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Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Justice Network inspires School Leaders in Devon to ‘Journey Together’
A group of Devon school leaders, school staff and those involved with governance, are on a journey that explores how they can shape their school environment to create a profound sense of equity, diversity, inclusion and justice.
The Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Justice (EDIJ) Peer Support Network is a new network that seeks to delve into the facets of equity, diversity, inclusion and justice, and how societal and theological theories influence and mould them.
The EDIJ Network is open to Devon school leaders, school staff and those involved in governance. The network runs for three years, with participants gathering for sessions three times a year. These sessions can be face-to-face or online. The EDIJ Network group also take part in a book club.
The first year of the EDIJ Network is titled ‘Called: Exploring Vision’. It recognises when we are called to remove disadvantage, we need to seek reconciliation through exploring honestly and opening our personal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion journey. It explores how participants can define their current reality, and consider what needs to change in their organisations, schools and contexts, and more widely.
It’s also an opportunity to look at what might have hindered change from happening in the past, and what is needed to truly heal communities and pursue reconciliation to be able to move forward.
The most recent session, which was held in-person, focused on ‘Creating Psychologically Safe Spaces’. The session was led by Lorraine Prince, Head of Networks for the Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership.
The session was a reflective and interactive one, and Lorraine described the time as an opportunity to ‘journey together’.
A key theme to the session was ‘belonging’; defining what it means, how we feel when we belong, and inviting the participants to draw on examples of belonging from their own journeys and walks of life. In reflecting on belonging, Lorraine shared the word ‘Ubuntu’, an ancient African word which means ‘I am because we are.’
Together, they explored five ways to help create psychological safety; making it an explicit priority, facilitating everyone speaking up, establishing the norms for how failure is handled, creating space for new ideas, and embracing positive conflict.
The group reflected on how they can create these psychologically safe spaces in their own context. One of the activities they took part in to explore this was thinking about which qualities, behaviours and actions would be welcome in a safe space, and what would not be welcome.
Another activity involved reflecting on a failure, and what they had learnt from it. Lorraine said, “Recognising failure can make you more empathetic. Instead of failure, we can consider it as the culture of never-ending learning.”
Reflecting on the session, Lorraine said, “I am glad that Diocese of Exeter has brought their headteachers together to begin reflecting on creating safe spaces. Establishing psychological safety when facilitating change in an organisation is essential—it is an ongoing process that requires time, trust, and commitment to truly embed.”
Sarah Lakey, Diocesan Education Adviser for School Effectiveness: Christian Distinctiveness, led the afternoon session. This was an opportunity for the group to share key takeaways from the session, and to think about the next steps on their journey.
Sarah Lakey, said, “It was such a joy to welcome colleagues and leaders to the second session of our EDIJ Peer Support Network. Leaders across our schools and groupings were empowered and supported to bring influence in their settings within the area of equity, diversity and inclusion.
“We welcomed Lorraine Prince, from the National Society, who helped us consider how creating psychologically safe places is vital in our school communities. It allows individuals to flourish, feel comfortable joining in, expressing their opinions, taking risks, admitting mistakes, and asking questions without fear of judgment or retaliation. This leads to a sense of belonging, increased innovation, better decision-making, better outcomes, and improved engagement and wellbeing.
“We know how vital this work is in our school communities in this season.”
Jo Hunter, Senior Education Advisor for School Effectiveness: Church Schools Flourishing, said, “It was a real privilege to spend time with Lorraine Prince, and colleagues and leaders from schools across the Diocese of Exeter focusing on the subject of psychological safety.
“There was a strong message about the importance of our use and understanding of the language that we use, for example, defining belonging and considering the challenge of how we know that everyone feels that they belong. There was a really strong sense of belonging – living out the spirit of Ubuntu – amongst the group who also took time to reflect and share their reflections about their own psychological safety.
“Language can be key to supporting people to feel that they are valued and welcome and so focusing on conversational norms and reframing language that is used can have significant impact for good – not forgetting our non-verbal communications too!”
The next EDIJ session will be held on Thursday 15 May 2025, 13:30-15:00 in an online session. The theme of the session will be ‘Faith and EDIJ: Connecting the Church, School and Community’. The session will be led by Krys McInnis and Alysia-Lara Ayonrinde, from the National Society for Education, and Sarah Lakey,
If you would like to join the EDIJ Network and attend the next session, please contact Marilyn Pearce, Diocesan Education Administrator: Marilyn.pearce@exeter.anglican.org
