Darren Chetty @rapclassroom Twitter profile

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 months

#PhDone

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Teachers: students don’t need a special one-off lesson on Black Lives Matter. They need a curriculum and a school that clearly demonstrates this - consistently and continually.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Yes, because getting into Cambridge famously meant that Diane Abbott was never subjected to racism again.

Shaun Bailey

@ShaunBaileyUK

4 years

John, a young black kid, asked me what he can do to defeat racism in the UK. My advice? Be as good as you can be. Be excellent. There’s massive talent in the black community. Use yours. And prove the racists wrong.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Refusal to wear a mask in a pandemic is a desperate attempt to hold onto an ideology that has it that we have responsibility only for ourselves, that we are not inter-connected, not vulnerable, that we owe each other nothing.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

2 years

I have now received a full apology from the Chief Editor and Editorial Board who do not contest any of the facts I stated in my letter. The Guest Editor was unwilling to offer a full apology and has resigned from the Editorial Board. It's taken 18 months all told.

Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Last week a journal editor in my chosen field refused to send to reviewers a paper I've co-authored, simply because I have drawn on Critical Race Theory in previous work. I look forward to the broadsheets running interviews with me about this attempt at cancellation.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Personal achievement is not a requirement for citizenship, nationality or the recognition of human dignity.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

7 months

Correction: the ‘England fan’ who didn’t know the colours of the England flag, was in fact Peter Shilton.

Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

7 months

England football fan, concerned about the new kit, has just stated that the England flag has red, white, and blue. #R4Today

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

If your concern is for the working class why would you exclude Black and brown people from the category?

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

6 months

@TabitaSurge London when I was a kid.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

If only there were some kind of critical framework that could help us to analyse why a government might attack Black scholarship at the same time as denying poor kids of all backgrounds enough food to eat.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Each of these books was published in 2021. We’re entering a new Golden Age of children’s literature in Britain.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Let's remember that Black people, indigenous people and people of colour were represented in many of the 'classic' British children's books. This is important. Why? A few thoughts to follow...

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

It’s my hunch that the people who say that taking the knee has ‘set race relations back 20 years’ were not particularly concerned about racism in 2001 either.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

My Nan loved football, gymnastics, tennis, flowers, knitting and crocheting. She raised her children in three different countries. She survived the Second World War by eating Tulips during the Hunger Winter. She transported weapons for the Dutch resistance.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

1 month

It seems it is far easier to make well-known people children’s authors than it is to make children’s authors well-known.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

6 months

Saw this timeline in school I visited yesterday.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

The Lit In Colour report is now available. Essential reading for English teachers and all who care about literature.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

I’m so proud of this book. Now available for pre-order !

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 months

I wouldn’t be surprised if Mishal Husain’s interview with Kemi Badenoch becomes a regular feature of media training to show what can happen when you haven’t understood the detail of a policy you’re putting forward. #R4Today

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

7 years

The Finer Things In Life by Pauline from #Mum Brown Bread Radio 4 Classic FM Anything Made By An Artisan Golf Wimbledon Jazz The Tate Sailing Fountain Pens Skiiing Cheese Seafood Wine You Can’t Buy In A Supermarket Coffe Beans Manuka Honey Kent #MumBBC

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Last week a journal editor in my chosen field refused to send to reviewers a paper I've co-authored, simply because I have drawn on Critical Race Theory in previous work. I look forward to the broadsheets running interviews with me about this attempt at cancellation.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Let's stop saying we are 'starting a conversation about..' when we're actually joining one that has been going on for a long time even though we may not have been listening attentively.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

6 years

When I was at primary school in Swansea, this sign hung outside the local pub. As a kid I wondered about the story behind it. Here’s my exploration of the sign and the surrounding web of personal and social stories.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 years

And as we neatly erase the history of British Eugenics (failing to even mention it as we honour its founder) we make possible its re-emergence.

