Editorial

Issue 32 begins on a distressing and truly heartbreaking note. Primary teacher, Sabina Nessa, from Rushey Green Primary school was found brutally murdered in Cator Park, Kidbrooke, London last month. Our sincere condolences go to her family, colleagues and children of her year 1 class.

The awful news about one of our primary school teachers is a painful reminder that misogyny and sexism are still widespread issues in modern society. The BBC reported that the Femicide census (1) calculated that across the UK, 1,425 women were killed by men in the 10 years to 2018. There are two words to ponder: misogyny and femicide; and it is worth considering what this means for those of us involved in education.

According to gov.uk in 2019, women comprise 76% of all teachers in state-funded schools (2). It is not simply a case of addressing sexist and misogynist issues in the classroom by asking the remaining 24% of male teachers to play their part. In her powerful book ‘Everyday Sexism’, Laura Bates declares that sexism can be tackled by being ‘about people vs prejudice’(3). Perhaps this invites all members of a school community to deal with low level micro-aggressions, overt and covert misbehaviour, producing a sexism/misogyny policy. Misogynistic attitudes, beliefs, behaviour and direct action produces fear, possibly a fear that some may not understand, but needs rooting out of society.

This issue aims to look at varying aspects of inclusion. As I pen this editorial, Black History Month began in October, and some have been questioning whether that is truly inclusive. This year the University of Greenwich launched ‘Black History 365’ to change the narrative in recognition that Black history should not start and stop in Black history month alone. The rationale being that Black history is more than just a month of engagement and should take place 365 days a year (4).

The argument for all round inclusion is allied to the idea that barriers should be removed, an example being societal attitudes. Do we see ‘other groups’ to be brought into our consciousness once a month or on certain days set aside for ‘celebrating’? I have no doubt that schools are promoting excellent examples of inclusivity and would welcome examples of such in future articles for publication.

Do military families only get a feature in November, English culture in April or the Holocaust in January? Perhaps inclusion could be more than a working the way through the calendar or even a reaction to national or global events. On the other hand, would asking a teacher to accept an Afghan refugee in her classroom this term necessitate her learning a few phrases of Farsi or Dari be reactionary or could pre-empting such a circumstance with an awareness of current events be good inclusive practice?

I include a poem ‘orange table’ which explores ability grouping. Is the division of children into set groups the last bastion of anti-inclusive practice or a mechanism by which ‘adaptive teaching’ (5) can be fairly achieved?

Perhaps inclusion could be more than a working the way through the calendar or even a reaction to national or global events.

Dr Robert Morgan Editor

References

(1) BBC (2021) How many violent attacks and sexual assaults on women are there? [online] https://www.bbc. co.uk/news/explainers-56365412 (see also https://www.femicidecensus.org/)

(2) Gov.uk (2021) School teacher workforce [Online] https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/workforce-and-business/workforce-diversity/school-teacher-workforce/latest

(3) Bates, L. (2014) Everyday sexism. London: Simon & Schuster.

(4) University of Greenwich (2021) Celebrating Black History 365 [Online] https://www.gre.ac.uk/articles/public-relations/celebrating-black-history-month-365

(5) DfE (2021) Core Content Framework (Adaptive Teaching (Standard 5 – ‘Adapt teaching’) https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-core-content-framework