Six questions with... Shaun Dellenty

What’s your favourite way to greet people?

I usually greet my friends with a big bear hug; those new to me I tend to greet with a smile and a handshake. My natural state is shy (professional networking opportunities remind me of this) and in these situations I tend to ‘magpie’ an approach I see working well for someone else in the room and hope it works for me, often with awkward to middling results.

What conversation makes you happy?

Creative, passionate professional conversations about what can, rather than can’t be achieved.

Sharing of lived experience that ultimately reveals connectivity, kindness and compassion.

Sharing of post meditative experiences.

What conversation topic makes you nervous?

I naturally shy away from conflict; conversations about Trump I avoid.

What makes you laugh?

Political satire and random and ridiculous out of the blue kinds of things that I find hard to describe; think Twin Peaks meets You’ve Been Framed and you’re nearly there-probably.

If you could ask someone, dead or alive, anything - who and what would you ask them?

When I was a teenager, I very nearly died in a blizzard on a school ski trip. My life was saved by a compassionate and courageous stranger who I don’t know. I would dearly love to meet him again, to ask him his name and to thank him. I would probably give him a bear hug too, if that was fine by him.

What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?

I spoke out in 2009 on the national stage about an urgent need for compassionate LGBT+ inclusion for children, staff and parents, especially in the primary and faith school sectors. I came out as a gay primary school leader to our school community and the national press at the same time. This was my response to our school pupil data that had revealed 75% of our naturally diverse pupils experienced daily homophobic bullying and language, whether or not they identified as LGBT+. On seeking external support, established LGBT charities advised me that offering LGBT+ teacher training for primary schools would result in negative reactions from press, parents and politicians.

I had clear evidence our children were suffering from prejudicial behaviours; I couldn’t simply ignore it out of fear of reprisal. I came out to my school as gay (and as a survivor of child-hood homophobic bullying) and devised the award-winning LGBT+ inclusion in education training package that I’ve now delivered around the world. Only I will ever know, just how negatively I viewed and how little I valued myself back in 2009; I am grateful that now, with the benefit of maturity, counselling and experience I am in a position where I can finally look back at my younger self and admit it took a certain level of courage to put my head above the parapet on behalf of our amazing young, naturally diverse people.

Website www.shaundellenty.com

Twitter @ShaunDellenty

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