a plethora of hands in the air
saying 'my auntie is a lesbian!' or 'my uncle wears dresses!' We
must remember that most students have LGBT relatives and indeed
same-sex parents.
The LGBT initiative is a rolling annual program, a continuing
process and the work never stops. Already this term I had a year 7
student ask me why I had the word 'Gay' on my wall. He told me it
was dirty and that everyone hated the gays - so my reaction was to
go grab a couple of year 9 boys I had in detention to talk to him -
they did such a good job of putting him in the picture that I let
them go early! Once the new year 7 cohort are exposed to LGBT
history month in February, their opinions change
positively.
I believe the way forward is to continue on the path of liaising
with as many organisations as possible to infiltrate the education
system as a whole to make the positive changes throughout all
tiers. A fear of mine is the recent rise of free schools and
academies who are allowed an open curriculum not bound by the same
policies as our state schools.
Through hard work and demonstrating consistency all schools can
reap the benefits of happy "out" staff and "out" students who are
NOT bullied. Celebrating LGBT History Month through the curriculum
engages and educates staff, students and parents and in turn
decreases homophobic bullying statistics. It is essential that our
schools curriculum reflects the community we live in; LGBT people
are part of our community.
All schools have a duty to protect young people - so lets all
'Educate and Celebrate!'
Please get in touch for more information ellybarnes@hotmail.com
