Footballer Troy Deeney’s call for the national curriculum to teach more diverse topics is to be the subject of a new Channel 4 documentary.
The Birmingham City captain started a campaign in February to make the teaching of the history and experiences of black, Asian and ethnic minority communities “mandatory” in schools when he published an open letter to the government and launched a petition.
In the six weeks that have passed, Deeney’s petition to make the national curriculum more diverse has received more than 50,000 signatures and his efforts have attracted the attention of education secretary Nadhim Zahawi.
Mr Zahawi immediately replied to Deeney’s open letter on social media and thanked the footballer for raising the issue, revealing his intention to have a meeting with him.
The pair held a meeting last week, which was filmed by Channel 4 for the documentary Troy Deeney - Where’s My History.
Troy Deeney’s campaign for a more diverse curriculum in schools
SBX Studios, the production company co-founded by former world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua, has produced the 60-minute documentary, which will be broadcast in May and will show meetings with other high-profile figures like actor David Harewood and footballer-turned-pundit Micah Richards, and young activist campaigners.
Deeney commissioned his own YouGov survey at the start of the year, which found that the majority of British teachers thought the school system had a racial bias. Only 12 per cent said they felt empowered to teach diverse topics.
Deeney said: “I have met some amazing people throughout this journey who have made it their life’s work to make real change in this area. I have been inspired and enlightened, and this is just the start of this journey.”
Channel 4 commissioning editor Joe Blake-Turner said: “Troy Deeney and SBX Studios have embarked on a project that has the power to transform education in this country and have a really positive long-term impact on society.”
Last year schools minister Robin Walker said a new “model history curriculum” was being developed, and that diversity will be an “important aspect” of it.
He told MPs that the model curriculum will “equip teachers and leaders to teach migration, cultural change and the contributions made by different communities to science, art, culture and society”, standing as an “exemplar of a knowledge-rich, coherent approach to teaching history”.
