EQuality Training

2011-05-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

Honouring Equity

Inspiring change: insights, challenges, hopes and actions

The language we use to talk about issues of equity is such an important consideration when seeking to achieve an inclusive culture. Certain words we use exemplify prejudiced thinking that is oppressive to some, and if left unchallenged can lead to discrimination without thought. Where people can articulate their thinking clearly, they will be better able to speak about inequality, and therefore avoid voicing ideas are harmful.

Raising equity is an increasing imperative for all services and needs to be talked about courageously, otherwise it will continue to be seen as an add-on dependent on goodwill. In the present world recession, the added hardship vulnerable people face can be overwhelming and the ensuing impact on their resilience may negatively affect their life chances (Children’s Well-being Report, Children’s Society 2011). Being able to choose use language that is respectful is dependant on a clear understanding of what causes inequality. Currently this understanding varies widely between people and workplaces. Some families inevitably lose out because for a number of reasons ‘provision is less effective in areas of high deprivation; and the more deprived the area, the worse the provision… the quality of universal services is the best guarantee they have of a good start in life’ (Ofsted Annual Report 2011 pg 10). Where families face growing negative attitudes, in addition to existing pressures, their entitlement to full inclusion is often denied as their needs become marginalised within mainstream service (Scope 2011). Because difference is often described in negative ways the resulting prejudice affects professional attitudes. These ‘seem to range from absolute rejection of any form of social disadvantage as unacceptable through passive acceptance (“The poor are always with us”) to the positive rejection of the possibility or desirability of equality and equity’ (Chapman and West-Burnham 2009 pg. 4).

Because language reinforces stereotypes, there is a need to think carefully about the words used within the earshot of children. For example, using a medical label when talking about a child reinforces an idea of personal deficit, this can be harmful to the relationship with the parent and ultimately the child’s self-esteem. However, hearing the perspective of people from the groups that are worst affected by cultural stereotypes can bring a different perspective on shared terminology. Particularly if those people also have expertise to share. For example interviewing a disabled person on the street gives you an unique experience, whilst interviewing a Disability Trainer will give you a theoretical perspective as they will have expertise in equality to add to the experience.

While dialogue with people from marginalised groups is essential to create new thinking, action is also needed to apply the most respectful ideas to new ways of talking about shared experience. The use of the term disablism, for example, has come from the thinking of disabled people, it helps place the problem outside the person and within shared culture. The challenge for any professional community is to find words that articulate this quite specific idea respectfully, in order to describe the negative effects of inequality. The challenge for most ethically motivated professionals will be to ‘make time to learn the new theory and research before developing social-justice-orientated materials’, activities and language (Marshall and Olivia 2006:2).

Striving towards more equitable outcomes for everyone is as much about cultural change as it is about a legal entitlement. Starting with the most vulnerable, with a duty to support those who face disadvantage currently, positive change should be desirable for all. Importantly though, the most vulnerable need to be the first beneficiaries, otherwise change may not redress disadvantage imposed on the least advantaged. Putting into place practice to raise equity comes with a duty to practice proportionate intervention or support, the argument is that the greater the level of disadvantage the greater the level of intervention that is needed to secure fair entitlement (Chapman, 2011). From this perspective, deliberately choosing to use certain terms may be a timely intervention that is effective but requires few resources as it is inspired by the desire for social justice through the practice of co-production. Where people are able to talk about fairness more confidently in daily conversations, and where they value other people’s contribution, more equal outcomes will emerge from a different culture for everybody.

How can we inspire change for honouring equity?

Vulnerable people, as we all do, need to feel a sense of belonging by contributing to our community culture ways that are meaningful to individual experience. We all benefit by exploring the vocabularies that impose division, hurt or shame challenges us all as we are all likely to be subject to ways of working that dehumanise. Where words are used to label for example, or to designate groups we feel are impoverished, the implication is that that group is to blame. More worryingly, where inequality between groups is accepted because of labelling the wider problem is ignored. Unlike positive spin, the intentional use of respectful language insures a focus the possibility of change (applicable to everyone).

In the words of the Dalai Lama "Each one of us is responsible for the whole of humankind. We need to think of each other really as brothers and sisters and to be concerned for each other’s welfare. Rather than working solely to acquire wealth, we need to do something meaningful, something directed seriously towards the welfare of humanity as a whole.".

Creating change might be practitioners deciding to not use medical labels and instead speak of what change is needed within their practice to secure the fullest entitlement of human rights. Ultimately the challenge is to work in ways that challenge inequality so that greater movement is possible towards a more equitable culture; changes to our communities in this scale is neither immediately available nor instantly achievable in the present - but maybe possible in the future.

Education for All – Where does equity fit in education and who is ‘All’?

The principle of equality has to be reinforced and extended by the practice of equity. Where equality is seen as an absolute and equal right to common dignity and parity of esteem and a full entitlement to access the benefits of society on equal terms. Equity then means every human being has a right to benefit from the outcomes of society on the basis of fairness and according to need (Chapman & West-Burnham 2009).

Professionals rarely make conscious choices that lead to exclusion, but there are systems or mechanisms that maintains dominance for certain groups. ‘It is a positive upward spiral rewarding those who match expectations and excluding those who may wish to lead differently… dismantles this cosy picture by pointing out the negative side of community’ (Lumby with Coleman, 2007, p 41). There is therefore a duty within mainstream provision such as education to ensure every child benefits equally from shared experience. As UNICEF Director Anthony Lake’s vision illustrates: “the idea that development investment must target those in greatest need. People are coming to understand equity, not only as a moral requirement but also as a practical imperative, providing the most effective way to reach the most vulnerable,” (UNICEF Focus on innovation and equity conference, 4 May 2011).

