Tuesday 18th February 2020, 0900-1700

Today I was continuing my work on creating an Educational Resource to go alongside the film, “Strive To The Rhythm”. As part of this, I created an interactive map of LGBTIQ+ sportspeople in Europe.

https://maphub.net/kacaldow/high-profile-european-lgbti-sportspeople

I still have bits and pieces to fix and tweak within the resource, but today was my last day of placement with LEAP Sports Scotland. I really enjoyed my time working with all the team and have gained so much knowledge and understanding from the short time I was there.

Friday 14th February 2020, 0900-1700

Today I was assigned a task to create Educational Resources for “Strive To The Rhythm”, a documentary looking at sport for LGBTIQ+ people across Europe, with 5 different people telling the stories and sharing their experiences.

As the film has not yet been released, I cannot attached related documents, but have included my notes below. I think this film will be a real inspiration to many LGBTIQ+ people across Europe to show how they can get involved with sport, without fear of discrimination.

Wednesday 12th  February 2020, 0900-1700

Today I was completing my research around LGBTIQ+ Young People’s Experiences in Sport, to create a report which collates that research. LGBTIQ+ young people in Scotland’s experiences of PE REPORT

I also carried out more research and created notes around LGB Women’s Experiences in Sport across Europe. Experiences in Sport for LGB Women Across Europe.

I have found carrying out these research projects to be very interesting and has given me various perspectives and ideas around ways in which LGBTIQ+ inclusion can be incorporated, not just into sport, but across all aspects of the curriculum. Creating a safe and inclusive environment for young people is paramount in helping them to come to terms with their sexual orientation or gender identity, and note the importance of having someone to talk to around these issues which may occur in my practice as a Primary School Teacher.

Thursday 30th January 2020, 0900-1500

Today I continued to work on the report of LGBTIQ+ Young People’s Experiences in PE, putting it into more of a formal report format. I still have further research to carry out in certain areas, particularly around experiences of homophobia in PE and sport in general, as well as trans* young people’s experiences of PE.

LGBTIQ+ young people in Scotland’s experiences of PE REPORT

I have also been asked to collate a list of academic articles which provide information around LGB women’s experiences of sport in Europe. These will be used as part of a literature review to identify if and where there is a need for further study or research, which may then lead to a new project for LEAP Sports. Again, I have more sources to read through, I have attached my notes from the first research.

Experiences in Sport for LGB Women Across Europe

I have found taking part in this research has really widened my knowledge and understanding of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly within the context of sport. However, I have also found parts of the research upsetting as homophobia and transphobia are still very much prominent in our society and in our schools, and it will be interesting to see this change in the coming years, particularly with mandatory LGBTQ+ education coming into schools by 2021 in Scotland.

Saturday 25th January 2020, 1100-1700

Every year, LEAP Sports Scotland hosts a conference for its volunteers to celebrate the successes of last year and look forward to the year ahead.

Within LEAP Sports, there are a number of capacities which volunteers can undertake including;

⭐Events Support Volunteer – they are responsible for preparation of materials and resources, and do a lot of “behind the scenes” work when LEAP Sports sends representatives to various events.
⭐ Events Stall Volunteer – they are really the face of LEAP Sports, who are out speaking with the public and promoting the work of LEAP Sports and its partnerships at various events.
⭐Policy Volunteer – they work on support organisations, sports clubs and bodies to create or edit their inclusion policies to ensure best practice. They also carry out research to ascertain a need for funding applications, as well as carrying out literature reviews to have information and guidance available for a range of needs and requirements.
⭐ Social Media Volunteer – they attend events and promote the day through various social media platforms. They also work to raise the profile of LEAP Sports and its online presence, promoting celebrations across cultures and highlighting events.

We carried out a Human Library where we were able to discuss our own experiences of our Volunteer roles as well as listen to others and decide if that role would also be of interest.

Next, we created a tartan (as it was Burns Day) where each stripe of tartan represented what connects all volunteers. This included; dedication to the LGBTQ+ community, working to eradicating homophobia in sport, motivating and empowered, multi-agency working, to name a few.

After lunch, we carried out a team building orienteering activity in Kelvingrove Park, working together to find letters hidden around the park to spell out “volunteer”.

Afterwards, we carried out evaluations of our experiences of volunteering for LEAP Sports, discussing what works well and we enjoy, what we would like to see more of and ways we can improve in the coming year.

