UKLA is delighted to announce the winners of the prestigious Diversity and Inclusion: The Brenda Eastwood award. The award is in memory of a much-loved friend and colleague. The award spotlights and showcases exceptional practice in the area of diversity and inclusion.
The joint winners for the award are:
Amy Sloan, a secondary English teacher at Park Mains High School in Erskine, on behalf of her Head of Department and colleagues in the English Department.
Dr. Melanie Ramdarshan Bold, from Glasgow University
The panel of judges nominated them as joint winners for the impact they have made in their respective roles.
Pauline Donaghy and Amy Sloan have worked with colleagues in their English department to introduce new texts which better reflect today’s society and the issues faced by the young people they teach. The department has introduced new texts and units of work to enable students to discuss issues around neurodiversity, LBGTQ+ issues and race. Study of the new units has enabled and supported students to have difficult conversations not only with each other, but also with the adults in their lives.
Melanie Ramdarshan Bold’s submission covers a whole body of work as researcher and author, focused on race and the representation of authors and illustrators of colour in children’s publishing. Her work in this area is evidenced in her reports in collaboration with BookTrust, with schools, with publishers and in research in the UK and Europe. The impact of her work is demonstrated in the growing recognition in the world of children’s publishing to provide both access and a platform for creators of colour.
In addition, the panel of judges would like to make a Highly Commended award to:
Suzy Aldous, a secondary English teacher at Douglas Academy, Milngavie, and doctoral student and ITE tutor at Strathclyde University.
Suzy Aldous’s submission has at its heart a determination to provide a child-centred, inclusive approach to her work, in school and in her work in ITE at Strathclyde University. This has taken her work beyond the boundaries of English, covering gardening, the provision of safe spaces for learning for those students experiencing difficulties in the classroom, alongside building a new, accessible digital curriculum during the pandemic and a network of secondary teachers interested in working together to decolonise the curriculum.
All three practitioners will be presenting their work at the UKLA International Conference, at Exeter University, from 23rd to the 25th June 2023.
Panel: Chair: Chris Lockwood, Dr. Christine Callender, Dr. Liz Chamberlain, Dr. Ian Cushing, Dr. Sabine Little, Dr. Cheryl Parkinson, Aaishah Rauf, Farrah Serroukh.
