Colonial blindspot in British history teaching | Letters

Letter: Prof Kim Solga responds to an article by an A-level student who wonders how attitudes will change if students aren’t taught the reality of British colonial history

Astrid Barltrop makes a powerful case for why the British history curriculum is long overdue for a proper reckoning with the reality of empire and its ongoing legacy (How will attitudes change if students like me aren’t taught the truth about British colonial history?, 16 April).

As a Canadian arriving to teach drama at a Russell Group university in 2012, I was staggered at how little students knew of Indigenous people’s history and the contemporary struggle for reconciliation in former settler colonies such as Canada.

Ms Barltrop will no doubt be brilliantly equipped for further study anywhere in the world, given her compassion and curiosity, but many of her peers will not be so lucky. At schools in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, students learn from primary school what it means to be settlers on Indigenous land, what it means to respect Indigenous ways of life, and what it might take to live together equitably despite our shared colonial history. The UK needs to catch up on this score, and quickly.
Prof Kim Solga
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

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