Latest news with #TIE
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- General
- The Herald Scotland
How a TIE assembly changed my life and gave me hope
The joking chatter, then hesitant murmurs, then awed silence of first year secondary students in a packed assembly hall opened something in me. The words 'I am a lesbian' had been lodged in the back of my throat for some months, in no small part due to a fear of how the young people around me would react. There had been laughter as I turned corners, catching the edges of cruel words I wished we were still a year too young to know. Except it had already happened - boys who'd shared coloured pencils and made up playground games at 10, were huddled in impenetrable circles spitting insults at 12. As Jordan and Liam of TIE stood before us, I refused to register my classmates' reactions. I was rapt in Jordan's story of a young gay man who had hurt in silence the way I was. He told us he had gotten to the very depths of what keeping those words unsaid and choking you can do to a teenager, then come out the other side. In Liam's description of coming to be an ally, I saw a positive straight masculinity I hadn't been sure existed before. I saw what could happen if the boys I grew up with had kept drawing and running around with me - I think they saw it too. Unlike the assemblies of old on distant topics, which were talked through or skipped by long stretches in the bathroom, we were dared to participate. 'Raise your hand if you've witnessed homophobic jokes or bullying at school.' I held my breath through the moment of silence, of eyes avoiding contact. It would be easy to tell the lie of omission, but once I raised my hand, I looked around to see many others had too. Some were tentative, falling back to fidget with a blazer seconds after, but there they were, a sea of hands. This was a real moment of change, and I felt it wash over the entire room. READ MORE Shortly after that day, where I cried on the way home to my mum, not out of sadness, but a then elusive thing I can now name as hope, I made a decision. I came out to my entire year group, during a speech competition with the prompt of 'fear', and won. I don't remember what I spent the £20 book token on, but I remember the people who looked me in the eyes like something had opened in them too. Years away from this experience, I still hear from old classmates that the assembly from TIE, then my speech, had given them the push to come out. My school changed, slowly and then all at once. Now, they have the integrated inclusive education TIE won for all Scottish young people in 2018. I know that TIE will spend the next ten years fighting the battles they're needed in with radical compassion. I know it because I'll be spending them at protests and parades, with friends who remember the pain of a lump in their throat enough to always use their voice.
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Jenny Gilruth: We must recommit to LGBT-inclusive education
As Education Secretary, I see first-hand the transformative power of inclusive education in Scotland's classrooms. Historically, it is vitally important to remember this was not always the case. Teachers were once forbidden in law from even discussing issues pertaining to the LGBT community in Scotland; the impact and legacy of Section 28 remains an important lesson for those of us who seek to build a more inclusive country. As we mark ten years since the Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) campaign began, we have an opportunity to reflect on how far we've come and the work that still lies ahead. Back in 2018, Scotland made history by becoming the first country in the world to embed LGBT inclusive education across the entire curriculum. This wasn't about adding separate lessons or treating LGBT issues as an afterthought. Instead, we integrated these discussions naturally into subjects from History to Modern Studies, from Personal and Social [[Education]], to English, Maths and the Sciences. As a result, classrooms are places where all children and young people can see themselves reflected in their learning. Scotland's young people are growing up in a fundamentally different environment to the one which I experienced at school in the nineties. Then, to be 'gay' was too often connected with negativity, derision and ridicule. We know that today, bigotry and intolerance still exist – though they may present in different ways. TIE's Digital Discourse Initiative is, therefore, helping to tackle online hate and disinformation to create safer online spaces. READ MORE I've listened to teachers and school pupils discuss the impact of this intervention, which is really crucial in an era where young people's digital experiences can be as formative as their school experiences. When we teach empathy and respect for difference, we're not just supporting LGBT pupils - we're creating citizens who value diversity and understand that our differences make us stronger. Ten years ago, TIE challenged us to imagine and deliver for a better future for our LGBT young people. Ten years ago, every single political party in the Scottish Parliament signed up to meet that challenge. As we mark TIE's tenth anniversary, we must also recommit to ensuring that every young person in Scotland - regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or family structure - can access education that values and includes them. Inclusive education matters for every child and young person, but it matters for grown-ups too. That includes the committed LGBT teachers working in our classrooms every day. I pay tribute to those teachers and LGBT staff working in our schools today; to the allies working to make a difference and to the next generation who – I know – will never allow us to return to the dark days of Section 28.
