Good Practice Handbook for Education Providers
This pack is to help learning providers to ensure they comply with the law by meeting their obligations under the public sector equality duty and meeting Ofsted requirements to develop awareness of diversity in relation to the protected characteristics
How does equality and diversity apply to us as a learning provider?
As a learning provider – whether a school, college, university or work based learning provider – equality and diversity are one of the key features of the inspection framework that we are all required to have regard for.
Who is it for?
Managers, business support staff, teachers and trainers in the further education and work-based learning sector, and especially anyone who works directly with learners, should find this pack of use to them.
About this resource
Under the common inspection frame-work for further education and skills, inspectors have a duty to assess how well the learning provider:
- manages equality and diversity, in particular disability, gender and race
- promotes equality and diversity amongst staff, learners and employers, parents and other partners
- assesses the impact of its work in relation to equality and diversity and takes appropriate action in response to its findings
- makes sure training in equality and diversity is effective so that leaders, managers, governors or supervisory bodies, staff and learners understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to equality and diversity
- makes sure that learners and staff are protected from harassment, bullying and discrimination, including those based with employers and at other sites external to the provider
- manages incidents and complaints specifically about disability, gender and race equality
- sets challenging targets and uses data to monitor, analyse and improve engagement and performance by different groups of learners
- takes action to reduce any significant variation in outcomes between different groups of learners to maximise their potential.
Click for sampleSpecifically for schools, under the new inspection framework (January 2012), inspectors have a duty to assess schools on:
- how well the school is working towards eliminating discrimination, promoting equal opportunities and encouraging good race relations
- how well the school strives to meet the diverse needs of all pupils
- the extent to which the school meets the needs of the range of learners at the school, and in particular, those who have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010 and learners who have special educational needs
- how well tutors manage the behaviour and expectations of learners to ensure that all learners have an equal and fair chance to thrive and learn in an atmosphere of respect and dignity.
In the event that a learning provider of any kind is judged to be inadequate in equality and diversity and challenging discrimination, the learning provider’s overall effectiveness is also likely to be deemed inadequate.
The modules in the resource pack will help you to understand the steps you need to take in order to embed equality and diversity into all teaching and learning practice and activity.
How to use this resource
This resource has been designed to be multi-functional and to meet a range of needs. Its main purpose is to help learning providers to:
- ensure they comply with the law
- meet their obligations under the public sector equality duty
- meet Ofsted requirements for learners’ behaviour towards, and respect for, other young people and adults, including, for example, freedom from bullying and harassment that may include cyber-bullying and prejudice-based bullying related to special educational need, sexual orientation, sex, race, religion and belief, gender reassignment or disability
- meet Ofsted requirements for learning providers to respond to individual needs, especially those of learners – including boys, girls, disabled learners, those for whom English is an additional language, minority ethnic learners, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller learners, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender learners – whose needs, dispositions, aptitudes or circumstances require particularly perceptive and expert teaching and, in some cases, additional support
- meet Ofsted requirements for learners to develop awareness of, and respect towards, diversity in relation to, for example, gender, race, religion and belief, culture, sexual orientation, and disability
- meet Ofsted requirements for learners to understand and appreciate the range of different cultures within the learning environment and further afield as an essential element of their preparation for life
The information in the pack is supplemented by a range of activities to help you test your understanding and apply your learning to your own situation and learning environment. Many of the activities will kick start the preliminary thinking, planning and information gathering processes you will need to embed equality and diversity into your area of work.
Don't Miss out!
Subscribe to receive the latest equality and diversity news, offers and updates