The next item is a debate on petitions on teaching history in schools, and I call on the Chair of the Petitions Committee to move the motion—Janet Finch-Saunders.

Motion NDM7450 Janet Finch-Saunders

To propose that the Senedd:

Notes the following petitions concerning the teaching of history in schools:

a) Petition ‘P-05-992 We call on the Welsh Government to create a common body of knowledge about Welsh history that all pupils will learn’ which received 7,927 signatures; and

b) Petition ‘P-05-1000 Make it compulsory for Black and POC UK histories to be taught in the Welsh education curriculum’ which received 34,736 signatures.

Motion moved.

Diolch, Llywydd. Thank you. This debate is a first for the Petitions Committee as it actually covers two petitions, both of which concern the teaching of history in our schools. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these petitions together and we believe that this is a timely debate, given that the new curriculum for Wales is currently being scrutinised and due to be taught from 2022. The petitions we are discussing today both relate to what students learn about the history of Wales and its people. Both have demonstrated strong public support.

I will start by outlining each petition and its context before moving to the points of similarity between them. These lie in several questions about how schools and teachers will be guided and supported to equip our young people with the knowledge proposed by the petitions. The first petition received, petition 992, concerns the teaching of Welsh history. It was submitted by Elfed Wyn Jones, having collected 7,927 signatures. It calls for the Welsh Government to create a common body of knowledge about Welsh history, and for this to be taught to all pupils in Wales. It argues that this history and heritage is crucial to an understanding of modern Wales and that key events and subjects in the nation's history should be taught to everyone.

The petition references a similar recommendation made by the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee as part of its inquiry into the teaching of Welsh history. That committee noted that taking this approach would allow all pupils to have an understanding of how their country has been shaped by local and national events, within the context of Welsh, British and international histories. That recommendation was rejected by the Welsh Government on the basis that the new curriculum is purpose led and intentionally moves away from specifying lists of topics and content to be taught. Instead, as the Minister has outlined on other occasions, the new curriculum seeks to give teachers and schools the freedom to take their own decisions about what is taught within a broad national framework.

Now, if I may digress slightly, this tension between the vision for the new curriculum and calls for specific subjects and issues to be taught as part of it has been a regular feature of Petitions Committee meetings over the past few years. It is a genuine tension, and it illuminates the crucial importance of getting the guidance and the resources that will accompany the curriculum right. That issue is at the heart of both of these petitions.

To outline the argument made by this petition further, the petitioner asks how can we understand the society in which we live if we cannot understand what has happened in our past. He argues that the extent to which pupils are taught about key moments in this history is variable and wants this to be addressed by the new curriculum. Central to the petition is a call for core historical content to be established and for resources to be developed to support schools and teachers to deliver consistent teaching, a point I will return to later on.

I will leave it to the Minister to outline the way in which she has responded to these arguments. However, I will mention that the Petitions Committee has considered written evidence from Estyn, which is currently conducting a review of the teaching of Welsh history in schools. It is seeking examples of best practice and may end up making its own suggestions. The work, of course, has been badly affected by the pandemic and is now not likely to report until summer 2021.

I will now move on to the other petition in this debate, which is also the one thousandth petition to be considered by the Petitions Committee, certainly a significant landmark for our processes. It is also one of the largest petitions we have received, having gathered—and I did say one of the largest petitions we have received—34,736 signatures after it was submitted by Angharad Owen in June of this year. The petition was submitted following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in the USA and the protests that followed across the world, many, of course, linked to the Black Lives Matter movement. The petition is one of the fastest growing petitions to the Senedd, reflecting the importance of the issues it raises and the pressing need for us to do more to tackle racism in our society.

In Britain, many of the protests that followed George Floyd's death focused on the legacy of colonialism and slavery. This petition calls for that history, and specifically the part that Wales played in it, to be represented in the curriculum. The petition argues that the British empire has sometimes been glamorised, whilst the global impact of colonialism has also been downplayed, with a direct impact upon the lives of black and minority ethnic people in Wales today.

Where this petition is focused is on ensuring that sufficient coverage is given to teaching about the legacy of these aspects of our history in our schools, including the role Wales played and the impact on black and minority ethnic people in Wales. The petitioner has acknowledged that teaching these issues can be daunting for teachers. It can be a highly charged subject with a direct personal relevance to the experiences and perspectives of individuals as well as current world events. Therefore, the petition argues that additional resources and support are required to equip teachers with the information and confidence to address these subjects appropriately with their students.

