The Anti-Racist Educator White Privilege Test
We are often encouraged to believe that we live in a meritocracy, where everyone is equal and treated the same. If you just try hard enough, there's no reason why you shouldn't succeed. This test is meant to debunk that myth of a post-racial meritocracy by exposing some of the structural racial inequalities that exist in the UK. Adapted from Peggy McIntosh’s ‘White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,’ this exercise helps both white people and people of colour explore the presence of white privilege in British society.
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Racism is like a coin with two sides: on one side, it disadvantages some people (we tend to focus on this), and on the other side, it benefits some people (easier to forget: white privilege).
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Suitable for people of all racial identities, this exercise is a great tool for adults to raise their own racial consciousness (as a personal and professional development exercise) and for secondary school pupils to explore their understanding of racism in the UK and Scotland. You can check out the relevant blog post here and download your free copy here.
Windrush Day 2020 Resources
Windrush Day is being celebrated in the UK on Monday 22nd June 2020. It is the perfect time to explore the stories of Caribbean people who were called by the British government to rebuild the country in 1948, as well as the stories of injustice that they and their children faced with the ongoing Windrush Scandal.
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These school resources were created by Genevieve, a second-generation Black British Caribbean woman. You can download them by clicking here or on TES. Genevieve also created a Windrush reading list available here.
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The BBC documentary by historian David Olusoga, "The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files," detailing the hostile (i.e. racist) environment created by the UK Government, makes a perfect extension activity.
Black Lives Matter and Anti-Blackness in English
This PowerPoint presentation was created for secondary pupils living in Scotland during the Black Lives Matter movement 2020.
As an English teacher, Mélina felt she needed to help her pupils make the connection between Black Lives Matter and the English curriculum. This introduction draws on concepts of critical literacy and decolonising the curriculum in an accessible way. Teachers would be encouraged to follow this up with the study of some Black British poetry.
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You can download the slides by clicking here.
Template Letter to Scottish Schools Inviting Them
to Adopt an Anti-Racist curriculum
Thank you to Eilidh Robb for creating this template adapted from Impact of Omission. Click here to make a copy and send to your current/old school.
Black Lives Matter 2020: What Can Pupils Do in Scotland?
This PowerPoint presentation was created for senior pupils (14 - 18 years) living in Scotland during the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement 2020. Following the murder of George Floyd in the USA, many pupils are rightly angry and want to do something about it. This presentation takes them through productive immediate action points and long-term effective anti-racism, while prioritising the self-care of black pupils.
You can download the slides by clicking here.
Preserving Family History: An Act of Resistance
This unit was created as an interdisciplinary learning project during the Covid-19 lockdown. The activities help young people develop closer bonds with their relatives, strengthen their sense of identity and gain a better understanding of the past as well as the present. This project is appropriate for pupils of any racial identity; for pupils of colour it becomes a powerful act of resistance.
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The unit can be adapted for pupils in S1 - S6 (11 - 18 years old). For older pupils, this unit would be a good starting point for a reflective or creative essay for the National 5 or Higher portfolio. The unit presents other possible outcomes for younger pupils (even in primary school), such as designing the missing pages of a History textbook, creating a newspaper article, writing a poem, drawing a comic and making a Thank You postcard inspired by family stories. In fact, you could use this project as a parent with your children or as an individual looking for some structure to guide the discovery of your own family history.
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You can find the unit on this blogpost and you can also download it here.