The Royal Society

@royalsociety

5 years

In 1822 #OnThisDay , Sir Francis Galton was born. His scientific career was based on his fascination with statistics, however his most intensive research was devoted to human physical attributes such as height, chest width, arm strength and colour vision. #Science

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

14th wedding anniversary. ❤️

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 years

Technically #TheGoodImmigrant Hardback was the first book with my name on the cover but these three are my first attempts at co-authoring and co-editing books. Different topics and audiences, all published in 2019. Got to work with some excellent writers too.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

2 years

Wales’s glorious march to the World Cup is symbolic of a confident, resurgent nation | Darren Chetty

Wales’s glorious march to the World Cup is symbolic of a confident, resurgent nation | Darren Chetty

In those joyful scenes on Sunday you could see Welsh culture in rude health, says writer and teacher Darren Chetty

www.theguardian.com

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

7 months

Submitted, didn’t give up. #PhD

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Spare a thought for the teachers who are duty bound to tell students that the ‘rule of law’ is a Fundamental British Value.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

6 months

Suella Braverman forcefully arguing for her interpretation of a video she admits not watching in full. A-level students wouldn’t get away with this. In fact, Year 6 would know better than to try this. #R4Today

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

7 months

So it seems a decline in student behaviour has coincided with a period of schools being under-resourced, often under-staffed, and with increased levels of poverty. Correlation is not causation; but ignoring variables is not good research.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

2 years

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

A short, but much-needed book.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 years

2019 has been a great year for children's & YA books by and about 'BAME' people / PoC and there is a sense that some of the initiatives of the past few years are just beginning to impact UK children’s publishing.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 months

18th wedding anniversary.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Brilliant new book from @knchimbiri . Rich in knowledge and beautifully produced this would be suitable for key stage 2 classrooms.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Don’t blame Liz Truss for clearly knowing nothing about Foucault. Her teachers in the 80s were subject to the Tories’ Section 28 so probably terrified that teaching about him would be viewed as the ‘promotion of homosexuality’.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Is it safe to share this in schools or will I be in trouble for promoting a victim narrative?

Sajid Javid

@sajidjavid

4 years

The Left really, really do detest ethnic-minority Tory Cabinet ministers.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

2 years

16 year anniversary.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

We often centre Black and brown children in our arguments for more inclusive children’s literature. We say that it is important for children to see people like themselves in the books they read. Our critics say this is just another case of modern-day narcissism.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 years

I get that ‘write what you know’ can be taken to mean ‘keep your fictional writing autobiographical’. So how to open up imagination in new ways? Surely by proper research. Maybe ‘know what you write’ is a better maxim?

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Acevedo to Zephaniah. By no means a definitive collection here. But a good start. #ReflectingRealities

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Reading and listening to @MichaelRosenYes was one of the ways I developed my expertise as a teacher. And I think part of being an expert in something is having the willingness to seek out, and benefit from, other experts.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

When I was doing my A-levels, we had a talk from a police officer. He explained to us that if we were caught with drugs we’d be prosecuted - unless we came from good families and had good prospects. We gave him a tough time but he taught us a lot of about living in England.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

6 months

My first picture book, a collaboration with the wonderful Sandhya Prabhat, will be out next year with @LittleTigerUK . More info here:

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Black British History books for primary schools. #WHBBH

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

"How does a book in which a writer frequently employs controversial and denigratory language come to be championed as a work of political acumen? What does this suggest about how writing is valued?"

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Next #BeyondTheSecretGarden explores representations of LGBT People of Colour, with a particular focus on UK writers.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 months

Farewell Phillip Davies.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

I’ve had similar experiences. Being approached, then dropped for having a too nuanced position.

Ash Sarkar

@AyoCaesar

4 years

In the past few days, I’ve had multiple broadcast producers ask me to come and debate whether Rule Britannia should be dropped. And I said sure - as long as I can say that this whole thing is a media confection, designed to wind up apoplectic baby boomers and delegitimise BLM.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

And if Azeem Rafiq had shown fustration and anger (as he has every right to), there would be plenty of people claiming it shows that he is 'difficult'. For some people, listening only starts after they have crushed us.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy

@krishgm

3 years

I wish it didn't take the tears of Azeem Rafiq to make people think or be 'heartbroken'. There will barely be a brown-skinned person in Britain who hasn't felt that smarting, holding back the tears feeling, while being told it was just banter.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

1 year

There are people in this country living parallel lives, with no interest in integrating etc

Becky Barrow

@beckymbarrow

1 year

The new provost of @Eton_College in today’s @Telegraph He says most of his friends are Old Etonians - and if he meets somebody who did not go there “I do admit…that it counts against them slightly.” Was there not a candidate with a more open mind?

