Expert Led Talk - How to foster a culture of Belonging and Inclusion

Lovely. Okay. Well, welcome. We've uh

we've we've joined each other. For some

of you, it'll be your first webinar. For

some, you would have already experienced

some of our our expert webinars. So, I

just want to say a huge welcome to to

all of you. And to those currently on

your program, whether you've just

started or you're you're through your

you're almost through your your

leadership programs, a huge welcome.

Thank you for joining us. Um, I think

you're going to find today's session

really, really useful and very engaging.

And also a huge welcome to those of you

that are prospective MPQ applicants

who've just joined us today. A number of

you have expressed an interest in

completing an MPQ in the autumn. Excuse

me. So, we hope that we're able to give

you a taste of what to expect and that

you go ahead with your application. So,

welcome to you. Um just to let you know

the um session will be recorded and the

PowerPoint will be shared. So don't feel

that you need to take copious notes. You

can sit back and and enjoy. Now I'd like

to say a huge thank you to joining us

and a huge welcome to Eivelyn. Did I get

that right?

To Eivelyn Ford who is our speaker

today. So, we just had a a different a

little conversation there about the

pronunciation. Um, so Elyn's a former

head teacher. She's an ASL president, an

author, and an education consultant. So,

she comes with a wealth of experience

today. So, it's going to be really

exciting to to hear her. And she's going

to be discussing um the value of a sense

of belonging, which is an an area that I

hold dear to my heart and I'm sure many

of you do. And it's the importance that

we have as leaders to create cultures

that encourage this space for for all

all of those children and young people

that are in our schools. So today's

session is called how to foster a

culture of belonging and inclusion so

that everyone feels that they matter.

Now Elyn's going to go on to speak about

inclusion and the impact of this not

being in place. She's challenging us.

So, she gets us to really think and

reflect as leaders about our role in

designing inclusive schools and the

lifechanging gift that this can be if we

if we do actually get it right. Um

throughout there's an opportunity for us

to read your questions. So we will take

questions and comments um and pause at

different points in the webinar but also

at the end if you could please use the

Q&A box not the chat the Q&A box to

share any questions that you have um I I

will um bring those to to Elyn and and

probably not all of them so as many as

we can and and we what we'll do is we'll

we'll work in trends so we'll see the

types of questions that are coming. Um

so as I say the the slides you will get

them you'll get the recording. So please

sit back and enjoy this um presentation

today. So without any further ado I'm

going to hand over to you. Just bear

with us while we we change screen. So

I'm going to stop

sharing and allow you to bring up your

presentation.

Lovely. So just before I do that just to

say uh a warm welcome. It's really warm

out and we're here on a webinar and

thank you so much. I see there's quite a

lot of you on here. So, no pressure. Um,

but I hope that what I have to talk

about over the next 60, 70, 80 minutes,

um, that you be able to take some gems

away maybe or you may have some

provocations for yourself, some

reflections. Um, so thank you for

inviting me, Alice, and the team. Um,

I'm really looking forward to getting

into the conversation um with you all

now. So, I'm going to share my screen

and um people who've dialed in, you'll

get the slides anyway. Um, so as Alice

has said, I was a head teacher um until

the summer of 2023. um I was the

president of ASUL and then I um wrote a

book. So I will make reference to my

book throughout the presentation. Um,

and now I do lots of work in the

education space and I suppose belonging

and

inclusion is really dear to my heart

because um of my own lived experience

and some of um some of the challenges

that I see in the sector at the moment.

Um and so that's why when I was invited

to talk about it, I thought yes, this is

um this is something that I think you

know participants to um this webinar

will also get a lot out of. And so if

we're thinking about belonging

um I think it's really important to kind

of under have a have an awareness of

what the sector thinks belonging

actually is because I think it means

different things to different people.

Um, so I was really interested in what

the Secretary of State had to say about

belonging. um and she, as you can see

from the screen here, she was at um a

conference in November last year and she

highlighted the fact that um all schools

should be welcoming, engaging um and

inclusive spaces for pupils. she

highlighted that every child should feel

a sense of belonging. And I don't think

that's anything any of us can um can

argue with in terms of that real deep

sense of belonging where regardless of

your starting point, regardless of your

background, that you feel really valued

and

accepted. and I listen to the speech and

I probably like you think, "Yep, I can

definitely get behind that." But for me,

it's not just about the young people in

our in our schools, our colleges, our

trusts. For me, I will always add that

it's about the adults in the building.

that we too must feel like we belong.

Because I believe that if we feel like

we belong in an

organization, then we can bring our very

very best selves to the organization. We

we as adults feel happy. We feel safe

and that then um is distilled down to

the children in our care.

And so, Katherine Riley, she talks about

us daring to dream about this sense of

belonging, which is the next slide after

the Bridget Philipsson one. And her

definition of it is that it's a real

intense personal experience. Um, it

shapes who we are and what we bring to

an organization.

