What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘decolonisation’? For me, this term refers to ending the ‘whitewashed’, biased key histories that exist in schools and museums and giving power back to those without a voice in these institutions and other aspects of society. More importantly, this refers to learning from knowledge bases and resources from the Global South and as alternative modes of thought. This is a vast, expansive topic that requires time and attention.  If we refer to Coloniality as the social and cultural impacts of colonialism on key institutions and systems, then ‘decoloniality seeks to make visible, open up, and advance radically distinct perspectives and positionalities that displace Western rationality as the only framework and possibility of existence, analysis and thought’. [1[1]]

This blog covers four key aspects of this conversation, in relation to museum education in the UK. We’ll begin by looking briefly into the teaching of the wider impact of the British Empire in the UK, and how this impact still permeates society today. Secondly, this blog will be providing guidance and advice as to how museum educators can contribute to the process of decoloniality , and support it being effectively applied in museums. Thirdly, we’ll consider external factors that can hinder the progress of decolonisation and affect whether museums view it as needed to combat systematic racism that affects people of colour in the UK, in museums and in society. Lastly, we will consider how incorporating academic research from the ‘global south’ can challenge the continued legacy of the British Empire both in schools and museums, helping to deconstruct narratives built solely on contributions from the ‘global north’.

The Real Empire

The mainstream narrative within the UK for many years has been that the British Empire and its colonisation of countries such as India and Jamaica are separate to the problems faced by Black and Asian communities within the UK. We tend to look at these as two disconnected issues. This is because of how we have been educated about Empire and having very limited education about the migration of Black and Asian communities to the UK, including their involvement in rebuilding the UK after the Second World War. The very foundations that justified the British Empire and the treatment of colonised people still pervade in the UK today; racial prejudice and discrimination. Black and Asian communities encountered racial discrimination before, during and after colonial rule, even after becoming UK citizens. Communities fled countries such as India and Jamaica due to the economic, social and political state of such countries as left by the British. Many communities were subject to decades of systematic, overt and covert levels of racism, which continue today. This impact of Empire was felt not just by communities being colonised, but also by those from colonised nations coming to Britain, and their future generations. Long term systemic racism towards these communities can be linked to the under-representation of such communities in many key working sectors and a lack of teaching about the reality of colonial legacies in education. The horrific irony of countries being colonised by Britain only for their citizens to migrate to the UK (helping to rebuild it after the Second World War) because they could not stay in their countries due to conditions caused by the impact of Empire is not taught or if it is, is not with its full context. As a result of ingrained racism in Britain, communities were denied equal rights when it came to work, education and access to healthcare. Individuals of Black and Asian descent were not given access to key influential positions in Britain, instead being confined to low paid roles in the NHS, transport and domestic services. Therefore, how and what we learnt about the British Empire during this time and going forwards would have been decided and implemented by those benefiting from British Empire, not ethnic minorities. Historically, much of the education about the true histories of colonised countries was based on educating such communities about what Britain did for their countries as opposed to what Britain did to their countries of origin.

Decolonising Museum Education

Decoloniality can be achieved in museum and heritage learning by understanding current learning bases: collections, their country of origin and what this means in terms of understanding objects true context and histories. Applying the above to museums that are interpreting collections and using collections to create effective learning content for schools can be achieved by having conversations and learning about the reasons why and how certain collection items ended up in the UK. If for instance, we understand an objects true origin, its context and history then we can unravel how colonisation still has an impact on collections not belonging here, and what impact this has on communities from such countries. Understanding also we may not be the best people to provide learning about a particular collection is important to this process. Museum educators can create opportunities to learn about such items from ethnic minority groups, reinforcing the importance of introducing new knowledge and interpretation from different perspectives to understand the true history and significance of an object. Learning from communities who consider themselves part of the ‘global south’ and understanding the contribution of people of colour to such collections, society and advancements in learning are also important for decolonising museum learning, using the wider context of Empire to aid this process effectively. I have touched briefly on how the legacy of the British Empire should be seen as connected to the structural and systematic racism faced by minority ethnic communities in the UK, and believe this should be part of a wider decolonisation of museum collections and learning.

