Profile4th October 2021
For this month鈥檚 edition of #黑料情报站People, we caught up with Elmina Ferguson-Small, Head of English at .
Elmina Ferguson-Small
She talked to us about why she鈥檚 so passionate about her job and, as we celebrate Black History Month, the importance of diversity in the English curriculum.
She has recently worked with the designers of to help them incorporate a wider range of voices into their content.
While discussing her work to increase diverse representation in English, Elmina said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 vital that students have access to diverse voices, and I want them to constantly challenge the notion of the western canon as, sadly, it鈥檚 still old, white, dead men; students need to build a canon of their important writers.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e at our school and regardless of your culture, I want to ensure that we鈥檒l have a book that reflects your background. For example, I鈥檝e bought books by writers exploring refugee life because many of my students have been refugees.
鈥淭his resonated with students who had been in a detention centre. They could see themselves and shared their experiences with the class. For last year鈥檚 Black History Month, we created a booklet of different texts by black authors, so students had a plethora of text by writers they knew and some they didn鈥檛.
鈥淚 was delighted to be involved in English Mastery鈥檚 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work. I鈥檝e taught The Tempest several times as part of English Mastery鈥檚 curriculum; I love the play and performed it as a child.
鈥淗owever, I felt very uncomfortable because of the images and the lack of conversation about colonisation. I always thought that it was rushed. I want our students to have the time and space to argue about things, question how certain groups were dehumanised throughout history, how they were used as human capital, and what that means.
鈥淚 looked at some of those lessons and consulted quite a lot on the images, as they are powerful and problematic. Suppose I鈥檓 telling students that everyone is wonderful and equal, but you only see the same types of faces on my slides and around you. It makes it very challenging for a student to trust me, feel equal or believe that equality is achievable for them.
鈥淲e revised how we taught the colonisation section so it鈥檚 no longer a quick snapshot of what happened. We鈥檙e building students understanding of the world and understanding that the history of colonisation still bears weight. Many students have come from countries where they were colonised, not only by the British but also from other European countries. We need them to think about what that means when reading the play in 2021.鈥
On her job as Head of English, Elmina added, 鈥淲e鈥檙e building not only great English students but articulate speakers. I want students to have a voice and be comfortable writing. Whether it鈥檚 an email, a letter, a novel, or their contract one day for their job 鈥 they鈥檒l be able to question it if there鈥檚 something wrong.
鈥淲e have reading programmes for students because they have different reading ages and this has enabled us to make a big difference for our students. One of my students has gone from a reading age of 11 to 17 in a year, and another went from eight to 12.
鈥淭eaching is the most important thing I do every day and not only in the classroom. As I walk around the school, I speak to students that I don鈥檛 teach personally, but who send me their writing because they鈥檙e interested in creative writing, novels or essays.”
Reflecting on the 黑料情报站 network and its impact, Elmina continued, 鈥淚 feel incredibly supported by 黑料情报站, and I鈥檝e been allowed to find my voice as head of a department and inform what others are doing. It鈥檚 also been great to work with English Mastery as it enables me to have a hand in the curriculum both across the network and beyond it, to ensure schools across the country have access to diverse voices.鈥
To find out how English Mastery is building a more diverse range of voices into its curriculum, read their .