Courage in the Classroom: LGBT teachers share their stories

We are all at our most effective when we can be ourselves at work, but more than half of LGBT teachers hide their sexual identity within their school workplace. For LGBT teachers, vigilance, concealment and assimilation, take a great deal of energy, on top of what is already a very demanding job. This book is essential reading for any LGBT teacher aspiring to succeed as their authentic self. It will also be of interest to Headteachers and other education leaders seeking to make their schools safe and inclusive workplaces for their LGBT staff and LGBT families. Based around the inspirational work of the Courageous Leaders programme, this book turns on its head the notion that it can be difficult to be a leader in school and be LGBT. Through personal testimonies, advice and a rousing call to arms, this book shows how LGBT School Leaders are often amongst the most inclusive, creative, adaptable and intuitive colleagues, when they are able to flourish and be their authentic selves.

Catherine Lee is professor of inclusive education and leadership and deputy dean at Anglia Ruskin University in the East of England. She is also a National Teaching Fellow in recognition of her work to improve the national landscape in schools and universities.

Before working in higher education, Catherine spent more than 20 years as a teacher, in both inner-city Liverpool and rural Suffolk. She was initially a PE teacher before gaining promotion to learning development and pastoral leadership roles in mainstream schools.

Catherine is passionate about equality and diversity and has published extensively on the theme of LGBTQ+ inclusion. In 2016, working with schools, she set up the UK's first leadership development programme for LGBTQ+ teachers and has supported almost 100 LGBTQ+ teachers to secure school leadership roles.

Catherine has been nominated for a number of national awards for her work in education, including a British Diversity Award and a National Diversity Award. She featured in the 2019 Pride Power List as one of the most influential LGBT people in the UK.

Catherine has a number of strategic governance roles in the education and charity sectors, where she uses her national profile in pursuit of inclusive education and to improve the lives of those on the margins.