School textbooks to include same-sex couples in questions
Stonewall chief exec: ‘It’s vital that the school curriculum reflects the full diversity of the world we live in’
Textbooks in UK classrooms will soon include same-sex couples.
Pearson is a UK education publishing and assessment service. They own UK exam board EdExcel and publish thousands of school textbooks a year.
They have now said they will update its products and resources to ensure they are ‘LGBT inclusive.’
Stonewall have produced a new handbook for secondary schools, sponsored by Pearsons.
It advises teachers on how they can make their classes more inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans students.
Rod Bristow has been Pearson’s president for core markets. He explained Pearson will use the handbook to ‘help update our own products and resources to ensure they are LGBT inclusive.’
Stonewall called the handbook ‘ Creating an LGBT-Inclusive Curriculum.’
The book suggests teachers tweak their lessons so LGBT students ‘see themselves represented in what they’re learning.’
Suggestions made include setting questions which reference same-sex couples in tests.
The handbook suggests teachers introduce LGBT-specific vocabulary in language lessons.
‘Diversity of the world they live in’
Stonewall’s chief executive Ruth Hunt wrote the foreword.
It reads: ‘For every young person to be prepared for life in modern Britain, it’s vital that their curriculum reflects the full diversity of the world they live in.
‘When pupils are supported to understand diversity and celebrate difference, they can develop accepting attitudes towards those who are different to them, and feel proud of the things that make them different themselves.’
The UK Government backed guidance December last year for primary school head teachers on making their schools inclusive.
School leaders must ‘celebrate’ trans people and encourage staff to teach children about trans issues.
Classrooms should also use books featuring trans parents.
This will ‘ensure the visibility’ of trans perspectives in the classroom.
The National Association of Head Teachers issued the guidance and the Department for Education endorsed it.
Words by Charlie Mathers
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Originally published at www.gaystarnews.com on February 2, 2018.
