These five principles guide our exploration of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. They prioritise humanity, justice, and structural context to ensure a respectful, critical, and emotionally safe learning environment.
1
Start with humanity, not the horror
Show who lived in Grenfell Tower: families, friendships, cultures, everyday joys. Humanity must come before analysis of the tragedy.
2
Honour lived experience
Treat survivors’ and bereaved families’ insights as foundational knowledge. Avoid sensationalism or retraumatisation.
3
Situate events in social and structural context
Help students see how inequality, housing conditions, governance and ignored warnings shaped the disaster, understanding Grenfell as systemic failure.
4
Emphasise justice, not just memory
Highlight ongoing accountability, centre community voices, and connect learning to structural causes so students view remembrance as an active commitment to justice.
5
Support emotional safety and dialogue
Create structured, compassionate spaces for discussion, normalise varied emotional responses, and provide alternatives for participation so students can engage safely and respectfully with difficult content.
Watch: Introduction to Education for Disaster Justice
This video introduces you to the concept and key principles of EDJ.