What’s expected of me as a participants?

The learning is a mix of self-directed online activity and facilitated group sessions, and a supportive structure is provided. With that in mind, you are encouraged to:

• set up an account at the Education Scotland website, to access the learning
• devote appropriate time to the programme
• plan your learning to fit around other commitments at work and home, and to fit in with your group’s planned timeline for the learning
• engage in professional dialogue with your colleagues about your learning at the 4 group sessions
• be mindful of your professional values and standards
• be prepared to set aside 2-3 hours for the Introductory Activities and 3-4 hours for each Professional Learning Activity (PLA). There are 6 PLAs in total and 4 group sessions to attend. The programme lasts for a session, but the work to implement the learning will be ongoing
• look after your wellbeing, which always comes first. Sources of support are available at xxxx

What to expect from the programme

The EQUITY programme is a mix of online learning (6 online Professional Learning Activities or PLAs) and facilitated group sessions, which can be carried out in person or online. There will be a facilitator (or facilitators) who will guide you through the programme and lead the 4 group sessions. Your facilitator(s) will be from within your own setting, establishment, cluster or Local Authority.

The programme starts with the Introductory activities online. These are 4 fairly short activities which should be completed ahead of the first group session (the Introductory session).

Your facilitator(s) will lead the Introductory session which provides an opportunity to reflect on the Introductory activities and to find out more about the rest of the programme. You may also agree the structure and timeline for the programme at this point.

You will then undertake individual, self-directed learning using the 6 EQUITY PLAs. They are:

• PLA 1 What is poverty?
• PLA 2 The impact of poverty
• PLA 3 Personal, social and cultural attitudes to poverty
• PLA 4 Knowing the data for your context
• PLA 5 Developing an equitable ethos and culture
• PLA 6 Pedagogy and practice to mitigate the impact of poverty.

The 3 further facilitated group sessions will provide opportunities for professional dialogue with your colleagues, to develop a collaborative enquiry together and, finally, to action plan for impact. These sessions are critical to the success of the programme, and must be prioritised.

There is an optional Action Log template that you might wish to use to help you record your reflections at key points, and any action points that arise as you work through the programme.

A suggested structure for the programme is shown below, but this may be adapted by your facilitator(s) depending on your context, the needs of the group or other local factors:

Aug                 Introductory activities

Aug-Sept       Group session 1 - Introductory session

Sept-Nov       PLAs 1-3

Nov/Dec         Group session 2 - Sharing and reflecting

Jan                  PLA 4

Feb                 Group session 3 - Collaborative enquiry planning

Mar-May         PLA 5-6

Jun                  Group session 4 - Action planning for impact

Your facilitator should share and agree with the group the structure and timelines your group will follow while you are on the programme.

What’s expected of me as a facilitator?

Whether you have volunteered or been nominated to lead this programme as a facilitator – thank you! We are delighted you are in this role. You should find everything you need in these webpages. If not, please get in touch using the details at the Get in touch section.

You do not need lots of facilitation experience to be effective in this role, but you must have at least one co-facilitator, and one or both of you will be in an equity-focused role. This is so you can support each other, and so that if one of you is indisposed for any reason, the programme can continue.

If you haven’t already, please read the section above entitled Information for participants first. It all applies to facilitators as well.

You may find Education Scotland’s Guide to Planning, facilitating and evaluating professional learning useful, whether you are new to facilitating learning or more experienced. It’s not expected that you read this in its entirety, but rather use it as a reference point as you proceed through the programme, as and when you need to.

The first priority will be to familiarise yourself with the learning content of the 6 PLAs and the 4 group sessions. It is important to note that you (and any co-facilitator(s) you are working with) do not need to have completed the programme ahead of your group (though you should be familiar with the structure and broad content). Rather, you should undertake the learning alongside the group and position yourself as a co-learner (albeit with an additional role when it comes to the 4 group sessions ).

To access the online PLAs, you will need to set up an account at the Education Scotland website.

You should develop a structure for the programme you will deliver, with key dates for the programme and agree this, ideally in advance, with your group. A suggested structure is shown at the EQUITY programme page and in the section below.

The 4 group sessions are critical to the success of the programme, so it is essential that participants are available to attend. It’s not always easy to find dates to suit everyone, but you should do your best to achieve this, wherever possible.

You will need to consider who should make up the participant group. This may be directed by your Local Authority, or you may be able to decide the most appropriate group if you are leading the programme from within your own setting, or cluster.

You may decide to allow participants to opt in or, if the programme is part of your improvement plan, include everyone in a relevant role.

You should set a clear expectation that attendance at the 4 group sessions is a required element of the programme, along with completion of the 6 PLAs.

Your establishment or Local Authority plan may support you in deciding how best to bring together your participant group.

What’s involved in leading the Equity programme?

Once you and your co-facilitator(s) have agreed your plan for the programme, with dates, and have your participant group ready to go, you should ask that they set up an account at the Education Scotland website, read the information for participants about what to expect, and undertake the Introductory activities. Ideally these will be completed by all participants (including you!)  before you come together for group session 1. You should allow at least a fortnight for the Introductory activities.

You can lead the 4 group sessions either online or in person. This may be dictated by whether your participants are all in one setting, or across multiple settings.

The 4 group sessions should be spaced out across the session, with dates agreed in advance to maximise attendance.

A potential structure for the programme looks like this:

Aug                 Introductory activities

Aug-Sept       Group session 1 - Introductory session

Sept-Nov       PLAs 1-3

Nov/Dec         Group session 2 - Sharing and reflecting 

Jan                  PLA 4

Feb                 Group session 3 - Collaborative enquiry planning

Mar-May         PLA 5-6                     

Jun                  Group session 4 - Action planning for impact

You will find guides to facilitating the 4 group sessions, including a PowerPoint presentation, notes and any additional resources for each, in the section below.

The 6 PLAs are available online. They are:

• PLA 1 What is poverty?
• PLA 2 The impact of poverty
• PLA 3 Personal, social and cultural attitudes to poverty
• PLA 4 Knowing the data for your context
• PLA 5 Developing an equitable ethos and culture
• PLA 6 Pedagogy and practice to mitigate the impact of poverty.

Facilitator guides, PowerPoint presentations, notes and additional resources

Group session 1 - Introductory session – facilitation resources

Group session 2 - Sharing and reflecting – facilitation resources

Group session 3 - Collaborative enquiry planning – facilitation resources

Group session 4 - Action planning for impact – facilitation resources