Creating change – deconstructing and reconstructing theory and practice for equity

Whilst Equality Theory is easily delivered, it is more difficult to apply it to the development vocabularies as a strategy to address equity. At the core of practice, and to maximise resources in difficult circumstance, action needs to be proactive to address the causes of inequality – not merely adjusting to the unfairness – but aiming for deeper transformation in order to create more democratic and socially just environments (Marshall and Olivia 2006:2). In other words, giving disabled people the opportunity to deliver Disability Equality training stops short of applying disability theory, employing disabled practitioners would be a fuller articulation of their ideas, the social model of disability, in order to address disablism within our organisations and services.

Exploring multiple childhoods for equity

For instance, pretending to use a wheelchair, or wearing goggles, is a poor way of finding out how disabled people live within the communities that treat the as scroungers. Therefore, intentional action taken by a professional community must also take account of real lives of people using their organisations to be effective in matching the direct needs of those accessing provision. Whilst the bigger picture may be overwhelming to some, honouring equity in context may be best understood as involving people at risk of marginalisation as partners in meaningful change. This will require actual conversation so that daily practice is changed to reflect the ebb and flow of ideas that surface with each opportunity for dialogue. Ultimately, taking the time to change our language may be the best way to change culture, and the values with our communities, as dialogue deepens a sense of belonging for potentially alienated individuals. Traditional ways of doing things can alienate without thought as inequitable practice dehumanises whole groups subject to unfair treatment. While communities are becoming both more mobile and diverse, moving away from ‘them’ and ‘us’ to a model of multiple identities for people always changing in the modern world. Theories may need to be re-evaluated to adjust, moving away from age appropriated or linear and incremental learning models towards a more holistic approach, or journey, allowing stage development to respond to context, culture and background for every learner.

Examining silence and privilege for equity
How do we ensure that people from disadvantaged groups develop an equal sense of entitlement? Unfortunately, social hierarchy will indicate which groups are likely to face less favourable conditions. Where wealth and deprivation exist cheek by jowl, an awareness of the level of local disparity is imperative in order to inform subtle reframing an appropriately focused strategy to help everyone gain autonomy with respect. The use of humour is a powerful example: teasing or laughing at others hurts "hey fish-slice!" directed repeatedly at the person with no fingers will cut deep, they may laugh once or twice, but after a few years the joke wear thin and imposes conditional pressure on the relationship. Used positively however it may help contradict self-deprecation for example when someone is feeling hopeless saying “of course you will change the world” may make the laugh and lighten the mood. Alternatively, it may be used to emphasise direction to help stimulate compassion towards those less advantaged “yes now you have all the power, but how does your friend feel?”.

In communities where there is an additional duty to concentrate effort on the most vulnerable, ethical practitioners will need to find ways of speaking lightly to help identify the particular support needed. more importantly, each will need to grow in strength in order to find in ways to help others grow in confidence, rather than exert power in ways that instil dependence.

Equity in an increasingly contested environment

Ethical activity, such as choosing respectful language, is one way in which moral principle is put into practice in the interest of all individuals, because words that are used without understanding have no meaning. With this view, ethical thinking may be best understood as an imperative to reach greater equity by applying the principle of equality of consideration, ie moving beyond the achievement of ‘same treatment’ or ‘equality of opportunity’ towards and ‘equality of interest’ where individuality is celebrated. For the practitioner this has wider implications than to provide adjustment to the phrasing within weekly planning and daily activity, it involves the questioning of ways of expressing deeply held ideas: belief, talent, luck or faith. In this sense choosing how to speak involves understanding much broader theories and ethical concepts – a strategic dimension. Furthermore, by increasingly focusing on the phrases that succeed in promoting fairness, practitioners may unlock increasing inspirational attitudes within in the culture within their organisation. In the long term this may help secure a better environment for everyone, as even where negative pressures cannot be alleviated, people may develop a spirit of resilience that helps recover from harm in ways that strengthen.

(With thanks to conversations with Alan Sloan.)

To be continued …

A Different Perspective on …

2010-11-04T03:19:00.000-07:00

A Different Perspective on …

Diversity & Capacity Development

Every worker should be entitled to a degree of freedom to participate in a variety of activities that facilitates their learning and enhances their personal growth. Foremost, the opportunity to learn from other people is vital for the development of the new skills and different ideas that create more equitable cultures. Furthermore, without social interaction there is a risk that people become isolated, and this will impact negatively on their learning and mental health. Creating a variety of opportunities for meaningful relationships can maximise individual growth leading to personal identity and shared professional knowledge. Preferably these relationships need to be bonding - across the organisation, but also bridging - with partners from different organisations (Putnam. R. 2003). It is easy to confuse access to learning activities with the need for all workers to join in. While good practice demands that preparation anticipates for diversity in order to enable access, inclusive activity should also respond to the emerging needs arising from the shared activity. In other words, Inclusive practice demands a flexible attitude that accommodates to the needs of both the individual and the group during learning activity. The issue is not about what is a right or wrong way of doing things, but about moving practice on while sharing an experience that develops greater understanding.

It is important that participation is given at least the same weight as contribution in order to ensure an ownership of knowledge that can lead to the development of professional identity. So, facilitating personal growth these days requires more than the delivery of facts. The development of individuals has a moral and social dimension, in which both facilitators and participants have a role. Each need to create a climate of mutual respect to foster the acceptance required in a tolerant society. Values, however, tend to be determined by individual preference and personal perspective. A culture that treats people fairly will therefore accept different ways of seeing things in order to allow enough flexibility for different values to be celebrated equally. Where practice is flexible, people are not expected to agree or conform to rigid ideas. Instead, people are encouraged to voice their own ideas or to respectfully challenge the existing practice that poses constraint to different beliefs.

This can start by approaching difference from a capacity perspective, and looking at contribution in a positive way. This approach also underpins personal growth and reflective practice.

Personal Capacity Development Inventory:

Gifts of the head. (Things I know something about and would enjoy talking about with others, for example: marketing, artwork, movies, birds…).