Museum and heritage learning teams can use the context of Empire to enhance theirs and others understanding of particular collections and utilise other modes of learning. In addition, it also important for learning teams to be aware focus should not just be on utilising roles of communities to enhance learning, but to listen to communities to learn what you do not know.  Providing a voice to marginalised voices is an important way to decolonise collections and create effective and diverse learning content. Essentially, it is important not to just extract information from marginalised communities, but give back and present opportunities to them in a sector and education system lacking in diversity. Taking the time to listen and learn from others experiences, especially for museum sector professionals with the privilege of not having had their community oppressed by colonisation is a key part of challenging whitewashed histories and global north knowledge bases, and diversifying learning content for audiences now and in the future.

Museum educators should be aware that even when they understand decolonisation and have an anti-racism approach/mindset, these alone are not enough to ensure decolonisation is applied to their roles in museums. Learning teams should be aware that decolonisation can be at risk of being used in the short term to fulfil requirements but not effectively applied as a long-term process. Decolonisation is a long-term investment that requires ongoing thought, debate and discussion as to how it can enable actual change in museums. Challenge how you interpret your collections and understand that non-POC experience a degree of privilege, which influences how they see the world and the narratives they have been taught. How collections are interpreted by non-POC staff can lead to one sided and biased interpretations of collections and their associated histories. This leads to staff creating learning content that is not truly reflective of the wider context of Britain’s role as a coloniser.  Be aware that certain Museum collections can also be offensive and be traumatic for certain communities.

Considering who you engage in the interpretation of certain collections can be beneficial to sharing power to those marginalised in museums and heritage sites. These are hard conversations to have, but to be able to tackle systemic racism museum staff must acknowledge that much of their collections are directly/indirectly tied to the oppression of Black and Asian people. What should also be considered is the current Government stance on giving back items historically looted from countries colonised and oppressed. There has been much contention around many countries requesting items taken from countries given back to their places of origin. This has been problematic as there are questions surrounding why Museums cannot give back items to their places of origin. This type of refusal to do so is symptomatic of oppressive and discriminatory mindset/behaviour towards countries formally oppressed requesting items stolen from them. This should be taken into account as to what impact this could have on communities of colour visiting and working in Museums and the conversations needed around handling this sensitively and effectively. Museum educators should have honest conversations around this topic and what this means for collections in how they are used, their backgrounds and where they rightfully belong.

I have provided key guidance, points and learning resources for museum learning staff to help them think of and discuss ways to enable change and apply the process of decolonisation to learning content they create in museums and heritage sites: The following resources helped me to develop my knowledge and understanding of decolonisation:

  • University of Bristol Decolonising Education courses providing education from Global South bases and challenging Global North knowledge bases
  • Black Curriculum (a key social enterprise) working with schools to teach through Arts, Music, Literature and History. Black British History and the contribution of key Black British figures to the growth of Britain’s education and society
  • University of Bristol Student Union setting up decolonisation workshops https://www.bristolsu.org.uk/articles/how-we-re-decolonising-the-curriculum

External Factors

The reality is that in the UK decolonisation in museums and education is a slow process, hampered by contextual factors, existing biases and the impact of having taught a particular perspective on Empire in British schools for many years. Museum educators may experience these factors as a barrier to creating change.

Many people do not understand the realities (or wider context) of the role historic British figures played in the British Empire and its legacy. Winston Churchill is well known for his powerful and effective wartime policies and his warfront effort against the Nazis during the Second World War. He is considered a war hero by much of the British public and has been immortalised in statues and monuments across the country. The Churchill War Rooms have been put on display as part of the Imperial War Museum to tell his history as a war time leader. In recent years, people have begun to questioning his role and policies; particularly that of his War Cabinet’s policies in the 1943 Bengal famine where millions of Bengali Indians died as a result of food resources being diverted away from Bengal to the British Empire. People are looking at the legacy and history of Churchill differently, not changing the history but looking into how it has been framed in education in the past. Like the history of the British Empire, the history around Churchill has been whitewashed and is not truly reflective of all the truths of his legacy and policies as a key British leader. Churchill is just one example of how key historical figures who had potentially racist views, policies and actions are immortalised and what it means for how Britain views its past. The reason I bring this up is because many people have been reluctant to confront Britain’s past and the roles played by such figures in its brutality towards people of colour. Wider discussions surrounding their legacy in the public have shown there is a mixed reaction to how honest we are as a society about Britain’s past and this can impact on museum staff doing this in their roles not just as a part of decolonisation but generally investigating wider context of many museum collections.

