‘A new approach to teaching migration, belonging and empire is required to reflect changing classroom demographics’
This is from a July 2019 report by Runnymede Trust and the TIDE project on teaching migration, belonging and empire in secondary schools. The report aims to offer all young people a fuller understanding of the varied and wide-ranging cultural inputs that have contributed to the making of Britain.
Department for Education guidance says that the secondary History curriculum should ensure pupils know and understand ‘how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world’. As the report points out, migration, belonging, and empire are central to understanding these processes.
The number of schools currently teaching these, however, is unknown. The report calls for further research to establish this, and for the government to reform the curriculum in response to the findings. It also recommends more support for teachers to equip them to teach migration, belonging, and empire sensitively and effectively.
