In 2021, a House of Commons committee found that 1 in 4 teachers reported lacking confidence in their ability to develop pupils’ understanding of Black history/cultural diversity.¹ In response, Autograph launched Seeing Differently: Learning Together, a two-year project in partnership with Art UK to research, make and distribute a free digital learning resource that draws on Autograph’s unique photographic collection.
The project aimed to:
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Support students to learn about subjects and stories that are often left out of historical and contemporary visual records and narratives, and meet a proven need for diverse curriculum content nationally.
• Offer free and accessible ways for teachers and students to engage with Autograph’s collection of photography charting the contributions of diverse cultures in Britain over two centuries.
• Support students and teachers in exploring the creative and critical power of visual representation in shaping an understanding of ourselves and of others.
• Promote visual literacy by reflecting on the act of ‘seeing’ and of ‘being seen’, and support students to recognise their own agency to make meaning through image making.
Through the project we directly involved local schools, their teachers and students to develop the new resource through CPD and sessions with artist educators. Their experiences were recorded and included in the new resource, to build confidence in other teachers on how to have open and honest conversations about race and diversity with their students.
The Seeing Differently: Learning Together resource was developed with artists Daniel Regan and Ella Phillips, in partnership with teachers and students from Eastbrook, Halley House, Randal Cremer Primary, Riverly Primary, Stoke Newington and Thomas Tallis schools.
Members of the co-development group included: Andy Ash (Associate Professor at UCL Institute of Education), Priscilla Boonin (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Lead and Year 6 Teacher), Ali Eisa (Learning & Participation Manager at Autograph), Jolie Hockings (Engagement Curator at Autograph), Kate Hodgson (Artist Educator at Halley House School), Amir Nathan (Head of Visual Arts at Eastbrook School), Dr Kanae Minowa (Honorary Senior Research Fellow at UCL Institute of Education), Dianne Minnicucci (Head of Photography and Deputy Curriculum Leader for Media Arts), Ruth Saddler (Art and Inclusion Lead at Riverley Primary School), Jaia Sowden (Team Assistant at Autograph).
¹ Quote from Black history and cultural diversity of the curriculum, by Rob Long, Nerys Roberts and Aaron Kulakiewicz, published 24 June 2021. Summary of key themes. Accessed on 20 June 2023.
Images on page: courtesy of the co-development team, schools, teachers and students engaged in the project.
Autograph is a place to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.