This session is being delivered by  Dr Shaddai Tembo  www.criticalearlyyears.org Shaddai is a lecturer in Early Childhood Studies (UK and China) at Bath Spa University and an associate lecturer at the Open University.
This course examines the role of gender and LGBTQ+ inclusive practice to understand how we, as educators, might raise children un-limited from the gendered and heteronormative beliefs which negatively impact their identities. Consider how gender and LGBTQ+ inclusion is received today within both public and scholarly arenas. Consider strategies for inclusion based on our own experiences with young children. Finally, we look forward to an agenda for the future, considering what kind of change might be needed to maintain, and heighten, a focus on gender and LGBTQ+ inclusion.

• Why LGBTQ+ in the early years?
• Myth busting
• Differences from gender
• The concept of heteronormativity
• Group case studies on how these areas arise in play
• Practical steps you can take
• Conversations with parents & carers

Links to the following Dimensions of the Bristol Standard:

• D1 Values and Aims
• D2 Relationships and Interactions
• D3 Approaches to Play and Development
• D6 Observation, planning and Record Keeping
• D7 Staffing, Leadership and Management
• D8 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• D9 Partnership with Parents and the Wider Community
• D10 Monitoring and Evaluation.