Issue #6 - Transforming Education Newsletter from the Global Citizenship Foundation
“Human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent. They are not reserved for the few — they apply to everyone, everywhere. It is essential to reaffirm this fundamental principle and join forces to make it a reality.”– Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCOOver the last two decades, education leaders and policymakers have increasingly recognized LGBTI+ youth as a vulnerable group within and beyond school settings. The COVID-19 Pandemic has once again brought educators and educational leaders to the cusp and forefront of change. Many schools have either implemented or are beginning to implement policies and practices designed to ensure all students feel safe and welcome. After all, education can be is a formidable force in the emancipation of those who are subjected to cruel and mindless social injustice, hate, prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry in our societies. In the 6th Issue of the Transforming Education Newsletter, we present to you Cody Freeman‘s article from .ed Magazine — a quarterly curated issue-based digital magazine for educators. Read this featured article of the week to find out how the pandemic has exacerbated problems of LGBTI+ youth and how your actions, as educators, can mitigate the barriers and challenges faced by young people. Cody Freeman provides you with actionable insights on how you can leverage the disruption to rebuild an inclusive educational setting for LGBTI+ youth.Also, check out the 🗓 upcoming global events, our 💫author spotlight, along with the 🗞news and updatesfrom the Global Citizenship Foundation below.Do scroll towards the end of the newsletter to know how you can help me and my team :)
🌟 Featured Article
How Can Schools Use the Disruption to Shape LGBTI+ Inclusive Futures of Education?
If all of us take this time to join the disruption and rebuild spaces of diversity, equity, and inclusion, then we can live in a world where LGBTI+ youth live free and equal.
If I could define the pandemic in one word for LGBTI+ communities, it would be disruption. Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI+) people struggled to meet their basic needs of food and shelter during the pandemic, exacerbated by existing inequalities. Access to healthcare and medication became challenging. Isolation, anxiety, risk of family and domestic violence, and fear of societal stigma and discrimination all increased this year. Non-governmental organizations, which play a strategic role in reaching and representing these communities, struggled to deliver services as lockdowns and travel restrictions made it increasingly difficult to provide desperately needed resources to community members, particularly those in rural areas. The effect of this pandemic was particularly compounded for LGBTI+ youth.
Before the pandemic, queer youth were 120% more likely to experience homelessness compared to their straight, cisgender peers, suicide was the second leading cause of death among young people in the United States, homophobic and transphobic violence occurred widely in all societies in all regions of the world, and conversion therapy remained prevalent throughout the world. In addition to the violence and change efforts by key stakeholders, LGBTI+ identity...[Read Full Story Here]
🎫 Upcoming Global Events
💡 Online Event: Reimagining Latinx Heritage Month
📆 October 4, 2021
🏛 Hosted by UCLA History Geography Project
🎟 Ticket: Free Entry
✅ To know more, visit:
📆 October 21, 2021
🏛 Hosted by Melbourne Social Equity Institute
🎟 Ticket: Free Entry
✅ To know more, visit:
💡 Conference: International Conference on the Safe Schools Declaration
📆 October 25 - 27, 2021
🏛 Hosted by Global Educational Summit
🎟 Ticket: Free Entry
✅ To know more, visit:
💫 Author Spotlight
A senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Children’s Services at the University of Chester, UK. She is also the disability link tutor for the faculty, link tutor for the partner colleges, Black Minority Ethnic (BME) recruitment and retention tutor on the Initial Teacher Education programs. She obtained her Ph.D. degree from the University of Manchester. Her research explored perceptions of parents and teachers about appropriate educational provision for children with Down’s syndrome.
Know more about Dr. Devarakonda here.
🤩 Global Citizenship Foundation Events and Updates
💡 Masterclass on "Hybrid Learning And Assessment"
Hybrid learning is much more than the use and adaptation of technology. Unpack pedagogies, content delivery strategies, and technologies to leverage the power and potential of hybrid learning at the Online Educational Leadership Forum (OELF) Masterclass on Hybrid Learning and Assessments.
Prepare for educating young people effectively in the pandemic and beyond and improve students' learning experiences. Join us at the Masterclass on November 24, 2021, as we bust the myths, address the challenges, discover the right resources, and gain insights from the best practices ensuring effective implementation and assessment of hybrid teaching and learning.
🏛 Hosted by Global Citizenship Foundation
🎟 Ticket: Free Entry
✅ To know more, visit:
Help us do this better
Please help us in helping you better by providing us feedback, suggestions, inputs, and ideas on ways to improve this newsletter. Feel free to write to us here.
Thank you for investing your time to read this newsletter. Here’s my question to you — How can we shape gender diversity and inclusion practices? Share your thoughts with me on my Twitter/send me an email.
Once again, thank you for everything you are doing to transform education for human flourishing! If you liked the newsletter, do forward it to your colleagues, and let them know they can subscribe here.
I am looking forward to you joining me in our next newsletter!
Please stay safe and do take care!
Invested in your success,
— Aaryan Salman
Editor, .ed Magazine
President, Global Citizenship Foundation