And she talks about that sense of

feeling connected and feeling safe. And

schools are busy places. Our

organizations are busy places. And

sometimes we forget to take the time to

really connect with people in the

organization, whether that be an adult

or that be a child. and she talks about

when we do have that deep sense of

belonging, our confidence grows and we

dare to dream about a future. And

so I wonder, and I'm going to pause in a

moment, but I wonder if when we look at

the next slide and we see the image on

the slide, I wonder if anybody on this

webinar has ever felt on the margins,

have ever felt like they just don't

belong. because I think that's true of

some children in our schools and I think

it's true of some adults in our schools

and I do think there are some quick wins

that we can do to make sure that the

children feel like they belong and that

the adults feel like they belong because

I know for sure I never wanted to be

that one lonely chick kind of peering

over and wanting and hoping

that somebody would include me in the

conversation. That was my reality that I

did feel sometimes on the margin. So the

sense of belonging is that deep kind of

sense of feeling safe, feeling included

and never really wanting to be on the

margins. So now that I've kind of set

the scene for you, I am going to take

you on a bit of a journey. And it's a

journey that talks to my own lived

experience. And then I'm going to offer

some some suggestions, some um optimism

and hope and tangible things that I know

you'll be able to take immediately back

to your organizations. But I wonder

Alice if there's anything in the chat or

anybody wants to um put something in

there about what belonging means to them

and that whole sense of yeah feeling on

the margins, feeling like an outsider

um isn't great and maybe what their

organizations have done to make them

feel included.

We we've got one that's come in. Not not

necessarily what's been done, but just a

lived experience. Um and and more are

coming up, but just that um notion of

being a capable, excuse me,

professional and you know, performing

well and and and doing everything that

you should, but still feeling that that

sense of not belonging. Yeah. Often due

to unintentionally comparing yourself to

others. And I think as as leaders, as

teachers, as educators, we often get

caught up in that whole wheel of

comparing ourselves to others. The whole

grading didn't help, you know, and that

sort of is still quite quite profoundly

part of the way we think even though

we're not told anymore, oh, you're an

outstanding teacher, but that sense of

comparing often makes you feel like you

just don't belong. Yeah. Yeah. And and I

and I I totally get that. and that

comparing and that you know I often hear

people say you know kind of imposter

syndrome maybe I shouldn't be here x y

and zed um so I'm kind of getting a

sense that there's some um this is

connecting with with um people on the

call okay so I was going to say that

that came up as well imposter syndrome

and then just just another one is that

the um refugee situation as well so

having children for example from the

Ukraine in your school and their

experience, you know, not just being so

culturally uh in a different space, but

having lived through an experience that

those that they're going to be sitting

next to in class can't even imagine.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I'll I'll talk

about some some things that we may want

to to think about in terms of how do we

make sure that we're doing everything

possible to kind of foster that culture

of belonging. Um if I just show you the

next slide. Um so this is a picture that

I show often when I do kind of talks um

because it really grounds me back in

this space of why I do what I do. Um,

and this is a picture of my dad, my mom,

my sisters, and I'm the um I say I'm the

cutie in in my mom's arms. Um, and my my

parents, we there's five of us all

together and they grew their marriage um

began under the cloud of um no blacks,

no Irish, no dogs. Um, and I share that

with you because when I tell you when I

take you on this little journey about my

own story, um, people often say to me,

uh, so where were your mom and dad in

all of this? And I say, you know what,

my parents were just trying to kind of,

they were trying to keep a roof over our

head. They were just doing the very,

very best that they could against a

backdrop of what they were experiencing.

Um, and and I show this picture because

what you can see in it is that we myself

and my sisters, we were well-dressed. I

think my parents look pretty sharp in

that picture. Um, and we were loved, you

know, we were fed, we were well-dressed.

Um, and they were just doing the best

that they could. This picture was taken

at Heathrow airport. Um, and you may

think that we were going off somewhere

really fancy, but but no. Um, hundreds

of years ago when I was little, um, you

could families could go to the airport

and you could go and watch the planes

take off. I don't know the age

demographics on this call, but if

there's anybody there that's kind of

nodding, you kind of you get what I'm

talking about. So, um, we couldn't

afford to go on holiday. And so my other

point is

um I grew up um and I would be now

referred to as a pupil premium student.

So um we grew up we grew up poor, you

know, we didn't have a lot of money, but

we were well-loved and my parents were

doing the very very best that they

could. And so I share this

because my experience at school told a

very interesting story. Um and there's

something about um not always assuming

that you know when a child turns up and

is you know welldressed and you know

looks well fed and hair is combed and

and and all of that like looking you

know um that we asking a question how

are you how are things really really

important and so that's the context in

which I then share my next slide with

you. I went to a um so obviously I grew

up I became a teenager my parents still

really trying just to kind of keep um

keep a roof over our heads and etc etc.

Um and I went to a very very challenging

school in Northwest London. Um it was um

it was known as a sync school. It became

a sync school where standards were

really low. it just felt like um we as

the children in the school that we

didn't matter. And so it was very easy

for me back then to jump the jump the

fence and I used to ride the number

eight bus up and down Oxford Street. It

was easy because we didn't have the

safeguarding um um kind of parameters

that we have now. There weren't those

checks and balances. Nobody did the

first day calling. And the chair on that

slide was an empty chair. And I put that

there because I was the child that

wasn't present in class. And as I've

kind of grown up and really reflected on

this, I've asked myself, did I matter?

Did I matter enough to the adults in the

building? Did I matter enough for them

whilst we didn't have first day calling

and all of that, but did I matter enough

for them to reach out to my parents and

say, "Why wasn't Evelyn in school?" And

I don't think I did matter enough. And I

don't think I did. Um and so, you know,

I'd go home and my parents would say,

"How was school?" And I said, "It was

great. It was amazing." Um but I was

jumping that fence. I wasn't there. And

so I was one of those children that left

school with no qualifications because it

was easy to jump the fence. Nobody

noticed. Oxford Street was very, very

attractive as a teenager. And so I left

school with no qualifications. And it

was only when I, you know, let's fast

forward a few years. It was only years

later once I'd had my own two children.

and I've got three girls now, but I had

two girls at the time that I realized

that I needed to do better and I needed

to go back into school, into education,

and I needed to do better for my girls.

