The rise of the ‘history month’ has made a difference in British schools for sure. Various focused months have enabled schools to find time for preparation of materials and the curriculum space to explore a limited range of important historic events and people that the ‘prescribed’ curriculum does not value. They have enabled marginalised groups to see people like themselves contributing positively to our society. They have highlighted to our pupils, I hope, that the prejudice of the past is no longer welcome in modern Britain and that we value everyone in their diversity, within the context of the law.
However, the concept of delivering work for a ‘history month’ must leave teachers in some confusion. Are we really saying that is okay to recognise that a group is marginalised by our curriculum and then to continue that marginalisation for the rest of the year. Surely, that is not what we are about in education. Central to everything we do is inclusion. The Equality Act 2010 requires that our attention to inclusion must cover the so-called identity-based protected characteristics. More recently the statutory guidance for the RSHE curriculum has clarified that LGBT representation and inclusion should not be separated out, but integrated fully across the curriculum. Well, if we can do it in RSE, what’s the problem anywhere else?
You might respond that the barriers are time and the limitations of set curriculum content. They may be challenges. However, the human cost of overlooking inclusion for LGBT pupils is writ large in their lived experiences of invisibility, hostility, bullying, prejudice and ongoing stigma. The fact is that, for all our well-intentioned laws, British LGBT young people are significantly more likely to contemplate suicide or become homeless.
In Hertfordshire many, maybe even most, schools have worked hard over the last two years to drive forward race equity across the curriculum. HFL Education’s race equality advisers have worked tirelessly to support schools with audits, gathering pupil voice, staff training and consultancy. We are proud to be leading a National Race Equity Conference on March 15th 2023, with a stellar array of speakers. I wouldn’t miss it for the world! (David Olusoga, Reni Eddo-Lodge and Jeffrey Boakye). If we can make such amazing inroads in the inclusion of Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic groups in two years, we can do it too for LGBT inclusion.
I’m not unaware or naive of the perspectives of some groups in our society who wish to challenge some of this work. However, we can all be encouraged by the recent Ofsted report that supported a school for resisting parental opposition to LGBT inclusion. If you would like support for your school on LGBT inclusion, not just for LGBT history month but for every day, any day and any pupil, please contact the wellbeing team to explore your needs, by contacting wellbeing@hfleducation.org.
Karin Hutchinson
