Equality advice
A key priority of the union is to make sure all members have a voice in the union, the workplace and broader society; and do not face barriers to promotion, representation or participation.
We’re very proud to be adding to the Union’s Breaking the Mould series of resources, which support nursery and primary phase teachers to think about what books they are using in their classrooms. Using a wider range of good literature is a really quick, exciting and effective way to promote inclusion.
The NEU has produced the following supporting publications :
In this project, the National Union of Education, previously, National Union of Teachers, worked with a small group of primary schools to consider how ‘traditional’ gender stereotypes could be challenged in the classroom. The NEU worked with five primary schools to consider how ‘traditional’ gender stereotypes could be challenged in nursery and primary classrooms. The project quickly acquired the name Breaking The Mould. The five schools were provided with support and training
The Breaking the Mould project team helped the school staff begin their planning by providing them with a range of children’s books which help challenge gender stereotypes. In the course of the project, the schools developed different and creative activities and approaches but also common themes emerged.
In schools, just as in wider society, we tend to stress the differences between girls and boys far more than the similarities. We need to think of children as individuals and try not to impose expectations on them linked to gender.
We can begin by making small changes to the ways in which we constantly differentiate the sexes – such as referring to ‘children’ rather than ‘girls and boys’ and not marshalling pupils in single sex lines.
Breaking the Mould series of resources
Using these books, and the teaching notes for each title, will open up straightforward ways to talk with children about different kinds of families and relationships.
Some of these publications refers to the NUT as it was originally a publication of the National Union of Teachers, which has since become the National Education Union.