But I also realized then that I wanted

to be a teacher. I wanted to make sure

that if I became a teacher that my

experience of that empty chair would not

be the experience of the children that I

served. And so I did a night course um

and I just I didn't know what to do

actually. So I kind of scrolled down and

I did a night course in in child care.

Um and it was then that was the first

time I saw a teacher that looked like

me. The first time I saw a lecturer who

looked like me and she said to me,

"You're going to get your GCSEs."

And so um she encouraged me to then go

and do um an access course into higher

education to get my GCSEs which I did.

Did I matter to her? I think I did. She

saw something in me which um made me

feel important. She made me feel valued.

And so I did get my

GCES and I then decided that um yes, I

was going to be a teacher and it was a

lecture on that course that said, "So

what university are you going to go to?"

And I didn't have any careers advice and

guidance. You could say, "Well, you

weren't at school." It's true, but I

didn't have the advice and guidance. And

so I was just going to go um to my local

Polly at the time. I live in North

London. and I was going to go to Middle

Sex Poly and he said to me, "You really

love history and you are really

interested in African history." And so

he said, "I'm going to take you to a

university that accepts people through

the access course." And so I mattered to

him. I mattered enough for him to take

the time to take me to Soaz. I went to

SOAZ and um I got on and I did did a

degree in African history and African

literature and I then became a teacher.

Uh fast forward I then became a history

teacher. You could say the rest is

history, but actually that's kind of

when I really um it kind of really

landed here the importance of belonging

and mattering because those two

conversations, those two teachers took

the time and I was a, you know, an adult

at the time with two children, but they

took the time to have that conversation

with me. And I wonder when you're

looking at your organizations and the

people that you interact with, the

children in your schools, do they matter

enough to you? Do they matter? Let me

just kind of move on to these two people

made me feel like I mattered, made me

feel like I belonged. And I think

there's a subtle difference between

belonging and mattering. And so on the

next slide you'll see that um I've tried

to give you a bit of a breakdown between

the difference between belonging and

mattering. Could you do the next slide

for me please?

And there's um there's somebody called

Muhammad Abdalah and he's done some

brilliant work in this space and he

poses these questions and he says think

about it this way you know do you belong

to a gym? I do. Um but does anybody know

my name at the gym? You know do the

regulars know my name? No. um we belong

to a school but are you given the

opportunities to have your ideas shape

the way that things are done and I think

that's really important you belong to a

team and for me this is the bit that

really landed with me was that when you

are absent is there a noticeable

void and so mattering is much more than

belonging to a place or a community. It

is about your significance. It's about

the significance of the young people in

your schools, colleges, trusts. And I

just um encourage you to think about

belonging and mattering in that very

subtle nuanced way because I think that

when we can do that, we begin to reframe

our thinking and we begin to

reframe maybe some of our interactions.

And so I'm just going to pause again,

Alice, just for a minute just to see if

there's any kind of initial kind of

comments or feedback on the difference

between belonging and mattering. And I'm

going to try and unblur myself.

Okay, I can't see anything coming

through yet, but I'll just give it a

moment. Um, one one thing, a couple of

things that did come up.

Um, one was just a statement rather than

a questions and it was small things not

being recognized equals not belonging.

So, it doesn't even need to be the big

things. Sometimes it's just the small

things. I think that really chimes with

what you were saying there. Um, and then

somebody else brought up Maslo's

hierarchy of needs. Yeah. And that sense

of not um fulfilling your potential. So

do you think that this this sort of

links to that understanding of those

hierarchy of needs and if so is it for

children and adults alike or are you

seeing them as two separate two separate

No I I see them as as the same really

and there's something about being given

the opportunity. It's about being given

the opportunity to flourish and being

given the opportunity to have your needs

met. And if we think about that through

the lens of an adult, let's say, um,

being given the opportunity and here we

can talk about equity as well, being

given the same opportunities in an

organization as everybody else. And I

think that that's the conversations that

we can begin to have with our line

managers, you know, whoever who, you

know, whoever um is is in charge of your

professional development, etc., etc. But

it really is about that equal

opportunity, the equity. We all have

different starting points, but actually

the conversation should be around this

is what I need and for me to feel like I

belong. I need you to hear me in terms

of my needs.

So the belonging and the mattering can

really it's it's it's really subtle.

It's really nuanced, but it is something

that I do encourage people to to think

about. And the reason for me it's really

so important, A is because of that chair

that I showed you. B is because of the

conversation with um with the two

lecturers when I was in my early kind of

time of going back into education. But

actually once I had become a a teacher

and I then realized that I wanted to

become a leader that whole um my my

interaction again with the sector didn't

really make me feel like I belong. And

so as you can see on my next

slide I I kind of share with you here

some of my experiences.

So um when I decided that I wanted to

become a senior leader as it was I

joined a program called future leaders

uh fasttrack program into headship but

you are given um a coach amazing CPD

international study tour you know it was

it was a really great program at the

time and once you've done your um your

year in a school, you then start looking

for

jobs to either become a deputy and for

some people they immediately went to

headship. Um, so like others, like my

peers, I started applying. I would go

for jobs and um, I wasn't getting them.