Gifts of the hands. (Things or skills I know how to do and would like to share with others, for example: carpentry, sports, cooking…).

Gifts of the heart. (things I care deeply about, for example: protection of the environment, conservation and animal survival, civic life, human rights…)

(Kreztmann & McKnight, ABCD Institute at Northwestern, 2010)

Personal capacity inventories carried out to identify people’s strengths will never harm individuals in the way other skills audits or incapacity forms can. Focusing on what people have to offer not only makes good business sense, but is also profoundly more respectful and therefore aligns with ethical commitment. Finding new ways of working may also help disrupt the systemic marginalisation caused by involuntary stereotype and prejudice.

Written for Equal Approach - http://www.equalapproach.com/

© L M Chapman – EQuality Training - 2010

2010-09-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

You are probably holding your breath, as we all are, to see what this new time of change may bring. We've noticed a drop in business since March. However we’ve put our energies to good use and have used the precious time positively. Personally, whilst the adjustment was tough, I've gained a huge amount from spending time on my my MA. Going back to school was tough, but the benefits are paying off. New insights, ideas, and understanding are bringing fresh ideas and richness to conferences and training rooms.

I was delighted that Education for Social Justice, written with John West-Burham, had a very positive review in Aspire Magazine.

"It embodies a major piece of contemporary thinking in the area of the philosophy and theory of education within the framework of its moral and social purpose."

Secondly, our work has been mentioned in government documents. The work of DCATCH was evaluated, and there were a number of comments on the role of the consultants. Proof if need be of the effectiveness of our Inclusion Quality Standards tool. Changes are noticeable in the training room too, with practitioners commenting on the difference the tool has made to their practice.

“Inclusion quality standards scheme:

The second workforce development intervention explored is an inclusion quality standards (IQS) toolkit designed for use in childcare settings looking after children over the age of five. Its aim is to encourage settings to develop a proactive approach to inclusion. Settings work through three modules, self-evaluating and improving inclusion practice, supported where necessary by one of the authority’s play workers.

… Staff in authorities interviewed during the scoping study were optimistic that intensive workforce development activity funded by DCATCH would make for a sustainable change in provision (as opposed to funding additional support for individual children, which is likely to be withdrawn after the end of the pilot).”

(see more DCATCH Evaluation)

Finally, A different perspective on Equality, our new book is a long awaited companion to our basic courses in Equality & Diversity and Disability Equality. This book is a real achievement in terms of synthesis. It is short, more of a learning tool than a text, so easier to dip into - a must for the busy practitioner. It will, we hope, provide a robust and challenging resource for many in years to come. The preview edition is available at a discount for a short time (See our website or Blurb).

" This is an excellent handbook. As a set of training resources it is carefully separated into different units: workshop tasks, political and cultural contexts, case studies. As a whole it deals with the global and institutional context of equality/inequality in a easy to understand and pro-active."

Please do keep in touch and feel free share our news with your friends and colleagues.

With all our thanks for productive days.

Have happy days

Mole

Conference - Wellbeing and Creativity.

2010-03-03T06:55:00.000-08:00

Too many children in the UK continue to fail to reach their fullest potential. We know that the gap is growing between those who thrive and those who do not. In addition, the implications of disadvantage compound and deepen over time: a disadvantaged infant is far more likely than her privileged peers to endure hardship later in life in terms of health, emotional, social and economic wellbeing. Wellbeing and creativity has always been of great concern to all those involved with children. Teachers know it promotes participation, social interaction and ultimately it gets results. However, with wider pressures arising from society, there is a fear that current pressures will affect young people negatively. In view this, and recent research, young people’s happiness needs to be taken much more seriously to enable children’s creativity. Practice already incorporates all the elements that support wellbeing. However, The Every Child Matters agenda now requires that schools be more explicit in how they address creativity and wellbeing for the benefit of each child.

Benefits individuals:

The programme helps practitioners to understand the ideas underlying recent theory, guidance and legislation. Will help practitioners develop more effectively as professionals, and will increase best practice without adding to their workload.

Benefits organisations:

The programme supports a collaborative approach to teamwork, by helping practitioners think about the development of relationship that enhance shared responsibility and cooperation within organisations and between agencies. The programme will also help professionals think about ways of evaluating impact and celebrating success.

Wellbeing and creativity: a programme overview

This conference delivers information and insights that are essential to all who work with children. What’s more, Equality Training’s renowned style of sound professionalism blended with equal helpings of challenge and fun makes for effective, enjoyable training days that achieve your objectives.

Aims

· Understand the definition of wellbeing and its impact on creativity.

· Evaluate the impact of strategies to improve wellbeing and creativity on participation and behaviour.

· Explore ways of raising aspiration through relationships, engagement and creative activity.

· Think about strategies the enhance happiness for children and adults.

· Make a positive difference to the life chances of all children in settings.

What people have said about our workshops on wellbeing and creativity:

“The day was a positive starting point, we still need to grasp the significance of our roles and potential to make a difference. I am very grateful for your energetic, intelligent and hard to hear issues.”

“It helped me understand the long-term impact of wellbeing, the importance of praising effort, and challenging our practice. I’ll be more aware of what’s important to the children I work with, not just what’s important from my perspective.”

“I gained clarity on the definitions that make up wellbeing, so I feel more comfortable in practice as a result. I have a better understanding of the issues, and I have gained confidence.”

Investing in People & The Learning Organisation

2010-02-19T07:03:00.000-08:00

It is becoming increasingly important that people’s professional development aligns with core business objectives to improve organisational performance. Therefore, there is a need to identify the learning needs and the development activities that enhance people’s performance and integrate these into the main business strategy.