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

2 years

Imagine if the column inches given to Puffin’s business decisions relating to the Dahl books were given to reviews of children’s books.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

So the lack of BIPOC characters needs to be understood in this context. When overtly racist depictions became less popular, BIPOC disappeared from many books. In other words, to imagine us as fully human was just too great a stretch of the imagination for many writers.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Always good to remember that Golding wrote Lord of the Flies in response to Ballantyne’s Coral Island, which celebrated European imperialism, Christian missionaries and the importance of hierarchy. Golding was critiquing the civilising mission presented by Ballantyne.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

'I drove to test my eyesight' is the new 'I can't sweat'.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

2 years

Ah, yes. The famed cultural sensitivity of the Police.

ITV News Politics

@ITVNewsPolitics

2 years

The PM says 'cultural sensitivity and political correctness' are getting in the way of tackling grooming gangs, but his plans have been criticised for focusing too heavily on ethnicity

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 years

I’m hoping that the recent events might bring a period of reflection for the teacher research movement. I can’t express how it saddens me that colleagues who pride themselves on evidence, who were outraged by the pseudoscience of learning styles, were so relaxed about eugenics.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

The ‘people just need to be sensible and use their common sense’ messaging makes me feel sick. The people who have died from this virus were not lacking common sense and to imply that they were is just victim-blaming. #r4today

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

I've been asked to speak at the Times Higher Education Student Festival. It's a commercial event and they are selling sponsorship. They want me to do it for free and have promised 'excellent exposure'.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

I'm not sure we're going to build a more equal educational system through a collection of gurus, tsars, masterclasses and pioneers.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 years

New little bookshelf of children’s and YA fiction written by / about People of Colour. #ReflectingRealities #WeNeedDiverseBooks

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Looks like 'You Can't Say That! Stories Have To Be About White People' is going to be included in a teaching resource for KS3 English students. I know it's been used at Uni and for CPD sessions - but this is particularly pleasing.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

7 years

Here are 10 books I'd like teachers to read.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Had the honour of being the guest as @MichaelRosenYes made his Word of Mouth comeback today. Enjoyed chatting about ‘How To Disagree’, the book I wrote with Adam Ferner. But mostly, just good to see Michael in fine form.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

1 year

Beyond the Secret Garden: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller representation in Children’s Literature @ksandsoconnor @BooksforKeeps

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Beyond The Secret Garden, the column I write with @ksandsoconnor for @BooksForKeeps that explores the representation of racially minoritised people in (mostly) British children's & YA fiction will continue next year. Here's what we covered in 2021...

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Organisation asks us to write a message of support on its behalf for Black Lives Matter. We suggest organisation instead puts out some clear actions it will take to demonstrate that Black lives matter in its work. We make a number of suggestions. No message goes out.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

2 years

@mrdanwalker Either, I’d say - I think it’s one of those where there’s a bit of space for manoeuvre.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

2 years

Racists used to argue that there’s nothing wrong with being racist. Now, they’re more likely to argue that there’s nothing racist about being racist.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

So @ksandsoconnor and I have signed a contract for a book developing the ideas explored in our #BeyondtheSecretGarden columns for @BooksForKeeps . Thanks to @EngMediaCentre for the enthusiastic support of our work, and for agreeing to publish!

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

2 years

Asked our 12 year old niece to select the 20 best books in in my collection.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

"Sterling's resilience and determination to succeed are emphasised, but so too is his vulnerability." A reminder that @Okwonga has written a brilliant biography of Raheem Sterling for young readers.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

If you have written/illustrated a book for children / young adults and it features racially minoritised / PoC / BAME / characters - please, please ask your publisher to send me a review copy for #BeyondTheSecretGarden in @BooksForKeeps

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

6 years

Beyond the Secret Garden? 'Black Asian and Minority Ethnic' Representations in Children's Literature. via @academia

Beyond the Secret Garden? 'Black Asian and Minority Ethnic' Representations in Children's Literat...

This document is a collation of six columns, written with Karen Sands O'Connor. These columns were published in 'Books for Keeps', the British children's books periodical, in 2018. The columns are...

www.academia.edu

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Just read a paper that names and discusses me for 2 pages but doesn't reference any of my work, or cite me. It then cites two people responding to me. Is that standard academic practice??

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Fundamentally, this is part of an assault on knowledge itself.

Marsha de Cordova

@MarshadeCordova

4 years

This in one of the worst bits of the #SewellReport so far: Putting a positive spin on slavery and empire. Published on a Government website in 2021. Is this for real?

