Brand
The Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) coordinates efforts to develop Integrated Education and supports parent groups through the process of opening new schools. Their mission is to promote reconciliation in Northern Ireland through Integrated Education. Their vision is of a society where all children are: educated together, are confident to express their own identity and culture and respectful of, and prepared to engage with, the identity and culture of others.
Whitenoise have had the pleasure of working with NICIE before and with mutual respect and trust, found the team open to exploring new styles and approaches to the design of these materials. Upon appointment to deliver a resource for teachers aiming at tackling the subject of bias, we knew that we could employ our understanding of the oganisations wider aims, history and vision and our team's unique approach to create a memorable and useful resource.
The challenge was to create an engaging resource that wouldn’t gather dust on a desk, but would be easy carried around and encourage teachers to undertake their own anti-bias journey, revisiting the issues raised in a continual process of self-reflection. The materials developed included a booklet and a journal which enables teachers to reflect and learn to tackle all forms of bias, prejudice, discrimination and injustice, both personally and in the classroom.
The aim of the booklet and journal is to encourage discussion about some of the heavier issues of our day, from Black Lives Matter to gender discrimination. As such we chose to lead with bold colour and strong type, positioning the content as friendly and approachable. The handwritten style of the typography also reflects the journaling purpose of the materials and reinforces the message that bias is a personal thing that we all carry, whether consciously or unconsciously, and reflecting on it can take you on a journey towards change.
Emma Hume, Development Officer NICIE