Responding to the petition, the Minister has referred to a working group established to consider black and minority ethnic histories as part of the story of Wales under the chairing of Professor Charlotte Williams. I will leave it to the Minister to explain more about this work, which has the potential to lead to some of the change sought by this petition, but I want to note our support for it at the outset.

In concluding my opening remarks, it is important to acknowledge that the histories raised by these two petitions are both equally part of the story of Wales and its people. A full teaching of our history, good and bad, and what it means for today's Wales, must seek to speak to everyone, and to develop in our young people a rounded and nuanced view of what came before them. That is no small challenge. However, this is an opportune moment to hold this discussion, both due to world events and the development of the new curriculum and the resources that will support it. The Petitions Committee acknowledges the flexible approach at the heart of that curriculum's design. The challenge, of course, for the Minister, and everyone involved in its development, is to ensure that people can have confidence that pupils will be provided with key information about the forces that have shaped today's Wales, and that our teachers and students will have the resources and training to support them in this. I very much look forward to hearing the contributions of other Members during the rest of this debate. Diolch yn fawr. Thank you.

Can I just say 'well done' to all the people who signed both of these petitions? My group will not only be noting these today but supporting what the petitioners are asking for. Petitions themselves are a part of our history, and in particular they were encouraged by that great Plaid favourite, Edward I. Monarchs and Governments had for decades been routinely dismissing prayers for aid or justice made by the aggrieved, and it was Edward who encouraged them to bring forward their business directly to Parliament to influence the Government and the King. Whether that was about being a good king to his people or simply a public relations stunt to improve his reputation, who knows? But the decision was the beginning of an evolution of the concept of Parliament into a place where the voice of people, all people, is heard and respected.

I'd just like to pick out an issue from each of the petitions, and the first is from the first petition. What's in and what's out? What goes into this? Who still cares about Edward I, for example, and why? It's over 700 years ago since he was part of our story, and that's a long time to hold a grudge, so why even mention him? And if the compulsory teaching of Welsh history means that our children only ever hear of him as the villain who battered Wales and sneaked a changeling into the role of Prince of Wales, then they're going to get short-changed anyway. If, however, he's presented to Welsh pupils as a real case study about what motivates powerful figures of history and the ripple effects of their decisions, then he's a really interesting example. Was he just a violent narcissist? Was he a creature hyperconscious of his divine duty? Was he immersed in contemporary expectations of leadership? In judging who he was and what he did, what do we learn by comparing him to Stalin or Mao Tse-tung, for example, by applying modern mores? What was his effect on the everyday life of everyday people and how does that compare with our relationship with people in power these days? There's a school term's worth of history lesson right there, and every bit of it will count as Welsh history.

Welsh history is not just about what happened in Wales, but how events and decisions elsewhere affected Wales. What if the mine owners and merchants of South America 300 years ago had decided to get their copper smelted on the river mouths in south-west England? Who would be living in Swansea today? So where on earth do you start if you're a school leader committed to your pupils receiving a good experience of learning about Welsh history when this tiny fragment could spark such a chain of discussion? And I think it's important to highlight that this petition calls for a common corpus of Welsh history to be taught in all schools, but it's not asking to influence how it's taught. Nevertheless, it points to a deep desire that all our children should grow up knowing more about how the nation in which they are being raised got to be that way. And perhaps this is a good moment to introduce the evidence presented to the Children, Young People and Education Committee by these very children. They have told us that they want to be learning the same things as their peers, and that's not just history. And so I don't think this undermines the freedom of the new curriculum. The design of this curriculum, in part, is to be informed by what pupils want to learn, so here is a clear instruction that they want at least some common ground across Wales.

My second point is about the local curriculum and this involves the second petition. There will be communities in Wales who might think that black and ethnic minorities have no more relevance to their local curriculum than Edward I. Now, that is an incorrect conclusion, as the petition itself reveals. And history is a bit like the universe—we can only see about 4 per cent of it, but the other 96 per cent is no less real and no less part of the explanation of why we are, who we are and where we are. And while there will be other overlooked contributors to the history of Wales, the least they can do is start looking, and start looking at black and ethnic minorities who have been here for centuries, just as we look at how events and decisions made about people of colour in other parts of the world have affected our domestic story. 

