Anti-terror probe over history ‘bias’ in schools: Teachers are quizzed after concerns raised in light of the Black Lives Matter movement
- Teachers quizzed by Derby city council after concerns raised in light of BLM
- The audit took place under the guise of the Government’s Prevent strategy
- Said schools should ‘give rounded view of history’ to stop Right-wing extremism
Town hall officials used a counter-terrorism programme to investigate if school history lessons are fuelling extremism.
Teachers were quizzed by Derby city council after concerns were raised in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The audit, which took place under the guise of the Government’s Prevent strategy, said schools could ‘provide a more rounded view of history’ to stop Right-wing extremism.
The Prevent strategy calls for any use of the programme in schools to be ‘proportionate’
The council reportedly surveyed primary and secondary schools. Its report, seen by The Daily Telegraph, said that some interpretations of UK history could contain ‘biases and misconceptions that may underpin far-Right extremism’.
The Prevent strategy calls for any use of the programme in schools to be ‘proportionate’.
The council said its work ‘was not a criticism or endorsement of any single view’ of the curriculum. The Department for Education said: ‘It is inappropriate to use Prevent as a pretext for pursuing reforms to the wider curriculum.’
Black Lives Matter protestors have called for schools to ‘decolonise’ curriculums by focussing on critical aspects of British history, such as its leading role in the slave trade.
The audit noted how teachers wanted to present a ‘more realistic version of history’ and had adopted creative techniques.
It found that schools had taught pupils about the toppling of the Edward Coulson statue in Bristol, the crusades and Enoch Powell’s rivers of blood speech.
Sir John Hayes, a former security minister, told The Telegraph: ‘Prevent in no way should be used to interfere with the school curriculum, that can never be justified, it does raise questions.”
‘Britain has an immensely glorious history, we’ve made a huge positive contribution to the world.
Black Lives Matter protestors have called for schools to ‘decolonise’ curriculums by focussing on critical aspects of British history
‘Part of the purpose of learning in schools is to gain a knowledge of that contribution, the great canon of English literature, and all aspects of the past which have made us as a people.
‘History cannot be bent to fit with popular prejudices. You cannot reinvent history.’
Derby City Council said the work was undertaken as part of Black History Month last year after a Black Lives Matter manifesto was submitted to it drawing attention to the school manifesto.
It called for ‘focus on adopting inclusive school policies and tackling different rates of exclusions, opportunities and outcomes by ethnicity.’