Research and training in Further and Higher Education

University of Salford September 2012

The Forum

• A partnership of membership organisations and sector agencies in post school education

• Share information on own organisation projects and work together on Forum activity

• CEL and UCU brought the Forum together initially with NUS, LSC, UNISON and LLUK

• Concern with reports of conflict between people of faith and people of different sexual orientations

Partners

• Learning and Skills Improvement Service • Association of Colleges• Association of Employment and Learning Providers• Higher Education Funding Council for England• Equality Challenge Unit• Association of Teachers and Lecturers• UNISON• University and College Union• National Union of Students• Skills Funding Agency• Young People’s Learning Agency

Managing the Interface: sexual orientation and faith

A guide for further education and higher educationJuly 2010

Research and guidance

• Shared goal to enable people within FE and HE organisations to identify and tackle any issues relating to the interface between the two equality areas

• Scoped by Forum and National Council of Faiths and Beliefs in FE (FBFE) 2009

• Research 2010• Events to launch guidance 2010 and 2011

Development

Research Findings

• Staff services• Learner residencies• Student services and students’ unions• Teaching learning and assessment• Governance• The role of trade unions• Policy – ensuring parity for all groups• Bullying and harassment

Where equality and diversity in the culture and ethos there tended to be mutually respectful relations

The guidance will help users in FE and HE to:• meet the requirements of equality legislation• embed a culture and ethos of inclusion and respect for difference in their organisations• develop an approach to equality and diversity that promotes good relations between sexual orientation equality and equality on the grounds of religion or belief• meet the needs of its learners and staff with different sexual orientations and different religions or beliefs• develop and implement a single equality

scheme or comparable methods of embedding equality into mainstream business planning.

Aim of the guidance

•Guidance supports an anticipatory approach rather than responding to incidents as they arise•Events to launch the research and guidanceLSIS and Forum:•Sexual orientation and religion and belief workshops

Phil Barnett and Christine RoseSharon Ferguson and Mark Solomon

•NUS, FBFE and the Forum

Training

http://sgforum.org.uk

Forum documents:•Managing the interface•Trans guidance for post school education (2012)•Twelve steps to tackling discriminationPartner documents:•Employing people in higher education: sexual orientation ECU•Seventh strand (LSIS training resource on gender identity - requires free registration) •Visible and valued (LSIS training resource on sexual orientation - requires free registration

Further information

Contact

Seth Atkinsatkin@ucu.org.uk