Teachers and school leaders from around Ireland gathered in Griffith Barracks Multi-Denominational School last Saturday, November 30th, to attend Educate Together’s Ethical Education Conference, ‘Educating Together for a Better Future’. There was great representation from both primary and second-level schools, including several first-time conference attendees.
The conference focused on supporting children from all cultural, family and economic backgrounds in classrooms in a meaningful way and embedding an ethos of respect in Educate Together schools. Issues around the risks of tokenism, anti-migrant sentiment and the increasing challenges faced by young people were at the core of the conversations on the day, including during the peer-support TeachMeet session. Teachers shared a variety of approaches that they have found helpful in supporting all children in their classrooms, and how they are making their school community a welcoming place for all families.
Ciara McMackin, Deputy Principal of Kishoge Community College commented:
“It was a pleasure to be a part of the Educate Together conference for a number of reasons. The learning from other practitioners across the network is invaluable – insights from both primary and secondary experienced teachers and principals have given me many ideas on keeping our ethos alive and kicking in the classroom! Conversations and resources related to building of brave and accountable spaces for challenging conversations are insightful and much needed in building school policy. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, maintaining links with a group of passionate, intelligent, thoughtful educators provides the energy to keep “fighting the good fight” and working towards a better future for our students! A superb day – credit to all who organised and took part!“
Ciara’s TeachMeet co-presenter Nadja Friemuth-Cassidy from Clonturk Community College agreed:
“I was delighted to have had the chance to speak at the Ethical Education Conference! As an Ethical Education Community of Practice member, I shared our experience of collaborating with Educate Together schools to plan Racial Justice Week/Black History Month, emphasizing how this supports teachers in delivering meaningful activities that celebrate diversity and affirm students’ experiences. I shared both our successes and areas for growth in striving to become a fully anti-racist school community. Additionally, I was able to promote our weekly Ethical Ed Newsletter, which is based on the Ethical Ed calendar and RTE World Report, fostering critical media literacy. It was inspiring to connect with so many passionate educators at the event, I am looking forward to the next one!”
The panel discussion offered an opportunity for a group of experienced school leaders to share successful approaches in embedding Educate Together’s equality-based ethos in schools. They highlighted strategies to identify and avoid ‘tokenism’; making symbolic gestures in our school communities which feel inclusive but don’t support families of diverse backgrounds in a meaningful way.
The afternoon focused on active engagement, as Dr. Niamh McGuirk and Briana Fitzsimons delivered their keynote address ‘Embracing Cultural Diversity in Schools’. Here they shared a wide range of strategies and resources to support teachers in actively promoting meaningful inclusion and anti-racist practices in their classrooms.
This was followed by two workshop sessions, where teachers engaged in hands-on activities led by Simon Lewis (Carlow ETNS), Vicky Donnelly (Financial Justice Ireland) and Naomi Wardle (Young Social Innovators).
Speaking at the conference, Educate Together CEO Emer Nowlan stated:
“It is always a privilege to spend a day with our teachers and school leaders, sharing good practice and challenging ourselves to reflect and learn. Developing empathy and critical thinking skills have never been more important, and the conference provided a great opportunity to explore important themes of anti-racism, financial justice, student activism and sustaining ethos. We are very grateful to everyone who presented or led workshops, to Griffith Barracks MDS for hosting, and to sponsors, VaughTec for their support.”
Vera Shanahan, Educate Together’s Primary Education Officer commented:
“This Conference invites teachers to critically reflect on their classroom practices and to explore how we can move from safe spaces to brave spaces. In light of the increasing division in our society, now is the time to ‘educate together for a better future’!”
