In January this year, we launched our first ever CPD course on diversity, equity and inclusion for Lyfta users. In this blog, our Professional Development Lead, Anna Szpakowska discusses how the course was put together and the impact it had on the teachers who participated.

I was working as a secondary school teacher when George Floyd was murdered. I remember that the staff and students had a palpable desire to collectively process what had happened. Fortunately, there was a whole staff meeting dedicated to a discussion of our feelings, to help us talk about what had happened and how we might respond.  We also made sure we provided young people with learning opportunities to discuss, absorb and process. This experience showed me that teachers want to be able to respond effectively to world events and need support from one another when it comes to tackling issues of race and racism. 

It came as no surprise then, that when I joined Lyfta last year and  conducted a survey of our users to see which professional development opportunities they would most like, a course about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) proved to be very popular. That was when we approached DEI consultant and expert Angela Browne. With over twenty years experience of working in education, Angela now works as an independent consultant supporting a variety of educational institutions as well as other organisations to review and improve their approach to DEI matters.  

Designing the course 

Angela and I worked together to design a three part professional development course for Lyfta users. The course demonstrated the ways in which Lyfta can normalise and humanise diversity as well as providing curriculum resources with which to help make schools more inclusive and equitable for all. 

In session one, Angela explored the historical context of education and equality legislation, explaining why so many teachers often feel ill-equipped to discuss issues of race (and other DEI matters) with their students. In session two, participants were asked to consider how narratives can support their work in the field of DEI. In session three, we focused on our latest storyworld, Journey to a New Home which depicts the experience of Adhanom, who fled Eritrea and sought refuge in Europe. From here, participants considered how we can be agile and responsive to world events as they unfold so that we can talk to our young people about them in a meaningful way.  

Examples of success

As the CPD course was arranged over three sessions, it allowed for ample time for participants to share and discuss. One teacher, Anna Munro from Dingwall Academy in Ross-shire, explained the way that she’d used students’ own personal narratives as a starting point before taking them on a journey around the world, via Lyfta’s digital immersive stories. Anna’s students visited a number of different stories including those from Awra Amba in Ethiopia, the Amazonian rainforest in Peru, an Afghan bakery and the San Francisco coast. By using food as a common thread through much of this work, students were able to identify similarities whilst also learning to respect differences. As a result of this work, Anna’s students were even able to critically engage with the question of the extent to which we should help to protect indigenous communities before we begin to impose our views and ways of life on them. 

Impact

Even though this was the first professional development course of this kind run by Lyfta, we’ve received some wonderful feedback from participants. For example, 90% of participants said that the course was either very or extremely useful in supporting their understanding of DEI matters whilst 85% said that the course helped them to understand how Lyfta can support DEI matters in their schools. 

Headteacher of Copperfield Academy, Simon Wood, commented that:

“This PD was really very important, and needs to be shared more widely. The nuggets that resonated with me were, '...anxiety in articulation' - this is, I feel, what may hold adults back (and maybe also young people) from speaking out - there is an anxiety, often, around saying the wrong thing... I have reflected on 'schools as sites of preparation' since session one  and believe this should be the starting point for all schools - either to re-energise or begin their DEI work.”

Classroom teacher, Ellie, from the International School in the Netherlands added: 

“I enjoyed the chance to listen to experts in the DEI field and to discuss issues with like minded people who are also committing to improving schools and education for young people. It's hard when you feel isolated in this difficult work and that is often the case because these topics still can feel quite taboo.”

With 70% of participants indicating that they’d like more professional development opportunities from Lyfta and more opportunities to explore issues related to DEI, we hope to provide our users with other courses focused on DEI matters in the future. 

Along with Angela’s expertise, our insights here at Lyfta and our contributions from our users, we’ve compiled a list of practical suggestions for educators to consider when attempting to have courageous conversations about race in their schools. 

Top tips for facilitating courageous conversations about race with students 

1. Make time to talk with colleagues about these issues. You can feel ill-prepared and isolated when trying to do it by yourself. When world events happen and students need to talk about them, make sure you speak with colleagues to share and process your own feelings before approaching them with your students.

2. Let young people know you’re listening. Even if you can’t give them an immediate response to their questions regarding race or racism, let them know you’ve heard them, you recognise their concern and you will come back to them to discuss it at another time. Be sure to make time to do this though otherwise students’ anxiety will increase.

