Relationships and SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)
As the founding Headteacher of two start-up schools in Oxfordshire, one primary and one secondary, we spent a lot of time thinking about our new schools’ vision, mission and values. We were deeply committed to becoming values-based educational settings. We also did a lot of work on our global citizenship curriculum which formally brought together all of the loose threads in what Dr Neil Hawkes calls the ‘inner curriculum’. Working towards UNICEF’s Rights Respecting School Award to demonstrate our intentional teaching of the UN’s SDGs was a fundamental part of our commitment to our school communities.
When I left headship to move #DiverseEd from being a grassroots community to iterating into Diverse Educators, a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) training and consultancy organisation, I thought once again about how our work supported the education system in working towards the SDGs and we outlined them here: www.thebelongingeffect.co.uk/the-sustainable-development-goals
Five years on, we have just gone through a re-brand, and we are now called the Belonging Effect. For me the strategic intention we take towards developing consciousness, confidence and competence in DEIB must be actionable and must have impact. So our renewed mission is ‘shaping intention into impact’
We are in the decade of action to work towards achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as outlined by the United Nations.
The Belonging Effect is committed to doing the work across our network by connecting our training offer, our events programmes, and our desired outcomes (as well as our vision, mission, values and strategic vision) with the global goals to transform our world, together.
- We believe in a shared vision and a collective responsibility in working towards the SDGs, together.
- We believe that through meaningful collaborative partnerships across our network and wider education community, we can have a greater impact in addressing societal issues, together.
- We believe that our schools are shaping global citizens and that we are all responsible for the world that we co-create, together.
Whilst we believe there is a part for all of us as educators and schools to play in all seventeen SDGs, we align our work specifically to seven of the SDGs as outlined below through our commitments:
3. Good health and wellbeing
4. Quality education
5. Gender equality
8. Decent work and economic growth
10. Reduced inequalities
16. Peace, justice and strong institutions
17. Partnerships for goals
How do the SDGs influence the way we think about human relationships in schools?
We need to reflect on the levels of diversity in our different stakeholder groups and who gets opportunities and who can access resources. We need to focus on names, not numbers. We need to invest in connection, not correction. We need to work in collaboration and co-create solutions to problems.
Which SDGs are most directly connected to the school environment?
We need to focus on mental health and wellbeing and realise how closely related it is to other aspects of our identity and lived experience. We need to ensure that all children receive their entitlement to an inclusive and representative curriculum enabling them to thrive and prosper in their adult lives.
How can schools build partnerships with local communities to promote inclusive education and shared responsibility for SDG goals?
We need to create a map of our community partnerships and spend time investing to ensure there is mutual reciprocity. We need to intentionally weave a web of key relationships around our school and distribute the responsibility of leaders in maintaining them and ensuring there is open dialogue to feed the culture and the ethos of the setting.
Imagine a school in 2030 that has fully embraced the SDGs: what do relationships look like there?
We will have collapsed the power hierarchy, we will have embedded democratic decision-making and we will be ensuring that all voices will matter. We will see the benefits of a more representative leadership and governance model. We will hear from our learners that they have a greater sense of belonging.
How can educational policies be re-designed to prioritise healthy relationships as part of achieving SDG 4?
Educational policies need to be co-designed as there is often a disconnect between who writes the policy, who ratifies the policy versus who the policy serves. We have systemic and societal issues to resolve such as anti-racism and meaningful inclusion of our most vulnerable learners, alongside increased belonging for individuals and groups who are marginalised by the system. We need the subject of any policy reform to be actively involved in the process and changes to ensure they resonate and reduce harm.
Do check out our website to find out more about our DEIB work. You might also be interested in my new book which is coming out in the new year entitled ‘How to Cultivate Belonging in Schools’.
