6 minute read
A class act
Naoise McGeer-Letson (pictured) is head of art, a joint NEU rep, and making strides in LGBT+ equality issues in her workplace. Sarah Thompson finds out what makes her a class act.
NAOISE had no intention of becoming a teacher. Her own experience at school was not a positive one. “I hated it,” she says, “and I didn’t do very well.” But she loved art, and an ambition to work in art galleries as an education officer led her to do a PGCE.
“I knew immediately that I’d found what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” she recalls. “I absolutely loved it from the first day.”
She followed a well-trodden path into leadership, becoming an assistant head teacher. But after seven years she returned to the classroom, motivated by a desire for a better work-life balance and keen to get back to teaching. In September, she became head of art at George Green’s School in east London.
A universal language
“It’s really nice to teach lots of classes and do the fun, creative stuff, designing the curriculum again,” she says.
She has introduced an issues-based curriculum – current affairs and social topics are used as a springboard for discussion, research and creative exploration. One scheme of work on protest encourages students to think about how art has been used to inform and persuade, and looks at techniques such as printing and its use for posters and rallies.
“I talk to students about art being a vehicle for communication – a universal language,” says Naoise.
“It’s a way for people to express themselves and to understand how other people have expressed themselves throughout moments in history. We talk about the Free Derry wall in Northern Ireland and how that’s been used by different groups of people, including LGBT+ groups and Black Lives Matter, to promote equality.”
She has created an arts curriculum that is inclusive and represents the wider community, including Black, LGBT+ and disabled artists.
“Historically, art education has been very much about old dead men,” she says. “We teach about the wealth of people from different communities that make art, so that students can see it reflected in their own experience.”
Equality and diversity issues are close to Naoise’s heart. As an LGBT+ educator, she has experience of the considerable challenges it can present and says that the legacy of Section 28 (which prohibited the ‘promotion of homosexuality’) is alive and well.
“Lots of us work in schools where it is unclear what you can and can’t talk about,” she says. “In the past I’ve signed documents to say I won’t discuss my private life. It’s challenging, especially for new teachers.”
Naoise’s previous school had an emphasis on LGBT+ inclusivity, with representation on the leadership team and a Pride group for students. It gave her a clear idea what an inclusive workplace should look like and the confidence to be open about her LGBT+ status.
“I wear a rainbow lanyard and tell students I have a wife and child because I think it’s important,” she says. And it means she is visited often by students and other colleagues who need someone to talk to and, importantly, she says, “are looking for a community”.
In July, Naoise attended the TUC LGBT+ workers’ conference, an experience she describes as “the most rallying and important one I’ve had”. It was eye-opening, she says, to hear from educators working in very challenging environments.
Naoise McGeer-Letson
Do you know a class act?
Knowledge and friendships
She has since become the joint NEU rep in her school and has submitted a proposal to the senior leadership team for support systems for LGBT+ students and staff. The support of NEU LGBT+ members has been crucial, she says.
“I feel armed with the knowledge to support myself and my peers in our challenges as LGBT+ people in the workplace. I am armed with the knowledge that our fight is not in a silo but extends to our union siblings. And, importantly, I have connections and friendships that will support me when those challenges feel like a mountain.”
Senator María José Pizarro (centre) at a Labour Party conference fringe meeting PHOTO by Jess Hurd
IN Colombia, national elections have brought renewed hope for the peace process, human rights and social justice.
On 7 August, Gustavo Petro was inaugurated as the new Colombian president, the country’s first leftist head of state. The new vice-president is Francia Márquez, the first African-Colombian woman to hold the role.
President Petro will lead a coalition Government, the Historic Pact, drawn together from a broad group of progressive parties that received strong support from young people, women, ethnic minorities, trade unions and the pro-peace movement.
Immense challenges lie ahead for the new Government. Implementation of the peace agreement is a key priority; land reform and social investment are also key components of Petro’s agenda.
Justice for Colombia, established by the British trade union movement to support
Colombian election result brings renewed hope for peace
Colombian civil society, stated: “International support will be crucial to helping the new Government meet the urgent needs of the Colombian people.”
Senator María José Pizarro, president of the Women’s Commission in the Senate, met with NEU representatives during her visit to Labour Party Conference in September (pictured above).
Pakistan floods displace millions
TENS of millions of people in Pakistan are facing a humanitarian emergency following unprecedented floods.
A million homes have been devastated and 45 per cent of agricultural land has been destroyed. At the height of flooding, one third of the country was underwater. The death toll has neared 1,500, but the true loss of life will be incalculable for some time.
Prior to the floods, 23 million children in Pakistan did not go to school, and now millions more stand to lose out. According to officials, almost three million will miss at least one school term of learning.
Across the country, school infrastructure has been battered. At least 18,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed, several thousand are unsafe, and a further 5,500 have been requisitioned to house the displaced.
n NEU districts and members can provide vital solidarity by donating to Disasters Emergency Committee’s Pakistan floods appeal at dec.org.uk/appeal/pakistan-floods-appeal
22 million on brink of famine
THE Horn of Africa is facing an unprecedented humanitarian emergency with 22 million people at risk of starvation across Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya as the region experiences severe drought.
Climate change is driving extreme weather in the region, killing crops and livestock that families rely on. Access and affordability are key challenges, with prices for food and fertiliser soaring – a problem exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which has driven up food prices and diverted vital financial aid. With a fifth consecutive failed rainy season predicted from October to December, the region’s worst drought in 40 years is expected.
Globally, 345 million people are estimated to be in ‘hunger emergencies’ – defined by the UN as one step away from famine – while aid agencies warn that the target to end world hunger by 2030, endorsed by 193 countries, is more distant than ever.
n Donate to Save the Children’s East Africa hunger crisis appeal at