In order to explain more clearly the central themes of new equalities legislation, core purpose and culture change, this report explores the relationship between the learning organisation concept and the Investors in People indicators. It should provide the reader with ideas about the changes needed and a way of achieving them within the current organisational activity. It will help define the role of the facilitator as a strategic partner in business development.
Everyone can make a positive contribution to their organisation, by improving their own and their teams performance, therefore enhancing people’s learning experience can increase shared effectiveness in reaching organisational objectives.
Investment in people’s development needs to benefit all members of the organisation equally. Only by providing a suitable range of learning opportunities at all levels can shared capacity grow to reach joint goals effectively.

Everyone can make a positive contribution to their organisation, by improving their own and their teams performance.

Abstract:
Social change presents a challenge to all organisations, as they strive to respond to ongoing community demands by continuously improving their understanding of clients needs in order to reach their own business objectives. The complexity of factors affecting organisational culture can often feel confusing to professionals trying to reach a variety of goals while coping with the tension caused by their complexity. Learning activity, such as training or research, can facilitate an easier response to change by helping people adapt their more practice effectively, while different strategies for improvement may also contribute to key business objectives. Learning is important at all levels, and people’s career development should ideally provide with them with the skills needed to contribute to organisation, but also their own development particularly in times of high workforce mobility.
This report aims to cover the following points in order to help explain key aspects of learning:

This is a summary of a report in Learning and Development Management.

For the full report please do email eqt@btinternet.com

Why agree to speak at the Inclusion Conference?

2010-01-05T09:17:00.000-08:00

I was delighted to be asked to contribute to the Pre-School Alliance conference as I am always keen to share the ideas that make progress towards fuller inclusion possible for all children. Over the past few years I have been working with Early Years teams across the country, facilitating workshops on inclusive practice, and gaining a good idea of the changes that have been successful and the new challenges ahead. Over the past 10 years the situation has changed significantly regarding the types of changes that are enabling more children to be included fully. Unfortunately, many still face tenacious obstacles, which means practitioners now have different needs in terms of the expertise they require to remove them. As shared experience on the path towards full inclusion grows, we still need to concentrate efforts on those still at risk of being marginalised. I have seen most teams respond well to achieving the first two outcomes of Every Child Matters (Be safe and be healthy), however for many the outcomes that define wellbeing (Enjoy & Achieve, Make a positive contribution and Economic wellbeing) can be difficult to address when it comes to the most vulnerable children. It is good to remember that these outcomes are equally important to the lives of children whose life chances are threatened, but the skills required to achieve them may be of a different nature to those that protect from harm. Every child has an equal right to the opportunities that will enable them to flourish. And settings need to improve outcomes for all young people equally, by enabling practitioners to gain the skills and confidence that impact on their own wellbeing through their own learning and practice development.

;-p mole 5/1/10

Thank you to our colleagues at The Centre for Studies in Inclusive Education

2009-12-09T04:04:00.000-08:00

CSIE conference

Thank you to our colleagues at The Centre for Studies in Inclusive Education for yesterday’s conference: Is everyone welcome? Being invited and welcomed was certainly essential to our inclusion! And we do not take it for granted - thank you!

It was a much needed oasis in a turbulent world. A chance to reconnect with friends and meet new people. Possibly not as effective in the march forward on change, but hugely beneficial to our own wellbeing when engaged, as we all are, in the huge job of trying to achieving a more inclusive education for all young people.

Mel Ainscow’s presentation provided food for thought. It was very helpful to get time to think about the most pertinent challenges facing schools at the moment with the emphasis on the levers of change and therefore identifying activity most worthwhile on this issue. It gave us all an opportunity to get to grips with where our efforts could be better employed.

The CSIE’s Welcome Workbook is an exciting publication - ‘essential for anyone interested in developing inclusive provision for all young people in mainstream schools’. It is certainly appears much less daunting than the Index, which needs to reflect the complexity of the task involved. It will no doubt give people an more gentle ‘way in’ to the profound task of system change. It must be congratulated on its accessibility! I do hope it will support many organisations to tackle the first steps in the changes required.

Available from: admin@csie.org.uk.

It was fascinating hearing the Canadian perspective - a school board determined to provide flexible and inclusive institutions - without the need for any separate provision whatsoever! It can be done. Jackie and Les provided many insights into real possibility. It is reassuring to know that while far from perfect inclusive practice is an evolving reality. We heard about the leadership, the vision and the dedication of so many people. These stories from different countries prove change is achievable, the ideas must are not directly replicable without serious thought to our own context.

Our workshop on increasing practitioner confidence and expertise provided many great ideas to support the change in mindset required to enable and liberate us all to make a difference. We talked about community participation, the role of parent partnership and increasing opportunities for continuous professional development. Making inclusion more central to all aspects of educational purpose and organisational transformation.

A few questions remain for me:

Will ‘inclusion’ ever be understood as a whole community issue?
Will we be able to move beyond the ‘disability’ or marginalised groups angle which in so many cases solicits a benevolent response?
Can we keep maintaining support to vulnerable children while improving wellbeing across the board for all young people?
Will organisations be able to place ‘inclusion’ on the strategic agenda and question their core purpose: what are schools for? What is the purpose of education?
Can equity and social justice ever become important outcomes in England's materialistic and individualistic society?

Please post your views

Mole 9/12/09

More happiness in schools please!

2009-09-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

An argument for acknowledging happiness as a central educational priorities.

This document outlines ideas from recent research on wellbeing that support the need for education to provide more opportunities for understanding enjoyment and learning. It makes a case for developing children’s understanding of happiness by putting less emphasis on results, and increasing opportunities and developing the skills needed to support relationships.

Wellbeing … is indirectly but powerfully part of the educational and societal goal of dealing with the emotional and social consequences of failing and being of low status. (Fullan 2007)

Wellbeing in Education

Children’s wellbeing has always been of great concern to teachers. Appreciating the role of happiness in learning is hardly new; it promotes children’s participation, social interaction and ultimately gets results. However, with social and political pressures arising from a culture of testing and league tables, there is a fear that teaching priorities are subject to pressures that create specific stresses that affect the wellbeing of teachers, parents and children. Clearly, learning in an environment preoccupied with academic performance fuels feelings of inequality. Therefore, there is an urgent need to reconsider the principal purpose of education, and making happiness a clearer in purpose. This will also have a positive impact on success and therefore ultimately results. In other words, results are still important but not the only outcome of a more holistic and balanced learning experience.

