Stepping up to the task of decolonising our classrooms

I’ve seen and signed some really good petitions around decolonising our curriculum and celebrating black British history in our classrooms (see links at bottom of post if you haven’t already signed). I am not trying to criticise these petitions as they raise really important issues, however these only scratch the surface and there are more immediate steps that can be taken.

All of these petitions are addressed to the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson or to the Prime Minister but the way our curriculum is organised means that they have little say over how the curriculum is enacted in our classrooms. Although maintained schools must teach the national curriculum, they can organise actual subject teaching as they see fit. There is no requirement to spend a set amount of time on any one subject. Academies, free schools and independent fee-paying schools don’t have to follow the national curriculum. Finally, the national curriculum does not apply to post-16 education (sixth forms and colleges) – which further shows why these alternative steps can really help.

The idea of one national curriculum is misleading, partly because education is a devolved policy area. Schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales follow different curricula (links at bottom of post). We really must ask how we can change what is taught in different classrooms (i.e. which year group / subject). Also, teachers are doing their own work on decolonising the curriculum which should rightly be praised. Equally, plenty of teachers are not doing anything and seem apathetic to these important issues. The lack of uniformity is what the idea of one national curriculum falsely implies can be addressed.

For classrooms teaching GCSE and A level content, one way to try and achieve these aims would be to address the exam boards. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) enables member awarding bodies to jointly express views and collectively respond to national issues. These are the contact details for the JCQ and each exam body (including in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) - https://www.jcq.org.uk/contact-us/contact-details-for-jcq-and-members - writing or emailing them with the text of the petition could help change happen sooner and open up subject specific discussions around what themes should be taught to different year groups. If anyone would be interested in developing a template email/letter or know of an existing one, then please share!

For year groups not being taught to exam specifications, particularly KS2 and Early Years (I know I have many great primary school colleagues on my Facebook), then it will be faster to take these issues to the schools themselves (see here: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/?SelectedTab=Establishments). You can email or contact the head teacher of a school directly, or if you want to start a wider discussion within a school community – ask the school to pass on your letter or email to the Chair of Governors, and request that the issue of decolonising the curriculum be discussed at the next governors meeting. School governors and trustees must legally hold at least three meetings of the full governing body each school year, but the Chair and Head will meet much more frequently to discuss and monitor school issues. The advantage of this is that the discussion should be minuted, request a copy of the minutes and continue stimulating discussion around decolonising teaching within schools. Again, if anyone would be interested in developing a template email/letter or know of an existing one, then please share!

Finally, any other suggestions, including amongst teachers of how we can encourage colleagues to engage with this issue (as I know many don’t feel comfortable, but we must act!) please comment below.

Links to Petitions:

Teach British children about the realities of British Imperialism and Colonialism:

https://www.change.org/p/gavin-williamson-mp-teach-british-children-about-the-realities-of-british-imperialism-and-colonialism

Introducing anti – racism as a compulsory module within secondary schools in the UK:

https://www.change.org/p/local-mp-s-introducing-anti-racism-as-a-compulsory-module-within-secondary-schools-in-the-uk

Get UK schools to teach black literature in English lessons . Schools must be anti-racist:

https://www.change.org/p/boris-johnson-get-uk-schools-to-teach-black-literature-in-english-lessons-schools-must-become-anti-racist

Links to devolved governments:

Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/school-curriculum/

Wales: https://gov.wales/curriculum-and-assessment

Northern Ireland: https://ccea.org.uk/about/what-we-do/curriculum