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Education Research Seminar – 24 March 2016

 

The Education Research Centre and School of Education presented this seminar on 24th March 2016:

Shaun Dellenty, Inclusion for All and Dr Joseph Hall, University of Brighton

Gender and Sexualities Education in English Primary Schools

Shaun, who has been nominated for, and won, prestigious awards for his work, is a proudly gay Deputy Head Teacher at Alfred Salter Primary School and founder of the national LGBT+ inclusion in education project Inclusion for All. Alfred Salter Primary School is nationally recognised for its innovative approach to challenging homophobia and promoting acceptance of diversity. The underlying principle of Shaun’s work is that all children, regardless of gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, social class and religion, have the right to feel safe and to be happy and that as educationalists we have a duty to recognise and celebrate difference.

Joe conducted doctoral research in Shaun’s school (and others) and provided an overview of this research, focusing in particular on how children respond to gender and sexualities education in the context of everyday school life. This study provides the first comprehensive overview of gender and sexualities education in the UK, from its inception to its reception, and highlights the possibilities – as well as the limitations – of neoliberal equalities programmes based around anti-homophobia and anti-bullying.

Shaun Dellenty is Deputy Head Teacher at Alfred Salter Primary School (London) and founder of Inclusion for All (http://www.inclusionforall.co.uk/).

Joe Hall is a lecturer in the School of Environment and Technology, University of Brighton and Assistant Editor for the Children’s Geographies journal. He completed his ESRC-funded Ph.D. in Human Geography at the University of Hull in 2015.

This was a well-attended seminar reaching a wide audience.