3. Lots of our participants talked about reviewing their curriculum to ensure that there are a wide range of diverse voices included. This might be in the books you teach or the role models you share with young people. For example, the report compiled by Pearson, Diversity and Inclusion in Schools report, recommends that schools include ‘more authentic portrayal of diverse communities, experiences and people’.

4. Use narratives that support students to discuss the issues of race and racism. Stories are a great way for students of all ages to connect with these issues, allowing them to see the impact racism can have for those who suffer it and nurturing empathy for the victims of racism.

5. Commit to action by setting small, achievable targets. Like anything we want to achieve, it’ll take time. Review your book shelf, have that conversation with a colleague or commit to reading an article or blog that focuses on tackling racism in schools. Once you’ve built momentum in your school, these small actions will become cumulative, building to organisation-wide change. 

Learn more about Lyfta’s CPD courses for subscribers and non-subscribers here.

Introducing Mother of the Forest, our new storyworld following conservationist Nay (Mother) Elaine through the forests of Mount Apo in the Philippines.

Meet Nay Elaine (Mother Elaine), a wildlife conservationist working in the remote and ancient forests of Mount Apo in the Philippines, Southeast Asia to protect rare and highly endangered Philippine Eagle and its habitat.

Follow Nay Elaine and the conservation work of the forest guardians in a powerful short film, and explore her home and Mount Apo with immersive 360° spaces.

Lesson and assembly plans cover National Curriculum objectives for key stage two and three (English, science, geography) and can be adapted for key stage four. Students will discover how the impact of human activity on the natural environment, explore the role of the citizen scientist and learn how protecting biodiverse habitats protects our planet.  

Access the Mother of the Forest storyworld now. If you have a subscription or are on a free trial you’ll need to log in. If you don’t yet have a Lyfta account, you can get free access by joining one of our global learning webinars.

In partnership with Youth Sport Trust, we’re inviting PE teachers and sports curriculum leads from across the UK to free online training on 11 October, to discover how interactive technology and real-world stories can be used to enhance PE lessons and teach young people vital skills.

Created in partnership with national children’s charity Youth Sport Trust, the training session will share ready-made lesson plans and approaches to help teachers engage students with key values through sport, such as resilience, inclusivity and teamwork.

With 73% of children returning to school with low levels of physical fitness, and the pandemic having a devastating impact on mental wellbeing, the training session will explore the connections between physical activity, healthy lifestyles and emotional wellbeing.

Linked to the national curriculum and UN Sustainable Development Goals, it will also uncover how stories of young people from across the world can be used by educators to explore a diverse range of topics from PE to relationships and sex education (RSE). Through powerful and immersive 360° spaces and short documentary film, you’ll gain insight into:

• How PE can be connected to RSE lessons to help children understand how physical and emotional health complement and impact one another

• How real experiences of young people playing football around the world, from Brazil to China, can be used to demonstrate how sport helps young people cope with success and failure  

• How story-based lessons relating to gender stereotypes in sport, from female weightlifters to male ballet dancers, can spark discussion around inclusivity and empathy. 

You’ll get access to teaching resources and ready-made lesson plans that have been developed to convey the benefits of sports for all children, helping to tackle the barriers preventing girls, students from disadvantaged backgrounds and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) from engaging with PE. 

This follows new research from the Youth Sport Trust which finds just 39 per cent of girls say they enjoy PE lessons compared to 49 per cent of boys, citing reasons such as not being “good at exercise” or not  being “competitive” enough. 

Find out more about Lyfta and get free trial access to the Values Through Sports resources when you join our free webinar.

We are incredibly proud of the team at Lyfta and are lucky enough to have gathered together a group of talented and passionate individuals, from award-winning filmmakers and educational opinion leaders to senior leaders from the education, business and charity sectors. We have a diverse team of values-aligned people who have come together from different sectors and disciplines, determined to contribute to a better world.

We think it’s time you got to meet them…

This time, 5 minutes with Leah Stewart, Engagement and Training Lead at Lyfta. Leah leads free Lyfta global learning webinars - over 90% of teachers rate them as either extremely or very valuable. Sign up for your place now.

Hey Leah! Can you tell us a bit about your role and responsibilities at Lyfta?

I’m the training lead so have the pleasure of introducing teachers to Lyfta through our global learning CPD course: Teach Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), skills and values with Lyfta.

What’s your favourite part of your role as Training Lead?

Anyone who has joined my live training will know that my favourite part of this role is exploring ways of teaching the SDGs. It’s wonderful to facilitate the sharing of best practice between teachers from across the country, and increasingly from around the world. 