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
US researcher praises Scotland's LGBT-inclusive education
The Herald on Sunday's education writer speaks to Darek Ciszek, a Social Science and Comparative Education researcher at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) who has been studying the development and impact of LGBT-inclusive education in Scottish schools. Can you start by telling our readers a bit about your background and how an American academic became interested in Scotland's approach to LGBT inclusive education? I'm in a PhD program at UCLA in the School of Education and as I was thinking about my dissertation topic in 2022, Florida passed its Don't Say Gay law. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. I am a former teacher as well, and I taught what would be the equivalent of lower secondary in Scotland – history in particular. When that law passed in Florida, I kind of thought back to my own experience being a teacher in the classroom and bringing up topics around inclusion. I wanted to do something about it, but I didn't quite know what to do without going to Florida and putting up a sign and starting to protest. But I realised that I could potentially do some research around inclusive education from an LGBTQ lens. So that led me to research states around the US that were hopefully going in a different direction in Florida, and I have to admit the search was very sobering. So then I decided to look a little bit wider. I did a Google search, literally, just a Google search of LGBT inclusive education around the world and different countries and things like that. And Scotland came up top of that list. And that is how you learned about Time for Inclusive Education? And at that point, I did not know anything about TIE. I did not know anything about the campaign and the policy around inclusion. I wanted to dig in a little bit more, so clicked on a few more websites which ultimately led me to a CNN or a BBC article or something and TIE was mentioned. I wanted to learn more about what was going on, what they were doing. How did they do this and what does this actually look like on the ground? So I found Liam and Jordan's emails and I contacted them and luckily they responded. We had a Zoom about a month later and I got some funding from UCLA to pursue this research and was out in Scotland that summer. Darek Ciszek (Image: Contributed) What did that first trip over here involve? What did you learn from the visit? By that point I had started to flesh out some research questions, but they were more open-ended because I really did not know what to expect. I knew I wanted to focus on implementation and see how TIE were actually rolling out the policy, and because I'm a former teacher, I wanted to know how they are supporting teachers in this process. So I got to observe some of their CPD sessions around curriculum development and was able to go to a few schools. There were a few teachers that were willing to have me interview them or, if I were back in Scotland, potentially come and observe some of their lessons. I've been out four times in total now. I ended up observing a couple of lessons at a primary school in the Greater Glasgow area. I also went up to another primary school a bit more north and was able to observe TIE's pupil workshops which really have been some of my favourite things that I've observed, not only because of the way that TIE structured it, but also because those workshops really do address some really important issues facing kids in schools around homophobia, language, stereotypes, and thinking about inclusion and diversity in a broader societal context. I went back to that school a couple of months later to observe another lesson that one of the school leaders there had crafted along with the teacher for a P7 class around inclusion. So I got to sort of see how they're implementing TIE's curriculum materials from the website that they have, for example the ready-made lessons, but how they also add a little bit of their own context and school perspective. I've been able to go to a couple of secondary schools as well. Those were more focused around like interviewing staff but I did observe a few lessons that were really interesting. These lessons have now been going on for a few years, but what was it about the learning that really stood out to you? By that point my research lens for the work had shifted more to look at how LGBTQ inclusive education helps facilitate students' social emotional learning. That really became my core question. I'm trying to gauge how the curriculum material - the actual language and the lesson plans and the selection of books - is speaking to social-emotional skills development. So for example, the workshops are fantastic for this because they use these vignettes or like scenario-based learning examples with fictional student characters. They have different scenarios with kids that are being made fun of for a variety of reasons in the school context. READ MORE Maybe it's a girl that wants to play football, and that doesn't fall within the sort of the gender stereotype for a female. Or it's a boy who's playing football and is concerned about coming out because he's gay, and how his friends and peers and teammates will react to that. When you present that material to a classroom of students you're asking them to engage in perspective-taking, to engage in emotional recognition, to develop empathy skills through those situational contexts. The wonderful thing about upper primary is that in every classroom I went into kids were just like raising their hands all the time. They just wanted to engage, they wanted to ask questions. So from what you've seen through your research, it's not as if these children, even fairly young ones, are being thrown into a topic that they're