TRACTION · Teaching Race, Belonging, Empire and Migration

Issues of race, belonging, empire, and migration have been at the foreground of public consciousness globally in recent years. Our collective understanding of history and culture is often unsurprisingly at the centre of this discourse, with the foundational role of school education coming particularly under pressure. Imparting a full and complete understanding of issues of race and human mobility is in our collective interest, since the resulting diversity and social inclusion generate a range of socio-economic benefits, from increase in innovation and productivity, to the strengthening of social cohesion and racial equality. The present proposal is to use the research undertaken by the ERC-funded project TIDE (681884) to develop TRACTION, a pioneering platform of training, resources, and community network in one place that will equip teachers to engage with issues of race, belonging, empire, and migration in the classroom. Its dual focus on skills-training and community-building is unique, and designed for both immediate and sustainable impact. It is also designed to be modular and expandable, cuts across subject-boundaries, and can be adapted to different national and international educational systems and examination boards. The ultimate aim will be to translate TIDE’s research into a viable and innovative social enterprise that will that remain available beyond the lifetime of ERC funding, with longstanding and far-reaching socio-economic and cultural impact.