Many teachers still haven’t heard of the SDGs or don’t know enough about them to begin introducing them to students. One of the main outcomes of our CPD is the confidence to deepen global learning with a powerful platform that makes this easy for remote learning, classroom settings and blended learning too. 

Tell us a bit about your background and experience, before Lyfta.

I was the kind of teenager who volunteered to set up a school-wide recycling system because we didn’t have one. It was a simple, practical way to solve an obvious problem. After school I chose to study geology to learn more about this fascinating planet, and as an undergraduate, I was offered summer internships at oil companies. It was surreal to gain work experience as a petroleum geologist while also researching, for example, mass extinction. Actually, it was more than surreal. It was painful, worrying and complex. I kind of ‘fell over’ mental health-wise and to be honest, it took me a few years to become positive and proactive again. In the meanwhile, I worked my way up in a recruitment company. 

From 2014 onwards I was discovering  ideas in education that gave me hope, and offering to support them by doing things like organising and facilitating events, and writing for them. The events I helped create included a national conference on the evolving role of politics in education and an international online summit about the SDGs. These many, varied experiences of facilitation and running online training are what drew me to Lyfta, and are what I’m drawing on today in my role as training lead. 

We’d love to know what your favourite Lyfta storyworld is and why.

What I love more than any specific storyworld is hearing what teachers and school leaders are actually doing with Lyfta’s immersive 360 degree experiences. It’s so inspiring to hear the wide range of innovative ways they are using the visuals, soundscapes and clickable items to build students’ knowledge of the world and confidence to make a difference. Even when they choose to use the exact lesson plans provided by Lyfta, their role as a teacher for holding the space for learning is so important. 

Do you have a favourite person featured in a Lyfta storyworld?

My personal favourite is Michal from the Secrets of the Opera. This video stands out for me because it is the one I prepared with for my Lyfta job interview. For practice, I asked members of my family if I could try to train them on a new platform for global learning. I still remember when the ‘Dancing on Ice’ video came to an end and my mum just squealed “We love Michal!” 

Which Lyfta storyworld release are you most looking forward to and why?

There is a new storyworld coming up in the Amazonian rainforest which is an environment numerous teachers have been asking for Lyfta to include. This is on its way and will be released in 2021! 

What is your favourite food?

I’m not a big foodie. I think my sense of taste isn’t as strong as most people so I just don’t get excited about food generally. I know I’m missing out! But I do enjoy other people sharing food that they love with me.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Hanging out with the people I love, and putting on poetry sharing events. For the last few years I’ve run a monthly poetry event in my home town which all started in a pub. I simply advertised when I’d be in ‘this pub’ at ‘this table’ and that I’d love for anyone to join me and with any poem that means something to them. They didn’t have to write the poem and it didn’t have to be by anyone famous, it just had to be a poem. I didn’t know if anyone would come, let alone be willing to read their poem to me, but they did! After a few months the group grew too large for the pub. The beauty of sharing poems is that they help us to quickly see the heart of a person. We all need to connect with our feelings. I love the way that poems can help us laugh, cry, think and gasp. I find it fun and deeply grounding to simply share poems with others and try to connect with poems that they choose to share. 

Can you tell us about a travel experience that has had an impact on you?

Thanks to the amazing Erasmus scheme I got the opportunity to study abroad for a year. I went to Lund University in Sweden which has a very international student body. I was very often the only native English speaker in a room. It was very humbling to be in lectures or at parties and realise that every other person is using a second language. As a native English speaker, you quickly realise how much slang you use when they’re all happily understanding every word until you open your mouth. 

It was also deeply impactful to watch the international news and realise that places that are far away to me are home to another person in the room.

Inspired by the discovery of the word 'Herzensbildung', meaning training one's heart to see the humanity of another, we’re asking the team for their favourite word. What’s yours?

It has to be ‘poemo’ which is Esperanto for poem. Way before my time in Lyfta, poemo was one of the ideas in the mix for what to call Lyfta. I’m very happy that Serdar and Paulina chose to name their creation ‘Lyfta’ but loved hearing that they had considered poemo as an idea. 

Leah will be leading free Lyfta global learning webinars - over 90% of teacher rate them as either extremely or very valuable. Sign up for your place now.

 This blog is part of our ‘Meet the Team’ series. You can read past blogs in the series so far, which featured Paulina Tervo, Co-Founder and Co-CEO here, Sami Jahnukainen here. and Rahul Karavadra here.