A right to happiness

Learning is a personal experience, in which happiness is fundamental, so needs to be understood as more complex and long-term than simply pleasure or satisfaction. Having an optimistic attitude does more than make learning enjoyable, happiness literally unlocks potential, enables flexibility of thought, and allows openness to new information.

‘Schooling’, where it is still perceived as the delivery of curriculum content, imposes a homogeny on children that denies their fulfilment; the system stifles growth and inhibits flourishing by restricting options and limiting choice. A whole child approach requires a deeper understanding of learning as personal growth, it needs to be one that accepts all progress and effort as valuable. Human intelligence is far more diverse than intellectual capacity, and teaching needs to cater far more broadly than to the requirements of different learning styles or multiple intelligences.

Based on consultation, five principles underpin the Children’s Plan:

• government does not bring up children – parents do – so government needs to do more to back parents and families;

• all children have the potential to succeed and should go as far as their talents can take them;

• children and young people need to enjoy their childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult life;

• services need to be shaped by and responsive to children, young people and families, not designed around professional boundaries; and

• it is always better to prevent failure than tackle a crisis later.

Community and family - relationships make us happy

According to Diener the factors that affect our happiness fall broadly into three categories: relationships, meaning of life, and interesting activities that use our strengths. Happiness levels can increase over time with different strategies and practice, as evidence suggests the skills and behaviours that raise optimism can be learnt. Although good exam results are an indicator of life chances, the belief that they ensure happiness in the long term is far too simplistic. Long-term enjoyment comes from joint activity, in jobs that satisfy, and qualifications only increase happiness for those who can make choices that suit their strengths (Diener 2008).

Our relationships are key to our happiness, according to Diener (2008), happier people are more likely to have supportive families and more friends, and people with good relationships are more likely to be happy – essentially the two are mutually reinforcing. Furthermore, evidence shows that both introverts and extroverts have more positive feelings when they share activities with other people, as other people’s ideas challenge, broaden and entertain, this fuels creativity, diversity and increases people’s the ability to specialise.

While schools have a limited influence on children’s background and community, they have an influence on relationships, as they can provide opportunities for social interaction on all sorts of levels.

In a culture where only high performance is valued, the cost is a widening attainment gap. A target focus can organise performance, but it marginalises more deep-seated needs such as enjoyment and collaboration. On the other hand, a value based system, places emphasis on what children need to learn – relationships.

An inclusive approach is no less concerned with achievements but with all the achievements of all children and young people, and with the meaning of achievements within communities. An inclusive approach is equally concerned with learning, but instead of focusing on outcomes gives equal attention to the conditions for teaching and learning, so that the resources and relationships that support the active and sustained involvement of children, families and practitioners in education are maintained. (Ainscow, Et al. 2006, page 29)

Raising aspiration for all children

The second of the Children’s Plan principles articulates a need for educational culture to be more proactive about children’s long-term success. Working with the expectation of positive outcomes raises aspirations and develops potential, ensuring greater success for all regardless of levels of performance. In essence, if children are happy while they learn, they learn more, and they also learn about what makes them happy. Happiness also has a role in addressing inequality, as it focuses on what people value: relationships and meaningful activity; and lessens the negative impact of competition: social comparison.

In short, if learning about happiness is seen as a central aim, it guarantees a culture in which all children grow and flourish. Working in ways that support relationships, uphold values and promote engagement also insures fairer distribution of resources, as collaboration and effort are seen as primary priorities and get most attention. In these conditions every child is better off, as those who previously languished are enabled do moderately well, and those that did moderately well are enabled to flourish. The key is to create a culture that reflects the idea that every child is capable of learning and the same effort. As such, all learners have a right to learn, their differences are accommodated and their strengths and needs are respected.

A right to enjoy - Broaden-and-build

What enables young people to be happy depends on thought, but also on movement and feelings, the whole gamut of human experience. Intelligence in this sense is far broader than academic ability, and providing ways to develop all its aspects is critical to young people’s development. Enjoying a rich choice of activity, whilst in a relationship with other learners not only gives personal pleasure, but also insures long-term happiness and resilience.

Put differently, to the extent that the broaden-and-build effects of positive emotions accumulate and compound over time, positive emotions carry the capacity to transform individuals for the better, making them healthier and more socially integrated, knowledgeable, effective and resilient. In short, the theory suggests that positive emotions fuel human flourishing. Fredrickson (Huppert et al, 2005, page 231)

In this way happiness needs to be seen not as way of ‘making fun’ the acquisition of knowledge and skills but a more fundamental requirement to optimal learning. Being happy is not just pleasant, it has a greater function, it adds to the learning experience by increasing personal capacity and strength. Positive emotions give children energy and drive, a portfolio of physical, intellectual and social resources, that can be used again in the future.

Responding to learning – a personal experience

While changes in education policy continually affect teaching, it is still often understood in terms of curriculum delivery, and in many ways the learner is expected to fit the system, not the other way round. Children remain complex however, intricate organisms requiring attention for growth on many levels and an academically biased curriculum deliver to age-standardised ability denies personal preference or circumstance. Every child’s starting point differs, but due to different sensitivity and perception their personal preference will be highly diverse.

But our view of the world is not only affected by what we can perceive; it is deeply influenced by other factors, which affect what we actually do perceive: the ideas, the values and beliefs through which we frame our understanding of it.

(Ken Robinson, 2001, page 118)

Children have already had many experiences before getting to school and will already know a great deal about how they engage well, so background and family context will be essential to enable young people’s development.

“They should listen to children and young people more and use their ideas. They just listen to adults and ignore children.”

