Every school has disabled pupils, staff and family members.
Disability History Month is an opportunity within your school, to develop a culture of respect for difference and a chance to remove the barriers, so that all can achieve their potential!
So calling all students and teachers…keep reading this page to get ideas to organize events, put up displays, hold assemblies and introduce disability equality as a focus across the curriculum, in your school or college.
The DfE reports that up to 80% of disabled learners experience bullying and are 8 times more likely then non-disabled learners to be excluded or suspended. However the law requires reasonable adjustments to be implemented with no discrimination or harassment.
In education, disabled children and young people need staff, pupils and parents to understand and change their behaviour to accommodate the full range of disabled learners including those with mental health issues, behavioural difficulties, speech and communication difficulties, specific and general learning difficulties and those with physical or sensory impairments.
Teachers and Lecturers plan to bring disability into your lesson:
It is important for teachers to be familiar with the traditional medical and social model of disability, so you should look at:
“What schools can do during UKDHM.doc”
“The Ways of Thinking About Disability.doc”
“Bringing Disability into the Classroom.doc”
“Disabled People who have made a difference.doc”
“Historical Outline of Disability in Western Europe.doc”
“An Activity on the Traditional/ Social / Medical Models of Disability.doc”
“Identify Barriers in your school.doc”
“More Resources to Promote Disability Equality in the Classroom.doc”
All of these can be used as activities in the classroom!
Or don’t forget to look at: www.bfi.org.uk/disablingimagery
And also
More ideas for teachers include:
A) Hold a discussion on the difference between the medical and social model approaches to disabilityhttp://www.bfi.org.uk/education/teaching/disability/thinking/medical.html
B) In groups get students to write on a large piece of paper all the words they know to describe disabled people or their condition. Then draw round all the ones they would want to be called. Discuss
C) Watch a film appropriate to the age group which features disabled characters and then undertake some of the listed activities http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/teaching/disability/activities/suggested/commercial.html
D) Here are lots more ideas http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/teaching/disability/activities/lessons.html
And
Ideas for teachers and students are:
-Hold an event for the faculty and students during the month
-Each faculty could run a seminar during the month
-Within different faculties you can look at the disability content that there could be within your subject area. Eg: in History you could look at the history of disabled people in society at different periods. See broadsheet.
-Within your Students Union: you should focus on having information out and/or having an event or discussion around the position of disabled students or disabled people in general which we could provide speakers for
-Put posters up! Download them from the ‘Discover Our History’ section of our website (Tag: Posters) and put them up around the school or college.
Better still have a workshop where you can make your own – and discuss.
Out of the discussions you have identify what the key issues are and maybe those who are doing MEDIA, ART, PRESENTATION, ENGLISH, could produce posters that could go up around the campus.
-Coordinate with your disabled students officer of the NUS, or disabled support department
-Hold a meeting or disabled students on their own to come up with the issues and barriers that they face on the campus and put these to the management body of the college.