We aim to hold our network lunches around every two months, and to hold at least one "big" topical event per term.
Our members are the network, and we take suggestions on what events they would like for us to run. If you have an idea for an event you would like to run, even if it's just a concept and you're not sure how to take it forward, please email us and we will see if we can do something with that idea.
We aim to change the day of the week we run subsequent events on, in recognition that many of our members have flexible work arrangements. If you cannot make an event because you're not in the office that day, rest assured the next one is likely to be on a different day of the week.
While it is not compulsory to sign up to our events in order to attend, most of these are catered so an RSVP will help us to plan for catering orders. Members will receive a calendar invite to events automatically. If you have any dietary requirements, please let us know.
Past events
Raising Multi-Cultural Families: Literature and Personal Identity
Join event with EmbRace.
Date: Wednesday 26 February, 13:000 - 14:00 (Lunch 12:30-13:00)
An informative and interactive session on dealing with the effects of multiculturalism in the family. The event included discussions in small groups on the various issues surrounding a children’s identity/ies and attendees' experience in dealing with multiculturalism; this was followed by a group discussion and feedback.
Equal parenting – myth or reality?
Date: Wednesday 22 January, 12:30 - 14:00
James Millar, editor of workingdads.co.uk and co-author of the book “Dads Don’t Babysit” explored some of the financial, social, attitudinal and emotional factors that influence childcare decisions. The talk was be followed by a panel of LSE academics and PS staff who discussed their experience of shared parental leave and the burdens and benefits of (equally) shared parenting. HR representatives were also present to give an overview of the legal position in respect of the shared parental leave policy and explain how LSE enhances it.
Date: Monday 24th June, 12:30 - 14:00
Tom Pinfold of Childnet delivered an interactive workshop covering the following areas:
- Conduct and the way we behave online: including oversharing, digital footprints and online reputation, personal information, geolocation, disappearing and live content, sexting.
- Content - what we see and read online: reliability, social media vs reality, adult content, extreme content, gaming and apps.
- Contact - who a child/young person might be speaking to online and who might be speaking to them: online friendships, cyber bullying, grooming.
At the end of each section, Tom talked though the advice Childnet give on these topics, for example, highlighting helpful resources, apps and websites. Talking about the importance of an open dialogue with a child and highlighting certain settings which can be used.
Date: Tuesday 21st May, 12:30 - 13:30
Parents have many reasons for raising their children with multiple languages. Some hope for better career opportunities for their offspring, while others focus on the reported cognitive and intellectual benefits of learning an additional language, including better attention, cognitive flexibility and problem-solving skills. Finally, for countless families, multilingualism is simply a way of life, a tradition that they want to bestow on their children. But no matter what the motivation behind the parents' desire for giving their children a multilingual upbringing, their journey can be challenging and families often seek support.
Dr. Froso Argyri and Dr. Merle Mahon, Co-founders of UCL BiLingo will visit the LSE to address these issues.
Dr. Froso Argyri is a childhood bilingualism researcher at the UCL Institute of Education. Her research focuses on the language development of children who are exposed to more than one language in childhood. She is investigating the role of various factors in bilingual/second language acquisition in children, e.g., How does age of first exposure to one or more languages affect language development? What is the role of the amount and quality of input bilingual/multilingual children receive in different contexts? She is also interested in the cognitive effects of bilingualism, the acquisition of literacy skills in two languages (biliteracy), as well as in heritage language development and maintenance. Froso is a mother of two trilingual children acquiring Greek, Icelandic and English.
Dr. Merle Mahon, Senior Lecturer at UCL Psychology and Language Sciences, is working on bi/multilingualism, on deaf children's spoken language development and on the role of gesture in language development. She is particularly interested in how children learn spoken English when English is an additional language at home. She is collaborating with colleagues in examining outcomes for deaf children and young people and in investigating the relationship between special educational needs, school exclusions and youth offending.
On March 27th 2019, we held our first "big" event titled "It Takes a Village". This was a group discussion where colleagues shared their experience of raising their families outside of the "non-nuclear" family set-up. We were very pleased to welcome colleagues who were neither parents or carers, who learned a lot on the different types of family set ups and the challenges faced, including those from single parents, same-sex couples, carers looking after adult relatives, and those who have adopted children.