Government told to accept ‘warts and all’ school lessons about empire

The schools minister says it curtails freedom for teachers to choose their lessons. By Rob Merrick

64 per cent of secondary schools say curriculum lacks diverse role models (PA)

Pupils must have “warts and all” lessons about the British empire and its role in the slave trade, the government is being told – after it refused to make teaching of the subjects compulsory.

The schools minister sparked controversy earlier this year when he suggested such lessons would “pile on” too many topics and risked lowering “standards” in English schools.

Now MPs will debate a petition, signed by more than 268,000 people, demanding “a far more inclusive curriculum” – rather than leaving it up to head teachers to decide whether the legacy of “colonisation” is taught.

Ahead of the clash, a survey by the think tank British Future has found strong public support for the move, with 63 per cent of people believing children must learn about all its “controversies and complexity”.

Both white people (63 per cent) and ethnic minority citizens (65 per cent) backed the change, with majorities among both Conservative and Labour voters, under-24s and over-65s.

Sunder Katwala, British Future’s director, urged ministers to recognise that it was perfectly possible to teach Britain’s full history without getting drawn into a US-style “culture war”.

“Understanding Britain’s past is the key to understanding who we are today. It also holds the key to shaping a shared and inclusive identity for the future,” he said.

“We need a homegrown approach that tells the British story of decolonisation and empire in a way that feels relevant to children of all backgrounds today.”

A separate survey by the Commons petitions committee of teachers and other support staff found 90 per cent support for lessons about “the history of Britain’s ethnic and cultural minorities, including Britain’s role in colonisation and the transatlantic slave trade”.

Some 45 per cent of those in primary schools, and 64 per cent in secondary schools, warned the curriculum lacked “a balanced range of ethnically and culturally diverse role models”.

And, alarmingly, a quarter of teachers said they were unable to develop their pupils’ understanding of black history and cultural diversity.

British Future pointed to the inspiring example of Falinge Park High School, in Rochdale, which teaches about the role of black and Asian soldiers in the Second World War, collecting stories from local families.

But, in February, Nick Gibb, the schools minister, rejected any move that would curtail teachers’ freedom to choose what lessons should take place.

“Every time you do that, you chip away at that professional autonomy,” he told a Commons inquiry.

“The danger is that it does detract from that professional normal autonomy, and it is that professional autonomy that is driving up standards,” Mr Gibb added.

However, critics say the argument ignores the reality that the cramped curriculum leaves very little space for anything not obligatory.

In GCSE history, schools tend to focus on what has been dubbed “Hitler and the Henrys” – the Second World War and the Tudors – while, in English literature, white authors such as Shakespeare are compulsory.