Young person - Online survey (Time to Talk DCFS 2008, page 74)

Responding to what children need is fundamental, as it creates responsibility for

learning. Enabling young people to understand their own learning needs to be clear. As learning is not simply about acquiring new information, it is about taking responsibility for seeking personal meaning. As schools are rarely free from institutional pressures, and expectations put on individuals to conform to the institution’s aim – as such delivery is still bound by professional needs. This pressure affects learner control, she rarely has a choice in what she enjoys learning, or which subjects or methods are used, or whom she learns with. The underlying direction lies in the administration, from teacher to learner, which takes responsibility away from the learner.

As each child is different and unique, the only way the system can deliver is to respond to individuality. To do this there needs to be a greater acknowledgement of the significance in developing the responsibility of the child in their learning, by addressing the inequality in the relationship between teacher and child.

The paucity of our understanding of learning is often reflected in the lack of any shared or common agreement between teachers, let alone learners, as to what the process actually involves. … [Learning] is usually judged as a product rather than a process- ‘I have learned this’.

(West-Burnham & Coates, 2005, page 34)

It is the ‘shared and common agreement’ that often is not developed between learners and teacher. All too often decisions are made without any thought as to who holds power in decision making. Without consideration to the power differential, teachers will not be able to affect change necessary to nurture responsibility for choice.

It is too easy for teachers to organise lessons in ways that suit delivery. More importantly, happiness is rarely acknowledged as the aim, it seen as peripheral to the task. Children will never be able to identify their preferences in this sense, because they are not always introduced to subjects through activities they enjoy. This means that some children end up feeling stupid, when in fact they have not found a way of engaging that suits them.

Identifying happiness as a clear aim allows for a more respectful approach to learning. If developing an understanding of happiness valued foremost, it necessitates it to be demonstrated in attitudes, knowledge and skills. Both practice and policy rarely recognise happiness as needing to be learnt, it is perceived as an emotional response not an attitude to be developed. So how can children be expected to know what makes them happy, in the absence of learning?

From an equality perspective, prioritising the development of happiness is easier than having to decide which children are more deserving learners. As according to Ainscow, trying to define ‘social exclusion’ or ‘inclusion’ is misleading, as some definitions imply that there are forms of exclusion that are not social and therefore acceptable (2006). If the purpose of education is to support young people in learning to be happy, by which criteria is exclusion then permissible – who deserves to be unhappy?

Inclusive Practice - Celebrating growth

Encouraging the conditions for happiness, schools help children develop on all levels, because positive emotions enable a greater personal resilience through the ability to consider wider perspectives and larger opportunities for diverse solutions to problems. Negative attitudes, not only create self-limiting belief, but inhibit the positive behaviours that promote knowledgeable, flexible, creative and clear thinking. The broaden-and-build approach can be applied to widening participation, which underpins the ideas in inclusive practice (Fredrickson 2005). Developing a ‘whole child’ approach rather than a ‘whole system’ approach is key to developing inclusive practice.

“To know that I live in a community that cares about each and every one of us. Better praise if you get something right.” Young person - Online survey (Time to Talk DCFS 2008, page 74)

Inclusive practice requires adding increasingly flexible delivery to existing practice, not simply adding to unsatisfactory options, but developing new strategies and transforming the system. Inclusive practice necessitates demonstrating the ‘broaden-and-build’ theory above, and requires a willingness make the changes to deliver to the needs of all young people personally. As Carol Tashie makes clear in her articulation of the double-duty now imposed on schools when seeking to implement inclusive practice:

Inclusion is: All children belonging to the schools they would attend if they were not disabled AND support provided to children, families, and colleagues so that all can be successful.

(Carol Tashie, The University of New Hampshire)

The key word here is ‘and’, inclusive practice is not about options, it is about a right to choose, and this requires effort and development. From a rights perspective inclusive practice acknowledges that all children have an entitlement to learn, which puts the onus on the delivery method to change. An inclusive perspective requires a capacity to welcome, celebrate and accommodate learner diversity irrespective of their economic, family background, level of disadvantage or ability.

Preventing failure - Positive and possible

By definition, inclusion cannot be at the expense of the needs of vulnerable children, but schools will continue to discriminate if targets and performance are overriding priorities. This does not mean that standards and achievement cease to matter; it simply means relationships, values and engagement need to come first. Evidence shows that every learner, regardless of difference or ability, can be accommodated within schools (Mason and Dearden, 2004). However, what seems to be lacking is an ability to make this atypical practice commonplace within system culture. Ultimately, inclusive practice will be different in every school, and services will respond be uniquely to every child – as standard.

Inclusive practice needs to be understood as the ongoing process of growth and review, in order to adjust and accommodate to a wider range of learners. Inclusive practice cannot happen in an organisation whose culture is static, compliant or tick box. Inclusive practice implies movement, both in terms of ideas and practice - it is about valuing the journey not the outcome. Inclusive practice recognises a need to get to know others, a call for dialogue to identify the barriers to participation. Belonging implies deeper connection; therefore effort is required to engage ever child in the group, with an eye on the family and the wider community. Crucially, belonging is owned, it cannot be given or imposed, so inclusive practice also requires a culture of shared leadership at every level of the organisation.

In Summary:

In an effort to rise to the challenge laid out in the principles of the Children’s Plan, educational practice needs to articulate more succinctly what it values, and define its purpose accordingly. If it values equality, then more needs to be done acknowledge its influence on learners’ life-chances. Learners will never feel happy in a culture that values their results over their wellbeing.

To find out more about our keynotes and programmes visit www.equalitytraining.co.uk

Inclusive practice - Success Stories

2009-09-15T01:22:00.000-07:00

Reaching the outcomes of Every Child Matters

Real Success Stories from Sandwell

Michelle - Improving Communication with Young Children

Here makaton cards are used when signalling tidy-up time / snack time etc, and are also used to make nursery rhyme boards. This greatly helped language development and facilitated the inclusion of children of different nationalities.