And I'd look around and I'd see people

in my cohort, um, people on the program

kind of getting jobs. And, you know, in

the early days, I used to think, well,

maybe I wasn't very good at interviews.

Um, but then I used then I real kind of

the same support, etc., etc. But it was

when I started getting feedback like you

can see on the screen

um after going for 18 deputy deputy head

interviews and one of the feedback um

that really kind of stuck with me and

made me feel like I didn't belong in the

sector was we're not quite sure how our

community would relate to you. And

initially

I thought I don't know what you're

talking about cuz I was so kind of like

overwhelmed by that comment. Um but then

when you sit and digest something like

that um well a that it's racist. I used

to think I unconscious bias but no

definitely kind of those racist

attitudes around yeah our community. you

you don't look like somebody who our

community could relate to and that

didn't make me feel like I belong. So

when we're thinking about feedback, if

you ever have an opportunity to be

giving feedback to colleagues, it really

is about constructive, helpful feedback

that still makes that colleague feel

like they belong in your organization.

when we're giving feedback to young

people again, how can we do it in such a

way that they still feel valued and that

they belong? I was also told to see me

as a great um deputy but never are you

going to get to headship and again I

felt on the margins let's think back to

that picture of the chick and kind of

peering over and I was that chick even

um even after school you know even after

not feeling that that I mattered to

anybody as an adult kind of seeking um a

senior post I still felt like I was on

the margins I felt like that chick Um I

did get a headship um after what 80 18

deputy head interviews. Um and here's

something about if you have any agency

in terms of recruitment or you can have

a conversation about recruitment. Having

diverse panels is really really

important. It's important not just in

terms of what um one of the panel

members might look like. It's about

their lived experience. So, it's about

class, it's about race, it's about

gender. And I can tell you that when I

went for a deputy head interview and I

walked in and there was a panel

predominantly white men, but there was

um one Asian gentleman and then there

was um there was a black uh woman um at

the other end of the table and she was a

community governor and all she did was

she looked at me and she smiled. Nobody

else smiled, but she looked at me and

she smiled. And when you're in spaces

where there's nobody that looks like

you, for somebody just to give you a bit

of eye contact and to smile, it meant

that my shoulders relaxed just a little

bit. Um, I did get the job. I didn't get

the job because um that the the lady

smiled at me, but it gave me it gave me

a boost and it gave me the confidence in

that space. And so again, if you've got

any agency at all in that space, it

really is about we're going to drive

belonging, a culture of belonging and

inclusion, we need to think about our

our recruitment strategy from advert

right through to panel interviews. what

are we doing to make sure that everybody

feels like they are included? Now you

may you may um think well maybe that's

just your experience Elyn and everybody

else is you know everybody else was

doing okay and maybe that was just you.

Um but I've done a lot of research

around um around um minority ethnic

leaders in the sector and when I was

writing my book her story I was I really

wanted to hear other voices in the

sector and so um I asked some leaders to

contribute their stories um because for

me even when I did become a headteer I

was a a leadership ship dinner. And um

after lots of twoing and throwing around

um around around a table that I'd

reserved for my for my um senior team,

lots of twoing and throwing in terms of

no, we're on this table. No, I I'd

booked that table. Um and the response

when I said I'm the head teacher of D

and the response was I'm sorry I thought

you worked here. That was another moment

of wow when you don't look like

everybody else in a room there is a

perception and so again another time

where I felt that do I really belong in

the sector when people didn't see me as

a head teacher and so I wanted to ask

some questions and so on the next slide

you can see that one of the contributors

to my book um He he talks about his

story and he also leaves some nuggets

and the nuggets that I wanted to share

with you are he said the first lesson I

learned during this experience was trust

your guts and I just think in terms of

inclusion and belonging if you ever feel

that something's not quite right firstly

I do encourage people to um to speak up

and have somebody with you Um, but if

you feel that something's not quite

right, your gut is probably telling you

that. The second lesson this person

learned was that all that glitters is

not gold. And so that attraction to a

post or a future that looks like was

going to get an assistant headship. I

was going to lead on this in this

amazing space. Quickly learned that all

that glitters is not gold. So we do our

homework around the spaces we want to be

in that we will really feel like we

belong. Um story ends on a on a on a

positive and that there are

inspirational head teachers out there

and he found somebody who demonstrates

humility to the highest degree and that

deep sense of belonging and inclusion is

something that he's fortunate enough to

find to have. And I think what stuck

with me is at the end of his um

contribution he encourages people to

find your home. And so when we are on

that career journey it's about finding

places where you do feel that you belong

and actually that you feel at home. Now

for for a number of groups that is not

always easy. That is not always easy.

And I'm just going to caveat by saying

I'm it might all sound doom and gloom

for a bit, but trust me, I'm going to

kind of boy us up a bit and we're going

to find some real nice um nuggets of

hope that that everybody can embrace and

take back to their

organizations. And um the reason why I

encourage people to find their home,

that deep sense of belonging for adults

um in a building so that you can then

better help our young people um is

because it's important for people to see

people that look like them um that have

some same kind of similarities as them.

And so on the next slide you can see um

if you come from minority ethnic

background um you your um your career

trajectory is very different to um to

our white colleagues. This research is

done by the NF

um and it shows data from applicants to

ITT right through to middle senior

headteers and beyond. And you can see

that the career trajectory is is is very

different. Um and the reason why some

group some people in this group are

leaving the profession is because they

face overt and covert racial

discrimination

uh lack of progression um and not

feeling like they're really making a

difference. Do you have the agency to

make sure that everybody feels like they

can make a difference? Do you have the

agency to work with people who can be

looking at that career progression? And

the reason why I think this is really

important is because on the next slide

you'll see that most English primary and

secondary schools have an all-white SLT.

