Fliss Goldsmith's 10 tips for teaching children about Inclusivity using the ‘Positivity Pie!’
⦁ Show a visual stimulus to support any discussions such as an age-appropriate book or video. Ensure any new words are explained most importantly ‘Inclusion’ and ‘Diversity’.
⦁ Harness children’s innate curiosity and make discussions about Inclusivity an adventure, something to explore together. Approach any conversation or activity relating to Inclusion with positivity and enthusiasm.
⦁ Allow your child to connect to a range of diverse resources and people. From art, music, literature and film to friends, family, teachers, and famous faces.
⦁ Reflect regularly on your own inclusivity insufficiencies – we are all always learning and can always introduce new practices into our lives. Children model behaviour, if they see you working on Inclusivity yourself, they will be more likely to see it as an important and continual practice.
⦁ Employ the language of inclusivity in your everyday conversation. Words like ‘Diversity’, ‘Equality’, ‘Differences’, ‘Kindness’, ‘Welcoming’, ‘Friendship’, ‘Value’, ‘Group’, ‘Love’ and ‘Considerate are great foundations.
⦁ Try to look at Exclusion as well as Inclusion - and how this looks in practice and makes people feel. You will need to discuss bullying, loneliness, sadness etc.
⦁ Honour individuality in the form of celebrating ourselves and others for their abilities, choices, backgrounds, and beliefs. You can make a positivity poster where children draw themselves and others and words that reflect something positive about each of them.
⦁ Encourage children to be confident in reaching out to others (saying hello to a new friend, asking others if they need help with anything, kindly questioning someone). Children generally love to be proactive so if we can show them how to create an inclusive environment, they will usually carry out the actions necessary positively.
⦁ Play Inclusivity games where the objective is for the whole class/group/ team to achieve something rather than one individual.
⦁ I.E Use examples of diverse race, gender, abilities, sexuality, and beliefs in daily life. Try to be guided by the individual child in how much they understand and the ways in which you can further their engagement with these topics during ‘non-taught’ time.
About Fliss Goldsmith
My mission is to make a difference to the lives of children everywhere.
As a mother to two children, whom I describe as, ‘the most fantastic mixture of chaos, kindness and fun,’ I knows how blessed I am to bear the title ‘Mummy’ of which I am most proud.
My children are my greatest inspiration and have led me to work with and experience the lives of children all over the world.
Education
I studied at The University of Birmingham where I gained a BA (Hons) Degree in Ancient History. My passion for what has gone before was enriched by this experience, but it was my desire to shape the future that motivated me to change direction.
I then attended the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and gained a Master’s Degree in Acting.
Business Roles 2011- 2018
I became Company Director of a Midlands based Performing Arts organisation and began devising and delivering sessions for children. My ethos and reason for creating this content was that communication, creativity and confidence were essential to the growth and foundational support of every child. Something that is still at the core of my beliefs. I immersed myself in this work and was rewarded by every child I was blessed to work with, in seeing them find their voice and understand themselves a little better.
Life Experiences
When I was 29, I gave birth to a beautiful daughter and my world was turned upside down in the most wonderful way. Re-evaluating the way life looked I decided that I needed to be at home with my growing girl and so took a back seat while employing others to carry out my drama dreams for children. In 2015 I was thrilled to learn I was to become a Mummy for a second time and gave birth to my son. Having two young children I decided that I wanted to take some time out to truly be present in the most beautiful time of my life.
My health suffered a blow when I was diagnosed with a Primary Immune Disease in 2017. This was the year that I decided that I would not be beaten. Despite being taken in an ambulance to the emergency ward more times than I can remember, I vowed that my illness would not define me – rather it would encourage me. It encouraged me to adapt, to fully engage in what was important, to take courage from everyday achievements and most importantly to relish every moment with my family.
As things began to even out, with an army of consultants on speed dial and a medication regime that needed its own Degree to fathom I returned to the passion of my own childhood – writing.
I had been a published poet in my early 20’s and had written many stage plays for both children and adults. What I really wanted to do though was to strip things back to the pure joy of writing a story. I had told stories all my life, to family, friends, students and to my own children at bedtime.
This is where the ‘Erin and Roderick Discover’ series was born. With the aim of encouraging children everywhere to see others like them in stories, recognise their heritage, their situation and discuss some of the more sensitive topics that we find as we grow. I also wanted an engaging set of stories for adults to use as a way of expanding the readers experience of subject matter and aiding and supporting them and their children.
Other Roles
I was proud to be part of the creation of the first ever Pride event in my town. Being an LGBTQIA+ Ally is something I am enormously proud of. We delivered a day of celebration in the diversity of ourselves and the unity in our humanity. My role was head of the children’s area and felt humbled to be able to spend the day talking about empowerment, diversity, and inclusion with so many wonderful people. I regularly report on special events and provide interviews for both radio, podcasts and TV. My moto for life is ‘Whatever the question, let love be the answer,’ and I endeavour to live by this every single day.