Mainstream media (TV, Radio or the UK Press) can have an impact on how the public and society view decolonisation, especially when such platforms portray conversations about key historical British figures in a negative light. For example, Good Morning Britain invited debate on Winston Churchill statues in the UK in the context of conversations surrounding his racist past and Edward Coulston, a former slave trader in Bristol whose statue was toppled in 2020 owing to his racist past. This gave a platform to those who wished to cast a negative light on any conversation around such figures in their roles towards colonised people and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. We cannot change how media platforms report on such topics, but we should be mindful of their impact on whether the public support decoloniality as a process in schools and museums. This example also shows how when people of colour speak of their experiences of racism or historical exclusion and treatment in the UK (whether felt directly by them or indirectly on them) they are more than often ignored or not taken seriously. This exemplifies how external factors to museums should be taken into account as they can have an impact on Decoloniality being effectively applied. In addition, this shows how experiences of people of colour in and out of Museums can potentially be handled indelicately and/or worst, adversely affected by lack of diversity and insensitive practices in museums.

Government Influence

The UK Government’s stance on decoloniality in schools and the museums sector is important as an ability to have this streamlined and systematic in England is dependent on financial support and backing from Government, locally and nationally. The below Governmental stance from former DCMS Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden shows the latest official stance on this topic of decoloniality. This stance has posed a risk to how heritage sites and museums could confront Britain’s past without the fear of governments penalising them.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-culture-secretary-on-hm-government-position-on-contested-heritage

https://www.museumsassociation.org/campaigns/ethics/our-response-to-oliver-dowdens-letter/#

Important takeaways:

  • Have wider conversations with schools you create learning content for on what they teach about the wider context of the British Empire. Though the mainstream curriculum dictates which histories are taught at each stage of education, when students learn about the British Empire, they should benefit from understanding the realities of Empire as part of truthful learning and decoloniality.
  • Applying the above to your own work when you interpret collections to create effective learning content for schools
  • Have conversations about the reasons why and how certain collections ended up in the UK that originated from other countries
  • Decoloniality can be achieved in museums learning by understanding current learning bases: collections, their country of origin and what this means in terms of understanding objects true context and histories. If for instance, we understand an objects true origin, its context and history then we can unravel how colonisation still has an impact on collections not belonging here, what impact this has on communities from such countries.
  • Understanding we may not be the best people to provide learning of a particular collection can help to reveal the context of an item’s true origin and history, and can open minds of learning teams. There is an opportunity to collaborate with POC communities and to learn from those who consider their knowledge to originate from the ‘global south’ rather than the dominant narrative of the ‘global nouth’.
  • Consider establishing groups with teachers and community organisations, social enterprises and charities to advise on the impact of contested histories on their communities in the past and today.
  • Encouraging ongoing wider discussions about how those who make up learning teams have been taught the below topics themselves, and how you teach it now – are you aware of the wider context of the British Empire and its systematic impact of it on countries during the time and now? Can you raise these questions consistently with your colleagues?
  • Consider the roles played by ethnic minority communities in Britain’s past, including in science, technology and innovation- not just as victims of historical atrocities.
  • Put pressure on senior management to acknowledge the wider impact of the British Empire and its legacy on POC communities, your own museum collections and the histories taught in your organisation. Encourage them to invest in long term decolonisation of collections and to demonstrate the value of POC communities in these discussions with inclusive hiring practices, fair pay, and reasonable compensation for communities involved in decolonising learning.
  • Be willing to learn, grow and challenge narratives you were yourself taught, and those you have become used to teaching yourself.
  • Be willing to invest in training on decolonising the museum to learn how to put this mode of thought into practice.
  1. [1] Walsh C. The Decolonial For: Resurgences, Shifts and Movements. In: Mignolo W and Walsh C. On Decoloniality: Concepts, Analytics, Praxis. Durham: Duke University Press. p 17.

 

Sonia Sharma works in full time Project/Programme Management, with experience in museum education and a drive to support decolonisation as it takes place in museums, schools, and other places of learning in the UK. You can find out more about Sonia on her GEM Supplier Page.