And I think it's really important that

um our children and the adults in the

building um see people that look like

them that um that in terms of

representation that there is wider

representation across the sector. So the

work around um teachers from minority

ethnic backgrounds I think is quite

stark and I think there's um work that

we can do similarly for women. So when

we look at the work on the next slide

from the maternity paternity project we

can see that

um for for pe for women between the ages

of 30 and

39 if we can go to the next slide. Thank

you. um the women between the ages of 30

and 39, they are the largest group

leaving the profession and they put it

down to high workload, family

commitment, school culture and lifestyle

choices. And I just wonder in our

schools, in our settings, what culture

are we what culture are we fostering to

make sure that this group of women also

feel like they're included? and what are

we doing in terms of um flexible

working? And yes, I was heartened by the

recent STRB from um from the DFE when it

had a clause in there about making sure

that that schools are looking at and

have um a flexible working policy. I

think that will go a long way in really

driving that sense of inclusion and

belonging. If you weren't familiar with

these stats, I think it's worth just

kind of exploring. And the reason why I

then end with this last bit of slide in

terms of data is because when we look at

um people from a minority ethnic

background and women who um who hold um

positions I think I've put in the

footsie 350 but if you go to the next

slide it's on there that you can see

that yeah in the footsie 350 you can see

the gender distribution.

and the distribution for minority ethnic

um employees. And so we're kind of and

so what message does this send to our

children in our schools? And I just

think that kind of thread from what it

means for the children, what it means

for the adults and then what it means

for the wider world. I think there are

things that we can do better in the

sector. And so in terms of hope and

optimism, if anybody knows me, I'm a

very optimistic person. Yes, my time at

school was not great. Um my time as um

as a head teacher and a leader in the

sector wasn't always great, but I think

there are some things that we can do

quite quickly. So I'd like to um offer

you a few gifts. So on the next

slide and the next one if you can

influence change in any way I think

there is something about really

understanding belonging really knowing

about um that agency is a mindset of

possibilities you know the you know the

dare to dream the possibilities I think

there's something about our schools our

colleges our trust trust that they are a

place where relationships are key, you

know, a place where relationships have

the hopes and

aspirations. Um, and there is something

about unlocking

possibilities. Um because as it says

here and this is from the research again

from Katherine Riley and she talks about

places that kind of bring people

together but it's the leaders of the

organization who actually they set the

framework for belonging or exclusion.

It's the leaders in in an organization

that I say set the weather, set the

temperature, set the culture. And so my

first gift to you is that if you're

really interested in um place and

belonging in schools that this research

is definitely worth a read thinking

about the agency and mindset of

possibilities. It's in your gift to have

that op um to have those

conversations. My next gift to you is to

think about the curriculum.

Um, and I often champion uh on the next

slide, please. I often champion um Benny

Car in terms of the work that she's done

around a diverse curriculum. Um, for it

not to be tokenistic, for it not to be

posters on a wall. Yes, this month is

Pride Month, but why are we just

learning about it in a month? Why are we

not making sure that adults and children

feel included?

um 365 days of the year, every day that

they're in school. And I think my gift

to you is to think about what does your

curriculum currently look like? Whose

narratives are we are we sharing with

our children? Um and as Benny Car said,

it's about building a curriculum that

really embraces, celebrates, and

highlights and foregrounds diversity in

schools. So, we've got reading some

research. We've got thinking about your

curriculum um and looking at the work

that Benic Car does. And then I think

there's also something on the next slide

about it's a gift, but it could be an

uncomfortable gift. But I think there's

something about acknowledging our own

behaviors, acknowledging your behaviors

and biases because we all have biases.

We all do. I have biases. We all have

them. But I think there's something

about in your in your

organizations, is there an awareness

that there are likely to be

microaggressions? If we could just go

back. Thank you. Are there likely to be

microaggressions taking place? And

what's our view on those? And is there

is there a process um for somebody to be

able to speak out about what they're

experiencing? And once we've

acknowledged that we have biases, I

think that the benefits are are massive.

And as you can see there, the benefits

of tackling unconscious bias range from

all those points on the slide. In your

organization, do you have unconscious

bias training? Do you have racial

literacy training? Are you um striving

towards um becoming or are you an

anti-racist school? And I think

something like that can really make

people feel that they belong, that they

matter, and that they can find their

place in your organization. And my other

gift to you, which on the next slide may

feel slightly uncomfortable, but

actually I think it's quite grounding as

well. Where do you sit on this ally

continuum? Are you in the in the number

one box? Which that's okay if we're

there right now. We're slightly

apathetic. We got no understanding of

the issue. I don't even know what

Evelyn's talking about.

Or are you in the advocate box? Because

that's where we should all strive to be.

If we are really going to make sure our

schools are safe and that we do have

that sense of belonging, then we'll move

from apathy. Yes, it might take us a

little while and we'll get to we're more

aware um and then we actually become

active. You're well informed. You'll

read that um research that I'm sharing.

You'll look at the data and you will

um wellinformed sharing and seeking

diversity when asked and prompted.