I suppose the story of the Chartists will make the cut in whatever finds its way into any common syllabus. They, of course, are some of our most celebrated petitioners in UK history, let alone Wales. Events didn't turn out quite as they expected, but little did they know that Edward I could claim a tiny little bit of their story, or, indeed, the stories of MI5. As of 2010, their ranks boasted more medieval history majors than holders of any other degree. Valued for their skills in working with minimal and unreliable information, history is always useful, and that is one hell of a ripple effect. Thank you. 

First of all, I would like to thank the Petitions Committee for bringing both petitions to the attention of the Senedd, and thank you for bringing them together in a single debate, which is the right and appropriate thing to do. And I'd like to thank too those people who arranged both petitions, Elfed Wyn Jones and Angharad Owen, who worked so hard to gather so many signatures. I know that Elfed Wyn Jones had intended to walk from the farm where he lives in Meirionnydd to the Senedd in Cardiff to present the petition, and had hoped to attend the debate, but, of course, because of restrictions, that wasn't possible. But he has been walking the same distance on the farm, back in Trawsfynydd, and has drawn attention to this issue that he feels so passionately about.

In the Children, Young People and Education Committee, we have been discussing the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill, gathering evidence from a number of different sources. And I have been trying to make the point consistently during those evidence sessions that we do need to think not only of the content of the Bill as it currently stands, but we also need to think about those issues that aren't currently contained within the Bill—those that need to be on the face of the Bill but aren't currently there. And I do believe that both issues covered today, which do interweave—they both need to be on the face of the Bill, and Plaid Cymru has been consistently making this point.  

We need to ensure that the people of Wales are aware of our past as a people, our past as a nation in all its rich diversity. The lockdown has highlighted the importance of our national identity and it has also highlighted the need to give particular and urgent attention to deal with and eradicate race inequality. 

We need major structural change. Just as we need to provide education on healthy relationships on a cross-curricular basis in order to create societal change and in order to generate that change in the relationship between men and women, we also need to highlight the importance of the diversity of Wales to be cross-curricular, which deserves the same consistency and status as healthy relationships and sex education. The only way to do that is to actually upgrade these issues to be on the face of the Bill and to include them as a mandatory element in all schools in order to secure consistency for all pupils.

Having said that, I am highly aware that there are a number of significant challenges related to this, and I don't want to downplay those challenges, and I think it's important that we do discuss them. Elfed Wyn Jones's petition calls on the Welsh Government to create a common body of knowledge on Welsh history. I would challenge Elfed here. Who will decide what the content of that common body of knowledge will be? I do agree that we need a common body of knowledge, but we also need to recognise that we would need very thorough work from our historians and some discussion before we actually reached that point.

The second petition calls for it to be made mandatory for the history of BAME communities and the history of people of colour to be taught in the Welsh curriculum. I agree, of course, but I would also challenge Angharad. Isn't slavery and colonialism just one aspect of BAME history, and in focusing on these aspects, aren't we at risk of forgetting the rich contributions made by black communities in Wales and ethnic minority communities in Wales to the history of Wales in all its diversity?

I do want to draw your attention to an important report drawn up seven years ago now by a panel chaired by the historian Dr Elin Jones. I do think it’s important that we remind ourselves about what was said in that report, which was entitled, 'The Cwricwlwm Cymreig, history and the story of Wales'. These are the words of the panel:

'Much of the debate on the history taught in school tends to emphasise the factual content of the curriculum. There is, however, far more to the discipline of history than chronology and factual knowledge alone. While chronology and factual knowledge provide a framework for understanding the past and the relationship of different periods, developments and individual actions', history also provides other opportunities too. And in the words of the report once again:

'One of the most important aspects of the discipline of history is the opportunity it provides of understanding that every narrative or historical argument is open to criticism, and that every historical judgement is provisional. There is no one history: every individual has their own experience, and their own unique perspective on the past…Realising this is a means of accepting and respecting different versions of history, while evaluating them against more objective criteria than our personal knowledge of the past, or a familiar version of it.

'Effective history teaching can help to develop the active citizens of the future. It can enable learners to understand their own history, and the way in which the past has formed the present, but, more importantly, it can help them to investigate that history, and evaluate different versions of it. It can equip every citizen to deal effectively with all kinds of propaganda.'

This is an important statement—and I am drawing to a close here—but I think it's important that we do bear in mind this context that Dr Elin Jones gave us. Teaching history effectively does refine our skills to analyse, to question, to not accept everything at first sight and to identify propaganda and fake news, which is so very important in the current climate.