Improving Parental Involvement in Private Day Care Nursery

A week was set aside for parental activities, some parents took time off work in order to be involved. (Every Child Matters - government does not bring up children, parents do, so government needs to do more to back parents and families;)

Tina -Links with Special School

The setting has Inclusion Links with other settings. There is a regular exchange programme with a local Special School where groups of children and staff spend time in each other’s settings. The children meet and mix with no problems, and raise awareness with parents, who were previously unaware of the existence of the special school. Staff gain new ideas for their inclusive practice and for new activities. (Every Child Matters- children and young people need to enjoy their childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult life;)

Kerri - Links with Special School

The holiday club regularly have shared outings with the local special school to go bowling and for pizza. The children were able to mix and all got on well. The impact of this will be long-term, but we can hazard a guess at the profound changes it will bring in our communities. The relationships that these links create will no doubt enable a world where our present discrimination is not tolerated. (Every Child Matters - it is always better to prevent failure than tackle a crisis later.)

Pauline - Celebrating Diversity

In a multilingual setting, parents were involved in translating labels to go around the setting in a variety of languages, they also were asked to suggest different menus. The children and parents experienced food from a wider variety of cultures and were surprised by how much they enjoyed it. The parents continued to be more involved in the setting and awareness and appreciation of other cultures was improved for both children and parents. (Every Child Matters - services need to be shaped by and responsive to children, young people and families, not designed around professional boundaries)

Sharon - Addressing Language Barriers

Through her post Sharon has completed a basic makaton course, 1hour per week over 10 weeks. She found the course very enjoyable and easy to learn. Sharon uses this learning with children who are very young and who speak a variety of languages other than English. The children have learned the makaton very easily and can now use it to communicate with her and each other. Sharon is keen to extend her learning in makaton.

Michelle - Diversity in Staffing

Michelle explained that the recruitment policy at her setting has changed to emphasise the need for an increase in diversity amongst the staff, and that this is now reflected in their interview procedures.

Involving Male Carers

The Setting runs DUG’s days (Dads, Uncles, Grandads). These specific days are to promote the involvement of men in the setting. (Every Child Matters- children and young people need to enjoy their childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult life;)

Kerri - Improving Feedback from all Service Users

Tree leaves were given to all service users, on which comments could be written for improvements/suggestions. The leaves could be returned confidentially, staff met to look at the comments and to discuss ways that they could better meet the needs of all. This increased parent and carer participation in the Children’s Centre. (Every Child Matters - services need to be shaped by and responsive to children, young people and families, not designed around professional boundaries)

Michelle - Meeting the Needs of the Community

This setting has parent representatives for the community who are present at planning meetings. Their role is to address the needs of the community, to make suggestions for improvements, and their agreement is sought on all decisions. New practice is delivered in agreement with the representatives. (Every Child Matters - government does not bring up children, parents do, so government needs to do more to back parents and families;)

All staff are trained in Makaton and are able to use a variety of communication systems, signing, cards, etc, to ask children what they need. The key workers involve parents and have training specific for the needs of their child. This fine example of community leadership, by enabling users to decide on direction, the setting is able to raise engagement, aspiration and future success. (Every Child Matters- children and young people need to enjoy their childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult life;)

Claire - Reducing Segregation

This setting removed an internal wall partition in order to allow all age groups within the nursery to mix. This was done following consultation with parents via questionnaire. Benefits were seen for all age groups. Younger children showed improvements in behaviour and language acquisition, older children played more and showed their caring sides. The development of acceptations is at the very heart of inclusive practice, this action has a direct effect on the way young children are received as they move up the school. The caring attitudes of older peers will no doubt translate into a culture of belonging in years to come. (Every Child Matters - it is always better to prevent failure than tackle a crisis later.)

Enjoy innovation with EQuality Training

More ideas will be posted soon……

A path to success - Equality & Diversity Update training

2009-09-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

This advanced training session is a powerful day for people who have covered the Equality & Diversity basics but wish to go further in embedding inclusive practice within their roles. The second in a 3 day programme, Equality & Diversity Update training, looks at securing greater equity through strategies that support whole organisations. The wellbeing angle in this training provides a route to excellence, whilst minimising the damaging effects of a ‘target’ culture.

Understanding Equality & Diversity is the first step in securing the first 2 outcomes of Every Child Matters - Be healthy and Be safe. Improvement can help towards assimilation, and integration, but only some basic needs can be addressed within the constraints of present organisation. To flourish in a thriving community people need to understand the more challenging ideas linked to a profound shift in culture. Practice change needs to happen in a way that sees innovation and transformation take place at the heart of organisation.

Update training explores equality on a profound level, in way that helps whole groups achieve greater wellbeing for all participants. It looks at achieving the changes that make a difference in terms of the next 3 outcomes, Enjoy & Achieve, Make a Positive Contribution and Achieve Economic Wellbeing. Understanding the need to secure equity is pivotal in view of any proactive duty. Here participant will discover the need to develop strategies that increase expectation and raise aspiration, as these are key to increasing life chances.

Beginning with a review of the core ideas supporting inclusive practice from a wellbeing perspective. Participants are then invited to share the strategies they have implemented and explain the benefits these bring to children, parents and carers across whole communities (Published soon @ http://equalitytraining.blogspot.com/). Inequality is then defined, in terms of the negative factors affecting wellbeing, and participants are given the opportunity to explore these in depth from their own perspective. Wellbeing theory is then outlined, identifying the factors that promote wellbeing, with a summary of current research and findings. To draw it all together, happiness in defined because of its pivotal role in supporting young people’s learning and development, in order to support the development of community action.

Participants are invited to then attend the last in this 3 day programme – shared leadership and community participation.

Please do get in touch if you would like any more information regarding our training.

2009-08-22T02:26:00.000-07:00

Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité!

