14 years ago I became a citizenship teacher and I always felt there was something missing from the curriculum and it was the same sense I felt when I was at school - a lack of representation of black history. Our curriculum in UK schools tends to more to glorify the empire and completely centres the British ruling class in who the UK was created. Our curriculum uses the term 'colonialisation' loosely and when it does it tends contribute or maintain the imagery of the white civiliser and the happy natives. The picture of the white man lounging on a chair being fanned by a personal servant is often introduced and reinforced - adding to the rose tinted glasses being firmly set on the face of the next generation. As a Black teacher who's family grew up under the Empire, the impact of the Empire is one that is passed down through generations as oral history. A version of history that isn't given credit in the academic approach to history taught in schools. In scho...
When we first started talking about the Coronavirus/Covid-19, it was almost easy to not take it seriously. The UK government didn't seem panicked or trying to get emergency ready and the memes had already started on social media. How could we take it seriously when the reports coming out of China were being downplayed and people were still trying to carry on with their everyday lives? And then, almost overnight this became a serious threat. The word 'Pandemic' was being used widely and the impact outside Wuhan province started to be felt. Not on a human level but initially on an economic level? Wuhan is a huge manufacturing district and when the work places started to eventually be shut down, the supply chains started to be affected. It was at this point notice was taken, not for the human cost and impact on medical colleagues, but because businesses in the UK were finding it hard to get parts. Was that our fault? maybe not entirely, the Chinese authori...