Pearson Schools Blog

Two teachers share their stories of how they’re tackling the digital divide in their schools. 

A False Binary 

Grime is a style of British rap music that emerged from the UK Garage scene during the early 2000s. The genre is defined by complex syncopated raps over fast beats, initially made famous by a generation of East London artists such as Wiley and Dizzie Rascal, and more recently, revived by the likes of Stormzy, who became the first British black solo artist to headline Glastonbury in 2019. On paper, Grime is perhaps not the natural bedfellow of Classical music. Grime Opera strives to challenge this assumption, uniting young people from a diverse range of backgrounds in pursuit of an authentic musical experience.  

Suha Yassin, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lead at Pearson, outlines some of the challenges facing schools today when it comes to SEND provision, and offers her thoughts on how these can be overcome.

At Pearson we are committed to equity and opportunity for all learners. We strive to create educational content and learning environments that reflect the diversity of the modern world, are accessible and help all learners achieve without limits. As part of our work in Music qualifications, we are talking to musicians and industry partners to understand the implications of diversity, equity, and inclusion across different genres and practices within this creative subject to inform future development across these qualifications. To learn more about the importance of DE&I in Folk Music, Pearson interviewed professional folk musician and author of the teaching resource Black Singers and Folk Ballads, Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and the Education Director at the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Rachel Elliott.

Knee-jerk: “a quick reaction that does not allow you time to consider something carefully”

When a topic or issue becomes very present in the public eye (often despite having always been of paramount importance, as is the case with genuine diversity and inclusion in education) or it begins to feel more urgent, there can be pressure to actively resist or even just to react.

Deborah Maclaren, MD of LoveReading4Kids, explores why it is crucial that diverse and inclusive books are normal for every pupils, not niche.

Writing a piece exploring the opportunities inclusivity offers seemed like a pretty straightforward task. Find some stats, look at some research, read up on a few ‘experts’ and write an article littered with percentages and data…easy! 

That is what Inclusivity has now become after all - a series of research, a plethora of experts and survey after survey churning out a load of stats, repeating the message over and over again that “We need more Diverse books”. 

In our recent Twist on a Tale competition, 16-year old Iona Mandal wrote an inspiring story about how studying a text she could relate to made her feel a sense of belonging and pride.

How many times have you heard these myths?  Pupils with SEND can’t engage via a screen, pupils with SEND will struggle to build a relationship with their tutor, online tutoring isn’t tailored for pupils with SEND. 

With the right, relaxed conditions and with students, teachers, SENCos and tutors all on the same page, every online tutoring session can count.