SHS Practitioner, Deji Olaniyi-Maxwell, was published on Teachwire this week, speaking about being a young, black male pastoral care worker for International Men’s Day. He begins:‘When you think of a school support worker, who do you imagine? Chances are, probably not someone who looks like me.As a young, black man working in the profession, I’m used to people being surprised when they find out what I do. But while the shortage of male teachers is often talked about, no-one acknowledges the shortage of men in pastoral care.Despite it being rare, I’ve found that having my demographic variables – young, black, male – can actually be a blessing. On a basic level, I understand the slang the children use and the social context they operate in. If there’s a meme or a trending dance that they’re referring to, I can think of ways to engage them – one example being the ‘Whip/Nae Nae’ dance-a-thon we organised for Sport Relief, which the children all loved.’You can read the full article here: http://www.teachwire.net/news/as-a-young-black-man-working-in-pastoral-care-im-used-to-people-being-surpr