As The MTPT Project community grows, we have seen our members benefit from some excellent inclusive practice from schools and CPD providers committed to ensuring that babies big and small do not act as barriers to professional learning. In particular, WomenEd and Ambition School Leadership, as well as the welcoming cultures of individual schools and governing bodies, have modelled this inclusivity.
Following this year’s Teach First Impact Conference, which highlighted both the efforts made to include parent teachers, but also the continuing questions that CPD providers face around inclusion, new CEO Russell Hobby asked, “What can we do to make our CPD provision more family friendly?” Here’s a handy list for providers looking to increase engagement with the 54% of teachers who are parents (Teacher Tapp, 2017).
- Include a byline in CPD offers to tackle the confidence gap that often accompanies parental leave. By simply stating, “committed to inclusivity – talk to us about childcare/ access arrangements/ how we can help”, you are inviting conversations from a wider community about how you can meet their needs. It is likely that you will already be doing these things, but for a hesitant, sleep-deprived parent plagued by the guilt of what they ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’ be doing on parental leave, it can be easy to assume that babies, and therefore parents, don’t ‘belong’ in these adult spheres.
- For large events and where funding is available, organise and advertise a creche facility. Read about how ResearchEd partner with The Mobile Creche Company to increase access to their events every year.
- Live stream or film your events. @eyebeams has written a really fantastic blog about this, easy for even the biggest technophobe to understand. Filming options can range in price but at the very budget end, you need a smart phone, a tripod, a charger and an app called Periscope. A microphone is helpful, but not essential. To see the quality that this basic set of equipment produces, check out the forums live streamed by The MTPT Project working on a budget of £25.
- Upload content (slides, resources, reading) onto your online platform for parents to access at home. In combination with a live streamed or filmed event, this can be even more empowering for parents.
- If you can’t provide a creche, but you do have access to filming or live streaming, and your venue allows it, consider a break out space for parents to enjoy the event with their children and other parents by watching talks and workshops on a separate screen – a bit like Henman Hill/ Murray Mound! Not only can this USP increase your ticket sales to cover the costs of the filming, it also provides parents with a unique and relaxed networking opportunity where they can talk to other teachers with similar interests as them. What’s more, if parents come in couples or with friends, they can tag-team childcare responsibilities to join other delegates in larger auditoriums or to attend specific workshops on their own.
- Some CPD providers are able to cover travel or accommodation expenses for their participants, especially if the CPD doubles up as some sort of service for the organisation (training tutors or developing your own staff, for example). This is especially true when teachers from geographically remote locations are required to attend training in large cities, or where CPD providers are very London-centric. For some, however, it is not the cost of a train ticket or petrol that is the real barrier, it is the cost of organising a babysitter or additional day at nursery, especially when CPD opportunities fall on the weekend or during the school holidays. Changing the wording of your expenses offer to include ‘childcare’ can be an empowering lightbulb moment for parents, even if you are only able to cover part of this cost.
- If you are able to offer discounted rates or concessionary tickets, consider doing so for parents who are able to show you their maternity exemption card. Statutory maternity and shared parental leave pay currently stands at £140.98 per week, which can be incredibly inhibitive for teachers wanting to access events and courses.
- Promote your family friendly practices through social media channels. Seeing a picture of a baby or a buggy at an event on Twitter or Facebook can inspire others to be 10% braver and access CPD that they thought was ‘off limits’ to them. Just check with the parent that they are happy for their baby to appear on the internet!
- Where you are able to host babies or children at events, explicitly welcome them at the beginning of a workshop or session. This sends a very clear message to both the parent and the rest of the delegates that everyone is included in your CPD provision, and any eyebrows that may have been raised by a gurgling baby, or any discomfort or imposter syndrome experienced by the parent is immediately dispelled. As leaders of this CPD provision, you have a great deal of influence in setting the tone and culture of your organisation.
- Some parents might ask their partners, friends or family members to accompany them to events, especially if CPD courses are residential. Making this support system feel as welcome as the parent and baby is a really nice way of showing your commitment to inclusion.
- Consider access and dietary arrangements that make a big difference to parents and expectant mothers:
- Coffee (lots), tea, water, decaf or herbal options mean that both expectant, sleep deprived and breastfeeding parents have the fuel to get them healthily through the day
- Buggies require the same access as wheelchairs – lifts, larger toilet spaces, a helping hand for steps. And remember, even the proudest and most capable expectant mothers really shouldn’t be lifting heavy buggies!
- Baby changing facilities – babies are human beings, too, and nobody wants to be changed on a toilet floor.
- A comfortable, quiet area to sit and feed or nap to take a break. Lots of information and lots of people can be quite overwhelming if you’re surviving on five hours of broken sleep a night!
- Reserve easy-to-access parking to support parents in unloading buggies and various baby paraphernalia.
- Write a family friendly policy as part of your inclusion or equal opportunities policies to formalise what you are able to do for parents. Ensure that all staff are aware of this policy so that those participating in your events benefit from consistency in approach.
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