Diversity in school leadership case studies: Liam Nolan

"Don’t be frightened of your difference"

Liam Nolan is headteacher at Perry Beeches School in Birmingham. He is one of a few openly gay leaders in our school system today.

The National College met Liam to discuss whether sexual orientation has an affect on an aspiring leader’s journey to headship. What advice could he give to other gay aspiring leaders and to those organisations that support career progression?

Path to headship

Liam describes having a strong sense of moral purpose from very early on – a real desire to have a hand in improving outcomes for children and young people.

After just one year as a newly qualified teacher, Liam became deputy head of year at a nine form entry school. Six months later, he was promoted to head of a small department. It became increasingly clear that he was determined to progress onwards towards senior leadership.

A short time after this, Liam became deputy head at a West Midlands school. During this time, he completed the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) and achieved headship just two terms into the course.

After taking a year out to travel, Liam went on to complete the Associate Headteacher Programme and achieved headship at Perry Beeches School just two terms into the course.

Within 18 months of leading the school, Liam led a remarkable turnaround at Perry Beeches. When Liam began, the school was in danger of closure with only around 21 per cent of students coming away with English and Maths grade A*-C GCSEs. It is now an Ofsted rated ‘good school with outstanding features’, with around 75 per cent of students now coming away with five A*-C GCSEs, including English and maths. This rise is thought to be a national record, with a 53 per cent increase in students achieving grade A*-C GCSEs within three years.

Liam is now a national leader of education (NLE).

Liam's progression route

Teacher
Deputy head of year
Head of department
Deputy head
NPQH
Gap year
Associate Headteacher Programme
Headteacher
National leader of education

Career highs

Leading the turnaround of a school in special measures to a school deemed ‘good with outstanding features’ in such a short time period. The effect this

had on outcomes for the pupils attending the school has been a huge reward for the hard work put in.

Being approached at a parent’s evening by a mother who empathised with the struggle still faced today with regards to sexual orientation. As a black mother, she talked about the challenges faced through racism and some of the expectations or 'pulls' towards a certain lifestyle her son had faced as a black male. However, she recognised that while much progress has been made on race, tackling discrimination based on sexual orientation is at the same stage tackling racism was at decades ago. By talking to Liam openly about this at parents' evening, she demonstrated the support and understanding of the parent community.

Challenges faced as a gay aspiring leader

There is pressure as a gay man to prove your ability. Owing to the stereotypes surrounding gay individuals (much the same as gender stereotyping), there is always the pressure to disprove people’s preconceptions about what you can achieve. This means you have to work even harder to achieve all you want to achieve.

There is a constant fear which can easily affect and overshadow your leadership journey. Feeling like you have to keep a part of yourself a secret for fear of being discriminated against, or harassed, makes the journey to leadership somewhat tougher.

Linked to this is the importance of feeling comfortable to be open and honest in order to lead effectively and build relationships. The pressure of having to keep a big area of your life a secret is hugely stressful. Something as simple as being able invite your partner to social occasions, or talk about who you went on holiday with over the weekend, helps to build relationships with colleagues (and others). Having to hide this can easily affect your ability to lead, as it affects the relationships you build along the way.

Liam clearly sees the huge advantages of being an out gay man in his role as headteacher because he feels he does not face a number of these issues.

How important was the support of others (for example, school leaders and governors) in helping you to be out at school?

Liam has always taken a stance of being open from the start and, therefore, bringing people on board about his sexual orientation has not been such an issue. Only on one social occasion, during a work night out in a previous role, has an issue occurred. A colleague, after a few drinks, made some homophobic jibes. Liam recalls feeling incredibly upset and surprised by the comments, and then describes the feeling of self blame – like somehow it was his fault.

However, rather than tackle it at the time, Liam brought it up with the headteacher at the school and together they decided to tackle the colleague’s behaviour and made it completely clear that it was unacceptable, regardless of it taking place in a social situation. The support of the school’s leader in this instance was incredibly important in making it clear that discrimination of any sort will not be tolerated. This support can set a precedent for future incidents and needs to be clear and unshakeable.

Why is being openly gay as a leader important? How does a culture of respecting diversity add to school leadership?

Being an open, honest and authentic leader is the way in which we bring people with us and create a more effective work environment. If a leader has a secret, it does not take long for people to recognise that – they may not know what it is but they will know you’re not being honest with them.

Respecting diversity within school leadership is essential to creating a whole school environment of respect, including among the pupils. By being clear about not tolerating intolerance and by educating staff and pupils about respecting diversity, you can reduce incidents of bullying and harassment which, in turn, can help to greatly improve school standards. The tackling of homophobic bullying is a huge agenda for schools at the moment; school leaders must, therefore, lead by example and show a clear policy on this.

What advice would you give to organisations supporting career development?

Whether it’s sexual orientation, ethnicity or gender, people need to feel comfortable to be themselves during their development, and that means creating a culture on programmes of respect. People need to be clear before enrolling onto professional development courses that the programme will allow them to be open. A statement about a commitment to diversity on all programmes and materials would be a step in the right direction.

Specifically, with regards to sexual orientation, you need to clearly demonstrate a lead on supporting this agenda. A training event or focus group for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) leaders would send out a very clear message of support and encourage aspiring leaders from these groups to step up. Work with Stonewall to use their expertise and knowledge. Staying quiet on the subject will just allow people to make their own assumptions.

What advice would you give to aspiring LGB leaders?

Be out. By being open and honest about your sexual orientation, you will spend less time worrying about being ‘found out’ and more time focussing on your leadership journey. However, don’t do it alone. Start out by finding a colleague who you trust and confide in them; talk to them about the situation you are faced with. From this point, you can build up your network of confidents and eventually speak to your headteacher. Explain your situation and how you feel, and they should then support you to feel comfortable in being open.
Find role models. Watch, listen and learn from other school leaders and, perhaps, even ask for some mentoring. Many leaders forget about the importance of listening, but it is a huge skill and will allow you understand issues better as well as mark you as someone who people can talk to.
Don’t be frightened of your difference. See your difference as an asset, not a negative – it can set you apart from the rest and help you in your journey. Every single person is different in their own way, but it’s how you choose to use that difference which determines your end results.