Another series of CSIE’s popular disability awareness workshops took place earlier this week, on Tuesday 5 July, for all students in Cherry Willingham Community School in Lincoln. Four workshops were delivered, engaging groups of up to 50 students in each workshop, exploring disability from a range of perspectives. All students in the school attended four separate workshops on a range of equality issues, with 15 minutes after every workshop to record key points in their form rooms. At the end of the day each form produced a poster based on their reflections from the entire day. The result was breathtakingly imaginative and insightful and we look forward to seeing more photographs from the school’s records.

During the disability awareness workshops students engaged in lively conversations about the meaning of specific words and possible implications beyond literal definitions. They also heard from numerous disabled people, through video clips or short extracts of selected writings, and considered what disability is and how it arises, the difference between disability and impairment, and the relative importance of similarities and differences between people. Through various real life examples, students identified some common assumptions about disability and considered how disabled people do things differently. At the end of each workshop students were offered a chance to ask additional questions anonymously, to which CSIE will send written responses.

CSIE has developed these workshops in direct 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 prejudices disabled people face (“Out in the open”, EHRC, 2012). Our workshops have been consistently rated very highly by students and staff; feedback has once again been overwhelmingly positive. 92% of participants (students and staff) said that they found the workshop helpful. Some did not respond and a few who said that they found it unhelpful, said that it did not add to what they already knew. One said: “It was eye-opening. Helpful is the wrong word. It has made me think differently.” Some of the reasons students gave for finding the workshops helpful were:

“It showed me the intelligence of disabled people.”

“I know not to judge people just because they have a disability.”

“Even if you think you know about it, something new appears and you can see things differently.”

“It extended my view on disabled people and what they can do. It was inspiring.”

“Helpful. Made me not judge people by their look.”

“It helps you to understand various perspectives and be non-judgemental.”

“Yes it has widened my understanding on disabled people.”

“Helpful: very informative. Very interesting.”

“I have learnt more about disabilities and have changed the way I see them.”

“It helps me understand disabled people more.”

“It makes me feel more comfortable around disabled people.”

“It has got me thinking!”

“It makes you understand more about people with disability and how it’s not a bad thing.”

“I learnt more about disabilities and that everyone should be treated equally.”