1. Equality in SDP Cathal Kelly Presentation to SDPI Summer School NUI Galway, 20 June 2007

2. Legislation Employment Equality Act 1998 Equal Status Act 2000 Equality Act 2004 Education Act 1998 Education (Welfare) Act 2000 Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004

3. Purpose The equality legislation –Prohibits discrimination and harassment –Provides redress if it does occur –Promotes equality

4. The Nine Grounds Gender Marital status Family status Age Disability Sexual orientation Race Membership of the Traveller community Religion

5. Educational Establishments The four aspects of education named in the Equal Status Acts: – Admission – Access to any course, facility or benefit – Any other term or condition of participation – Expulsion or any other sanction (Also, specific responsibilities for schools & staff concerning harassment of or by students)

6. Inclusive School Seeks positive experiences and outcomes across all nine grounds Seeks a sense of ownership and belonging for all, both students and teachers Accommodates, celebrates and values diverse identities across all nine grounds

7. Equality Framework Four dimensions of equality 1 Redistribution 2 Socio-cultural domain 3 Power and decision-making 4 Affective domain

8. Equality Framework (1) 1 Redistribution: – Who participates in education? And in this school? – Who participates in different courses, subjects, activities and different levels of subjects? – Who participates in class? – Who gets what out of education?

9. Equality Framework (2) 2 Socio-cultural : what messages are conveyed about different groups – in the content of what is taught? – in the messages conveyed by school practices?

10. Equality Framework (3 + 4) 3 Political domain: –Who makes decisions? –Who is consulted on decisions and reviews? –Is the full diversity of stakeholders involved? 4 Affective domain: Concerns relations between people of love, care and solidarity

11. A “Cube” Nine grounds Gender Marital status Family status Age Disability Race Sexual orientation Membership of the Traveller community Religion Aspects of school Experiences and outcomes Ownership and belonging Accommodate, celebrate, value diversity Equality Redistribution Socio-cultural domain Decision making Solidarity

12. Development Planning What equality challenges do we know exist? What equality challenges do we not know about? What constraints or barriers arise? For each equality situation? What actions can we take?

13. An approach What happens to my mind-set if the language I use changes from: “they” to: “those of us who”?

14. The Equality Authority 2 Clonmel StreetBirchgrove House Dublin 2Roscrea Co Tipperary Tel: (01) 417 3333 Lo Call:1890 245 545 Text Phone:(01) 417 3385 Fax:(01) 417 3366 Email:info@equality.ie Website:http://www.equality.ie

15. Some resources Schools and the Equal Status Acts – Second Edition has been jointly published by the Equality Authority and the Department of Education and Science. Equality and Education is the proceedings of a joint ASTI – Equality Authority conference in 2001 can be downloaded from the Equality Authority’s web site. The Inclusive School – Proceedings of the Joint Conference of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation and the Equality Authority can be downloaded from the Equality Authority’s web site. Diversity at School, edited by Anne Lodge and Kathleen Lynch (141 pp.) was published by the IPA for the Equality Authority in December 2004. Copies are available through book shops (€9.00); it can also be downloaded from the Equality Authority’s web site (http://www.equality.ie).