Developing anti-oppressive and anti-racist practice with young people in museums
Introduction
This page contains resources that give examples, advice, and share news and reflections on developing anti-oppressive and anti-racist practice with young people in museums and galleries.
Guides and examples
Kids in Museums have created a guide to explore how your museum can work alongside children, young people and families to develop anti-racist practice. Watch their recorded talk Anti Racism and Museums: Young People Sparking Change.
Kids in Museums have also designed a guide to help museums engage with children, young people, and families with LGBTQ+ heritage. They provide practical guidance on themes such as language, reinterpretation of collections, and digital engagement that museums can incorporate when working alongside children and young people who are engaging with LGBTQ+ histories.
Laura Henry-Allain MBE and Matt Lloyd-Rose co-wrote the tiney guide to becoming an inclusive, anti-racist early educator. This guide includes sections around self-reflection, questions for checking the diversity of books and resources, and how to talk to young children about diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism.
The SSAP Youth Leadership Network work with Amgueddfa Cymru as part of the Hands on Heritage initiative. In 2020 they hosted a discussion on the issue of statues and paintings that relate to British colonial history, particularly those of Thomas Picton in Wales. The ‘What to do about Thomas Picton’ discussion included practical ways to contextualise the memorialisation of figures like Picton to move forward in an un-biased way and is documented on Amgueddfa Cymru.
Imperial War Museum’s free CPD films support teaching the experiences and legacy of the British Empire and conflict for secondary pupils. The films provide guidance on approaching the history of the British Empire, language, finding relevant sources, and how to facilitate discussions around race and racism.
Aye, It Wis Aabody: A Story Of Scotland’s Role In The Slave Trade is a community heritage project that explores Scotland’s links with chattel slavery in the Caribbean, through the experience of one rural community and their school.
Campaigns and conversations
The Partition Education Group is a campaign to include Partition, South-Asian & British colonial history into the UK National Curriculum, in partnership with The Partition Commemoration Campaign and South Asian Heritage Month.
Horrible British Histories: Young people in museums interrogating national identity through principles and practices of critical pedagogy by Dr. Sadia Habib is a research paper that explores how to support young people interrogating ideas of belonging and national identity in British museums.
The Museum Test was developed by The Changemakers young people’s collective as a free tool for use by museums. It asks a series of questions within a visual flow chart system to determine how effectively a display handles topics of colonialism, empire, slavery, the transatlantic slave trade and representation. The tool aims to assist curators and museums in improving their displays to better handle these topics in a more anti-racist and representative way.
The Museum Association’s Supporting Decolonisation in Museums guidance aims to empower more people to take action and lead change as museums address the legacy of British colonialism. It covers all areas of practice, with sections on collaboration, collections, workforce and more. The guidance offers prompts for thinking, discussion and action, recognising there is no single ‘right’ way to decolonise museums. It is intended to help people from across the museum sector to engage with decolonising practice, regardless of size or type of institution.
