Pupils to debate both 'triumphs and traumas' of the British Empire

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy ELEANOR HARDING, EDUCATION EDITOR Published: 00:01 BST, 31 August 2026 | Updated: 00:07 BST, 31 August 2026

Pupils will debate the 'triumphs and traumas' of the British Empire this term in a charity initiative to teach 'contrasting perspectives' on history.Parallel Histories, which works with more than 3,000 schools, wants to give more teachers the confidence to tackle such 'contested topics'.The charity's latest online secondary schools resource, 'On British Empire', encourages pupils to debate whether it was a 'force for progress', or a 'system of exploitation and oppression'.It provides 'source-grounded narratives' for pupils to interrogate and asks them to divide into teams to argue one position, before switching to argue the other.They are then asked to reach their own conclusion by 'separating scrutiny from allegiance'.The charity said it produced the free resource, available from today, in response to requests from schools.Former Labour minister Bill Rammell, who is chief executive of Parallel Histories, said: 'If students cannot grapple with the contradictions of the past, how will they grapple with the contradictions of the present?'If they cannot understand why people disagree about history, how will they understand why people disagree about politics, identity, or justice today? Pupils will debate the 'triumphs and traumas' of the British Empire this term in a charity initiative to teach 'contrasting perspectives' on history. Pictured: an annual about the British Empire published in 1912 Parallel Histories, which works with more than 3,000 schools, wants to give more teachers the confidence to tackle 'contested topics'. Pictured: map showing the British Empire in 1902'The question we are asking is not whether the British Empire was good or bad.'The question is whether we trust students enough to let them decide for themselves.'The project comes amid concerns that some schools are teaching contested topics in a partisan way – while others avoid them completely.The charity has produced similar resources on other controversial issues including the Israel-Palestine conflict and divisive leaders such as Margaret Thatcher.Its Empire resource looks at the topic from a wide range of perspectives, from those of British politicians defending imperial expansion as a moral duty, to Indian nationalists describing colonial economic devastation and Caribbean voices talking about slavery and identity.One debate topic is titled: 'Empire spread the infrastructure of the modern world versus British imperial growth was built through systemic exploitation.'Materials say that Britain abolished slavery and built railways, and ports which drove economic development – but also that the growth of the Empire was built on 'systemic exploitation'.The charity said: 'Some point to parliamentary institutions, the rule of law, global trade and technological modernity; others to violence, extraction and the inequalities it left behind. The charity's latest online secondary schools resource, 'On British Empire', encourages pupils to debate whether it was a 'force for progress', or a 'system of exploitation and oppression'. Pictured: protesters in Oxford in 2020 demanding the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes, who they said was a symbol of British colonialism'Students learn that history is constructed, contested and alive — not to endorse any one view, but to understand it.'The charity said the story of Empire 'should be taught as contested' because while 'a single story creates fragility', 'parallel stories create intellectual resilience'.It added: 'Without the dual-narrative approach, we risk putting the next generation in the hands of populist forces and algorithm-driven outrage.'Avoiding Britain's most contested history is not an option.'The charity was co-founded in 2017 by history teacher Michael Davies, who died in 2024.