Teacher CPD: Teaching Inclusive histories

Robin Whitburn is a Lecturer in History Education at the University College London - Institute of Education. He is a Fellow of the Historical Association (HA) in the UK, and has spoken at national and international conferences in North America, China, South Africa and Europe. Robin has thirty years’ experience in London high schools in a range of roles including Curriculum Deputy Headteacher and Advanced Skills Teacher in history.

Abdul Mohamud is currently in charge of History at the British International School in Abu Dhabi and has twelve years experience of working with young people in London schools. He was previously a Senior Teaching Fellow at University College London – Institute of Education, tutoring trainee history teachers. Abdul is a Fellow of the Historical Association in the UK, and has spoken at national and international conferences in the United States of America and Europe.

Abdul and Robin founded Justice to History as an organisation in 2013 to help teachers and students explore relevant, and often neglected, diverse histories. They recently led an HA Teacher Fellowship programme on Britain and Transatlantic Slavery, and presented a series of webinars for the HA on Diverse Histories and Decolonising the Curriculum. They are authors of a book on Teaching Black History in Secondary Schools and two textbooks on Migration and Empire for GCSE.

Hannah Cusworth (@hannahcusworth) was formerly a Head of History at a south London academy where she led the creation of a curriculum that embraced migration stories and the history of empire and race. She has worked as an educational consultant for the BBC, British Film Institute, and Runnymede Trust. Hannah is now a PhD student with English Heritage and the University of Hull, researching mahogany and the enslaved Africans and Miskito people who were central to its production.

Subject Lead for History at Saint Mary Magdalene in North Greenwich.

I began my journey decolonising the curriculum in 2017. Since then, I have learnt so much from so many people committed to transforming the history curriculum. I am still on this journey, still happy to learn and still looking for new ways to do justice to the past to create a more just society. I owe a massive gratitude to the History Teaching community for all the support and encouragement since I began this journey. Together we are stronger.

Kerry Apps was a secondary teacher and former head of history in Peckham, south London. Kerry is interested in social and post-colonial history. During her seven year career she has led workshops on social, Indigenous and early American histories of the early modern period and has written resources for the Imperial War Museum on Ireland, the Easter Rising and WWI. In recent years she has shared resources and schemes of work on African presence in Tudor England and Elizabeth I’s connections with the Islamic world. Kerry is currently out of the classroom researching privateering, Indigenous and African labour in the English Atlantic world c1562 - 1660 at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

Sarah Cameron is a Y5 Class Teacher and History Lead at James Wolfe Primary School. She has been in the teaching profession for 20 years, previously a Senior Lecturer at Lewisham College. Sarah studied her Honours Degree in Children’s Literature with the Open University, while teaching full time. She has an invested interest in inclusion, having raised a child with autism. Sarah lives in Greenwich and uses every opportunity with the children at James Wolfe, to enrich their knowledge through local history trails and visits to museums and galleries within Greenwich.

Jon Kelly is headteacher of Newhaven School in Greenwich which is a Pupil Referral Unit, an autism special school, a mental health specialist school and a hospital school. He started teaching at Eltham Green School in 1992 and has been a school leader since 2004. A key priority for Newhaven since Jon became head as been the development of the school’s Race Equality Action Programme.

Rasheeda Page-Muir is a 23-year-old poet, facilitator,  public speaker, writer and award-winning community organiser from Greenwich. In 2014, Rasheeda founded the organisation RevolYOUtion London providing a platform for young people to discuss social and political issues whilst also supporting new youth organisations in the area. Passionate about intergenerational work, Rasheeda has since begun running community debates where all age groups are welcome to join. Rasheeda has spoken on the world-renowned TED X stage twice, discussing the importance of rap music, feminism and masculinity within contemporary culture. She is a first-class Politics and Social Anthropology graduate from the School of Oriental and African Studies and in 2018 won the SOAS Social Activist of the Year Award. Currently, Rasheeda is working as a primary school poetry and spoken word facilitator and developing a poetry EP.