We should be teaching slavery lessons just like maths, says race adviser
SLAVERy lessons should be introduced in Scottish schools to teach children about Britain’s colonial past, a top academic and race adviser has said.
Sir Geoff Palmer, chancellor of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, said classes on slavery should be viewed as core subjects in the same way as maths and English.
He previously reviewed Edinburgh’s past role in slavery and colonialism, which led City of Edinburgh Council to apologise for suffering caused by the city’s involvement in the trade.
Sir Geoff said lessons on slavery would not be about ‘making people feel guilty’ about their country’s past but would try to improve race relations.
The call comes after official figures showed a dip in skills in the ‘three Rs’ among S3 pupils.
But last night campaigners voiced concern that literacy and numeracy should take priority over slavery classes. Chris McGovern of the Campaign for Real Education said: ‘The priority is to equip all children, regardless of race, with literacy and numeracy skills that will enable them to find employment and a fulfilled life.
‘Instead they are being overdosed with critical race theory and “white privilege”.’
Outlining his plan for colonial education in secondary schools, Sir Geoff said: ‘Teaching slavery – its history and abolition – should have the same prominence and centrality to the curriculum as English or maths.
‘They could be called “slavery lessons” but could be addressed under a different subject – for example, “colonial history”.
‘What we are really trying to teach children – in whatever subject – is how to think.
‘The history of slavery has a lot to teach us about morality and humanity, and these are fundayou mentals that are crucial to living our lives.’
Sir Geoff added: ‘It’s not making people feel guilty or bad about their country’s past.
‘We teach the Holocaust, or Culloden. That’s nothing to do with guilt, it’s about providing a full picture of history and confronting it.’
Sir Geoff said slavery classes would mean changes to the way teachers are trained so they were able to educate children about colonial history.
He said: ‘you can’t hope to teach this subject unless know about the history. The consequences of not taking this approach are clear – you will get another George Floyd [the African-American man murdered in 2020 by a US police officer].
‘The Scottish Government would be interested in educational change of this kind – attitudes are changing, and a big part of the reason for that is the George Floyd case.’
Education Secretary ShirleyAnne Somerville said ministers were focused on ‘building racial literacy into the education system’.
She added: ‘Teaching on transatlantic enslavement is often a feature of the social studies curriculum and part of the SQA history qualifications.
‘We are working to develop an approach to ensure it is further embedded into the curriculum.’
The call for slavery lessons comes after figures showed nicola Sturgeon’s flagship pledge to close the pupil attainment gap is in tatters after it grew to the highest level in five years for secondary pupils and has widened for S3 pupils.
‘Not about making people feel guilty’