Equality and Diversity: Fostering Inclusion in Education Sector

This essay delves into the importance of equality and diversity within an educational environment, emphasizing the need for promoting and accepting differences among individuals from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. It highlights the role of the Equality Act 2010 in governing these principles and discusses practical strategies for teachers to create safe and enabling learning environments. The essay reflects on the author's experiences in promoting multiculturalism through lessons and ensuring equal access to opportunities for all students. It outlines ten classroom rules to communicate the need for equality and diversity, and explores the responsibilities of an Equality and Diversity Coordinator, including designing themed weeks, developing reporting forums, and raising awareness. Furthermore, it identifies key agencies and professionals to collaborate with, such as the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) and Ofsted, and suggests steps schools can take to promote equality and diversity within the wider community, such as celebrating occasions, telling stories, and teaching new languages.

EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY IN AN EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMRENT
EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY IN AN EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMRENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note

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EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY IN AN EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMRENT
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Task two:.........................................................................................................................................2
Task Three:......................................................................................................................................4
Task Four.........................................................................................................................................6
Task Five.........................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference List:...............................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
It can be said that Equality and Diversity refers to the idea of
promotion and acceptance of the differences between people due to their
different ethnic and cultural background. However, it can be mentioned that
principles of equality ensures that everyone is treated equally and no one is
treated unfairly. Individuals should not be discriminated on the basis of their
age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and disability. Promoting
Equality and diversity in education is of utmost importance (Cole 2017). In
my opinion promotion of equality and Diversity has helped create a better
learning environment for all students and learners alike. The principles of
Equality and Diversity are governed by the provisions as stated in the
Equality Act 2010 (Legislation.gov.uk, 2017).
Task two:
Part A: Reflection on how promotion of equality and diversity helped
create a safe and enabling learning environment
In my belief Teachers should aim to create an environment where
students feel safe and comfortable. It is also to be mentioned that children
should be respectful of the customs of other cultures and respect the
differences of other cultures. In my opinion creating a safe learning
environment following some rules to promote equality and diversity among
the students is essential. It is to be mentioned that promotion of equality
and diversity in the classroom does not need to be a challenge for
teachers. Implementation of principles of equality and Diversity has helped
setting rules in regards to how people are to be treated in a multicultural

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society. It also helps to remove prejudices and negative attitudes about
other cultures and communities of the society. The principles of equality
and Diversity clearly state that teachers and students should be treated
fairly and equally. I have been able to promote multiculturalism through
lessons making students and learners familiar with other cultures and
Customs of different cultures of the society. This has only been made
possible due to promotion of equality and diversity educational
environment. In my opinion the promotion of equality and Diversity, has
enabled students to get access to all the facilities of and opportunities of
the educational institution without any discrimination. It can also be noted
that the promotion of equality and diversity has led to the identification of
opportunities for teachers to teach students coming from different ethnic
and cultural backgrounds and to work collaboratively with diverse groups.
Part B: Strategies used in the promotion of equality and diversity in a
classroom:
 Implementation of policies and principles, which do not discriminate
against students in the teaching practice, is vital. It can be stated that
policies and procedures of a school should not discriminate against
any of the students of such School. Discriminatory procedures will
have negative impacts on the lives of students (Thompson 2016).
 Promotion of interaction between the staff of the school and students
coming from different ethnic and religious backgrounds also helps to
promote equality and diversity in an educational institution (Evans
2017).
 Promoting multiculturalism through lessons helps students learn
about different cultures of the society and be respectful of the
differences of different cultures (Banks 2015). This practice is vital for
the achievement of the aforementioned goal. It is to be stated that
children should be taught that they are all a part of a big society,
therefore everyone deserves equal treatment.

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 It is important to make sure that the training materials provided to the
students do not promote discrimination. Removing biases and
prejudices against anyone from the minds of teachers and students
alike is also important to promote equality.
 In my opinion it can be said that stereotyping should be avoided by
teachers while teaching students. Stereotyping in teaching is a
malpractice as it in inculcates in the minds of the students a
stereotypical (often a negative) image about a particular community
of a society which is to be avoided for the achievement of the
promotion of equality and diversity in an educational environment.
Task Three:
Part A: Ten point Classroom rule that communicates the need to
promote Equality and Diversity in the classroom
 Promotion of equality and diversity in the classroom is important to
provide students with equal access to opportunity. No student should
feel left out and neglected because of his cultural and ethnic
background.
 Giving equal respect to students and treating them equally also
promotes more participation and interaction of students in the class.
 Promotion of equality in the classroom results in having equal
expectation from all students and encouraging them to perform to
meet such expectations
 Promotion of Equality and diversity in the classroom encourages
students to participate more in group assignments. It also promotes
interaction between students coming from different ethno cultural
backgrounds.
 Treating students equally helps remove stereotypical ideas from the
minds of students about certain communities and the cultures of such
community.
 It is to be mentioned that promoting equality and diversity helps
remove prejudices and biases from the mind of students
 Students are also expected to learn about new cultures and
languages by the promotion of multiculturalism in the classroom

