This autumn saw a groundbreaking change in how Hackney teaches young people about black history, with the aim to inspire the whole of the UK.
Devised by our teachers and funded by Hackney Council, ‘Hackney’s Diverse Curriculum – the Black Contribution’ has been delivered free to all Hackney schools and is available to all boroughs in Britain for free. I am pleased my aspiration is now a reality!
With close to 500 schools already signed up, the curriculum has begun its work of enlightening young people with an education not just about the history of black people, but about a history that belongs to us all.
In October, every school in Hackney received nine teaching packs, each with a six-week lesson plan. They provide access and insight to many untold or neglected stories that lie within the DNA of Britain. They honour the importance of the journeys black people made to the UK, while acknowledging the contributions they make to our society.
Hackney has a wealth of exceptional teachers and it was important to us to collaborate with them when pulling together this work. With their help – and the efforts of various cross-council teams, as well as Orlene Badu, Leadership and Management Advisor for Hackney Education and curator of teaching resources – my ambition to create balance in the way we teach black history as part of Black History Month is becoming a reality.
We want to present black British history as an essential part of education from an early age. This is why the lessons are designed for early years through to secondary school students – a time when young people are beginning to appreciate, understand and question the diversity of their community.
They will discover a catalogue of black stories across the ages, from the arrival of Windrush to the significance of the British Empire’s rule. The teaching packs will inspire debate and investigate activism.
They will also add context not only to our past, but to our future, as we look to the installation next year of artwork commissioned by the council to celebrate Hackney’s Windrush generation – the first permanent public sculptures to do so in the UK.
Hackney’s Diverse Curriculum was released within Hackney’s Black History Season, yet, in Hackney, learning about our black roots is a year-round affair. Earlier this year, we committed ourselves to becoming an anti-racist borough and this work supports how we are keeping to that promise.
The new curriculum is also vital to understanding why we have launched a review into the naming of our public spaces and why the names of historical slave owners of the past need interrogating today.
We appreciate that there’s no one set way to teach a class, so we’ve ensured the resources can be adapted to the needs of any student or teacher.
We look forward to hearing back on how the work resonates with teachers and students in the coming months, and look forward to building upon this work in the years to come. As well as providing balance to how we teach our history in our schools, we hope it will inspire a more tolerant and inclusive-minded community.