not ready for? They have quite a bit of knowledge going into that classroom to begin with from things that pick up from family and friends and social media et cetera. So it's not a blank slate in terms of information. But at least in this context, in these workshops, they had a safe, age-appropriate environment in which to engage in that conversation and have some of their questions answered with an adult, right? With an educator present. One theme that kind of bubbled up in my interviews was the secondary school staff telling me that this really has to happen at the primary level because by the time they move up it's twice as difficult – by then some of these habits and behavioural expectations, for example around what boys versus girls should be doing et cetera, are much more ingrained. With the primary school teachers that I observed, whenever they introduced a lesson that was LGBTQ inclusive, it was always in the context of a broader theme. So for example, it could be a week where they talked about different cultures. It could be building on something they talked about earlier in the year around like human rights, for example, or information about the United Nations or the Convention on the Rights of the Child. But the information wasn't so left field, so out of the blue, that the kids were like, wait, how did we get here? I could tell based on how they were asking questions, and the kinds of conversation happening at the classroom level, that this wasn't the first time that they were talking about inclusion in this context - it was just another opportunity to do it and get some more information or learn through a different book or a different kind of lesson. So is it really accurate to say that Scotland has established, and is implementing, a world-first LGBT-inclusive curriculum? Based on what I've seen, I would say it's accurate. I will caveat that a little bit though and say that I think in most cases the individuals leading the charge around this at those schools also happen to be a part of the LGBTQ community. On the one hand it makes sense to me because if I were a teacher in that context I would probably pick this up for my school and sort of be the main facilitator and coordinator, helping other teachers think about implementation, getting TIE to come out to our school, doing the CPD et cetera. But not every school in Scotland might have that individual to sort of lead the charge. And so there's an element of how do you make this more scalable and sustainable for individuals that are not a part of the community, and really do care about these issues, but for whatever reason may feel reluctant or concerned about taking that stuff on. One key thing is framing: what is the justification for LGBT inclusive education? And this is something I'm dealing with in my dissertation. There's a lot of literature out there around the justification being that it's about equality and about rights and those sorts of aspects. I totally agree, and have heard and adopted that argument for quite a long time. But I think where I'm not seeing as much focus is the social-emotional, skills development perspective. That really benefits not just LGBTQ kids who might be struggling emotionally and mentally, but also heterosexual students in terms of their own ability to engage with a diverse society. Based on your experiences, does Scotland's approach to this issue seem like something that is worth celebrating? Oh yeah, absolutely. I was just in Barcelona for an LGBTQ education conference, and it was a consortium of a whole bunch of different NGOs and non-profits, the Council of Europe, European Parliament, World Bank. What Scotland is doing is being eclipsed by the UK as a whole, and the UK as a whole is being represented by England. Not enough people around the world know what Scotland is doing. And they need to know.
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
LGBT-inclusive education 'would have changed my life'
Winner of the second annual Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award in March 2024, McCabe has also appeared on programmes such as Scot Squad, Have I Got News For You, and Frankie Boyle's New World Order. Her stand-up show Femme Fatality was recorded for the BBC, and she is planning a four-week run at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She was announced as the patron of TIE in January this year, saying at the time: 'In a society that feels more polarised, and I can see some of the same old rhetoric from the past, LGBT inclusive education is too important to ignore. I will bring humour, passion, and fight to this role to make sure that not one young person feels the way that I felt because of their sexuality.' READ MORE Speaking to The Herald, McCabe discussed being made homeless after coming out to her parents, middle-class homophobia, and the need to continue fighting for progress for the LGBT+ community. Susie McCabe spoke exclusively to education specialist James McEnaney (Image: Gordon Terris / The Herald) 'I think you get to a stage where you realise you're living your life but the decisions you make are really going to impact the people coming behind you. I'm still of a generation of gay people who had a generation above them that taught them things. That generation went to more funerals than I'll ever go to in my life. That generation worked really hard for me to be accepted and get my equality. They kicked in the doors. 'As I was starting to see us lurch to the right. I was seeing things and hearing things that I would have seen and heard in the 1980s. 'I started to see people in public office use language that jarred me. She says that the work being done by TIE, and the message of acceptance it sends to all young people, is something she wants to support and protect: 'That would have changed my life.'