Putting (French) values into practice

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argues that the real secret of success turns out to be surprisingly simple, it hinges on in people’s life stories and particularly the culture they belong to. At the heart of recent educational dialogue is a need to value individual learning journeys by personalizing teaching methods through more inclusive practice. It was particularly pertinent to me, as a French woman, to look at how values translate into practice in the context of French teaching. I lived in France until I was 12, and have always believed that my culture has had a huge influence on my own ideas. To write a paper on teaching French in an inclusive way was an ideal opportunity to explore these issues, and in a very real way exemplified the tension between personal and public thought and action.

Loosely based on the themes of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, I developed my ideas to explore the links between the purpose and belief that underpin French culture and inclusion. Firstly, I defined inclusive practice to provide a background to educational change from a French perspective. This also helped to strengthen an argument for developing teaching methods that do more to reflect the cultural ideas expressed through language. It also meant I could address ‘social change’ throughout the document, a key idea underpinning the deeper understanding in the evolution of inclusive practice. From the language development perspective, being able to share ideas with others needs an awareness of social context, it needs more that the skills associated with the acquisition of words. Therefore, each section, Citoyenneté, Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, and Happiness are broad themes used to explore specific aspects of French culture that illustrate ideas behind a national search for equality and social change. Ending on happiness gave me a chance to look at social issues dealt with through addressing educational purpose: the need to continually re-evaluate practice in order to insure it delivers to learner’s contemporary requirements.

;-p

Divisions within the whole

2009-07-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

Division - a major cause of exclusion

In a rigid hierarchical system, such as education, organisation directly affects the wellbeing, and therefore learning, of all young people. Organising teaching in a way that is uniform and takes little account of personal uniqueness puts pressure on participants to conform. In the way they are run, schools often imposes an uniformity that does not exist, and create an order that impacts negatively on self image and self esteem. It is their perception of their relative place within the hierarchy that creates stress for many students.

If we keep pursuing standards that do not help achieve happiness in the long-term - we need to ask ourselves why on a deeper level. As Ken Robinson states, the ideological question here is whether our delivery of education is fit for purpose. If by aiming for results than do not ultimately contribute to personal growth we are harming young people, then bigger questions have to be asked. If successive and incremental changes only deepen inequality and add stress, then we are making the problem worse.

How can we make sure that every young person is equally valued as learner and ultimately given what they actually need for a fulfilling life. By introducing wholeness as a key, we get a representation of connection that will challenge the division imposed by the hierarchy discussed above. Wholeness has become a predominant theme across a wide number of areas, and there is little doubt that this is as a response to the fragmentation of human relationships imposed by an increasingly specialised workforce in a highly mobile world. Wholeness and the spirit of connection is also an easy way of conceptualising belonging.

Basically, we all belong and contribute to one world, and the imposed relative value and merit learnt at school has little place in a highly dynamic society. Our contribution to the community, our families and our jobs, are being redefined on a daily basis. The old social stratification no longer determines who will succeed or how they will do it. At the end of the day, pursuing what truly makes our close ones happy will have a much bigger bearing on how much we enjoy our lives.

;-p

Small thoughts on Inclusive Practice in Learning, Teaching and Assessment

2009-07-03T06:23:00.000-07:00

In the Guardian a couple of weeks ago there was a piece - The Quest for equality - that usefully summarises many of the key ideas discussed in the workshops delivered to Bradford University recently on the topic of Inclusive Culture.

The first is the idea 'importance of directly involving disabled people in the development of policy and service provision' - something all marginalised groups feel strongly about - the ability of organinisations and their members to accept leadership from 'minority' groups on a variety of mainstream issues.
'The benefit to society as a whole', Inclusion is fundamentally about improving community life for all, adressing discrimination leads to healthier societies.
Also, regarding the public sector duty: ' The duty is seen as key to a fairer world because of the size and influence of the sector'.

Which brings us back to the question around the personalisation agenda , and whether it will genuinely offer people more control?

There was also a piece about ofsted inspectors being asked to consider outcomes for disabled children, under new recomendations...

;-p

What do we want? Equity! When do we want it…

2009-07-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

“What do you want?” Is an oppressive question that is often asked in a huffy tone by those who have benefited from the privilege and opportunity that enables powerful position. It often is implied that all effort is equally rewarded and opportunities are open to all. However, this is not the case, for some hard work is rewarded, while others need to work harder to reach the same position.

This week Stuart Rose was quoted on Simply Business:

Women in the workplace “have more equality than they can ever deal with” according to controversial Marks and Spencer chairman Stuart Rose. He asks: “What is it you haven’t got?” (http://ow.ly/alrM)

Answer: EQUITY

Mr Rose seems to have misunderstood equality entirely – it cannot be given. It is owned and threatened in a culture that systematically discriminates against certain groups. Women are equal! But they do not get treated equally, and often face limited opportunity – therefore their progress comes at a higher price. It is this lack of equity that is rarely understood. Stuart Rose - please acknowledge your privilege!

Women do and will achieve success in the workplace; unfortunately it is often at greater cost than their male peers. The effort needed to reach more senior positions involves working much harder. The time/effort required therefore often means having to make difficult decisions: giving up family time, leisure interests or personal growth opportunities.

Despite this heavy price women on average earn 17% less than men, and the gap is growing. While some argue that it is because of the career choice women make. Many would counter that choice is rare and ‘restricted option’ is a fairer description of the situation.

When addressing sexism specifically social stereotypes of women as carers and homemakers add to the problem. It is assumed that the full time work of running a home is the responsibility of women, who can somehow fit it around employment hours. This work is on occasion appreciated more when the roles are reversed - men then marvel at the hard work done by house-husbands! (I do wonder if such praise given to their own wives?)

The point is women deserve equity. We do not want what someone else has, we want the opportunity of fulfilling our own potential, to be successful on our terms.

Equal reward for equal effort!

When? ….. Now!

mole ;-p