People sometimes think LGBT+ culture and people are a recent phenomenon. Not at all, but some teachers have no experience of LGBT+ people themselves and learn about them, like any other subject, while others have focused on including some form of LGBT+ studies into English, Art, Politics, PSHE and RE lessons.
Head of Sixth Form and history teacher Claire Holliss has some tips, which she showcased in June as part of Hodder Education’s first ever LGBT+ History event for Key Stage 3:
- Tell the whole story and don’t just focus on ‘great men and women’ – familiar figures like Oscar Wilde and Anne Lister are a helpful way in to the subject, but their lives were very different to those of LGBT+ people today (and in fact, they were quite exceptional in their own lifetimes)!
- Think about the language you use – this has changed a lot over time. For the sake of accuracy, it helps to use the language that people would have chosen at the time, but also to make it clear that this may not be what people would say today
- Be realistic – acknowledge the limits of your ability to ‘know’ how the people of the past thought and felt that are particularly relevant to this part of History – this is an opportunity to explore some of these questions with students as a teacher or parent.