We are passionate about flexible working in education, as both a recruitment and a retention tool for all educators, at every level, for all identities. With the passing of the Flexible Working Bill in April 2024 it has become a hot topic for educational employers and HR teams.

Lucy Rose and Lindsay Patience are founders of Flexible Teacher Talent:

With thanks to the follow members of the #DiverseEd network who shared their flexible working journey and story with us: Adrian McLean, Debbie Rogan, Erin Skelton, Frances Akinde, George White, Harroop Sandhu, Kirsty Ruthven, Michelle Gabriel, Nick Kitchener-Bentley and Zahara Chowhdhury:

We held a half-day virtual event in 2020 and hosted a range of stakeholders to share best practice regarding flexible working in schools, colleges and trusts:

We provide research-based tools, training and assessments to build Cultural Intelligence (CQ) – the ability to relate and work effectively with diverse people.

For years, the case has been that more diversity equals improved organisational performance. But we can not expect diverse groups to work together effectively and improve performance if they lack the skills to do so.

Cultural intelligence (CQ) is the foundation and strategic link that ensures your DEI efforts lead to meaningful and sustainable results. The same holds true for any attempt to create an equitable and inclusive organisational culture.
Everyone has their own definition of DEI – the Cultural Intelligence Centre UK broadly defines it as any organisational effort to increase diverse representation and create inclusive, equitable environments. More specifically, we define each of the areas as follows:

Developing DEI cultures and organisations is a journey, not a destination. We never fully arrive because we are always learning and growing. And things are constantly changing. Yet it is still reasonable to expect positive and measurable results along the way. But you must first discover where you are on the journey. After your discovery, you need to develop and execute culturally intelligent strategies to move you along the journey. We can help.

Our DEI work focuses on partnering with organisations and educational institutions around the globe to integrate CQ into their DEI initiatives. More specifically, we facilitate evidence-based processes that support an organisation’s DEI Journey in ways that influence positive individual behaviour, systems change and overall organisational performance.

We support you in designing culturally intelligent classrooms and schools. Whether you want to assess students’ intercultural competence, improve your study abroad programme, or develop a strategy for building a culturally intelligent campus, we have a range of research-based solutions to meet your needs.

Our tools and solutions are based on more than two decades of research conducted across 100+ countries. We work with educators worldwide to provide the most robust and practical cultural awareness and intercultural learning programmes.

When we work with you and your leadership team we help you shape your DEI approach by establishing your CQ Drive, your CQ Knowledge, your CQ Strategy and your CQ Strategy.

Intersectionality examines how aspects of identity such as race, gender, class, and sexuality overlap to create unique experiences of privilege and oppression. The concept, coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw and rooted in the work of Black feminist scholars, is central to understanding how systems of inequality operate. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “the interconnected nature of social categorisations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.”

Key works such as Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks and Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde emphasize the necessity of acknowledging these intersections. These texts highlight how systems like racism, sexism, and classism reinforce one another, disproportionately affecting marginalised individuals. Crenshaw’s essay in Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement explores how focusing on singular issues—like the gender pay gap—without considering dimensions like race or immigration status can inadvertently maintain inequalities within groups.

By integrating insights from books like Patricia Hill Collins’ Black Feminist Thought and Angela Davis’ Women, Race & Class, we see how addressing oppression requires a holistic approach. Tackling inequality in one area, while ignoring intersecting factors, risks perpetuating the very systems of disadvantage intersectionality aims to dismantle.

Understanding intersectionality is crucial because it reveals how social identities function on multiple, interconnected levels, shaping distinct experiences, challenges, and opportunities for individuals. Kimberlé Crenshaw’s seminal article, Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex (1989), illustrates how focusing on a single aspect of identity—such as race or gender—fails to capture the compounded impact of overlapping oppressions. Crenshaw used examples of Black women being excluded from both feminist movements and anti-racist initiatives to highlight how these systems interdependently reinforce disadvantage.

Similarly, Patricia Hill Collins’ work, Toward a New Vision: Race, Class, and Gender as Categories of Analysis and Connection (1993), argues that forms of oppression like racism, sexism, and classism are not isolated but mutually constructing. These articles emphasize that reducing oppression to a single dimension oversimplifies systemic inequality and undermines efforts to create effective change. Instead, understanding these interconnected dynamics is essential for creating policies and practices that address the full complexity of discrimination and privilege.

Ignoring intersectionality results in the oversimplification of social issues and the perpetuation of inequities, as it fails to account for the complexity of people’s experiences. Without an intersectional lens, several negative outcomes can arise:

By applying an intersectional perspective, educators can identify and challenge practices that perpetuate inequities. This approach enables the creation of more inclusive environments that acknowledge and support the diverse needs of all students, ultimately fostering equity and belonging in the classroom.

To show up in a more intersectional way, it’s essential to approach allyship with intentionality, reflection, and a commitment to continuous growth. Here are some actionable steps to integrate intersectionality into your daily actions:

By actively engaging in these practices, you can create meaningful change in how you show up, ensuring your actions contribute to equity and inclusion across all intersections of identity.