The Staffroom: How to make every month Black History Month

Award-winning EDI specialist, Ellisha Soanes sets out how to start building on this month’s focus to create a rich and genuinely representative curriculum

Award-winning EDI specialist, Ellisha Soanes sets out how to start building on this month’s focus to create a rich and genuinely representative curriculum

21 Oct 2024, 5:00

When Morgan Freeman was asked about Black History Month in an interview with The Guardian, he replied: “You’re going to relegate my history to a month?” He was right, and we owe our learners more.

A few years ago, when working at West Suffolk College, I was awarded the President’s Award from the Association of Colleges (AOC) for being the first FE lecturer to incorporate black history into the curriculum and enrichment events throughout the entire year.

Now, many more are embarking on this work. Colleges across the country are embedding Black history into their curriculum. So here’s what I’ve learned to help them on their way.

Start small, then build

The best place to start is to look at what you can achieve in your own department. As you plan and develop ideas, get everyone in the organisation engaged in what you are trying to do.

Have conversations with students and colleagues. Some of these may be uncomfortable, but they’re all crucial in taking those first steps in the right direction.

Then you can start to work on training programmes for staff based around equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) as well as starting to develop anti-racism training. (Start with your staff before moving on to students.)

There is still much work to be done to achieve true cultural change, but I have found that many people across the sector are passionate about EDI. They can help support plans and become your champions and ambassadors, across the college and further afield.

Reach out

Through this work, I’ve had the honour of meeting many fascinating people over the years. For example, interviewed award-winning author, writer and lecturer Ashley Hickson-Lovence as part of my work with the AOC.

In that interview, Ashley highlighted the importance of ensuring young people see themselves as writers, in films, on the stage and in creative roles in general. His journey inspired the young people who heard it, and he has recently co-written a book with a former student.

So reach out to your sector, find the diverse voices making a difference there, and bring them before your students.

But it’s not all about reaching for the stars. People in your local community also have stories to tell that can be so powerful and inspirational.

And when it comes to outreach, don’t forget your learners themselves. We can learn so much from them, and they can learn so much from each other. Creating space for this is crucial to supporting the next generation of gamechangers.

A launchpad

I encourage everyone to engage with Black history month. Getting the whole organisation involved is an important step in bringing about culture change. But once engaged, it’s important to build momentum.

Ask them for one action a month to promote diversity, then one a fortnight, and eventually one a week if necessary. Before long, EDI will be a normal part of the year-long conversation about curriculum and staff development.

Finally, to institutionalise it, you will need to embed what you are doing into your policies, strategies and action plans too.

Colleges like West Suffolk College, Birmingham Metropolitan College and Inspire Education College, on their own or with partners like Citizens UK, are taking great strides in this work. Every college can and should.

Knowing more

Henry VIII, The Battle of Hastings, Neil Armstrong, Queen Victoria… If I expected you to learn all of White history in a month, would you be able to?

Of course not.  Black History Month is a chance to start to know more, but a truly rich curriculum should be underpinned by representation throughout.

And if you don’t know it all yourself (None of us do!), then don’t be afraid to ask for help. It’s likely you’ll get things wrong along the way, but external organisations and community networks can propel you forward.

It’s time for FE to come together to increase the momentum of work on EDI, and sharing best practices is key. If Wales can embed Black History into the curriculum, why can’t we?

As Martin Luther King said, “Its’ never the wrong time to do the right thing”.

Ellisha Soanes will be launching a podcast about gamechangers in the FE world with the Association of Colleges later this year.

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