Date: Saturday 16th November 2013
Venue: Institute of Education
Time: 9.30 - 4.45
 
Here are details of the speakers, papers and abstracts for the first seminar in the series Queering ESOL: towards a cultural politics of LGBT issues in the ESOL classroom.
Please forward to anyone who might be interested.

Daniel Monk (Birkbeck School of Law, Institute of Gender and Sexuality)

TITLE Gay and Lesbian Law Reform: The Politics of Progress

With the passing of the Equality Act 2010 (and more recently the Same Sex (Marriage) Act 2013) it can be said that full legal equality has now been achieved for gay men and lesbians. This paper provides an overview of the key legal moments in the movement to equality and focuses in particular on the law relating children, families and education. While celebrating these achievements the paper also highlights the possible limits to progress and the conditions of social and legal inclusion.

Janet Palmer (Ofsted)

TITLE No Place for Bullying – the impact of homophobia and transphobia in educational settings 
 
The presentation will look at the impact of homophobia and transphobia on personal wellbeing, educational attainment and overall life chances; and the Public Service Duty and moral responsibility for schools, colleges and Ofsted to tackle bullying and discrimination in all its forms.

Donna James (James Lambley & Associates)

TITLE Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Equality in Adult Learning 
 
Donna will present the findings of research commissioned by the Skills Funding Agency into the experiences of learners in Further/Adult learning including: general wellbeing; ‘safe spaces’; experience of bullying; and any positive experiences due to the learner’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity. The quantitative and qualitative research revealed some good practice, a range of experiences of learners from different sub-groups, and led to a suite of recommendations for the sector.

Shaun Dellenty (Inclusion for All)

TITLE Inclusion for All - A practical approach to preventing homophobic bullying in the class-room 

This presentation will explore practical teaching and learning strategies for preventing homophobia and transphobia. The session will incorporate effective strategies from primary and secondary schools and places the emphasis on a preventative, rather than reactive approach to preventing bullying based upon sexual orientation.
 
For more information about the series email John Gray at [log in to unmask]) and to reserve a place a place at the first seminar contact Tracy Modha ([log in to unmask]).  

Future seminars will explore: ‘sexual migration’ including questions of asylum for LGBT people (Spring 2014); voices from the classroom (Summer 2014); religion and sexual diversity (Autumn 2014); LGBT representations in the media, literature and pedagogic materials (Spring 2015). The last seminar will be a conference in Summer 2015.