That's great. But what I really would

love to see is that we're all moving to

becoming advocates. We are committed to

this work. We routinely and proactively

champion inclusion. And so if we think

about inclusion and we think about those

chicks and nobody wants to be on the

margins, we all want to be there. Then

actually to really foster that culture

of belonging, we will be championing

inclusion. And so on the next slide,

what you can see is this ally in

allyship in summary. And I like the

number one because that really kind of

just spells it out. Take on the struggle

as your own. And this is applicable to

all the protective characteristics.

Everybody in a building, right? That if

you can see that there is that somebody

is not feeling like they belong, take

that struggle as your own. Um, stand up

even when you feel scared. Lots of times

I've been in spaces where I'm the only

person and I think, "Oh god, I know

they're going to roll their eyes. I know

they might think, what is she talking

about? Sometimes I feel scared, but

actually if I if we don't stand up even

when we're scared, then actually we'll

never be able to drive that deep sense

of inclusion and belonging." The

allyship slides come from the NHS and I

think they're doing some good work in

this space. And so my gift to you is to

think firstly about where are you on the

continuum and then what you can do in

summary in terms of um making sure that

you definitely stay in that advocacy

box.

And so my next gift to you are just five

simple things that I think are free. We

all like a gift that is free. So here is

a gift. In your settings, do they

regularly undertake training for all

staff including governors and trust

board members? So if you're in a trust,

do we know whether everybody is having

regular diversity training in your

organizations? Are there opportunities

for your voices to be heard? And are

your opinions valued and respected? And

if they're not, then the gift is let's

raise that as an

issue. In your organizations, do people

really lead by example? holding yourself

accountable for EDIB and encouraging

others to do the same. Even when we go

back to the summary will and we think I

don't want to talk up, I'm scared. But

actually, if we can lead by example, we

can better foster that culture of

inclusion and

belonging in your

organization. Are there policies which

are known and followed by all staff? Do

you have um do you have policies that um

are easily accessible to really foster

that culture of inclusion and belonging?

What does your behavior policy look

like? What does your induction policy

look like? What does um your

communications policy look like? Because

within that, it's an opportunity to make

sure that the children and the adults

really um feel like they belong. I think

there's something around language.

There's something around the lexicon

that we use and how people like to be

referred to. And a very kind of uh quick

example around how I see

um just a a slight shift in language. We

often talk about our parents being hard

to reach. Why don't we say families

facing challenges? Because the minute we

say that our families are hard to reach,

we put them over there. And actually

that feels quite quite negative. But

actually if we have an acknowledgment

that families may be facing challenges,

then actually we're refraraming our

language and we're

refraraming how we might make people

feel. And so there are subtle things

that can be done in our organizations.

Um, yes, if you don't have that agency,

you're not in that position, it may take

some bravery. But actually, if we're

going to be an advocate that I encourage

you to be brave. And so I wonder on this

um not final but near the final slide on

the next slide because I wonder that

when we look in the mirror I wonder

whether we can say that

um we have been really intentional with

our actions because for me it is about

being intentional. I don't think it's

about being tokenistic. I don't think

it's about things being bolted on. I

think it's about it being baked in. And

it's about being intentional. And that's

important because you matter.

Individuals in your organizations

matter. The children matter. The teams

that you work within, they also matter.

And the leadership of the school, they

matter as well. And so it's whatever

level that you're at in terms of the

agency that you have. For me, if you're

really going to foster a culture of

belonging, it is about being

intentional. And so, my final gift to

you is a bookshelf. And um I like to

leave people with some books that have

really kind of influenced me or shaped

my thinking. We're probably all familiar

with Simon Synynics, who start with the

why, reminding ourselves about um why we

do what we do and how great leaders can

inspire.

We're probably most familiar with Kim

Scott's work from Radical Cander, but

she's done um some great work in this

book where she gives us the opportunity

to challenge um uh confront and

challenge biases and foster a culture of

inclusivity. Unity and Diversity is um a

great book that gives some real tangible

examples again about um Rachel McFarland

who's the author. She's done some great

work around um recruitment and I I

encourage you to have a look at that.

I've already shared with you the diverse

curriculum and of course um be remiss of

me not to just highlight my own book

there which kind of talks about my

experience. But what my book also has is

the voices of children and why it's

important for them to see people that

look like them because it makes them

feel like they belong. And so

finally, I love um looking at quotes and

things that I think really kind of pull

a session together. And as you can see

on

there, we can't really wait for change

and we can't really wait for somebody

else to make that change. Um we you are

the ones

um we've been waiting for and we are the

change that we seek. And so I encourage

you to think about the the difference

between um belonging and mattering.

thinking about what's in your what

agency do you have to make a difference

and how can we make sure that that empty

seat in the classroom well a isn't there

as much as we can I get it against the

backdrop of attendance issues but when

that person when that young child comes

back into class are we saying how are

you I missed

you or are we just saying are we just

taking the register just to make sure

that they're present So there's some

subtle things that we can do. And so

yes, on the final slide, I am always

open to conversations, always opening to

connecting with people. Um I I firmly

believe that you cannot be what you

cannot see. And so if we are going to

foster that culture of inclusion and

belonging, it's about having a diverse

workforce in the education system that

is more representative of what we now

call modern

Britain. I hope that has kind of given

you some food for thought. Um maybe

stirred a few things in you, maybe got

you thinking about your own settings. Um

and I believe that we do have time for

any reflections or questions.