There is a strong argument for including identity and the diversity of Wales, including Welsh history and black and people of colour's history, as a mandatory part of the curriculum, but let's not forget that there is far more to teaching and learning history and a huge value to it in our ambition to create young people who are knowledgeable and informed for the future. Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you for indulging me. 

You were discussing Dr Elin Jones, so I was going to allow that. Mick Antoniw.

You need to be unmuted. Hold on just one second. Try again. Not quite. I'll come back to you, Mick. Jenny Rathbone. I'll come back to you, Mick. Jenny Rathbone. 

Thank you very much for calling me. This is a very important subject and the use of words carries huge significance. In the English language, we talk about 'history' as if it was a male-dominated business. Obviously, 'herstory' is just as important, whether we're talking about the history of women's suffrage in Wales and the struggle we had to go through to get it or whether we're talking about much wider issues.

I think, in the context of this specific petition, it is a contemporary theme and it's really sobering to understand that the failure to have any sort of reconciliation after the American civil war still has massive implications for events going on in the United States today, which allows some citizens to have utter disregard and complacency about the suffering of other citizens that we in this country find really quite extraordinary.

But I think we cannot criticize others without looking to our own history and our failure to look at the history of the British empire, which I think very much fuels a lot of the resentment felt, quite rightly, by black citizens of our country. It was founded on slavery, and yet we continue to romanticise the British empire, glamorise it. We still give people who have performed extraordinary services, public services, medals that contain the words 'member of the British empire', 'commander of the British empire', 'British empire medal', which is an utter anachronism to today's society and clearly something that we have to address.

It's equally inappropriate that on Remembrance Sunday we sing, 'Send her victorious, happy and glorious' about our monarch as the national anthem of the UK, particularly on Remembrance Sunday, when we are commemorating the horrors of war. But I also think that we have to look in great depth at more contemporary issues, for example the Windrush scandal, which has yet to be resolved. People who were refused to be allowed work, refused benefits, and, in the worst cases, deported from this country, have still to receive compensation, and many of them are now dying. How scandalous is that? 

We really do need to re-evaluate our history in light of contemporary problems, and nowhere is that more obvious in this week of all weeks than in relation to climate change. What we do in this country has an impact on people living on the other side of the world, and it's really important that we take these responsibilities seriously and amend our behaviour in solidarity with people who we have never met and are never likely to meet, but who suffer because of what we do and the way in which we burn up the resources of the world. So, I think these are excellent petitions and I look forward to seeing the outcome of them in the way we treat history in the new curriculum.

The teaching of our history in Welsh schools matters. The past informs the future; a loss of the past would mean the most thoughtless of ages. History teaches us that 'Welsh' means British. Both England and Scotland are named after their invaders. However, the Britons remained. Wales is named after the term used by the invaders—meaning 'foreigner' in their language—to describe the Britons across our islands, who referred to each other as fellow countrymen and women, 'Y Cymry'. We hear of the iron ring of castles built in north Wales after Anglo-Norman conquest, but we hear little of the 100,000 fellow Britons who had died in the attempted genocide in northern England by the Normans—the harrying of the north—two centuries previously.

The first petition we're debating refers to the Glyndŵr rising. We hear of his dream of a Welsh Parliament, two Welsh universities and a Welsh free church. However, history also teaches us that he previously dutifully served the last Plantagenet king and joined the army that king led into Scotland, before rebelling against the first king since the Norman conquest whose mother tongue was not French, in a plot with Mortimer and Percy to divide the kingdom into three parts.

The first petition also refers to the drowning of Capel Celyn, which belongs to every community in Wales. However, history teaches us that this is also part of a wider British experience, where communities were flooded when the Rivington reservoirs were constructed to supply water to Liverpool a century earlier.

Myths tell stories about the early history of a people. There are those who believe that the destiny of mystical Britain—Albion, Alba, Alban—is waiting to be awoken as a spiritual leader of the world. According to the twelfth century The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth, the exiled Brutus of Troy was told by the goddess Diana,

'Brutus! there lies beyond the Gallic bounds

An island which the western sea surrounds,

By giants once possessed, now few remain

To bar thy entrance, or obstruct thy reign.

To reach that happy shore thy sails employ

There fate decrees to raise a second Troy

And found an empire in thy royal line,

Which time shall ne'er destroy, nor bounds confine.'

