Founded on 28 June 1982 as the Centre for Studies on Integration in Education, CSIE took on its current name in the 1990s. The Centre has continued to evolve, has expanded its remit to cover all aspects of equality in education, and has remained at the forefront of developments in inclusive education. Some of our most recent achievements are listed below.

Earlier this year CSIE published “Equality: Making It Happen“, a succinct and user-friendly set of reference cards to help schools reduce bullying, address prejudice and promote equality holistically. The new guide has been sponsored by teachers’ union NASUWT, has won an Innovative Practice Award 2016 from the Zero Project, for a world with zero barriers, and is being translated into Spanish and Portuguese with more translations in the pipeline. The guide has attracted overwhelmingly positive feedback from users, for example: “an absolutely amazing resource that is easy to use and extremely well designed” (Primary School SENCO) and “this should be part of every teacher’s toolkit” (Secondary School Assistant Head Teacher).

“Equality: Making It Happen” was launched at a one-day conference in London yesterday, 29 June, attended by teachers, school managers, teacher educators and representatives from academia and third sector organisations. Delegates found the event “excellent and inspiring”, “well balanced” and “highly thought-provoking” and commented that they valued the opportunity to reflect and to network. They also valued the wide range of presentations, including those from Professor Sheila Bennett of Brock University, Ontario, Patrick Roach, Deputy General Secretary at NASUWT, the film from Emersons Green Primary School and the powerful video presentation from a young person’s perspective.

A series of Equality Workshops, linked to “Equality: Making It Happen“, was introduced with a successful workshop in Cardiff last week and is due to continue offering workshops throughout the country this term and in the autumn.

CSIE’s disability awareness workshops for pupils are becoming increasingly popular with primary and secondary schools; this term workshops have taken place in Gainsborough and Glamorgan with more scheduled for Derbyshire, Lincoln and London. These workshops have been developed in response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s recommendation that schools should do more to help pupils understand disabled people, the social model of disability and the prejudice disabled people face (“Out in the open”, EHRC, 2012). These workshops have been highly valued by pupils and staff, who made comments such as:

“It helped me understand that you shouldn’t judge people by the way they look.”

“It helps people understand disabled still means person and that no one is different.”

“It was interesting because it was fun.”

“I didn’t know that much about disabled people and now I have more respect for them.”

Alongside all these exciting achievements, recognition from others continues to grow. CSIE’s director continues to chair the national advisory group on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, set up last year as part of the Expert Subject Advisory Groups, and invitations to speak at conferences and contribute to edited books and journals continue to arrive.

Happy Birthday CSIE, we all wish that you keep going from strength to strength and continue to be valued for achievements at the cutting edge of educational change!