To conclude the conference, we had breakout sessions for either Policy or Events. I choose to go to the Policy Breakout Session as it is something I find really interesting and would like to have more awareness of how Policy work is implemented within LEAP Sports. We discussed the current policy work which LEAP Sports is currently involved in and the organisations associated with this, as well as plans for future works which require Policy Volunteers. I a, already a part of this as I have began my report on LGBTIQ+ Young People’s Experiences of PE report, which will hopefully be used as part of promoting LEAP Sports Manifesto for Inclusive Physical Education, aimed at teachers.

I found the conference to very informative and I left feeling empowered in my volunteer role and looking forward to the year ahead.

 

Monday 20th January, 0900-1700

I was assigned the following task for the day;

“I want to have a short resource that has a summary of what we know about LGBTIQ+ young people in Scotland’s experiences of PE that we can share with teachers.  I’ve attached some slides that I use but there’s nothing to hang these together. it would be great if you could research a little bit wider and see if there’s anything else that you can find (and take a look at the original sources of some of the ones on here too as I’ve been selective about the bits I pulled out).  And if you could start to draft up a short resource report that we can develop and ultimately share with teachers.”

I carried out the necessary research and created a first draft of the required report. LGBTIQ+ young people in Scotland’s experiences of PE

I found this task really interesting as I was able to take a more in-depth look at the work of various organisations who are working towards improving the lives of LGBTIQ+ people in sport. I also did some research into lives of LGBTIQ+ young people in Scotland and the UK, and though it would appear things are getting better for young people, there is clearly still a lot which can be done to ensure equal opportunities for LGBTIQ+ young people and eradicate homophobia and transphobia in our schools, sport and society as a whole.
This is the PowerPoint I used as the basis for my research: PEPAS

Below are the notes I completed as part of my research.

Monday 13th January 2020, 0900-1700

LEAP Sports Volunteer Coordinator delivered an office induction and then we discussed my workplan for placement, to assist with planning for Pride Youth Games (PYG) in August. I then carried out some research of previous PYG, as well as the venue where it will take place this year. I then created a PowerPoint presentation which outlines what is PYG and what will be happening at this year’s event to be used at Youth Groups in Scotland to encourage LGBTQ+ young people to take part (attached below). I also helped with editing the SurveyMonkey for young people to sign up for PYG.

I am really looking forward to getting more involved with Pride Youth Games, as it is clear how much the young people enjoy coming along to a weekend where they can take part in sport in a safe and inclusive environment, where they can be their true selves without worry of discrimination.

Pride Youth Games 2020

Saturday 19th October 2019, 0930-1700

This conference is a part of the Erasmus+ project and I have attached my notes from this conference, as well as the day’s timetable.

I really enjoyed this conference and was a great to share ideas and experiences from like-minded people around the world, discussing various ways that we can work with young people to provide a range of sports experiences for LGBTIQ+ young people in a safe and inclusive environment.

Charter for Inclusive PE (attached)

Gender binary as a western culture. Gender identity is an individual and internal experience, whereas gender expression is the way they show themselves (clothing/appearance)

Transgender as umbrella term whereas transsexual is when they seek surgery/medical for gender reassignment.

Gendered Sport

Stereotypes in sport – why is it male vs. female?

Sports gendered by stereotypes and societal expectations, but don’t actually make a difference in participation, gender not the factor

Idea of femininity vs. masculinity in sport

Skill & ability should be the focus, regardless of gender

⭐Look into history of women’s football – pre and post WW2

Gendering sports

encourage negative stereotypes/categorises

Can out LGBTQIA+ people

🏀 don’t take part in certain sports as assumptions made around identity

Trans & non-binary exclusion

🏀 gendered sport can align people with the wrong gender-where do they participate?

🏀 gender dysphoria – affects on mental health

🏀 if they don’t want to play with their gender, but not want to be aligned with wrong gender

🏀 outing people as trans

🏀 open up people for bullying and harassment

Uniforms

🏀 gendered uniforms cause similar issues around gender dysphoria

🏀 sexualisation of women’s sport can be very harmful – women not always taken seriously in sport

🏀 allowing up to wear what they are comfortable in can allow up to participate

What can we do.

🏀 change your language

🏀 encourage individual participation ( as the person, not the gender)

🏀 try mixing groups

Under 18s can play together in mixed teams

Make all sports accessible

Language

⭐Wanda Sykes If you don’t mean gay, don’t say gay, video thinkb4youspeak.com

🏀 use inclusive or neutral language

🏀 ask people for name and pronouns (name may be different to documentation)

🏀 stay away from all stereotyping

🏀 be aware of stereotypes and challenge them – in yourself and others

🏀 use positive affirmations – consider growth mindset

🏀 respect diversity, encourage it!