Although commonly dismissed now, Geoffrey of Monmouth's work was regarded as fact until the late seventeenth century, and the story appears in most early histories of Britain. The teaching of black and POC UK histories in Welsh schools matters. From one of the first black people to have lived in Wales, named John Ystumllyn, brought to Wales in the eighteenth century and believed to have married a local woman, to the likes of Shirley Bassey, Colin Jackson, Cardiff's current mayor, and the former mayor of Colwyn Bay, Dr Sibani Roy, the BAME population of Wales has made significant contributions.

Most societies have exploited slave labour at some stage in their history. This is also true of Wales. A slave chain discovered on Anglesey made to fit five people can be dated to the Iron Age, about 2,300 years ago. When the Romans invaded, they brought their own slaves with them, slaves from nations across the Roman Empire in Europe, North Africa and the middle east. After the Romans left, the British tribes enslaved those they defeated in battle. The transatlantic slave trade flourished from the early sixteenth century until 1807, when the British Parliament passed an Act to abolish trading slaves within the British Empire. Campaigns to stop slavery had been started by black and white people more than 30 years before the Act was finally passed. The British abolition movement got under way in earnest in 1787, when Thomas Clarkson founded a committee to fight the slave trade. One member, William Dillwyn, was an American Quaker of Welsh descent. Campaigners had been laying the groundwork by publishing documents about the cruelty of slavery. One of these was William Williams of Pantycelyn, who wrote the hymn 'Bread of Heaven'. In the 1770s, a number of former slaves published their life stories, and Williams was the first to translate one of these into Welsh. Although Britain was the pre-eminent slave trading nation during the eighteenth century, and illegal British slave trading continued for many years after the passing of the 1807 Act, the Royal Navy's role in the suppression of the transoceanic slave trades represents a remarkable episode of sustained humanitarian activity. However, illegal slavery still continues in many parts of the world today, even in Wales. As Martin Luther King said,

'I have a dream…let freedom ring'. 

I like the wording of the first petition that we're discussing particularly. The point has been made that the language is florid and important. It calls on the Welsh Government to create a common body of knowledge about the history of Wales that every pupil would be taught. And the second petition is related to that, because it asks for the histories of black people and people of colour to be taught in the Welsh curriculum.

Now, the idea of creating a common body of knowledge is crucial. The petition is speaking literally here and talking about certain incidents in Welsh history being taught in all parts of the country. But there is also a broader meaning: a common body, a corpus of knowledge, being created. Yes, a collection of sources, of events, but the issues that have formed the corpus of the nation and formed the population—a common body, the identity of the nation, the population's awareness. Because neither petition talks about the need to teach children about the history of others—no, it's learning about the history of the people of Wales, people from all sorts of different backgrounds, which are all part of that common corpus, an identity with diverse layers, where each and every one of them forms a whole. The wording reminds us that history does connect us, yes, but it also connects us with our past. It's history that has made us, for better and for worse. It's history that provides us with our roots. We can learn lessons, it enhances each and every one of us, but only if we hear about and learn about those histories can that happen.

Before the summer recess, we in Plaid Cymru staged a debate on this issue, setting out why it is so hugely important for young people to learn about the histories of their nation. And I use the word 'histories', as has already been said in this debate, because there is no strand of history that is more important than the others. Indeed, the children of Wales need to learn the histories of those people who didn't write the history books. As I said in that debate before the summer, unless every child in Wales learns about the important issues within our nation's history, then this can deprive whole generations of their sense of identity—they won't see themselves in the corpus. And that is just as true about the drowning of Capel Celyn, the history of Glyndŵr and the investiture, and Wales's relationship with slavery, and the cultural and industrial histories of areas such as Tiger Bay.

Since the summer there have been some developments that are to be welcomed, and I was discussing some of these with Dr Elin Jones recently. She's already been mentioned, and she chaired the taskforce on Welsh history in 2013. And I agree with her that there is reason to welcome the appointment of Professor Charlotte Williams to review the resources available to support teachers to assist them to plan lessons on histories of people of colour and black people's history. This can lead to delivering the recommendation of that report on developing pupils' awareness of the multicultural and multi-ethnic Wales in which we live, and guarantee that the children of Wales will not be deprived of information about their own history. And this is important, Llywydd, for our nation more generally. Unless Welsh histories are taught in our schools, then students won't learn about those subjects at university either, and this can lead to a further decline in the number of Welsh history centres and Celtic study centres within our universities. That would have an inevitable impact on national knowledge and the way the nation portrays itself on the world stage.

