Gender, Sexuality and Social Sustainability in UK Schools: The Role of Language

This article explores the relationship between language, gender, sexuality and social sustainability in UK schools. Social sustainability in education focuses around enabling every individual to develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary for shaping a sustainable future (UNESCO, 2016). Key principles in socially sustainable education include equity, collaboration and participatory parity between individuals and groups. The recognition and participatory parity dimensions of social sustainability have particular relevance to issues around gender and sexuality equality and diversity. It is well-documented that, despite progressive legal changes in the UK, gender and sexual minorities (GSM) continue to experience disadvantage, social exclusion and marginalization in schools. But there has so far only been a relatively small body of research which has examined the role played by language in processes of school exclusion and marginalization for GSM students. This article explores some of the ways in which language is central to achieving or preventing recognition and participatory parity in relation to gender and sexuality in UK schools. I examine how language is more often experienced by students and teachers as an obstacle to, rather than a facilitator of, social sustainability. I consider linguistic interventions that could be useful for breaking down some of the existing barriers to gender- and sexuality-related social sustainability in schoo

Humanistic person-centred set facilitation

This paper poses the question ‘What can we learn from the personcentred counselling literature which could be used by the action learning facilitator to help benefit the set?’. This question may be particularly important to facilitators seeking new ways to run their sets and to facilitators who would like to introduce a more humanistic and less mechanistic way of working with set members. Person-centred counselling is an approach to helping which aims to foster human growth and wellbeing. The person-centred approach was developed by Carl Rogers in the 1950s and has a number of similarities with Revan’s original ideas. Although Revans was insistent that action learning was not counselling there are several facets of person-centred theory which align with Revans underlying ideas and philosophy. The paper concludes with suggestions of how to incorporate Rogerian ideas into facilitation, namely those of empathy, congruence and Unconditional Positive Regard

Bridging gaps in maternity care for women with disabilities: a scoping review of access and utilisation in sub-Saharan Africa adopting the WHO health systems framework

Background Women with disabilities face higher risks of maternal morbidity and mortality, particularly in low- and middle-income countries like sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Barriers such as socio-cultural stigma, health facility inaccessibility, and lack of supportive healthcare contribute to their limited access to maternity services, exacerbating their vulnerability. Despite significant research on maternal health in SSA, studies focusing on women with disabilities remain scarce, and current healthcare services often fail to accommodate their needs. This scoping review explores barriers to maternity care accessibility among women with disabilities in SSA, highlighting gaps in research necessary for developing interventions that align with global health goals, such as reducing maternal mortality by 2030. Methods This current scoping review was informed by the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley. Exploratory searches were conducted in JSTOR, PubMed, PsycINFO, African Journals Online, and Web of Science, etc., to identify studies conducted in SSA that focused on access, utilisation, and barriers to maternity services such as antenatal care (ANC) visits, facility delivery, and postnatal care visits among women with disabilities in SSA since the introduction of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Twenty-two studies were included, spanning from June 1st 2016 to 30th May 2024. Results Of the 22 eligible studies out of 416 identified studies published between 2016 and 2024, 20 were conducted across eight countries in SSA. Eight studies employed quantitative methods, 12 used qualitative approaches, and two used mixed-methods analysis. These studies focused on all or either of the maternal health services measured in this study, which include antenatal care (ANC), facility delivery, and postnatal care (PNC) among women with disabilities. Findings indicate that, despite a strong desire for ANC, physical impairments, mobility issues, and unsupportive infrastructure hinder access. Although facility deliveries were high, support gaps and negative provider attitudes were common. The WHO health system framework categorisation shows that more barriers are within the service delivery and health workforce domains. Conclusion The review found limited studies on access to and utilisation of ANC, facility delivery, and PNC for women with disabilities in SSA. This gap restricts understanding of the issue and hampers interventions, increasing risks to maternal and child health. Urgent research and int

Too Woke or Not Woke Enough? Racial Awareness in the Church of England

The Church of England has recently engaged again with issues of racism by setting up the Anti-Racism Taskforce in 2020, followed by the Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice in 2021. Both groups stressed the lack of progress in tackling racism in the Church and the need to raise awareness of racial injustice at all levels. This paper reports on the measurement of racial awareness among 3,167 clergy and lay people who took part in the Church 2024 survey. Eight items in the survey were used to create the racial awareness scale. Results suggested a mixed picture with a majority awareness that racial inequality is an important issue that needs to be addressed, a majority rejection of the idea that there may be local or institutionally embedded racism and enthusiasm for diversifying leadership but not for taking specific actions relating to historic slavery. Multiple regression analysis showed racial awareness was shaped by a complex mixture of individual, contextual and religious factors

