How does taking a praxis-based decolonising approach to primary history education impact pupils’ perceptions of Romans and Roman Britain?

Figures & data

Table 1. Pseudonym, gender and ethnicity of each pupil-participant.

Pseudonym	Gender	Ethnicity
Ayo	Female	Other Black African
Ime	Female	Black European
Jasper	Male	Black Nigerian
Leo	Male	White English
Omolara	Female	Black Nigerian
Umar	Male	Black Nigerian

Table 2. Some of the participants’ written work from Lesson 3 describing an image of Hadrian’s Wall that they drew.

Ayo: I have drawn a fort with soldiers protecting Britain. Jasper: The soldiers are also defending Britain. Leo: The soldiers are keeping look out for enemies and protecting Britain. Omolara: I have drawn people defending the country. Umar: The soldiers are defending Hadrian’s Wall.

Table 3. References to Ivory Bangle Lady’s race from Lesson 4. The participants completed a museum information plaque to describe her.

Ayo: Her bones tell us she was mixed race. Jasper: Her skull also tells us she is mixed race. Leo: Archaeologists believe that Ivory Bangle Lady was mixed-race because of her skull. Omolara: Ivory Bangle Lady skull measurement were compared with databases of skull measurement from all over the world and they show that she was of mixed race with African characteristics.

Table 4. Sentences that some of the participants wrote on their exit cards at the end of Lesson 2 to explain something new they had learned.

Ime: Roman citizens moved whenever they wanted to like never before. Jasper: This account is different because Roman citizens could come from anywhere in the empire, and they moved around it like never before. Leo: That they travelled freely if they were a Roman citizen. Umar: People all over the empire travelled big, long distances to work, fight and trade.

Figure 1. An image of a garrison post along Hadrian’s Wall drawn and described by Ayo in Lesson 3.

Table 5. Jasper and Omolara’s written descriptions of images they drew of garrison posts stationed along Hadrian’s Wall.

Jasper: I have drawn a community at Hadrian’s Wall. The soldiers have come from Morocco to Britain with their family. Omolara: The soldiers have come from Iraq, Hungary and Switzerland. The other people are taking care of the animals and some people are buying stuff from the market. Near the market there is a community.

Figure 2. A museum information plaque about Ivory Bangle Lady written by Omolara.