• Publishers must be ethical leaders… now!

    The education sector is predominantly made up of white people. White teachers and senior leaders, in fact only 3% of headteachers in the country are black. The lack of diversity in education however spreads much further than the school walls: the majority of those working for exam boards, publishers, illustrators, even DfE Ministers and management are white. In addition to the work that needs to be done to bring more diverse people into these groups, , there are many organisations within education who can and should at least be ethical leaders in what they produce.

  • No time to say “we don’t have time” when it comes to diversity in literature

    Knee-jerk: “a quick reaction that does not allow you time to consider something carefully”

    When a topic or issue becomes very present in the public eye (often despite having always been of paramount importance, as is the case with genuine diversity and inclusion in education) or it begins to feel more urgent, there can be pressure to actively resist or even just to react.

  • Our educators must be equipped to effect real change

    It is unusual for challenge to be at the heart of a teacher’s reading experience, but for school library staff, this is the routine state of play. School library staff aim to build a collection to support learning and personal development; with resources not entering by ‘default’. Instead, each item has to justify its place as part of the library collection.

  • Diversity is so much more than data – we need to capture the human stories, now!

    Writing a piece exploring the opportunities inclusivity offers seemed like a pretty straightforward task. Find some stats, look at some research, read up on a few ‘experts’ and write an article littered with percentages and data…easy! 

    That is what Inclusivity has now become after all - a series of research, a plethora of experts and survey after survey churning out a load of stats, repeating the message over and over again that “We need more Diverse books”.