What Is the Potential in the History Curriculum for Valuing Diversity and Challenging Racism?

History

These activities are examples of good practice. They provide effective learning opportunities for pupils to value diversity and challenge racism. They focus on helping pupils understand and appreciate aspects of cultural difference, context and change, while challenging and extending their perceptions of themselves and other people.

What is the potential in the history curriculum for valuing diversity and challenging racism?

The national curriculum programme of study and the QCA/DfES schemes of work for history provide starting points for valuing diversity and challenging racism in the classroom. The national curriculum statutory inclusion statement sets out schools' responsibilities for meeting the needs of all pupils and provides examples of how this can be achieved.

The national curriculum makes the following statement about the importance of history:

History fires pupils' curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world. Pupils consider how the past influences the present, what past societies were like, how these societies organised their politics, and what beliefs and cultures influenced people's actions…They see the diversity of human experience, and understand more about themselves as individuals and members of society. What they learn can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values. In history, pupils find evidence, weigh it up and reach their own conclusions. To do this they need to be able to research, sift through evidence, and argue for their point of view - skills that are prized in adult life.

The following programme of study requirements provide opportunities to value diversity and challenge racism.

Key stage 1

Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past
Children should be taught to:
2b / identify differences between ways of life at different times
Historical interpretation
3 / Children should be taught to identify different ways in which the past is represented
Historical enquiry
Children should be taught:
4b / to ask and answer questions about the past
Breadth of study
During the key stage, children should be taught about:
6c / the lives of significant men, women and children drawn from the history of Britain and the wider world
6d / past events from the history of Britain and the wider world

Key stage 2

Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past
Children should be taught:
2a / about characteristic features of the periods and societies studied, including the ideas, beliefs, attitudes and experiences of men, women and children in the past
2b / about the social, cultural, religious and ethnic diversity of the societies studied, in Britain and the wider world
Historical interpretation
3 / Children should be taught to recognise that the past is represented and interpreted in different ways, and to give reasons for this
Historical enquiry
Children should be taught:
4b / to ask and answer questions, and to select and record information relevant to the form of the enquiry
Breadth of study
This should include study of local, British, European and world history. In their study of British history, pupils should be taught about:
8b / ...the history of Britain in its European and wider world context

Key stage 3

Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past
Pupils should be taught:
2a / … [about] the experiences and range of ideas, beliefs and attitudes of men, women and children in the past
2b / about the social, cultural, religious and ethnic diversity of the societies studied, both in Britain and the wider world
Historical interpretation
Pupils should be taught:
3a / how and why historical events, people, situations and changes have been interpreted in different ways
3b / to evaluate interpretations
Historical enquiry
Pupils should be taught to:
4a / identify, select and use a range of appropriate sources of information
4b / evaluate the sources used, select and record information relevant to the enquiry and reach conclusions
Breadth of study
This should include study of local, British, European and world history. Pupils should be taught about:
7b / history from a variety of perspectives including political, religious, social, cultural, aesthetic, economic, technical and scientific
7d / the history of Britain in its European and wider world context

What are the implications for teaching and learning?

The national curriculum statutory inclusion statement describes schools' responsibility to provide a curriculum that meets the specific needs of individuals and groups of pupils. The statement sets out three principles that are essential to developing an inclusive curriculum:

·  setting suitable learning challenges;

·  responding to pupils' diverse learning needs;

·  overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils.

The statement also provides examples of how this responsibility can be met.

Effective teaching and learning in history can make a significant contribution to pupils' ability to value diversity and challenge racism. Pupils should be encouraged to:

·  become informed citizens, able to participate responsibly within a diverse and multi-ethnic society;

·  have a positive understanding of racial equality and ethnic and cultural diversity;

·  develop a knowledge and understanding of different experiences, beliefs and attitudes from their own, and be able to respect difference and appreciate the richness that diversity brings to a society;

·  develop a knowledge and understanding of the past, which they use to identify and challenge historical interpretations that are partial, exclusive, and that may serve particular ideological purposes;

·  critically evaluate a range of sources of information, identifying and challenging stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination;

·  use their knowledge and understanding of the past to gain an insight into current issues around human rights, equality and inequality, and migration and settlement in Britain and the wider world;

·  develop a sense of identity as British citizens within the wider world;

·  contribute towards building a cohesive society through recognising interdependence and diversity, and similarity and difference.