Lots have been coming through. Um Elyn,

so so thank you. I mean that was just

just fantastic. I'll just ask a couple

of of um questions from from the Q&A

box. The first one, and you did touch on

this, but I think it's still worth

asking you this to see if you've got any

um more sort of indepth practical um

advice really. So this was what what

recommendations would you give to a

teacher who does not feel they belong or

matter in a setting that they fear to

speak up in? And I know that you did

talk about sometimes that is you did

feel scared but you did it anyway but

what recommendations would you give in

that situation? Yeah, you know, I would

say

that have have an ally, have somebody

that you that could that could be your

advocate, that could be there with you,

that you could share how you're feeling

with and then come up with, well, how

are we going to approach this as opposed

to how am I going to approach it? So, I

think that's really important. I think

when you go into necessary

conversations, I don't call them

challenging. I say this is the necessary

conversation we need to have. My advice

would be to script it, to really think

about what you're going to say. Get this

person, your ally, to really help you

with that. Um, and then the other thing

that I found that really kind of just

kept me going even when it was really

tricky, I had to remember that my

friends and family love me and that, you

know, this is a job at the end of the

day, right? And that when I leave that

school or wherever it is, I'm coming

home to people um who I matter to. But

then finally, and this this does take

bravery and it is not easy. It's not

easy. Um I've left two

schools without a job. Um one because my

position there became untenable, awful

for racism. Nothing was done about it.

And I just felt I don't belong here. I

don't feel safe. And it's it's not good

for your own kind of mental health and

well-being, but that that's not easy,

right? That's not easy. So that's why I

say people that love you and care about

you may not likely to be in the

organization. Get them to wrap their

arms around you. Get an ally inside. But

then if it is really really tough, think

about maybe this isn't the place for me.

Is that your home? And think back to

what the the um contributor said in my

book.

Brilliant. Thank you. That's really good

advice. Um, another question was um, h

how can we infiltrate was the word which

I thought was great. How can we

infiltrate the the mainly white male um,

middleclass SLTs?

Oh, do you know what I will share is

that

um I'm I'm doing some work with a number

of trusts actually and one of the quest

I show them the slide around all white

slts and a lot of the people I'm working

with there's 30 CEOs and there is an

acknowledgment that this is not okay and

I think that's a start right I think

it's a it's a start that Some CEOs are

acknowledging that their senior team,

their trust team is all white and that's

not okay. Um, how you infiltr infiltrate

here is

um, yeah, I don't I don't think I've got

a silver bullet, but what I will say is

that um, there are a lot of people in

this space who really want to help

others on their journey. You know,

there's there's there's there's hundreds

of me out there who if somebody said,

"Could you help me with an application?

Do you know of a school? Could I run

something by you?" There's loads of us

because of our own lived experience that

we feel that we want to help. And so I

would say find again, you know, people

that are going to be there for you, who

are going to support you. Um and like

when you get so that you can get help

with the applications, with the

interview practice, etc., etc. And then

when you do get feedback that is woeful,

just keep challenging it. Keep

challenging it because at some point

something has got to give. And you know,

if in an interview you can throw in the

the Bridget Philipsson quote around

belonging um and you know inclusion, it

kind of might make the interview panel

think oh right yeah, we need to do

something about this. It is it is it is

tricky, you know. I'm not going to deny

that. And the the data bears it out, but

there's lots of people there to help is

what I want to say. Brilliant. Thank

you. um somebody works in a

predominantly white town. Yeah. How

would you suggest promoting diversity to

the children that that are in that

context in a school who do not

experience it in their local community?

Yeah. And do you know I think that's a

great question. I get um asked it often

and I this is just my view. I think that

the work is ever more needed sometimes

in the in you know white British towns

um because if the children there might

live in a bubble and never see somebody

in a different space then actually we're

doing them a disservice. So I would go

beyond the we're going to do Black

History Month, we're going to do Pride

Month, we're going to do this month,

we're going to do that month. What I

would say is it's the golden thread in

your curriculum. It really is the golden

thread in your curriculum. That's number

one. Number two, there's something

around being

intentional with um with your

recruitment because you know if you go

on the TZ, they all look the same. They

all sound the same. There's and I in in

my book I kind of offer a great example

which Rachel Mfaran kind of came up with

which is around if we can advertise

differently we might attract differently

and so then that will change what the

young people the children are seeing in

in the town um you know all all white

all white um community but for me I

would say look at your curriculum

because that's where you're going to

start and maybe try and um move away

from the month celebrations and just

kind of weave it through throughout

throughout the year. Thank you. And you

touched on um uh recruitment there.

Another question was how do we encourage

a diverse group to apply for jobs? And

you've just said about changing the way

that you advertise. Can you give any

advice on how you change it or where

people could go to get that information

from Rachel McFarland? Yeah, so apart

from like your advert in terms of being

very intentional being very open and

transparent in the fact that we

currently do not represent if if you

don't we currently do not have a diverse

representation in our in our um

leadership team and school. So being

open about that I think is really

important. And I also say that a the TZ

is very expensive. Maybe hopefully not

the TZ is on here, but it is very

expensive. And there are I call them

like grassroots organizations that will

kind of um share your job adverts,

right? So there's diverse ed, there's

women ed, there's bay ed. Um there's

aspiring heads, there's so I'm um I'm

connected with school. We have three

networks. We have the women's network,

the LGBT plus network, the ethnic

minority network and we somebody sends

me a job happily kind of share that in

our networks which means that it's

getting more traction and um it's going

out to a more diverse kind of group of

of applicants. So, you know, I could I

could do a whole session on recruitment,

but um there's something around your

advert, but then there's something about

when I come and visit your school,

there's something about that panel when

I walk in, is it going to be a panel of

all white men? That's not going to make

a woman feel feel great, you know? It's

not going to make somebody from minority

ethnic background feel great. So, it's

being really intentional about making

sure you're doing everything that you

can to um to drive that sense of

inclusion. Brilliant. Thank you. Um this

question, the help and support you're

talking about um should it be there for

everyone regardless of ethnicity and

age?