🏀 embrace and encourage inclusion – policy supported

🏀 address the inappropriate & offensive language, by providing explanations and/or sanctioning

🏀 no outing of individuals or families

Changing Rooms

🏀 Male and female changing rooms encourage heteronormativity

🏀 Encourages idea of “boys will be boys” boys cannot control themselves sexually

The Problem

Trans/non binary people

🏀don’t know where to go, or forced to use wrong changing room

🏀effects on gender dysphoria

🏀 changing in front of other people

🏀 Outing

🏀 bullying and harassment

LGB Stereotypes

🏀 being called a pervert, accused of looking at people

🏀 exclusion from same behaviour as peers

🏀 bullied, harassed and accused

🏀 yp disenfranchised and don’t want to take part

Inadequate monitoring and reporting

🏀 sports educators can not always be in changing rooms for safeguarding reasons

How do we challenge these behaviours.

🏀 encouraging reporting can be helpful – but how? YP don’t want to be seen  as a snitch, or makes the situation worse

🏀 teachers/coaches should have a clear stance on the behaviour expected in changing rooms

🏀 anonymous reporting systems

🏀 clear consequences for actions

🏀 Inclusive posters

🏀 rules and guidelines (must be consistent)

Ideal changing facilities

🏀 Individual cubicles

🏀 Alternative options

🏀 Mixed changing facilities

🏀 support young persons needs and wants – explain situations and outcomes

Consequences

🏀 Consider circumstances from mild to major

🏀 How do we deal with the mild in a way which will prevent the major?

 

2. Timetable.docx 4107-Manifesto-Leaflet

Wednesday 25th September 2019, 1800-2000

This training was provided by the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH), who work to break down the stigmas attached to having a mental health problem, such as; anxiety, depression, OCD, etc. SAMH was founded in 1923 to provide support to a wide network of Local Associations for mental health.

Their work falls under three strategic goals:

• Being there for people
• Promoting Good Mental Health
• Ending Stigma and Discrimination

SAMH has 5 ways to better wellbeing;

1. Connect: staying in touch with loved ones can make us feel happier and more secure, just a chat can help improve your mood.

2. Be Active: being active isn’t just good for our physical health, it is also proven to have a positive effect in our mental health and well-being.

3. Take Notice: whether you are spending time with loved ones or taking a moment for yourself, try to stop to take notice and be aware of the present.

4. Learn: learning enhances your self esteem and confidence, and can be a great way to meet new people.

5. Give: it feels great to give – in fact those who report a greater interest in helping others are more likely to rate themselves as happy.

SAMH also have the Let’s Talk project which;

• Tackles stigma and discrimination against mental health disorders
• provides signposting to services and organisations
• provides free engagement workshops
• 5 ways to wellbeing (see above)
• mental health first aid kit
• Kit bag for emotional expression (£50 cost)

I found this workshop very interesting and I was very impressed with the work which SAMH carries out to tackle the stigma around mental health and the ways in which the debunk myths and remove a feeling of taboo from the subject matter. Upon completing the training, I now feel more confident in my understanding of mental health and ways in which I can help both myself and others mental health, accessing necessary resources, services or organisations.

 

“LEAP Sports Scotland (Leadership, Equality and Active Participation in Sports for LGBTI people in Scotland) works for greater inclusion for LGBTI people in sport and against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in a sports context. We are committed to breaking down the structural, social and personal barriers which prevent lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people across the country from accessing, participating and excelling in Scottish sports.” (https://leapsports.org/about)

I have been a volunteer with LEAP Sports Scotland since January 2019, and in that short time I have attended multiple conferences which discuss LGBTQIA+ issues around the context of sports, and the ways in which we can work to promote inclusive practices for all.

I also volunteered at several sporting events across Scotland for Festival Fortnight which takes place every year in the first fortnight of June with something for everyone, including an exciting mix of sporting, recreational and cultural events and activities. The Festival aims to increase the visibility and participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in Scottish sport but everyone is welcome to join in, whether it’s trying out a new sport, supporting a team in one of the competitions, or celebrating at one of the Festival parties. (http://festivalfortnight.org)Festival-Fortnight-2019-e-use ⬅ Festival Fortnight 2019 flyer

As a part of my Professional Graduate Diploma of Education (PGDE) in Primary Education, I choose a Professional Specialisation (PS) as one of my modules. For my PS, I will be working as a part of LEAP Sports Scotland, having a  role in the organisation and promotion of the Pride Youth Games which will take place in  Largs, Ayrshire on 7th-9th August 2020.