Meanings of autistic rituals and routines: using personal explanations written by autistic bloggers to improve inclusion

Rituals and routines are used to define autism. However, descriptions that come from diagnostic manuals exclude many people from being recognised as autistic initially, and exclude others from owning a positive autistic identity. Different examples and descriptions of these behaviours are missing from clinical guidelines. Autistic people provide valuable updates to how repetitive behaviours can be understood. This study supplements outdated and stereotyped examples of rituals and routines with personal explanations given by individuals who identify as autistic. A systematic search and mixed methods analysis of blog data was carried out using corpus-based and meta-ethnographic methods. These methods may interest researchers wishing to represent perspectives that are often omitted from research. A systematic search was used to locate qualitative descriptions of rituals and routines in personal narratives in blog data. Blogs were written by 40 adults who reported being autistic. Corpus-based analysis showed illustrative examples of rituals and routines, and meta-ethnography provided a line-of-argument synthesis for how and why these behaviours were used. Importantly, all repetitive behaviours were chosen personally by the autistic authors; they achieved a sense of control over their world. Benefits included in-moment recharging of energy and reliable ways to anticipate and reduce overwhelm. Rituals and routines used were likened to being an island, escape, or traffic light. These qualities underpinned different appearances of behaviours, including using lists, routines, rules, step-by-step guides, and schedules, stimming movements, exercising, dancing, and engagement in interests. Many different repetitive behaviours showed the specific demands placed on these authors in different environments. Underpinning functions of the repetitive behaviours were consistent over changeable times and places. The findings destigmatise autistic identity by recognising meaningful behaviours used as part of everyday life, rather than seeing autistic differences as problematic by default. This understanding can be used to inform assessment decisions and therapeutic supports that affect autistic people

Women and Pro-environmental Initiatives in Tourism: The Intersection of Gender Dynamics and Environment Issues

Women’s involvement, gender equality, and environmental challenges are critical concepts in tourism development, particularly in patriarchal systems where hierarchical value systems create challenges for both nature and women. However, the theoretical framework addressing these issues remains underexplored. This study examined how women interpret their motivations and challenges in these contexts while contributing to tourism-related environmental conservation and navigating patriarchal gender norms. It investigated the lived experiences of Iranian women actively engaged in tourism-related conservational initiatives. The findings revealed that their commitment to pro-environmental initiatives is driven by an intrinsic connection to nature and a desire to resist gender inequalities and challenge male-dominated structures. Despite facing challenges stemming from patriarchal structures, they demonstrate collective resilience against gender stereotypes. Additionally, their participation in tourism pro-environmental projects fosters trust and social recognition, driving incremental social change. This study makes a strong theoretical contribution by exploring gender issues through the lens of ecofeminism theory

Navigating the ethics and legality of deepfake technology: advancements, implications and responsible deployment

This research explores the world of deepfake technology, particularly how generative adversarial networks can be used to create realistic synthetic images of celebrities. By using the CelebA dataset with a deep convolutional generative adversarial network (DCGAN) model, the research aims to produce high-quality deepfake images that look convincing. The objectives include producing convincing deepfake visuals, examining their practical uses in art and science, ensuring adherence to legal and ethical standards and increasing public awareness of responsible deepfake practices. Thorough testing is conducted to evaluate how well these deepfakes perform and how realistic they appear, while also considering the ethical issues and risks of misuse. The findings show that DCGANs are effective at replicating facial features and emotions, suggesting future possibilities for deepfake technology while considering the need for strong ethical guidelines and regulations

Adopting Quality for School Readiness (AQSR): a heuristic framework using recommended practice and professional knowledge to support oral language in multilingual classrooms

Quality oral language interventions support children’s readiness for formal literacy instruction and yet a framework for multilingual classrooms is not available. To address this gap, we drew on the empirical literature on linguistically diverse learners, classroom linguistic environments, and usage-based theories to identify principles for recommended pedagogical practices. We next examined how teachers explained their oral language teaching and what they said after delivering an intervention based on recommended practice. Using a reflexive approach to qualitative interview and questionnaire data, we found some convergence but also areas of limited overlap between recommended practice and teacher professional knowledge. Supporting child talk was seen to serve a motivational-affective purpose more than the cognitive-linguistic purposes implicit in research-informed recommended practices. Based on insights from specialized literature and distillations of professional knowledge, we propose a heuristic framework named Adopting Quality for School Readiness (AQSR). We also discuss uses for the AQSR framework and outstanding questions for future research