The first presentation we attended was ‘It’s time for inclusive education’ by Jordan Daly and Liam Stevenson of the TIE Campaign.
The two began by stating a few general statistics. 90% of the LGBT community have been bullied at school. 42% have attempted suicide because of this. They social attitudes surveys state that homophobia is decreasing, however it is in fact the opposite.
They told us that 80% of teachers feel they have not been adequately trained on how to tackle homophobia, bi-phobia and trans-phobia in schools; and that 94% of teachers believe that all schools should deliver LGBT inclusive education. This made it very apparent that it is time for change in schools across Scotland to help the LGBT community have the best experience at school possible.
Jordan Daly then went on to talk about his experience of growing up gay throughout school. He mentioned how at 12 years old, he first became aware of his sexuality but was too frightened to say anything to his parents and friends in the fear that they would look at him differently. Things became too much for him and at one point he considered suicide.
A video clip was then shown where members of the LGBT community in Scotland spoke about their experiences at school. They spoke about the bullying they were subject to due to their sexuality, and the lack of support from both teachers and the curriculum.
The two then touched on the aims of the TIE campaign. They want; teacher training (especially at initial teaching education); an inclusive curriculum where relevant LGBT factors are included in subjects across the board; a bullying record so teachers are aware of the type of behaviour that goes on; and monitoring in schools to see the positive impact of the improved curriculum and what needs to be improved on.
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed this presentation. It was amazing to see how engaged and interested the audience were on the issue, and how passionate and well delivered the presentation was by both Jordan Daly and Liam Stevenson.
You are right Caitlin – this was a very engaging presentation. Both Jordan and Liam spoke well and are clearly committed and passionate about affecting a change.