The central focus of our research has been contemporary teaching about the history of the British Empire. This included an interest in its enduring legacies especially with regard to the interconnected themes, and experiences of, migration and belonging.
Our project has been concerned to better understand how contemporary attitudes and understandings – of ‘empire’, of ‘migration’ and of ‘belonging’ – potentially impact both the classroom approaches teachers take and the individual investments that young people may have in relation to this learning.
We acknowledge that when we discuss the terms ’empire,’ ‘migration,’ and ‘belonging,’ there’s a lot of complexity, nuance, and potential for disagreement involved. However, it’s crucial to grasp the significance of these terms because they are closely connected to the beliefs, values, practices, vision, and historical understanding of a nation’s citizens, including young people.
For the purposes of this project, we defined the British Empire broadly both spatially and temporally. This included thinking related to the early processes of colonisation through to decolonisation and how enduring legacies of the British Empire are understood on the wider world stage.