Antiracist education - examples of good practice
Biology
When teaching cell biology, mitochondrion (mitochondria pl.) provide a good opportunity to highlight how humans are linked to a single gene called mitochondria. Mitochondria are essential for human existence and are involved invarious cell processes that rely on energy sustenance - such as cell growth, cell messaging, aging and replication. Even though humans have superficial differences in skin tone, hair colour and facial features, mitochondira illustrate that all humans derive from the same origin. To survive in different environments, the physiology of people has shifted and changed, but race is not biology - the shared origin of humanity is. (From Alemanji, A. A. (2021). Pedagogy of antiracist best practices for Finnish schools. Educational Practice and Theory, 43(2), 37-52.)
History
Asking questions and looking from different perspectives is an important part of history education. Simple examples can be used to encourage students to think again and to think more carefully. For example, the English name for the country to Wales means something quite different to the Welsh name for Wales. The modern Welsh name for Wales is and the name for the Welsh people is Cymry. These terms mean "fellow-countrymen" or a "compatriot". The English word 'Wales' however means 'foreigner' and specifically a 'Romanised foreigner' from the time when Britain was part of the Roman Empire. Knowing what the words mean helps to understand why using the Welsh words is important for the Welsh people. Discussing the names and partitioning of many African nations can also help to uncover historically racist acts which have excluded African peoples. The country of Cameroon, for example, was named by the Portuguese in 1472 as 'Rio dos Camarões' (the River of Prawns). This land was inhabited before the Portuguese or other Europeans started to take advantage of the resources of African nations. (From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymru and Alemanji, A. A. (2021). Pedagogy of antiracist best practices for Finnish schools. Educational Practice and Theory, 43(2), 37-52.)
Interdisciplinary units of work
Working with different subjects around a shared focal point is an important way to promote a more holistic understanding of different phenomena. If the focus is on an everyday material such as rubber - used for erasers, tires and many other objects, different subjects are important and useful. Biology draws attention to rubber as a material from the natural world, from particular kinds of trees growing in particular conditions. Chemistry explains how the natural substance was transformed into a synthetic material. Physics helps to explore and explain the physical properties of rubber and, for example, why smooth tires are dangerous in wet weather. Economics draws attention to the importance of rubber within and across industry. Technology highlights the very many varied and significant uses of rubber. History can convey the change in the quality of life once rubber became widespread as a material - but history also provides an opportunity to acknowledge the exploitation and horror that are also part of the development of rubber. Language awareness draws attention to the different ways disciplines present expert knowledge and language awareness also provides an important opportunity to go beyond 'stated facts' to the lived experiences that are also part of the wider human story. (Background information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rubber)
When teaching cell biology, mitochondrion (mitochondria pl.) provide a good opportunity to highlight how humans are linked to a single gene called mitochondria. Mitochondria are essential for human existence and are involved invarious cell processes that rely on energy sustenance - such as cell growth, cell messaging, aging and replication. Even though humans have superficial differences in skin tone, hair colour and facial features, mitochondira illustrate that all humans derive from the same origin. To survive in different environments, the physiology of people has shifted and changed, but race is not biology - the shared origin of humanity is. (From Alemanji, A. A. (2021). Pedagogy of antiracist best practices for Finnish schools. Educational Practice and Theory, 43(2), 37-52.)
History
Asking questions and looking from different perspectives is an important part of history education. Simple examples can be used to encourage students to think again and to think more carefully. For example, the English name for the country to Wales means something quite different to the Welsh name for Wales. The modern Welsh name for Wales is and the name for the Welsh people is Cymry. These terms mean "fellow-countrymen" or a "compatriot". The English word 'Wales' however means 'foreigner' and specifically a 'Romanised foreigner' from the time when Britain was part of the Roman Empire. Knowing what the words mean helps to understand why using the Welsh words is important for the Welsh people. Discussing the names and partitioning of many African nations can also help to uncover historically racist acts which have excluded African peoples. The country of Cameroon, for example, was named by the Portuguese in 1472 as 'Rio dos Camarões' (the River of Prawns). This land was inhabited before the Portuguese or other Europeans started to take advantage of the resources of African nations. (From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymru and Alemanji, A. A. (2021). Pedagogy of antiracist best practices for Finnish schools. Educational Practice and Theory, 43(2), 37-52.)
Interdisciplinary units of work
Working with different subjects around a shared focal point is an important way to promote a more holistic understanding of different phenomena. If the focus is on an everyday material such as rubber - used for erasers, tires and many other objects, different subjects are important and useful. Biology draws attention to rubber as a material from the natural world, from particular kinds of trees growing in particular conditions. Chemistry explains how the natural substance was transformed into a synthetic material. Physics helps to explore and explain the physical properties of rubber and, for example, why smooth tires are dangerous in wet weather. Economics draws attention to the importance of rubber within and across industry. Technology highlights the very many varied and significant uses of rubber. History can convey the change in the quality of life once rubber became widespread as a material - but history also provides an opportunity to acknowledge the exploitation and horror that are also part of the development of rubber. Language awareness draws attention to the different ways disciplines present expert knowledge and language awareness also provides an important opportunity to go beyond 'stated facts' to the lived experiences that are also part of the wider human story. (Background information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rubber)