Given the awful decline of the University of Wales, it's important that we protect the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, the University of Wales Press and the Gregynog higher education centre. This is all interrelated. If there is no enthusiasm or expertise on Welsh history—those Welsh histories that we're discussing—it will weaken the whole concept of Wales and its academic rigour. We need to secure the future of our nation and our centres of expertise, and to create new centres of excellence and departments for Celtic studies, not just in Wales but across the world. This is what we are discussing today and this is the start of that process to create a common corpus to guarantee the awareness of our young people of their identity. I very much hope that our legislature, the Senedd, will agree on the importance of that. Thank you.

Mick Antoniw. I think we're still struggling to hear you, Mick. You may need to use the sound control on your own headset.

Can you hear me now?

You're almost there.

How's that now?

Oh, excellent, we can hear you now. Carry on.

There we are. Well, thank you, Llywydd. I was going to say, when I started earlier, that there'd be some excellent contributions. I was particularly impressed with the contribution of Siân Gwenllian, because I thought she set out not only the philosophy around the teaching of history, but also the considerable challenges that exist.

I chaired the committee that looked at the votes at 16 legislation. Of course, we looked closely at the issue of civic education, and I think the teaching of history in the curriculum and civic education actually go hand in hand, because history is, essentially, pure politics—I say it with a small 'p'—and an understanding of what's happened within our society and its engagement.

Now, one of the concerns I really have is the lack of materials on many of the historic events and individuals in our communities at a local level. For me, history is not about the teaching of kings and queens, particularly—even Welsh princes. It's really about communities; it's also the history of working people and working people's communities.

So, in the time I have, I'm just going to go through some of the people who, I think, really are deserving, in our history curriculum, of being mentioned, certainly in the communities I represent, where there ought to be materials and they ought to be incorporated. When I go around schools, I find very little information about any of these people, even though they were such significant Welsh figures.

Dr William Price of Llantrisant, a Chartist who dealt with occupational health and who did the first modern cremation, of very significant political consequences. Arthur Horner, president of the South Wales Miners' Federation; in 1946, president of the National Union of Miners and a major figure in the nationalisation of the coal industry that had such significance. A.J. Cook, there's a plaque to him just outside my constituency in the Tŷ Mawr Lewis Merthyr colliery; he was the general secretary of the Miners Federation of Great Britain, but very little is taught about this significant figure.

What about the history of devolution going back to the 1920s, perhaps even earlier, but also to Kilbrandon and so on? The history of the miners' federation: how can you talk about modern south Wales's history without talking about the development of the South Wales Miners Federation? The importance of the Taff Vale judgment and the implications of that for democratic rights for trade unions. Wales and the slave trade. Gareth Jones, the Welsh journalist, whom I've spoken on many times, who now has a street named after him in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Hughesovka—John Hughes founded one of the biggest steel-producing areas in the world. The 1926 general strike, how we don't talk about the impact of that on the communities of south Wales. We remember the poem by Idris Davies, 1926, and how we'd remember it 'until our blood runs dry'. Well, I think many of our schools and our history curriculum have forgotten about it. Robert Owen, the founder of the co-operative and trade union movement in many parts of Wales and in Britain; the 1984-85 miners' strike that so impacted; and Evan James, who wrote the Welsh national anthem, who came from Pontypridd. 

These are just some of the people. There should be materials; they should form part of a broader corpus of the history that has affected and formed the communities that we represent. For me, that is the important part: the history of working people and working-class communities. Thank you.

It's a great pleasure to take part in this debate, chaired by a distinguished historian herself. For me, history is a living thing. The continuum in which we live is a vitally important part of my imagination, and I'm constantly reflecting on the events of today in their historical context. Therefore, the teaching of history is vitally important. As Mick Antoniw said, a minute ago, history is dead politics, but actually, history is a living thing and the politics of previous generations is also a living thing today. We see this in the debate that has arisen as a result of the Black Lives Matter protests and what's been said about slavery and the role of the British empire and all that. So, it's vitally important that, when history is taught, it is taught in an objective way, or as objective a way as is possible.

I strongly support the petition on a common corpus of knowledge of the history of Wales. I studied Welsh history in school, and history then was taught in perhaps a rather different way from the way it's taught now, but I think it is very important for people to learn about their place in the history of their nation. You can't, I think, understand the events of today without having some real understanding of how we got where we are. As the French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville said,

'as the past has ceased to throw its light upon the future, the mind of man wanders in obscurity'.

