Teaching through the black experience

I was initially asked to write an article helping teachers with suggestions and ideas for Black History Month, which was a bit of a sticking point for me…

I fully appreciate the value of Black History Month, but essentially have doubts about the long-term impact on the lives of the individual learners and their outcomes.

The celebration of diversity and the acquisition of new knowledge that pertains to black history and culture is vital, but how much of this knowledge is retained? How is this knowledge used to further the life chances of the black learners?

So instead, I will use this platform to discuss some strategies that may be useful in your school context for beyond Black History Month. What should we be trying to achieve with our black learners during their five years in secondary education and how can we try to get there, collectively? Let’s begin by considering some of the key issues.