Curricular changes to reflect racial and cultural diversity

[maggiethecat]

What kind of changes to school teaching would you like to see beyond a balanced account of the slave trade and its legacy which goes without saying.

I'm thinking that beyond history lessons there are fiction/non fiction books that would add richness to the curriculum.

What else could schools be doing?

Secondary school cooking (They call it something else which eludes me at the mo)
They have a stab at continental, like lasagne, tarte tatin, quiche, and um that is about it. (This is country not city, very white population)

Nb hope you don't mind a white person hopping on, feel free to tell me to sling me hook.

I think we need to teach our children that black history doesnt just = the slave trade and the civil rights movement in the US. We need to uplift our youth...

Flibberty - I think that kids learning to cook foods from other cultures would be good.

DangerMouse17 - that was my point in OP. I wonder if there is anything in the curricula that views from a different lens and deals with the contributions of various groups to Britain over time.

Nb hope you don't mind a white person hopping on, feel free to tell me to sling me hook.

Don't be silly 😊

Maths.

Science.

Philosophy

Art

Never ever seem to be taught or even acknowledged from a non-Western point of view. It's probably still possible for an English child to finish school with no clue that any black person has ever been involved in or contributed to the pursuit of knowledge in any if these areas.

And I'd like things taught without the word 'Black' preceding them. (I cannot express how much I'd like this.) The word is meaningless.

@PoulePouletteEternellement

Maths.

Science.

Philosophy

Art

Never ever seem to be taught or even acknowledged from a non-Western point of view. It's probably still possible for an English child to finish school with no clue that any black person has ever been involved in or contributed to the pursuit of knowledge in any if these areas.

And I'd like things taught without the word 'Black' preceding them. (I cannot express how much I'd like this.) The word is meaningless.

Co-sign

PoulePouletteEternellement - I think many teachers will be lacking in their knowledge and their enlightenment will be a good thing too.

It,s a tough one. I mean I was told about Aboriginal art at school, and civil rights movement. (But funnily eough focused more on USA then in uk.) But I wan,t really told about Windrush, or about the empire. (Except I do remember learning about the way the Canadian native people and the Maori,s and Aborigines were treated.)
There is so much to teach where does one start.?

Hi Op
I agree too,
I like to see Caribbean /Afrlcan food reflected in school Cookery classes, I don't know if it still home economics?,

Also totally agree with @DangerMouse17
Obviously schools need to have teach that Black history is more than just Tran Atlantic slave trade and US civil rights movement,
Schools needs to teach about Uk civil rights movment too,
Such as I watched the film "Hidden figures" film about the mathemations In USA and how the helped America with their Genius for maths equations win the space competition with Russia,in the early 1960s
Also about the history of Ancient African kingdom/Queendoms
Important historical/modern figures from Black history..

Also about soldiers in 1world war,2nd world war their contributions,often over looked aswell,etc

@PoulePouletteEternellement
I too agree achiechments/advances culturally scientifically, philosophy, Art from Aftican /Caribbean perspective should definately be reflected in uk schools, Europe, US too,

The Life Scientific on R4 this morning was excellent. On the geologist Chris Jackson.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000r3n0

The BBC does seem to be making a new but concerted effort to feature non-white academics and creative people. I'm listening to a R4 programme on poetry and paternity right now:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qx12

And the American composer Florence Price got the full week's treatment on R3's Composer of the Week, last week.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p085rvjw

And, and, and - just remembered Paterson Joseph has been reading ((quite staggeringly brilliantly) George Lamming's 'In The Castle of My Skin'

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qls7

on R4. Utterly fabulous novel - really should be widely taught and read.

More vaguely, there seems to be a surge of writing and scholarship on the Benin Bronzes - and general colonial era theft of great African art. (This is just one reason why black schoolchildren should be encouraged in academic study of Art History. So they gave a chance to lead, or at least participate in these conversations for change.)

Every university, every conservatoire, every art school probably has students and tutors whose work needs disseminating amongst school pupils. It is happening, but too often dragged down by distractions - or by some people's need to use the word 'black' three times in every sentence, just to keep other people in their place ...

(So they have a chance to lead ...)

I think The Black Curriculum has some great ideas and resources for a lot of subjects.

At my DDs' school cookery is now 'Food tech' (done in a Design and Technology rotation), though pre-Covid they also had baking and cooking clubs as well. I think clubs can be a great way to both make the topics involved seem more interesting and do things while the curriculum is so squeezed in other areas.

@PoulePouletteEternellement - it would be wonderful if widespread exposure were given to the contributions of black people in various spheres and I expect that there will be revived or new found interest because of the times we're living in.

I recently watched BBC's black classical music hosted by Lenny Henry and Suzy Klein which was educational for me. I do think that many people will be looking to inform and educate themselves in a way that tagging the resource to reflect 'black' contribution will be useful.

I'm off to look at some of those links. I'm glad you've reminded me of "In the Castle of My Skin", a book I've known about almost all my life but somehow never read. Just discovered that George Lamming is still alive .

Thank you