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CULTURAL DIVERSITY


Managing cultural diversity in schools


T


his month, Education Today is delighted to hear from Felicia Jackson, Chair of


The Learn2Think Foundation, on the challenges our schools face managing issues of diversity and inclusion in the classrooms of modern Britain. Schools are facing an unprecedented


challenge. Both the Brexit and US election campaigns saw the demonisation of minorities and immigrants and increasingly polarised political views. School behaviours follow trends in society and the critical importance of addressing issues of diversity and inclusion is coming to a head. Miranda McKearney, OBE, who leads Empathy


Lab’s programme exploring the building of empathy through storytelling says, “Many say that curriculum demands are in danger of squeezing out social and emotional learning. Yet Public Health England research shows that social and emotional skills are more important to children’s attainment than their IQ.” A 2016 survey by the Learn2Think Foundation


found that 40 per cent of the UK’s primary school students had experienced some form of intolerance because they were different. There are programmes in place to address concerns about this, such as PREVENT, Education against Hate and the teaching of British Values but these can ignore the impact of poverty and institutional racism etc.


While most agree that there are opportunities


within these programmes to address the challenges of managing diversity, Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Citizenship Foundation warns, “The government is looking at a particular problem around extremism and radicalisation rather than looking at how to develop the well- balanced citizens that we need. The reality is that the government is not providing support in how to implement these practices.” For Shahab Adris, Yorkshire & Humber


Regional Manager at MEND, one particular area where there is little teaching support is around anti-Islamic sentiment. This is especially important since the release of the Casey Report, which has been criticised for a focus on Muslim communities and for confusing race, religion and immigration. Adris says, “Our goal is raising awareness


around Islamophobia and changing people’s view about what it means to be Muslim”. Not only does this result in a better understanding of Islam but it also helps develop a sense of belonging in Muslim students. One concrete outcome of MEND’s campaign is the #KindnessLeeds project – spreading kind words in order to tackle issues of bullying and hate – a project which any school could replicate. According to Franklin, part of the problem is


that the educational system has “a very narrow focus on a set of measures of school performance linked to academic performance and league tables.” He says, “At the Citizenship Foundation we believe the educational system should have people leaving school able to engage in democracy and feeling that they have personal agency to make a difference.” The Foundation’s Go Givers programme for primary schools helps to develop caring and concerned citizens through the development of empathy and critical thinking skills. Individual schools take a wide range of


approaches to the challenge. At North London Collegiate School, these include the teaching of what democracy means in PSHE, visits to Parliament, special assemblies on relevant issues, debating club, mock elections, children’s rights clubs and more. Mrs Newman, Head of Junior School says, “We’re lucky our students live in a


30 www.education-today.co.uk January 2017


cosmopolitan area. We have a responsibility to lead by example, teaching children to be compassionate and broad minded.” In the Junior School at NLCS one of the key


tools is the use of Learning Habits, ranging from flexibility of mind, empathy, collaboration, focus, persistence, good judgement and more. Learning Habits have a character from literature associated with them to identify the context and meaning of the terms, and the work is integrated into subject teaching so that the focus is on teaching ‘knowledge’ alongside the character trait. The school also uses ‘pop-up’ learning habits to


focus on specific issues as they arise. In November 2016 they celebrated the UN’s International Day for Tolerance with the Learn2Think Foundation and made Tolerance a pop-up learning habit. Mrs Newman says, “We took part in Tolerance Day, which was a great vehicle for promoting all kinds of thinking. We asked questions such as what’s the impact of


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