Teachers call for black history in cookery and maths
TEACHERS yesterday voted to ‘decolonise the curriculum’ by reflecting black history in all subjects taught in schools – including cookery and maths.
The NASUWT teaching union, which has more than 300,000 members, said children from ethnic minorities ‘deserve to see themselves’ in the content of lessons.
Speakers at the moderate union’s annual conference, held online, insisted that ‘black visibility’ should be apparent in every subject, including cookery, maths, science, computing and design.
Delegates passed a motion vowing to lobby the Government to have a more inclusive curriculum and work with training providers to ‘embed antiracist teaching’. The motion was proposed in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests last year, with the union ‘applauding’ activists for highlighting racial injustice.
After the vote, union general secretary Dr Patrick Roach said: ‘Education has vital role to play in teaching future generations about our country’s shared history, promoting equality, inclusion and respect for others – and in teaching about the historical injustices that continue to drive all forms of discrimination and extremism in our society today. The NASUWT is calling for the decolonising of curriculums across the UK.
‘We will be lobbying governments to secure inclusive curriculum frameworks, which recognise and celebrate the contributions of all citizens.’
Black perspectives are now routinely taught in history and English, but the union wants children to know the contribution of black mathematicians, scientists and other thinkers. Michelle Codrington-Rogers, the union’s first black president, told the conference: ‘All subjects have a responsibility to change the narrative that black people only have a history of enslavement and colonisation.
‘We built the pyramids, developed modern numbers, built universities.
‘Our ancestors were philosophers, scientists, military strategists, authors, writers, activists and so much more.’
Miss Codrington-Rogers, a citizenship teacher from Oxford, acknowledged there was ‘some discomfort’ with the topic among colleagues. But she said: ‘We have a responsibility to be inclusive for all of our students and this starts with us ensuring that there is black visibility for our children and young people – not just black children, but all children.
‘It is crucial to recognise that black history is all of our history.’
She claimed teaching of black history often focused only on the slave trade, and this can have long-lasting effects on pupils by making them think ‘their heritage is only based in pain’.
However, Luke Akhurst, a history teacher from Leicestershire, warned the motion could set a ‘dangerous precedent’ by allowing politicians to legislate what history can be taught.
Currently, teachers have some flexibility to choose topics they teach.
Calls to ‘decolonise’ the curriculum have previously mainly focused on university courses, but now the movement is making its way into schools.
The debate comes after two Commons’ committees considered calls to decolonise and diversify the curriculum after hundreds of thousands of people signed petitions. A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘We continue to be informed by the work of committed individuals and groups when it comes to supporting the teaching of black and minority ethnic history.’
‘Heritage only based in pain’