Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.

Teaching history is a balancing act between generalities and the particular. This article seeks to explore how Britishness and ethnic diversity relate to a broader understanding of diversity. We do not challenge the teaching of topics like the Romans, Henry VIII and Queen Victoria but argue that such studies are more authentic if related to their wider context. Diversity relates to a breadth of experiences, from an individual to a global context, which relates to ethnicity, class, gender and culture. These experiences provide a framework within which to locate events and situations which have shaped Britain's past from earliest times to the present day...