With the recent legal recognition of same-sex marriages in Australia, being inclusive of LGBTIQ people and their families is an important topic. Consequently, Federation recently teamed with the Gayby Baby Project to develop a seminar for teachers to consider how to welcome all types of families into school settings, including LGBTIQ families.
The seminar, Teaching strategies and activities for your whole class that support LGBTIQ families, was so well received by Sydney members that it ran for a second day to accommodate demand. Over the two days, approximately 160 teachers attended the training, which members said, “provided a variety of strategies which are interesting and appropriate to use in the classroom” and “was excellent and highly relevant”.
Members who attended the seminar completed learning activities from the updated Gayby Baby School Action Toolkit and Video Kit, which provided an interactive learning experience and a sample of the types of tasks students can do that reflect on families and relationships.
Gayby Baby’s School Action Toolkit is linked to the Health and Physical Education learning area of the Australian Curriculum and PDHPE in NSW for years 5-10. The resource can also be easily extended for use in Humanities and English classes, at the discretion of teachers.
The seminar also considered whole-of-school practices that can be implemented to include a variety of diverse families and steps that can be taken to embrace our diverse school communities, including LGBTIQ families.
These practices were linked to the Department’s policy and procedure; for example, being inclusive of a variety of family settings assists students from diverse family backgrounds to feel more engaged and connected in their school environment and is clearly associated with the Department’s Wellbeing Framework for Schools.
Like other TUT seminars, Teaching strategies and activities for your whole class that support LGBTIQ families is available for Associations to host on request, and information can be found on Federation’s TUT website. Gayby Baby’s School Action Toolkit is available for free on the Gayby Baby website and their supplementary video kit is available for purchase.