From the VP: Inclusive really does mean everybody

There is work we do as teachers and school leaders which is fundamental to our schools and TAFEs being places that are welcoming and safe for all.

We are able to teach at our best and our students are able to achieve their potential when all members of the community feel included and understood and respected. Creating learning environments free of discrimination and bullying is one of the most complex parts of being a teacher.

The curriculum and the policies of a school can go a long way to addressing ignorance and building understanding, but our curriculum is crowded and there are very few questions to which the answer is another add on to what we are teaching in our already busy classes. However, all of us have a role in addressing bullying and discriminatory behaviours when we see them in the school or workplace. This has a dual effect – it tells the person or people being bullied or discriminated against that we have noticed and we are unwilling to let it happen but it also contributes to the culture of the school or TAFE community and sets down some clear boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not.

Every student and every teacher should be able to come to the place where we learn and teach each day without fear. Every student and every teacher should be able to come to the place where we learn and teach each day and feel that we can proudly be who we are and that we don’t have to apologise or leave our true selves at the door as we leave home.

Through the process of working with QTU members and officers on the development of our Reconciliation Action Plan (see page 23), and in supporting the roll out in Queensland of the Safe Schools Coalition Program (see page 8), I have listened to people telling their stories and I’ve engaged with ideas and knowledge that are new to me but essential to building an understanding of the experience of those suffering bullying and/or discrimination. There are breathtaking stories of pain and resilience that indicate the need for us to work tirelessly to make our schools inclusive. There are many stories about the way that a teacher or a school friend or whole school community took steps to make school a safe and welcoming place and made a world of difference a young person’s life.

We talk a lot about our work as state school teachers and why we do it. One of the most important reasons we do it is because every student who comes into our school has a story and hopes and dreams and potential.

Our great state schools are the place where all kinds of people come together. Whether you are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, were born in Australia or are new to Australia (welcome by the way), speak English and/or other languages or dialects, whether you are same-sex attracted, transgender or intersex, whether you are a star student or need a whole lot of extra support, whether you are wealthy or your family doesn’t have much money, your state school – whether in a remote community or the biggest city suburb – is there for you.

And while we continue to campaign for needs-based resourcing as envisaged by the Gonski model and seek funding for other programs to support students in our schools, we should celebrate the wonderful work already being done every day across Queensland.

Sam Pidgeon
Vice-President

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 120 No 6, 21 August 2015, p9