Local Spain
16-07-2025
- Business
- Local Spain
Spain's Extremadura is still offering digital nomads €10,000 to move there
While many areas in Spain are suffering from overtourism and locals are complaining about foreign remote workers driving up rental prices and cost of living in general, there are still some areas of the country which are actively trying to attract digital nomads. One of these is Extremadura, one of the least populated regions in the country. It lies to the west of Spain, boarding Portugal, Andalusia to the south and Castilla y León to the north. In fact, the local government has a plan in in place to try and draw in more people and reverse the effects of depopulation, which is scheduled to continue all the way until 2030. In August 2024, The Local Spain broke the news in English that Extremadura was offering up to €15,000 for digital nomads to move there, which led to a lot of international coverage from Fox News, New York Post, CNBC, The Sun, Forbes and other media outlets overseas. Almost a year after the initial report, we can confirm that Extremadura is continuing to give grants of up to €10,000 to those who move to the region. To date the government has received 470 applications and already 195 of those have been approved. Given the high demand, Extremadura's regional government have also said they expand the aid by €1 million. Applications are currently open until October 8th 2025, so if you want to benefit and think Extremadura would be a good place for you, then you only have a few months left to apply. The aid is specifically aimed at highly qualified professionals in technological sectors who can work remotely or are self-employed. This makes it ideal for digital nomads and remote workers from abroad too. It's available to those who are already legally living in Spain and want to move from other regions, as well as those moving from abroad. Keep in mind, however, if you're from a non-EU country and want to move from abroad, you will first need to apply for Spain's digital nomad visa and meet all the requirements for that. Once you have been granted the visa and you have your TIE residency card, then you can apply for aid. The requirements to apply for the €10,000 grant are as follows: Workers must carry out all their professional activity remotely and "through the exclusive use of media and IT systems, telematics and information fields", in other words fully online. You must keep your remote job and continue to live in Extremadura for at least two years following the application. You must have been living outside of Extremadura for at least six months before you apply. Foreigners must be living here legally and already have a NIE - foreign identity number as well as their green EU certificate or their non-EU TIE residency card. Will I get the full €10,000? That depends. You will receive the full amount if you are under the age of 30, female or move to a town with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. All other people who qualify and do not fall into those categories will receive €8,000. The grant is paid as single payment, once your application has been successful and you can provide proof registration in Extremadura. Why should I consider Extremadura? Filled with natural parks and meadows of holm and cork oaks, Extremadura is a great region for those who love the outdoors with lots of opportunities for hiking, mountain biking and climbing. It's also ideal for history buffs with several historic cities including Mérida with its countless ancient Roman sites and UNESCO World Heritage Cáceres with its mix of architectural styles and old stone walls. It's not just what Extremadura has that can be attractive, however, it also has a much lower cost of living than many other regions in Spain. With skyrocketing rents, house prices and general costs in Spain's big cities, many will be looking at where their money can go further. For example, according to cost of living comparison site Expatistan living in Cáceres is 46 percent less than in Barcelona and 37 percent less than Madrid. How to apply Your application must be submitted electronically via the Extremadura General Electronic Access Point. In order to apply you must have a digital certificate or electronic Spanish ID card so that you can identify yourself online. You will also need to provide: An official document issued by your country or other region in Spain to show where you've been living. A certificate from the company you work for which authorises you to work in Extremadura or remotely in Spain. If you are self-employed, a document(s) that proves the terms and conditions in which you will carry out your professional activity remotely. If you are moving from another region in Spain, you will need: An original report, issued by the General Treasury of Social Security, showing you are up to date with any payments. A document that certifies you are up to date with your tax obligations with the State Treasury. A certificate that proves you don't have any debts with the Treasury of Extremadura. All documents must be officially translated if they're not already in Spanish. Processing of the application takes a total of three months.
