WomenEd Blogs

by  Kerry Jordan-Daus @KerryJordanDaus I have been reading Mary Ann Sieghart’s The Authority Gap (2021), the stories of expert, talented, successful women, occupying a wide range of powerful leadership roles, recounting their lived experiences of being treated as a ‘Miss Nobody’, silenced, ignored and disrespected despite their clear expertise, intelligence, brilliance.

by Maria @CreativityMrs Hay muchos obstáculos para la creatividad. Antes pensaba que no tenía tiempo, ni tenía las cosas, ni la inspiración. Busqué por internet y en las revistas y me dejo tan completamente abrumada que no sabía cómo empezar – y por eso, no empecé. Reflexioné sobre si mi falta inicial de creatividad no se basaba en los obstáculos que se me  ocurrieron, y por eso no le hice. Las actividades creativas que deseaba tener, a menos que se reconocieran, parecían ser una enorme pérdida de tiempo. Pensé que a menos que estuviera creando un ejemplo para que los niños lo usaran en mi clase, era un ejercicio inútil.

by Maria @CreativityMrs  There are many obstacles to creativity. I used to say to myself that I didn't have the time, or the resources nor the inspiration. Trawling through countless websites and magazines would leave me completely overwhelmed, that I didn't even know where to start—so I didn't! I wonder if my initial lack of creativity wasn't based on the obstacles that I came up with, but with the thought of permission. The creative pursuits I wished to have, unless validated, seemed to be a huge waste of time. I thought that unless I was creating an example for the children to use in my classroom, it was a pointless exercise. And yet, I was encouraging others to be creative, but not giving myself the permission to do the same.

by Punam Mohandas @PunamMohandas One of the most common scenarios the unexpected COVID-19 situation created globally was to propel students into cyber classrooms, as online learning became the new order of the day. Although e-learning is certainly not new, it has become a more sought-after and viable proposition in recent years as students combine higher studies with simultaneously holding down jobs. However, apart from throwing up several unpalatable prospects such as the lack of face-to-face interaction with teachers and peers and lack of student engagement and motivation, e-learning also highlights unethical student behavior like cheating, plagiarism, or taking help from parents or friends in order to complete assignments.

by Imogen Senior @MrsSeniorStBens1 When I offered to speak at the #WomenEdEastern unconference on 23rd September, 2021, I hoped that I had something to offer. I have been a headteacher of a secondary school of 900 students for over two years and have been teaching for 20 years. I have three children (now aged 13, 10 and 5). I worked part-time for 18 months after my third child, returned to work full-time after four months after my second child and applied for, interviewed for, and was appointed to my first senior leadership post whilst 36 weeks pregnant (also with my second).

by Caroline Verdant @cazyv Must you see the colour of my skin?Does it change the fact that I want to win!What is the goal? What is the prize?If the colour of my skin is my demise!

by Nicole Rodden @NicoleRodden1 At the #WomenEd global unconference this weekend the word ‘anger’ was repeated. ‘Anger and hope leads to change’ by Dr Jill Berry. Being falsely called aggressive and angry, a stereotype of black women in particular, as mentioned in Caroline Verdant’s session. The need for an Angry Girls Club being set up in schools for girls to vent, mentioned by Emily Rosaman. Similarly, words like ‘vent’, ‘rage’ and ‘shock’ were used to describe some of the injustices within people’s stories linked to instances of racism and sexism within the sector.

by Rachel Fenn @NoSchoolSexism End Sexism in Schools is a grassroots organization founded in 2020. We are united in our mission to see schools become places where all children can achieve their potential, without being limited by gender stereotypes. Our first campaign, to research the gender bias in the texts taught in English lessons at KS3, was born out of our frustration that none of us, nor our children, had been taught any novels or plays by female authors at school. We wanted to know if this gender bias against women’s writing was merely anecdotal, or a widespread phenomenon.

by Katrina Edmunds @KatrinaAEdmunds In my previous blog, we explored the importance of tackling SDG5, why gender equality matters in international schools, what it consists of and how to achieve it. Here we will consider the imperative for international schools to take action and showcase an ongoing project which links gender equality and global citizenship. This project bonds together students from a privileged context, where education is taken for granted, with students from the war-zone of Afghanistan, where girls are fighting for their basic right to go to school, once again.

by Katrina Edmunds  @KatrinaAEdmunds My work as an academic counsellor revolves around listening to young people, empowering them to design their future aspirations and to achieve them. From this, we often stray into understanding their identity and values, which has led me to be an ally and educator on issues of equity, especially related to gender.The first decade of my professional life in education was in international recruitment. I travelled to many places to promote UK Higher Education, from Paris to Peshawar, while grafting to reach management level, right before I was blessed with twins in 2011.