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

2 years

The recent wave of children’s and young adult books about magical Black and Asian characters has been long overdue. Just submitted the latest #BeyondtheSecretGarden for @BooksForKeeps on this subject! Thanks as ever to @ksandsoconnor !

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

The absence of BIPOC is not then an oversight, or a failure to get with the times - it is a later development in British children's publishing and writers struggled to imagine BIPOC without the political and moral framing of Empire.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

2 years

'... I’d gone through 15 years of formal education, including a three-year English degree, without ever being given a book to study that made any reference whatsoever to the presence of individuals like me in the country in which I was born'

Zadie Smith on discovering the secret history of Black England: ‘Into my ignorance poured these...

When the novelist first read Gretchen Gerzina’s 1995 book Black England, she discovered the complex and unexpected lives of black people in England before the abolition of slavery. Two decades on,...

www.theguardian.com

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Two essential books for teachers. Great that @scholasticuk are now publishing @knchimbiri ’s The Story of the Windrush. And great that @DavidOlusoga has written this children.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

It's weird to think that two of the most-hyped children's authors TODAY are men who blacked-up on television.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 years

I’m not sure it was such a wise move for Johnson to follow Shami Chakrabarti. The difference between her thoughtful, nuanced responses and his sloganeering, bluster and speaking over his interviewer is huge. #Marr

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 years

Finally, a photo of both co-authors with book.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

@soniasodha @AngelaHaggerty It’a good that you do. But you have now written a column in a national paper that appears to reduce the concerns of everyone who criticised Clanchy’s attempts to have critical reviews removed, and the language she used in her book, to a ‘witch-hunt’.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

8 months

It does look as though Arts Council England has just done itself very serious reputational damage with this decision.

Arts Professional

@ArtsPro

8 months

APNews: Arts Council England ( @ace_national ) has updated its policies, warning that "political statements" made by individuals linked to an organisation can cause "reputational risk", breaching funding agreements (1/5)

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

The government criticising headteachers for following the rules does seem to capture an awful lot about contemporary British politics.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 months

I can’t help remembering that three (3) of the biggest celebrity children’s authors were blacking up on tv a while back.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Lots of people off the telly are writing kids' books. How about the other way round? Can we get children's authors to act in TV shows? ('What if they can't act?' I hear you say. Well, maybe use another actor but give them the credit?)

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

UK hip hop has lost a legend. I hope he knew how much he was loved and appreciated.

Ty, Mercury prize-nominated UK rapper, dies aged 47 of coronavirus

Rapper, who recorded several acclaimed albums, died of pneumonia as he was being treated for coronavirus

www.theguardian.com

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

Very happy to share a birthday with Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, my fellow #TheGoodImmigrant writer Himesh Patel, Ashanti, the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn, Pharoah Sanders and Mike Young, the creator of SuperTed.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

So with this history in mind - we need to be clear that better representation is not just to keep the Black or brown kids in our classrooms happy. It is reparative action after a long tradition of BIPOC representation distorted by colonial ideology.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

The Story of the Windrush by @knchimbiri is an excellent book for primary schools. It now has a series of lesson plans and resources thanks to @scholasticuk . You need to sign up, but they are free - and really useful!

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 years

Here’s a photo of my friend, #HipHopEd colleague, and now co-author, Jeffrey Boakye aka @unseenflirt with our new book - launching June 28th @clpe1 photo by @sophiekingo

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 years

“The lack of diversity displayed in the books reflects a lack of diversity among the authors and illustrators themselves: not a single author or illustrator of a bestselling picture book was identified as BAME by the Guardian”

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

It’s interesting how many of the children’s books with the most racist depictions are described as ‘timeless’.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 years

The number of times I've found myself telling people that a child saying 'stories have to be about white people' is not a problem of 'low self-esteem' but an insightful reading of their social world.

Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

5 years

“The lack of diversity displayed in the books reflects a lack of diversity among the authors and illustrators themselves: not a single author or illustrator of a bestselling picture book was identified as BAME by the Guardian”

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

3 years

Ok, I think @ksandsoconnor and I might have found a publisher for the book based on the Beyond The Secret Garden columns in @BooksForKeeps . Hope to share details soon.

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Darren Chetty

@rapclassroom

4 years

So white children too deserve better than to be offered racist classics without any context for understanding their creation and reception. They deserve to be afforded the chance to develop the skills of reading literature that is radically different from their own lives.

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