A teachers’ union is forming a partnership with education experts to...
Increase literacy and numeracy rates? Ensure discipline - and above all, safety - in the classroom?
...“critically interrogate” the government’s plans for a model history curriculum in England, as its leaders warned that culture wars continued to rage over what should be taught in classrooms.
Oh. OK, so what it is you want to see in UK schools, then?
“We want to ensure that Black history, cultures and perspectives have proper recognition in all subjects and all year round. And this must centre the perspectives of those who were colonised or their descendants,” Bousted told delegates at the NEU’s annual conference in Bournemouth.
*sighs*
Bousted said she had been “monstered” by the rightwing media (Ed: we have that? Who knew?) and endured “gales of outrage” on social media after saying she was not interested in a curriculum solely composed of the works of dead white men.
Well, yes, when one considers what Shakespeare, Newton, Darwin - all dead white men - have done for Britain, and the world. I'd compare them with the achievements of black historical figures, but...well...
Bousted pledged to defeat the government’s aim of all state schools in England being converted to academies by 2030, calling the white paper “the final thrashings of zombie education ideologues with zombie education policies”.
She seems nice.
No, no. It can surely be a good thing?
ReplyDeleteThe Mrs: Exeter is over there, right [points towards France]?
Me: Um. No, dear [points vaguely North/North East and gleefully celebrates Black Geography Month. Again].
-- Justin
I trust this 'black history, culture, and perspectives' will explore the reasons why black Africans lived in grass and mud houses for centuries without building bridges over rivers, founding hospitals and health care, or initiating a transport system which would allow black Africans to travel to other parts of their country. Perhaps it will also explore the many hundreds of years that they fought their neighbours, and sold any captives to Islamic slave traders. It could also explore the possibilities that the ancestors of Africans who were not enslaved were possibly involved in the slave trade themselves.
ReplyDeleteAny chance of any of these being included in the curriculum?
"defeat the government’s aim of all state schools in England being converted to academies by 2030"
ReplyDeleteHaving seen the effect of "academy" conversion I might be tempted to support that defeat but I also know about the march of Frankfurt, another school they're so very keen on.
When I was at school (I know - the dark ages), History was about our forebears who created the world we lived in. Very few black/asian people appeared except in geography. Now we have <15% black/asian in the population for less than 50 years and they want to take over the teaching of history,, although they had virtually no part in it. Modern 'teachers' seem to be following the common purpose directive and bringing empathy into the school curriculum to replace facts, wiping out the history of this country as far as young people are concerned as if it were just part of a theme park. Let the 84% white population dominate the syllabuses, and leave the race/gender minorities as just that.
ReplyDeleteI always thought that the history of the West African Preventative Squadron would be a good topic to teach. It could cover the vast cost to the British, in lives and money, the black African nations fighting tooth and nail to keep slavery and so on. So actually British and Black history.
ReplyDeleteWait a minute: A teachers' union forming a partnership with education experts? Does this add weight to the old adage of "Those who can, do, those who can't, teach"?
ReplyDeleteOf course, Priti Patel could always do an EP and offer unhappy UK residents of African heritage a free ride to Rhondda (sorry, Rwanda).
Ms Bousted - or ‘Mary’, as she more chummily designates herself in union mail shots - joined the non-striking and moderate ATL with a number of fellow-activists, despite her politics being a far better match for the more militant NUT. Having worked her way up to the top (not so difficult when the general membership were effectively self-selected for political inactivity and tended towards abstention from union ballots), she oversaw the union’s first strike before masterminding the eventual amalgamation with the NUT and becoming joint leader of the resulting NEU. This shameless power-grab brought her into political prominence while dragging thousands of members into a union whose policies directly oppose their own views on industrial action.
ReplyDeleteTeachers need the union membership for legal cover in case of accusations of abuse or misconduct (a very real risk - false and malicious allegations by pupils are common); since changing union means losing all insurance cover for past service, we are trapped with the union we chose at the start, whether or not we agree with the direction it has taken. It is, perhaps, worth bearing this in mind when Ms Bousted assumes the moral authority that goes with leading ‘the largest education union in Europe’.
Black history? I cannot think of anything beyond the invading Bantu wiping out the native inhabitants of southern Africa shortly before the arrival of the white man who put an end to their genocidal invasion.
ReplyDeleteBlack culture? I grew up in central Africa from the age of 8 to 23. I never knew of any "culture" beyond the scraping a meagre existence whilst living in a mud hut badly thatched with grass. No art, no history, no inventions, no literature, no hygiene, no medical care beyond the mumblings and useless concoctions of witch-doctors and absolutely no ambition to change what was the Arican's status quo.
"...and gleefully celebrates Black Geography Month. Again"
ReplyDeleteš¤£
"Any chance of any of these being included in the curriculum?"
None whatsoever!
"Having seen the effect of "academy" conversion I might be tempted to support that defeat but I also know about the march of Frankfurt, another school they're so very keen on."
Spot on!
"Modern 'teachers' seem to be following the common purpose directive ..."
I don't think there's any 'seem' about it!
"I always thought that the history of the West African Preventative Squadron would be a good topic to teach. "
It would! But it'll never be included.
"Does this add weight to the old adage of "Those who can, do, those who can't, teach"?"
ReplyDeleteI think we've more than enough evidence of that already!
"This shameless power-grab brought her into political prominence while dragging thousands of members into a union whose policies directly oppose their own views on industrial action."
I hope she had good strong shoes during that Long March, or think of the blisters!
"Black culture? I grew up in central Africa from the age of 8 to 23. I never knew of any "culture" beyond the scraping a meagre existence whilst living in a mud hut badly thatched with grass. "
Indeed. You don't have to dig for culture, it should be all around you.