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 It can be stated that students are expected to participate more in
debates and discussions if inhibitions are removed from their minds
 Promoting equality and diversity in the classroom helps teachers
identify the need and opportunities to work with diverse group of
students.
 It is important to promote equality and diversity in the classroom as
the Equality Act 2010 states that no person shall discriminate against
any one on the grounds as mentioned in the aforementioned act.
Part B: Role as an Equality and Diversity Coordinator
It is to be mentioned that enhancing a school’s initiatives in promoting
Equality and Diversity is the primary responsibility of an Equality and
Diversity coordinator. The ways in which a school can achieve the desired
goal are:
 Design Themed weeks- It can be stated that to promote
multiculturalism in a school, having themed weeks can be
beneficial. Themed weeks aim for the students to explore the
different customs of different cultures and respect the differences
of different cultures. Having themed weeks in a school will also
enable students learn about different topics in a fun and
interactive way.
 Developing a forum for reporting incidents of discrimination-
It can be said that the primary responsibility of an Equality and
Diversity Coordinator to make sure that no discrimination
happens against any individual in the school. To achieve this
initiative it is quintessential to create a forum where incidents of
any kind of discrimination can be reported anonymously. It is very
important to target the practices of discrimination that happens in
a school and to deal with such incidents in a way to prevent the
occurrence of such incidents in the future.
 Raising awareness about the importance of Equality and
Diversity- It is to be said that students must be made aware of

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the principles as state in the Equality Act 2010. Students in an
educational institution should be made aware of the social
injustices that are happening in global communities to make them
realize the importance of promotion of Equality and Diversity in a
society. Awareness can be raised by interacting more with
students, encourage the participation of students in interactive
quizzes and encouraging multiculturalism.
Professionals or agencies to work with for promoting school’s
Equality and Diversity agenda:
 The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) – It is
the responsibility of the aforementioned agency to assure the quality
of higher education offered by United Kingdom to students. It also
aims to ensure that information regarding Higher Education is offered
to the public (Qaa.ac.uk 2017). Therefore, it can be said that it is
essential to comply with the standards of the aforementioned agency
to provide equal learning opportunities to all students and also to
promote the school’s equality and diversity agenda.
 Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and
Skills (Ofsted)- It is a non ministerial department of the government
of United Kingdom which is responsible for inspecting educational
institutions such as state schools and independent (Gov.uk 2017). It
is essential to work with the aforementioned department as it will
report to the UK parliament about the school’s equality and diversity
agenda.
 Pearson Uk-It aims to provide content, assessment, information,
curricula to make the experience of learning more effective
(Pearson.com, 2017). It can be said that consulting with Pearson can
be helpful in promoting the equality and diversity agenda of the
school. Content related to the promotion of Equality and Diversity can
be provided by the aforementioned company to make students learn
about the urgent need of promoting equality and diversity
 Ofcom- It is the regulator of communication in UK. It is to be
mentioned the functions of Ofcom involve regulating Television, radio,
phones, mobiles and postal services. It helps to ensure that people of
United Kingdom receive best communication services with protection

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from scams. Working with Ofcom can be helpful for promoting
Equality and Diversity agenda of the school as communicating the
need for promotion of Equality and Diversity can be closely monitored
by Ofcom (Ofcom, 2017).
Task Four
Steps that can be taken by school to promote and ensure a culture of
Equality and Diversity in a wider community are:
 Celebrate Occasion – Celebrating different festival of the world
enable students to understand the cultures, customs and traditions
of different religions of the world. It also aims to make he students
understand that they are all a part of a wider and global community.
It is also important to mention to the students the story and the
reason behind celebrating such festivals and occasions and have
interactive sessions with them asking them which festival appealed
to them the most.
 Telling stories- It is important for schools to have interactive story
telling classes. It is to be mentioned that choice of stories must be
done very carefully to avoid portraying stereotypes. Stories which
are thought provoking should be told to students to enable them to
form their own perspectives about different cultures and
communities in a society.
 Physical Impairment games- Students must be made aware of the
different types of physical disabilities of people. Games that raise
awareness can be promoted in a classroom to make students
understand the difficulties faced by people with physical difficulties.
Common examples of such games can include activities like:
guiding a fellow student who is wearing a blindfold, lip reading
characters on the television without the sound. The aim of such
activities is to make students feel compassionate about the
unfortunate in the world.
 Teaching New Languages- Teaching new languages to students is
important to overcome the language barriers. Learning new
languages can help students learn about different cultures of

