Let's Start Somewhere

By Louise Hall So… Where do I begin! Hello all, and welcome to the first term of my PGCE. It has been a whirlwind autumn term; though I must admit I've been plagued with illness throughout. So much so, a fellow student teacher gifted me vitamins, I guess that is what friends are for. I had an eventful first term, I started at university with 3 two-hour lectures, Monday to Friday, then moved on to SE1A and SE1B which are the first and second instalments of School Experience 1 placement. It has taken me a while to readjust to the amount of reading, the reading list sometimes feels endless, but worthwhile in the end.    I wanted this blog to be honest, and with that in mind, the course has tested my confidence; it reminded me of a time when I had none. No belief in my academic ability, and was told to ‘learn to spell’, but throughout all of that I had the work ethic to keep going. Once again, I feel my own worth reflected on my own academic ability. I need to remind myself that I...

By Jamel  McFarlane  Here is a little bit about me.  Contrary to popular belief I was not born in Jamaica (I do sometimes tell people that I was born Jamaica). I was born in Lewisham, London. My family and I moved from London to Ashford in Kent in about 2002.  Back in 2002, Ashford was a predominantly caucasian populated town. If any of our family saw another black person in an area, we would say hello or give the infamous black nod. I believe that this interaction is an act of recognition and respect for their presence. It’s something that happens mostly in places with a lower population of black people - it happens where I live Chichester now.  Spending most of my childhood growing up in schools that were predominantly white had its challenges. One of the challenges I faced growing up was racism from uneducated people that I crossed as well as being bullied.   One situation I faced was back when I was in about year 5. Growing up I played rugby for the loc...

By Théo Rogier  Disability, by its very nature is broad and expansive. That being stated, the growing sentiment within the community is one of frustration. Our mutual frustration is one of ignorance and the fading acceptance that we have in general society. Even though, we are still physically present.  In general, my intentions in writing this come about from having a need for greater acknowledgement about disability and our presence as disabled people in society. The disabled reality is a struggle. A struggle, in the sense that we are present but we are put aside as an access issue or an inconvenience administratively, physically and from the perspective of government. Even in social settings, the disabled reality is still an issue. Social Setting and Social Interaction  For readers that are able-bodied, let me ask you to think about the times where you have interacted with someone who is physically disabled. In those situations, if you aren’t familiar to the person pri...

By Jack Freeman    Since the pandemic began, the rise in anti-Asian hate has grown across the western world. We saw seniors being violently attacked in the streets, business owners having their livelihoods destroyed by thugs overnight, and families shunned from their local communities.    All because of what they looked like.    To the rest of the world, East Asian people and those that were close enough were depicted as the one true villain of the world and the root cause of the biggest global health crisis in centuries. Through subtle messaging like news outlets using imagery of East Asian people with reports of the virus. To more overt methods such as world leaders describing it as the “ China virus ”.    A war (of sorts) against immigrant and expat Chinese populations and those that looked like them had begun. It didn’t matter whether you were a third-generation immigrant that was born and bred in the country and called it home, or a passing t...

By Artie Ray Hughes (He/Him) In recent years, more conversations are taking place about gender identity and pronouns, but the earliest recordings can be dated back to 4500 years ago. There are those who dismiss transgenderism and argue that one’s gender identity is determined by their biological sex. UK Prime Minister Liz Truss was recently asked if a “Trans woman is a woman?” and she responded “No”. Those she describes as woke, believe gender identity is one’s connection to their own gender, which can be, but doesn’t have to be correlated with their biological sex. Similarly, one’s pronouns can, but do not have to correlate with their gender identity. Pronouns are words used to refer to someone or something when you don’t use a noun. This includes, he, she, they, you, I, we, and neopronouns, xe, ze and ey).  I am a transgender man who uses he/him pronouns. I grew up in a very conservative small village, living around those who shared the same view as Truss. Face to face conversati...

by Louise Hall.  I am new to the startcono team. Here is a a  little bit more about me.  I studied fine art BA and graduated with first class with honours from Arts University Bournemouth in 2020. After graduating, I became Student Union President running on agenda to reform education and make my university a more inclusive and more diverse environment. I had spent much of my time as an undergrad battling the system to feel seen and visible.  A proud moment of my undergrad was writing a long list of books and texts that the library should have with some notable authors like bell hook, Audre Lorde and many more. I felt like many other students there was a clear lack of representation, there was a lack of celebration of cultures, gender identities, disabilities, and different lived experiences beyond a mainly white male curriculum. When challenging the lack of voices from different lived experiences on the reading list, it often came with well these are the greats why ...

  By Jamel  McFarlane  When you think of racism in sport, what comes to mind?     What sports do you think of?     Cricket? Rugby? Football?     My mind always goes to football. Despite the recent high profile racial scandal cricket recently went through. This only happen because Azeem Rafiq spoke out about the racial abuse he faced during his time at the Yorkshire Cricket Club but also the fact that Scottish Cricket was called institutional racist by an independent investigation.  Why do I think of football? I do not think it’s because racism in football happens all the time. I believe this is not because football itself is that institutionally racist anymore, but because football is one of the most watched sport in the world. It does not help that a lot of social media discussion are normally around football. Football is on throughout the year so the media coverage and the spotlight is always on it.  Seeing racism in foo...