The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and following protests that spread across the world, including the UK have shone a spotlight on the the racism that still exists in our society. Children and young people are asking questions about what happened in the USA and what is happening in the UK and in Portsmouth. As educators it is important that we are able to answer those questions and to challenge racism in our schools and in society.
Staff in Portsmouth City Council’s Children, Families and Education directorate are working with teachers to consider the support the council could provide to schools around Black Lives Matter (BLM), and areas in which we could encourage schools to make positive changes.
The NEU has developed a very helpful Framework for Developing an Anti-Racist Approach. This framework has been designed to help you explore ideas around race equality and plan how to tackle racism with children, young people and staff. It provides stimulus for peer reflection and school/college self-evaluation. It is not easy to improve anti-racist practice or to develop and embed an anti-racist approach to education without talking through some of the myths about racism and the assumptions that are barriers to equitable practice.
In terms of areas of engagement and action we propose a three-pronged approach:
- Black Lives Matter classroom resources
- Teaching black history in schools and decolonising the curriculum
- Longer-term, transformational institutional change
For further details on these three areas click here.
USEFUL RESOURCES
BLM-specific and anti-racism resources
| Resource | Description | Additional notes |
| The British Red Cross: Black Lives Matter session | This session is designed to help young people reflect on the Black Lives Matter movement with a focus on how people might experience racism and how it might feel. | This resource includes voices of black people in the UK likely to be familiar to young people. |
| What is racism and how do we challenge it? | Aims to provide some of the tools to show resilience and leadership in being anti-racist, which means actively challenging racism. | Takes as its starting point George Floyd and uses it as platform to discuss racism. |
| Black Lives Matter PowerPoint presentation | PSHE activity delivered to all pupils remotely at ALNS. | Locally developed. Good examples around why BLM is an important message at this time. |
Curriculum support
| Resource | Description |
| Framework for developing an anti-racist approach | This framework, developed by the NEU has been designed to help you explore ideas around race equality and plan how to tackle racism with children, young people and staff. It provides stimulus for peer reflection and school/college self-evaluation. |
| Black curriculum | Re-imagining the future of education through Black British History – aims to curriculum altogether so black history and the above issues are not considered in isolation. |
| Collaborative Project – Black History | A collaborative teacher’s network that others can contribute their resources to. |
| BBC Teach Black Lives and Black History resources | Classroom resources from BBC Teach, and content from around the BBC, accompanied by teacher notes to aid classroom use, covering KS1 to GCSE. |
| Decolonising the curriculum | Campaigns ongoing at various universities, including SOAS and Keele. |
| Starting a conversation – staff training | Starting a conversation: attempting to engage with our own and students’ questions following the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests of May and June 2020. |
| Starting a conversation with staff – developing an anti-racist English curriculum | Builds on the above and considers what an anti-racist, decolonised English curriculum might look like. |
| Black History Month website | This site contains a wealth of resources and articles to support your anti-racist work throughout the year, alongside specific BHM resources. |
| Think piece – The “R Word” – what schools must learn about race | This short, thought provoking, article explores issues for white educators and asks us to consider “What if being called “racist” was the beginning, not the end, of the conversation?” |
Related anti-racism and justice resources
| Resource | Description |
| Parent guide for talking about BLM | Yoopies UK has created a free, downloadable guide for parents that is designed to provide an easy-to-use resource to help parents start these important, but challenging, conversations with children of all ages. |
| Show Racism the Red Card | This organisation has a range of resources to support teachers with advice and activities that will help institutions to prepare student teachers to tackle racism and promote equality in the classroom. |
| Deliberative classroom pack | From the Association of Citizen Teaching on the topic of democracy, protest and change. The pack begins with a briefing paper to help teachers think about the depth of conceptual knowledge students need as they learn about democracy and its key characteristics and the different ways citizens can influence change. |
| Anti-racism resources | US-focused – links to films, books and articles for white people and parents to deepen their anti-racism. |
Promoting diversity and anti-racism through reading: books for kids
| Resource | Description |
| Book collection – anti-racism for kids 101: starting to talk about race | If you’re nervous about talking about race with your kids, these books about racial diversity will give you an easy place to start destigmatizing difference and celebrating racial diversity. US site. |
| Looking for excellent ‘diverse’ books for children? Start here! | Tips from Embrace Race about choosing diverse and multicultural children’s books, including links to multiple lists. |
| Cassava Republic Press – children’s section | A publishing company founded in Nigeria with the aim of bringing high quality fiction to a global audience. |
| Children’s books that discuss race and racism | A thread on Twitter by an educator listing children’s books that discuss race and racism. |
| Reading list for educators | Suggested reading improving racial literacy in British history and education. |