Creating a Collective Conscious Curriculum

By Perminder Banger and Zoe Morris

Chorlton High is a large, truly comprehensive school in South Manchester. Our school is extremely diverse in terms of the socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds of our learners; a diversity that continues to expand as we routinely welcome new communities. Given the significant differences amongst our learners and their families in terms of their culture, experience and material wealth, the degree of positive interaction, inclusivity and harmony is a salient characteristic of the school, and one we are very proud of.

Central to our approach is acknowledging the strength inherent in our comprehensive student body and the emphasis on promoting dialogue, respect and community cohesion throughout school and beyond. To facilitate this we actively empower students to share, recognise and celebrate diversity through opportunities embedded in our pastoral curriculum; personal development drives, cultural and enrichment experiences; and through a strong commitment to social responsibility.

This focus has been part of our approach for many years and as a school we have always been extremely proud of this; external quality assurance visits and award accreditors have been effusive in their praise for this aspect of our school ‘SMSC is completely embedded in the life, culture and learning of the school. It features strongly in all aspects of the students’ personal and academic development. It is evident in the way that staff and students talk about the school, treat each other and their confidence to explore ideas’

However, discussion with students during 2020 prompted by the Black Lives Matter movement, and also in the context of a new Brexit existence and Covid inequalities, made us stop and reflect on our approach. We were used to responding to local, national and global agendas and providing a forum for discussion however, this felt different. Conversations with staff, students and our wider community at a time when questions were being asked wholesale about the education system, inequality and representation created a prime opportunity for us to reflect on our approach and consider how we widen our work and most importantly, how we embed this within our academic curriculum.

We have always used the SSAT frameworks and audits to help provide deep insight into the quality of our work, and it therefore seemed logical for us to engage with the Race and Conscious Equality (RACE) Charter Mark so that we could examine our practice and stimulate further improvement in relation to race equality through the curriculum and to the personal development agenda.

Towards the end of the summer term as we decide on school priorities for the next academic year, our working parties provide a forum for staff to have a voice on what has gone and what comes next in an area of focus. The Anti-Racism Working Party was packed. Staff from all areas, all backgrounds, all levels and with different understanding came and sat, shared stories, and listened, read and discussed, asked questions and contemplated the answers, talked and nodded. Our priority was to identify our collective and individual training needs as we helped shape CPD with the teaching and learning leads, and so the SSAT RACE Charter Mark framework was broken down, absorbed, to provide impetus and action was agreed. Alongside this we went to our student council who undertook a ‘Have Your Say Day’ focused on anti-racism and inclusivity across all year groups. This powerful student voice gave us further insight and refined the focus for our approach.

Our INSET was rooted in the need to create a safe, non-judgmental environment where staff could openly explore their own unconscious bias and grow professionally and personally. Quality external CPD was sourced which permitted all staff to explore their use of language, consider the reality of racism and its impact, reflect on their racial literacy levels, and look at how to broaden their knowledge base; take up training on how to adopt and /or hone anti-racist pedagogy was built in over the two days. Crucially, staff were supported with reviewing their subject areas: examining the opportunities they create to acknowledge the contributions of the global majority, to consider whose perspectives is being taught and how their resources, classrooms and subject content could better reflect our comprehensive school community.

A year on, the strong focus on ‘decolonising the curriculum’ in all subjects has ensured that our students see themselves reflected in the curriculum, their (and their elders’) lived experiences not recounted through a Eurocentric lens; their stories told. Some of our colleagues have led the way not only in our school but also through sharing best practice with colleagues across our Trust. They have reshaped and diversified content – finding creative ways to include and explore wider narratives whilst meeting the requirements of the national curriculum.

• Team history have ensured that all perspectives are considered when teaching the British Empire, illuminating the voices of the colonised and addressing contentious subjects such as Indian partition and the legacy of empire on the world. Formally ‘hidden histories’ are integrated throughout KS3, so all students feel represented whatever their background
• Team English have rethought all texts, incorporating a wealth of BAME authors and characters. Themes of privilege, language, audience, protest and perspective are embedded.
• Teams science and maths have developed context slides – to signpost where a particular theory or calculation originated and quietly challenge the misconception that they are European ideas.
• Team technology have broadened their catalogue of influential designers citing their work, techniques and approaches to inform and inspire students.
• Team arts have all developed units of work on race, identity, social class and feminism integrating the work of local artists.
• Team Respect and RE have established the ‘We Stand Together’ programme covering everything from human rights, protest, identity, intersectionality, allyship, power and empowerment. A focus on understanding our common shared culture allows our students to look at commonality as a strength.

A wealth of resources have been put together so that staff can continue to enhance their CPD and improve their racial literacy. Apart from utilizing in lessons, these resources are now being accessed by the pastoral teams as content for Motivational Mondays. Each week, students consider the contributions of a range of diverse people. These are the hidden figures, the great scientists, mathematicians, artists, writers, change makers whose works have been previously missing from the taught curriculum. Our students, as part of their social action are now contributing to this body of work.

To accompany the re-visiting of the curriculum, changes have been discussed openly with students in assembly signposting the shifts to our curriculum and how we are challenging myths and stereotypes. This continues to be an ongoing body of work which our student leaders drive.

As a staff body we have all been on a learning journey with this work as well as a personal journey for many; we have all contributed and we have all developed. Most recently several members of staff have used this awareness as a springboard for their SSAT Leadership Legacy projects exploring strategies to encourage integration, respect, and diversity within their lessons. This includes exploring religious beliefs and LGBTQ+ community viewpoints and examining the role of women in STEM.

This body of work is referred to as our ‘Community of Belonging’. From the initial focus on racism, it has grown to include on all aspects of diversity. The work has a clear identity, is intertwined with our morale purpose and now straddles all our curricula effortlessly. There is capacity to add and to tweak as we need in response to the world outside our four walls.

What we now have is a rich, inclusive curriculum – that better reflects the diversity and vibrance of our own learners. It complements our enrichment offer and adds to our personal development agenda. Together they provide the foundations for our young people to be able to contribute to a more equitable society and call out injustice in all its forms.