Richard Norrie argues that decolonising universities will produce a poorer curriculum and ever-greater bureaucratic interference. Those who have really put themselves on the line to fight racism, like Nelson Mandela (aged 19, above), were inspired by the very philosophy and literature today’s radicals reject. We often find ourselves having to get to grips with new […]
On 23 May 2023, Tate Britain revealed a major reorganisation of the way its collection is displayed. The new galleries, says Tate, ‘explore art in its social context, revealing how artists responded to the cultural, political, economic and technological changes they lived through’. Here, Hana Abdulati and Rudra Simitri, two sixth-form students interested in art, […]
DDU director Alka Sehgal Cuthbert is quoted in this article from the Telegraph, 7 May 2023. Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh called the Royal family’s balcony appearance during the Coronation “terribly white”. The actress, who plays a Regency duchess in the Netflix series Bridgerton, offered her opinions during ITV’s coverage of the Coronation of King Charles […]
A London school governor decided he couldn’t ignore his unease with the school’s anti-racist training (presented by an external third-party anti-racist trainer). He offered his considered objections, and found others agreed. The trainer’s recommendations are not being adopted wholesale. We hope more governors will follow! The local authority’s schools improvement partner enquired about ‘racial justice’ […]
Lest we think all young people agree with identitarian political ideas, Peter Hosangady, a 17-year-old college student, writes about what can happen in a classroom when a teacher confesses apologetically that he is the bearer of ‘white privilege’ and may not be able to teach ‘Black History’ very well. The effect is not liberatory or reassuring […]
The past five decades in education has seen a steady diminishing of teachers’ agency and autonomy, observes Dr Shirley Lawes. Could it be the reduction of teachers to curriculum deliverers/technicians that, in part, explains why a radically moralistic Critical Social Justice ideology appeals to some? When I started teaching in the early 1970s, there was […]
In August 2021, Patricia Hutchinson, a concerned grandmother, wrote to the then Under Secretary of State for Education, Gillian Keegan, to express her concerns about what her grandchildren, who live in rural Sussex, were being taught at school. How can it be good when teachers are encouraged to use their professional authority to preach from […]
This is a recording of a debate organised by Don’t Divide Us and Terra Firma on Tuesday 23 February 2023. INTRODUCTION Whether it’s racialised curricula, radicalised educators, or sexualised reading material, students today are being exposed to adult themes and lesson content at younger ages than previous generations. Why is this happening? Is it harmful, […]
Daniel Ben-Ami is a writer and journalist with an interest in the relationship between contemporary anti-Semitism and identity politics. We asked him to report back on an event to launch a new report from the Henry Jackson Society (HJS). We also asked Charlotte Littlewood, one of the speakers from the HJS, if she wished to […]
Book review by Graeme Kemp The question of belonging in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation is the stuff of many a political and sociological text. Ed Husain draws on ethnography to give us a more granular description of various Muslim groups whose differences are more than geography alone. Graeme Kemp’s review brings out a crucially […]