Yeah, great question actually. Um yes, I

I I think help should be there for

everyone. I would say however that when

you look at the data that I showed in

terms of ethnic minority teachers and

leaders in the sector they are clearly

not getting help. So it's an equity

issue there. So um when you see that

marginalized groups are not getting the

help or they're not getting the

opportunities then I think it's

incumbent upon us to so so to do more

because everybody's starting points will

be different. The experience of a white

man going for an interview is very

different to a black man going for an

interview. Um, and I think only if

you've been in that black man's shoes

might you kind of understand some of the

subtle um the subtle differences that

there are. But I am definitely open for

everybody having opportunities in terms

of their career, the support that

everybody needs. But I'm very mindful of

equity.

Yeah. And I I think that's the key thing

there, isn't it? Equity versus equality.

It's not about the same for everyone.

Yeah. Um this is another interesting

one. Since I came from an Asian

background school which focuses more on

an intellectual quality rather than

emotional quality, how do I bring in

more of a sense of belonging into my

school setting?

Ah um wow. Can you just read that

question for me again? So when the since

I come from an Asian background

which focuses more on intellectual okay

yeah quality rather than

emotional how do I bring in more of a

sense of belonging yeah the setting yeah

I would say if you have any agency in

this space or the conversations that

we're having around it is that when we

look at the world

today and I think the world's kind of

turned upside down it's a bit bonkers

right that actually having the kind of

that academic focus and you know

everything that's going on in

curriculum, teaching and learning that's

all great but what our young people need

they also need kind of that awareness of

what's happening in the wider world and

I think you know if and if you're

primary secondary whatever but you know

opportunities through PSHE opportunities

through tutor time opportunities through

celebration ations. So there is that

kind of real sense of of belonging um

for for all communities in a school. But

I think there is a strong argument

particularly in today's world that

actually yes yes we have you know head

teachers and and teachers leaders you

know you've got the curriculum you know

you've got the exams at the end and so

on so forth but I I just think the

world's changing a bit and actually we

need young people to um to have that

real awareness of the world that we live

in be able to articulate that in a way

you those real you know skills around

compassion and empathy and so I think um

there is an argument for why that is so

important and then so if you've got the

argument for the why and then go to your

senior leaders well I think we can do it

here I think we could do it in PSH I

think we could do it when we're looking

at celebrations I think we can do it in

tutor time and just begin to sprinkle

that different fairy dust

that is different to what is already

there. Brilliant. Thank you. One last

one, I think, and then we're going to

start to wrap up. Um, and I'll read it

verbatim. Brown girl been working at her

mainstream school since 2018. Fought to

get her ECT year done, still on a

fixedterm contract on M4, teaching um

pupils mainly with SEND, which is a very

important role. What does she do to get

a permanent contract?

I would ask a question back but I will

try and give some answers though is that

your home is a question right if you've

been fighting and the word fighting or

you know trying to get a permanent

contract is that your home because when

you're working in a place where the

culture is remember the dare to dream

the opportunities if we're working in a

setting where those opportunities are

there and the culture is very much about

um you matter in this organization. We

really we're delighted that you're here.

That contract should have been signed

months ago. Is it your home? And if if

you do feel it's your home, then

actually um again, if you feel as a

brown as a brown girl that um you need

an ally to be with you, call upon that

person. You know, I'm I'm all into

scripting and writing things down so

that I don't miss a beat in terms of

when I'm trying to make a difference um

or trying to ask for something. So I

think there's something around um being

prepared for those meetings as to why

that contract should be signed. Know

your worth. Okay, you are worth the

signed contract. You know, you've been

there a while. You've done a great job

for those young people. You know, know

your worth. And if the push back is a

well, we can't sign it now or this isn't

the budget's is that your home.

Fantastic answer. Thank you. We we've

got more questions coming in, but

unfortunately we we are out of time, but

we we've still got over 600 people with

us and and I know your presentation

finished and that's we don't usually

have that many holding on. So, thank you

out there, all of you that have stayed

to listen to Elyn. Just to finish off,

I'm just going to read you some of the

some of the comments that came in.

Inspirational. Your testimony moved me.

I can really relate. So relatable. Such

powerful advice. Thank you. This is

chiming with me on so many levels.

Insightful and inspiring. I mean, what

what a way to sum up your your

presentation, your your time here, and

for what you're doing was just sending

this message out there, but supporting

so many people. So, thank you so much,

Eene. I'm so glad you went from Oxford

Street, no GCSEs, to MBE. I mean, what

what an amazing journey and just just

keep doing what you're doing. Thank you

so much. Thank you. Thank you for

everybody who joined. I I know I

appreciate your time. So that that yeah

means a lot to me too. Thank you. Thank

you everybody. And um as we said from

the beginning, this is recorded and um

it will be put onto your canvas so

you'll be able to access this access

fantastic presentation. Um we'll also be

putting some prompts for discussion so

you can join or continue this discussion

between each other. there's so much

still coming in that you want to say

your reflections. So, so thank you for

being so engaged and do join the the

forum and and keep those questions,

those reflections coming. Thank you.

Thanks everybody.