Anti- racism themed lesson
The following ideas provide a useful starting point for a number of activities in the classroom that incorporate many aspects related to the teaching of citizenship.
It also highlights how football can be used to explore a number of issues.
Starting out
A good starting point for any classroom work on anti-racism is to look at definitions of race, prejudice and discrimination
Race: A group of people connected by common descent
Racism: The word 'racism' comes from the word 'race'. Racism is the belief that people are inferior because they are of a different colour or come from another part of the world. Most commonly racism is prejudice backed up by power.
Prejudice: Is a judgement about something based upon ignorance, making up your mind before you have any facts.
Discrimination: Is when you treat someone differently because of the prejudices that you have about them.
Teachers may want to set some boundaries within the classroom when working in this area about acceptable language etc.
Teachers should ensure that discussions are carefully managed to ensure that a balanced view is given. All of those involved in these activities should be encouraged to listen carefully and sensitively.
History of Black Footballers
An explosion of talented black footballers changed the game in Britain in the 1970's and 80's, many from families who had arrived in Britain as immigrants after World War 2, but the history of black footballers, like that of ethnic minority communities in Britain is much longer.
Activity: Many people would be surprised to learn that the first black professional footballer to play in England was Arthur Wharton, who made his debut in 1886, for Preston the year after football became professional.
Ask the pupils to carry out some research about the first black player to play for their local and/or their favourite club.
An interesting activity is to get the pupils to produce their own timeline on black Britain. On one side they could put notable dates related to football and on the other side notable dates relating to wider society. A blank timeline, with one or two dates to help pupils get started can be downloaded from the education section on Kick It Out's website.
Racism in football
Many black players who played in Britain, particularly during the 1970's and 80's faced abuse from the crowds because of the colour of their skin. This abuse was in many forms and included monkey chanting and the throwing of bananas onto the pitch. Although as Rio Ferdinand acknowledges, this is less frequent during today's matches, it does still happen, particularly in Europe. There have been a number of high profile cases recently when the England team have played overseas.
Activities: The game between England and Spain in Madrid in 2005 gained huge media attention because of the racist abuse a number of England players received. Organise a class discussion about how those players would have felt and how their white teammates might also have reacted.
Ask pupils to carry out a mock interview with one of the black players who played in the game about their experiences that night.
Rio Ferdinand criticises clubs in Europe because of their lack of security and lack of action in removing fans who participate in racist abuse. In England, strict laws are set out about how to deal with fans when this occurs. Ask pupils to research what these laws are. How have they changed over recent years? Do they think that they are strong enough and how would they change them?
What would pupils do if they faced racism at school? Pupils should consider their own roles and responsibilities for ensuring their school is free from racism. It is important that pupils are empowered to believe they all have a responsibility to address this issue, whatever their colour or nationality. Classes could come up with their up their own code of conduct.
Prejudice and stereotyping
Both Rio Ferdinand and Zesh Rehman talk about the lack of Asian players who play at a professional level. A number of stereotypes are often mentioned when trying to explain this absence. This includes physical make up, diets and the belief that parents would rather their children became doctors or dentists rather than professional footballers.
Activities: It would be helpful to get pupils to carry out some general work to look at why we have stereotypes about different racial groups. It is important to point out that these are rarely based on fact. What stereotypes exist about other ethnic groups? What stereotypes do people overseas have about Britain?
Organise a classroom debate on 'Asian's Can't Play football'. To prepare for this debate, pupils should carry out some general research, including information about the number of Asians playing professional football. Did you know that in the 1890's the Anglo-Indian Cother brothers played for Watford.
Promoting different faiths and cultures
Rio Ferdinand believes that through initiatives such as the national anti-racism week, football help promote understanding of different faiths and cultures. Zesh Rehman is one of an increasing number of Muslims who play professional football, even during the holy month of Ramadan.
Activities: Pupils should carry out some research about the different religious festivals that are celebrated by different religions. When do they occur and what customs and festivities are practised? How might this festival have an impact on professional footballers? Are there any professional footballers that celebrate this festival in England?
An interesting activity to help pupils think about different religious festivals would be to imagine that they were a player at the local football club. One of their teammates was from overseas and celebrated a different religious festival. The player was feeling a bit home sick, and so to cheer them up you decide to organise a party for them at the club to celebrate the festival.
Pupils should each pick a different religious festival to plan. They will need to think about what they should serve to eat and drink, what people might wear and what customs might be practised. Pupils could also design and produce an invitation to the party.
Role Models
Rio Ferdinand lists amongst his role models his mum and dad, John Barnes, Paul Gascoigne and Ian Wright. He also gives details of the support that he got from the staff at Manchester United during his enforced absence from the game.
Young people will have many role models from the world of films, music and sport. They will also be influenced by the behaviour of their peers.
Activities:
Some class discussion could take place around role models, including who do the young people look up to and respect? What qualities does this person have? What is a positive role and negative role model? Is having a role model a good thing? Who chooses role models?
Pupils could write a diary entry on behalf of Rio Ferdinand during the period in which he was banned. The piece could focus on how he was going to try and keep motivated and how he was going to try and use this time in a positive way.
The work could also describe Rio's feelings when he found out about the length of the ban. To help put this into context pupils could also think about what they would do if they were banned from doing something for a long period of time.
Fans and supporters
There are still only a small number of black and Asian fans that regularly go to watch football matches in this country. In most grounds, less than 1% of the total crowd is made up from the black and Asian community. Campaigns like Kick It Out are working to help increase this number, and to encourage clubs to welcome black and Asian fans into the game
Activities: Carry out a survey within the group about the number of people that go to watch football matches. Do they feel safe and welcomed? Why might people not go to games and what can be done to overcome this?
Pupils could be encouraged to develop their own campaign to encourage the community to go to watch their local team. This campaign should focus on a number of different areas, such as writing articles for their local media and developing posters and advertisements that could feature in schools, youth centres and local libraries.
Refugees and Asylum seekers
There are a number of professional footballers that are currently playing in England whose families came to Britain to seek asylum. These include Lomana Lua Lua (Portsmouth FC) and Calvin Zola (Tranmere Rovers FC)
Activities: Pupils should be encouraged to think about the reasons why people leave their own countries and the difficulties they often face settling into a new country.
This process can often be made worse through the negative headlines that often appear in the tabloid press, which are based upon stereotypes and prejudice. Some interesting work can take place comparing how the different media report on this issue.
Pupils could write a letter to one of the tabloid newspapers, setting out their concern about the way that they portray refugees and asylum seekers.
Ask pupils to research some of the reasons why the family of Lua Lua might have fled their original country of residence.