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different communities and interact closely with people of different
ethno-cultural backgrounds.
 Hold discussions and debates- It can be said that holding
discussions and debates among students in a class is important to
assess and evaluate the perspective of students regarding important
social issues. Students are to be divided in groups and encouraged
to debate amongst themselves on ethical and social issues. The aim
of such debates and discussions is to make students aware of the
social and ethical issues in a society and formulate their own opinion
about such issues.
Task Five
Part A: Five Things that promoted Equality and Diversity in my
teaching practice:
 Paying special attention to students who are from different
ethno-cultural backgrounds- It can be said that people from
diverse backgrounds need to be treated equally and at the same
time their needs are to addressed to make them feel a part of the
bigger student community(Griffith and Burns 2014).
 Promoting discipline- it has been done to ensure that both male
and female students are to be treated equally. It can be said that
the same disciplinary actions have been imposed on students
irrespective of their genders. This practice is known to break the
gender stereotypes in a classroom and promote equality of all
genders
 Having a seating arrangement in the classroom that promotes
equal participation of students- It can be said that the students
are required to interact more with teachers to have a better learning
experience. Therefore in my opinion it can be said that the seating
arrangement of students are to be done in a way which promotes
equal participation of students irrespective of their gender. Shy
students tend to sit in the back to avoid participation in any kind of
interactive session. Such students are to be placed in the front and
encouraged to participate more in discussions and debates.

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 Having equal expectation from all students- As a teacher it can
be said that teacher should keep the same expectation regarding
behaviour and academic performance from all students. This
promotes equality and also encourages students to work hard
together knowing that they all get equal treatment from teachers.
 Establishing rules regarding the conduct of students- It can be
said that establishing a set of rules regarding the conduct of
students is important as it prevents students from discriminating
against any fellow student and misbehaving with teachers and staff.
Part B: Opportunities that I missed to promote Equality and Diversity
in the school
 Listing things that come from other countries- It can be said that
encouraging students to maintain a list of the commodities and goods
that come from foreign countries is effective for the promotion of
multiculturalism. The opinions of students regarding such goods and
commodities are to be shared in the classroom. Such a practice
makes students realize that they are part of a much bigger global
community. It also makes them realize that interdependence between
different countries is important.
 Introducing students to different forms of music- Music can be a
great medium for people to connect all over the world as it is known
to transcend all barriers. Introducing students to different forms of
music will help them to have a better understanding of different
cultures of the World.
Part C: A brief report on the impact made on the school’s Equality and
Diversity agenda
In my opinion it can be said that the procedures and policies that have
been implemented to promote equality and diversity have impacted the
school’s equality and diversity agenda. It can be said that every student’s
individual needs have been addressed. All students are treated equally as
aimed for the in the equality and diversity of the school’s agenda. Everyone
has been given equal access to all opportunities of the school irrespective

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of their race, gender, religion and ethno-cultural background (Reece and
Walker 2016). In my belief it can be said that the policies as formulated
have been successful in teaching the students about multiculturalism and
the importance of interdependence between different communities.
Awareness has been raised among the students about the need and
importance of promotion of Equality and Diversity. They have also been
made familiar to the principles of the Equality Act 2010.
Conclusion
Thus to conclude it can be stated that the need to promote Equality and
Diversity is great in an educational environment. According to the Equality
Act 2010 no person should be discriminated on the grounds of race,
religion, gender, age disability and religion. Implementation of these
principles is necessary in every learning environment. It can be stated that
several steps can be taken by schools to promote and ensure a culture of
Equality and Diversity in the classroom as well as in a wider global
community. Several strategies can also be implemented to promote
equality and diversity in the classroom. Promotion of Equality and diversity
in the classroom encourages students to participate more in group
assignments. It also promotes interaction between students coming from
different ethno cultural backgrounds.

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Reference List:
Banks, J.A., 2015. Cultural diversity and education. Routledge.
Castagno, A.E., 2014. Educated in whiteness: Good intentions and
diversity in schools. University of Minnesota Press.
Cole, M. ed., 2017. Education, equality and human rights: Issues of
gender,'race', Sexuality, disability and social class. Routledge.
Evans, J. ed., 2017. Equality, education, and physical education (Vol. 21).
Routledge.
Gov.uk. (2017). Ofsted - GOV.UK. [online] Available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted [Accessed 18 Dec.
2017].
Griffith, A. and Burns, M., 2014. Teaching Backwards. Crown House
Publishing.
Legislation.gov.uk. (2017). Equality Act 2010. [online] Available at:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents [Accessed 15 Dec.
2017].
Ofcom. (2017). Home. [online] Available at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/
[Accessed 18 Dec. 2017].
Pearson.com. (2017). Pearson | The world's learning company | UK.
[online] Available at: https://www.pearson.com/uk/ [Accessed 18 Dec.
2017].