The UK Literary Association’s (UKLA) Brenda Eastwood Award seeks to reward schools, Early Years practitioners, teachers, higher education tutors, consultants or librarians who have shown good practice in empowering children to respect and appreciate diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, LGBTQ, socioeconomic status, national origin or age.
Dr Callender was nominated for her work’s commitment to social justice and widening participation and ensuring that professional development opportunities for colleagues and students are inclusive and reflect diversity. She has also initiated policy reviews and participated to address BAME student attainment.
Dr Callender’s research explores teacher education, race, gender, intersectionality and leadership. Through her research, she engages with a wide cross section of stakeholders in education, being particularly interested in the lived experiences of overseas trained and male BME teachers.
The winner of the award will be announced on Saturday 13 July at UKLA’s International Conference. Dr Callender will present her work at the event prior to the ceremony.
Janet Douglas, Gardner Chair of judges, wrote on the UKLA website:
“The Brenda Eastwood Award continues to attract high quality nominations of educators, practitioners, librarians, consultants and researchers actively involved in inclusion and diversity.
“The panel of judges was challenged in deciding the winners for this prestigious award. Each nominee in the shortlist demonstrated commitment and impact of inclusion and diversity in practice. This was reflected in learning and teaching in the classroom, partnerships established between libraries, schools and higher education institutions, community involvement, publication and research. Multilingualism, literacy development, representation of Black and Minority Ethnic characters in books, race, culture, disability and gender were some of the aspects addressed in the work of the shortlisted candidates. An expression of gratitude to all nominators.”
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