February is LGBTQIA+ History Month and as a teaching agency inclusivity is so important to us. It is the perfect time to learn the history behind the LGBTQIA+ movement and celebrate how far we have come! We have come up with a list of ways you can incorporate this month into your teaching:

Watch LGBTQIA+ films

We all remember the excitement of film viewings in lessons, the Education Organisation Into Film has created a resource that can be used in lessons or school film clubs that includes film clips, interviews, questions and activities that are sure to get your students interested and talking about this month. Some of the films Into Film suggest are Pride (2014, 15), The Imitation Game (2014, 12) and Rebel Without a Cause (1955, PG).

Read Books

Films may be a bit challenging for younger years so you may want to stick to reading stories in your lessons. Gire has created lessons plans for ages 3-6 and 7-11 where you can explore gender and the trans experience through children's stories. We spoke to our teachers to find out what books would be perfect for your secondary school students; Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda, Openly Straight and The Colour Purple sound like particularly good reads and for more mature audiences you may want to focus on PRIDE by Matthew Todd that tells queer history through interviews, rare images and essays from notable figures.

Share LGBTQ+ experiences

By sharing real-life stories you can help students understand what the LGBTQIA+ community go through, also for those students in your class that are a part of the community, it helps them feel seen. The BBC have some personal stories that you may be able to share with your older students.

Resource packs

There’s a variety of different resource packs you can use to plan lessons for your students. One of our favourites is The Proud Trust’s resource pack that include games like guess who and a badge design competition to make learning fun for your students. You can download the 2022 resource pack here.

Celebrate strong and inspiring LGBTQ+ individuals

There are so many amazing people who are a par of the LGBTQIA+ community. By making a presentation about both historical and current activists, athletes, actors and educators and their achievements you can get your students to celebrate how far society has come. Our Black Country Primary Consultant Luke is passionate about promoting influential individuals and has suggested some people you may want to focus on such as Marsha P Johnson, Adam Ripton and Lisa Powers.

We hope you find our suggestions helpful for getting involved in this important month. If you are looking for an inclusive teaching agency to work with, then look no further. Send your CV to us today to get your registration process started.