Who Gets to Belong in Schools? With Hannah Wilson

Host Liz Worthen speaks with leadership development and DEIB champion Hannah Wilson about the ‘B' in DEIB: belonging.

What do we really mean when we talk about belonging? Are we ready to ask the curious and tough questions about who feels a sense of belonging, who doesn’t, and why? We talk about:

• Belonging as an outcome of committing to diversity, equity and inclusion (D+E+I=B).
• Starting with the adults – do all our staff feel like they belong?
• Why you can’t talk about belonging without talking about race.
• Digging into the data and asking the difficult questions.
• Ofsted – is inclusion something you can measure?
• The positive power of grass roots organisations.

‘There’s often an assumption that people have a greater sense of safety, inclusion and belonging than they actually do. And when you begin to scratch the surface and dig into it, it can be quite confronting.’

Hannah Wilson is a leadership development consultant, DEIB strategist and facilitator, a coach and trainer. She’s director of Belonging Effect and co-founder of #DiverseEd and #WomenEd. Hannah’s latest book is A Little Guide for Teachers: Cultivating Belonging in Schools.

Liz Worthen’s career in education spans teaching, training, commissioning and programme development. Creating Value in Schools is all about sustainable working: taking care of people, planet and resources to secure better outcomes for children and communities.

• Check out recommended reads in the Creating Value in Schools bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/createvalueschools
• Join the Creating Value in Schools community: https://createvalueschools.com/subscribe/
• Belonging Effect (formerly Diverse Educators): https://www.thebelongingeffect.co.uk/
• Mission 44 Diversity in Teaching project: https://mission44.org/diversity-in-education-fund/
• WomenEd: Women Leaders in Education https://womened.com/
• BAMEed: Black, Asian and minority ethnic educators https://www.bameednetwork.com/
• More on implementing DEIB strategies in school: https://createvalueschools.com/blog/listening-to-the-community-diversity-and-inclusion-strategies-for-lasting-impact/
• More on the impact of protected characteristics on staff mental health: https://createvalueschools.com/blog/avoiding-and-addressing-staff-burnout/

00:00 Welcome and guest

00:41 Why write a book about belonging

01:55 What does belonging mean?

04:26 Consent and curiosity

05:40 Start with the adults

08.52 Three C’s: consciousness, confidence, competence

09:45 Support staff matter

13:12 Parents, power and fear

16:00 We need to talk about race

20:04 Ofsted and inclusion

23:05 Digging into the data

25:49 Intersectionality explained

28:23 Hopeful signs and resources

31:07 Reading picks and wrap

#Schools #DEIB #Inclusion #Belonging