When planning a history curriculum, teachers should consider the following:

Teaching British history within a world perspective

Pupils could have enough knowledge and understanding to link significant events in British history to the wider context. They should understand that British history cannot be adequately understood unless it is put into a wider context. They could consider, for example, the contribution of the slave trade and colonial trade to the process of industrialisation in Britain and the impact of cultural trends and changes such as the Renaissance and Reformation on British society.

Exploring personal, family and community identity

Pupils could relate local and personal history to the history of the wider world. For example, they could investigate the impact of war on a local community; the impact of changes in trade and transport on a local community; and the origin of local names, dialects, architecture and other characteristic features.

The history of minority ethnic groups in Britain, including the development of Britain as a multicultural society

Pupils could investigate, for example, the impact of the Reformation on Catholics in Britain; the migration and settlement of the Romans, Vikings, Saxons and Normans; and the migration and settlement of refugees and migrants such as Huguenots in the sixteenth century, Irish and Jews in the nineteenth century, and people from Afghanistan, South Asia, Cyprus or the Caribbean in the twentieth century.

Understanding that migration, movement and settlement are recurring experiences

Pupils could study both the experiences of the settlers and responses of the local populations. They should be able to apply their knowledge and understanding of the movement of people to global migration today.

Pupils reflecting on their own cultural identity and debating, 'What does it mean to be British?'

Pupils could understand that British culture is, and has been in the past, diverse. For example, they could consider differences and similarities between homes and schooling in the past; differences between the lives of rich and poor in Tudor times; the difference made by gender to children's lives in Victorian times; and the impact of migration and settlement on the development of the English language.

Key political concepts, including resistance, democracy, rights, equality, justice, citizenship

Pupils could study, for example, Boudicca's rebellion, English Civil War, Ancient Greece, Indus Valley civilisation, Magna Carta in the Middle Ages, the Peasants' Revolt in 1381 and struggles for civil rights, including the right to vote, in various countries and by various groups around the world.

Studying diversity (social, cultural, religious, ethnic) in British and world history

Pupils could find out how different social, religious and cultural factors have influenced and contributed to societies in different ways. They could learn about:

·  significant people from a variety of communities around the world;

·  Ancient Athenians and Spartans and their world views;

·  Protestants, including Puritans, and Catholics in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries;

·  Jews, Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages;

·  the contribution of black people to urban life and culture in Victorian times;

·  the contribution of Irish labour to British industrialisation;

·  the role of the Australian, Asian, African and Caribbean forces in the First and Second World Wars;

·  how post-war migration changed British society after 1948.

Recognising that for a particular historical event or process there will often be a diverse range of feelings and experiences

Pupils could investigate:

·  attitudes to evacuation, for example the feelings of Jewish children being evacuated from Germany, during the Second World War;

·  the motives and beliefs of North American settlers and Native Americans;

·  women who were anti-suffrage as well as those who were pro-suffrage;

·  motives and experiences of post-war immigrants and migrants to Britain from Europe, Ireland and the colonies.

Studying different perceptions of, and narratives about, the same event

Pupils could study a variety of stories, versions and interpretations.

How different versions of the past have been arrived at

Pupils should understand that the process involves selecting and interpreting a range of sources. They should be able to identify ways in which accounts of the past (written and visual) reflect the knowledge and attitudes of particular groups or individuals at particular times.

Challenging stereotypes

Pupils could deconstruct stereotypes about particular groups, for example the idea that all Vikings were warlike.

Including the viewpoints of non-British societies

Pupils could investigate, for example, Islamic culture during the Crusades and the perspectives of colonised peoples on imperialism.

The motives and achievements of significant individuals or groups who have opposed others and/or struggled for justice

Where appropriate, pupils should have opportunities to be inspired by individuals in the past. For example, Rosa Parks, Grace Darling,Thomas More, Martin Luther King, Chartists, suffragettes, suffragists, and people involved in civil rights movements inthe USA and Britain.

The culture of minority ethnic groups who have been persecuted, and their contributions to other cultures

For example, pupils could learn about the contribution Jewish people have made to the culture of Germany, and the contribution Native Americans have made to the countries of North America.