Class Action: Teaching beyond stereotypes

THIS EQUAL PLAY WEBINAR TOOK PLACE ON WEDNESDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER 2023 

Bringing together an expert panel, combining lived experience, top tips and school-based case studies, we discussed what can be done to tackle gender and racial stereotypes in everyday early years and classroom settings. The event aimed to help build capacity and confidence in practitioners, leading to a transformative impact on all children, moving beyond the limits of gender bias.

Below is a list of useful resources that were shared by our panelists and viewers during the event:

Resources from Lifting Limits

• Book recommendations by age 
• Lifting Limits newsletter
• Family resources 
• Early years report
• Global boyhood Report

Other useful websites 

• Let Toys Be Toys
• Not Only Pink and Blue
• It's Child's Play

About our Speakers:

Helen Hayes MP 

Helen Hayes is the Labour MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, first elected in 2015. Helen currently serves as the Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years focusing on childcare, support for children with special educational needs and disability, and children’s social care.

Before entering Parliament, Helen was a town planner for twenty years, working with communities to deliver new jobs and homes, and a councillor in Southwark from 2010 to 2016. Helen was previously a member of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee and the Environmental Audit Committee.

Joss Cambridge-Simmons

Previously described as the UK’s leading ‘super Manny’, Joss Cambridge-Simmons is working hard to modernise childcare, challenge the status quo of the so-called modern man and is here to share his career story. He is the founder of Jossy care, the heartfelt childcare service that is constantly challenging gender stereotypes within the childcare industry.

Joss won a National Diversity Award in 2019 for being a Positive Male Role Model, UK Nanny Of The Year 2022, Gentlemen's Award 2022, UK Nanny Of The Year award, 2022, SME Childcare Professional of the year award 2023 and since has been featured in Time Out magazine, Home Carer magazine, BBC News (Mini Doc), CBeebies Our School and ITV News

Kirsty Ruthven 

Kirsty is Head of Education at Lifting Limits, a charity committed to challenging gender stereotyping and promoting gender equality, through education. Their vision is to create a world where every child is liberated from the confines of gender stereotypes, empowering them to forge their own unique path in life. They work with primary schools, early years settings and a range of other organisations.

An experienced teacher and school leader having taught from the Early Years Foundation Stage through to Key Stage Two. Previously an Assistant Headteacher in a large primary school and an Early Years Advisory Teacher for a Local Authority, Kirsty has worked with Nurseries, Childminders, Children’s Centres and a variety of local and national organisations.

A passionate advocate for gender equality and a belief that schools and settings are in a unique position to challenge gender stereotypes from an early age, Kirsty believes that even small changes made by educators can have a positive effect on outcomes for children. Her masters degree in Education researched Leadership and Management and she is at the beginning of an EdD at Roehampton University, researching inequalities in education. Kirsty teaches part-time in a South London Primary School. 

Zaimal Azad

Zaimal is Senior Campaigns Officer at Fawcett and chaired our webinar. Previously, she lead on tackling hate crime for a local authority, working with communities to develop and deliver policy and projects. She has six years of experience in a variety of roles in the women’s sector in the UK and in Pakistan, working on a range of issues from political participation to poverty and financial independence for women and girls. Zaimal has an MSc in Gender, Policy and Inequalities from the LSE and is passionate about ensuring that women’s voices in all our diversity are part of policy making and implementation at all levels.  She is also co-founder of the Feminist and Women’s Libraries and Archives Network and is a trustee for a local library

• Join our Equal Play Newsletter 

• Read our Unlimited Potential report and find out how Fawcett worked closely with Ofsted to change the Early Years handbook to now include challenging stereotypes as a requirement to receive level ‘Good’ at inspections.

• Catch up on previous Equal Play events
  • Boys Online: Parenting against internet misogyny 
  • Unlimited Potential: Careers free from stereotypes