History Matters: creating 'joined-up' resources for a diverse history curriculum

The new National Curriculum for Schools in England came into force in September 2014 in the wake of prolonged controversy, notably around the revisions to the English and History curricula. The History National Curriculum was particularly controversial, accused of being overly focused on a narrowly conceived and celebratory British 'island story' at the expense of a more global outlook and content. Moreover, the 'island' narrative was heavily criticised for promoting a homogeneous account of 'British identity' and 'British history', which erased its global/imperial past, its long history of migration and the foundations of contemporary multicultural Britain. A campaign by Operation Black Vote in 2012 to retain key black figures in the curriculum garnered over 36,000 signatures, including leading politicians, while a 2015 recent campaign to make black history a mandatory part of the primary curriculum received nearly 44,000 signatures. While the revised curriculum addressed some of these concerns, and offers the opportunity for study of ancient civilisations, slavery and non-European histories, there is still little scope for engaging with Britain's diverse history 'at home'. Accordingly, in December 2014, the OCR exam board revealed its plans to introduce a new GCSE history module 'Migration into Britain', exploring the impact of migration on Britain over the past 2000 years - the first and, to date, only module of its kind. However, the content and resources underpinning this module are as yet undeveloped. Our previous two successful AHRC funded follow-on projects 'Making Histories' and 'History Lessons', which used oral and local histories to explore migration to Britain, revealed both an appetite for black British histories amongst pupils and teachers, and uncertainty on the part of teachers as to how to teach diversity, as well as a lack of available resources. This lack of easily accessible resources, along with the increased demands on teachers' time and expertise, is likely to doom the OCR's and other future initiatives to failure. However, our previous projects also demonstrate a strong willingness by academics, museums and archives, oral and local historians and black history archives, as well as teachers, to collaborate on producing materials that can be adopted by teachers and schools. The current project plans to build on previous research experience and collaborative links to develop coherent and accessible resources to support the teaching of diverse histories at Key Stage 4 (GCSE). In partnership with Runnymede and the OCR exam board, we will bring together a range of academics, historians, teachers and stakeholders, to develop an innovative online interactive website, which examines the history of migration to Britain in the 20th and 21st centuries, and explores the various migration flows that have shaped contemporary multicultural Britain. The project seeks to engage a range of partners and stakeholders in a unique collaborative venture aimed at diversifying the history curriculum and producing appropriate, innovative and accessible online resources to support teachers and pupils in this process. Drawing on similar research-based websites and resources, such as those dealing with slavery, the project will facilitate a 'joined-up' approach to curriculum development and support, bringing together academic research, schemes of work, primary resources and supporting material to provide a 'one stop shop' for schools, teachers and young people wishing to teach or study Britain's diverse histories.