Missing Pages Resources
Practical tools to enable teachers, school leaders and exam boards towards a more diverse English literature curriculum.
We need more diversity in the books we teach
Pupils in England can leave school without reading a single book by an ethnic minority author. That's the key message from our Missing pages report, released in Autumn 2020.
Teach First are campaigning to diversify the literature featured in English literature lessons. We believe that in order to achieve a fair education for all, the books taught in schools need to reflect the experiences of the pupils reading them.
When a child is represented in the curriculum, this can be incredibly empowering - opening doors for them to more confidently engage with the syllabus and wider society.
We've compiled this collection of free, practical tools to help English teachers and school leaders diversify their approach.
Missing Pages Library
Our library is a collection of book recommendations from our community and the public, full of works by ethnic minority authors they wish they’d had a chance to study at school. We want to inspire teachers, school leaders and exam boards to diversify the English literature texts they celebrate.
Recommendations for younger readers
Compiled by parents, teachers and pupils from across the country, here is a selection of their favourite children’s books written by ethnically diverse authors.
Webinars
Teach First ran a series of webinars to help teachers and schools increase the use of ethnically diverse texts. Watch the recordings below.
Whole School Implementation
Our webinar on how schools can cultivate a more diverse English Literature curriculum.
Below you'll find our email template for leaders to headteachers, who want to implement this change in their school.
Scheme of Work for I Am Malala
In this webinar, we sat with Jess Tacon, teacher and founder of the Right Writing Campaign, to explore her scheme of work for I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot By The Taliban by Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai.
Scheme of Work for The Crucible and Children of Blood and Bone
In this webinar, we sat with Dr Sean Donnelly, 2019 Training Programme member and English teacher at Erdington Academy, to explore his scheme of work for The Crucible by Arthur Miller and Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.
Further resources
Lots of other organisations have fantastic resources which can help students, families, teachers and school leaders engage with more diverse literature. Take a look below at some of the resources we've found and loved:
BAME: WeTeach - Resource Bank
A Google Drive filled with practical resources promoting racial awareness and equality. Created by BAME: WeTeach, an open network for diverse and inclusive education.
BAMEed Network
A grassroots network, aimed at ensuring that diverse communities are represented as a substantive part of the education workforce for teachers and leaders in education.
The Black Curriculum
The Black Curriculum is delivering arts-focused Black history programmes, providing teacher training and campaigning through mobilising young people. Their aim is to equip young people with a sense of identity, and the tools for a more diverse landscape.
Black Tudors
A seven-lesson enquiry focused on the lives of three Black Tudors. Everything is fully resourced, including an assessment.
Cocoa Girl and Cocoa Boy Magazines
The UK's first Black girls' and boys' magazines, respectively, filled with inspiring and empowering content for young Black girls and boys aged 7-14 years old. Their mission is to build a community for young Black girls and boys who are misrepresented a lot of the time in the media. This magazine also supports parents and carers.
Making British Histories (PDF)
Research on diversity and the National Curriculum, published by the Runnymede Trust in 2012.
National Literacy Trust
To help young people of all ages, their families and teachers explore race, identity, family and community, the National Literacy Trust has developed a series of age-appropriate books by Black authors and illustrators sharing diverse stories and voices.
Our Migration Story
This website presents the untold stories of the generations of migrants who came to - and helped shape - the British Isles.
Pearson
Pearson Edexcel have produced a number of coursework guides for teachers and students to use when considering their coursework text choice. The guides are designed to help widen the range of texts that students can engage with, and help them to read texts where they can encounter characters and themes that may resonate with their own identities, or challenge them to think beyond their own experiences.
Penguin
Penguin and The Runnymede Trust are currently undertaking research into how England's English literature curriculum can be diversified more effectively. You can contribute to this research, as well as sign up for news and resources below.
Primary Resource: Black Lives Matter
A useful resource for younger children (primary-school) on the Black Lives Matter movement, allyship and being anti-racist.
Visible Minorities, Invisible Teachers (PDF)
This publication by the Runnymede Trust and NASWUT reveals both the overt and covert ways that BAME teachers experience racism and discrimination in their everyday teaching lives. It highlights that racial inequality not only exists at different levels within the British education system, but is also stubbornly persistent, affecting BAME teachers’ morale and long-term career aspirations.
We All Have Different Shades of Skin (PDF)
This e-book by Autism Little Learners is a useful resource for explaining race to very young children, and those with special educational needs (SEN).
Our community library is full of excellent books by ethnic minority authors
Watch video: We Need To Talk About Racism in Education