And I think that is a basic truism. But the teaching of history is itself, in some ways, a political act, or could be a political act, and we have to be careful, therefore, not to allow history to be used as a weapon of political propaganda, even though that might be subconscious. I think the second petition on the British empire displays a lack of understanding in its fullest sense of the role that the British empire played. It's vitally important, therefore, that we teach both sides of historical controversies. History is a chequerboard; it's got black and white squares on it. To have a full understanding of what happened in the past, we have to revive the controversies that have surrounded the events and movements that we are teaching about.

The British empire was, in many, many ways, a force for good, and the role that Britain played, as Mark Isherwood said, in the suppression of the slave trade is a vitally important part of nineteenth-century history. I think what the petition says, that Britain, including Wales, benefited from colonialism and slavery for centuries, overstates the economic importance of slavery. It was actually marginal in the economic development of the United Kingdom, and, of course, most of the British empire never had slavery at all: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India—great tracts of the world. The slave trade was fundamentally a transatlantic trade, and slavery, of course, has been endemic in all civilisations up to the modern day, all around the world. So, the idea that the British empire came in and enslaved people who were otherwise living in free, democratic countries is, of course, preposterous.

So, we have to see the events of the past in the context of their own time, and we have to understand the minds of the people who were making history at that time against the context of those days. Therefore, many individuals who were regarded as great men in their days we now regard as flawed, in many respects, but we need to teach the good with the bad and the bad with the good, so that's vitally important as well.

Britain, through its empire, which of course covered a quarter of the globe at its zenith in the 1920s, introduced to those countries the rule of law, incorrupt administration. It gave these countries the English language. India was unified as a result of its incorporation into the empire. Modern India would look very different, in geopolitical terms, from what it does today, had it not been for the British empire. As I said a moment ago, we suppressed slavery and we gave these countries the cultural gift of democracy, which was the successor to the British empire. And also, we promoted the economic development of large parts of the world, which supplies the wealth that, of course, the populations enjoy today. So, there are lots of good things that Britain was responsible for. Slavery was a stain, obviously, but we played an honourable part in its suppression.

Black history is important, but I think we have to keep it in its context and in proportion as well, because mass immigration into this country, of course, is a very, very recent phenomena. And even today, the 2011 census tells us that Wales had a population that was 96 per cent white, 2.3 per cent of Asian origin and 0.6 per cent black. So, yes, of course, everybody, whatever race or ethnic make-up that they are, wants to know the history of their own people, their own forebears, and I think that's an important and necessary part of any history curriculum, but I don't believe that it should dominate everything.

We need to teach the history of Wales, we need to teach the history of Britain, and we need to teach the place of Wales and Britain in the world. And if we do that in a constructive, objective way, but encourage people to understand that history is not a fact, because ultimately, all history is myth, in a sense; we are constantly reinterpreting the events of the past. What we need to teach people is that history itself is a problem that, probably, there is no hard and fast solution to. It teaches you how to analyse events and motivations and to understand that history is actually what is written by historians, but it isn't necessarily what happened at the time.

Before I call Mike Hedges, can I just, for the record, say that I'm not the Elin Jones referenced several times during this afternoon's debate? Dr Elin Jones is a pre-eminent historian in Wales and I'm no doctor at all. Mike Hedges.

Just very briefly, I think if we're going to teach the history of Wales, we need to teach the history of the kingdoms of ancient Wales. They actually mean something to many of us.

We seem to have gone backwards. When I did O-level history, we did social and economic history. Now, in their GCSEs, they study America, South Africa and Germany. I think we need to go back.

Finally, people need to understand their own area, how it happened and how different places relate. I think if we're going to put a curriculum together, or put some ideas together, we need all of those in. Thank you.

The Minister to contribute to the debate. Kirsty Williams.

Thank you very much. Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llywydd.

The number of signatures received by both petitions is a clear indication of the strength of feeling about the teaching of history in Wales. We have enjoyed many debates in the Senedd on this topic and today has been no exception, with some very, very thoughtful speeches and contributions. And, of course, this debate today is taking place on a very important date in our history when, on 4 November 1839, under the leadership of John Frost, we saw the Newport uprising. So, I don't know whether it's coincidence that the Petitions Committee has been able to secure the slot today, but it is the most relevant of days to be discussing this subject, once again.

And I'm very happy to update the Members on the current situation regarding curriculum development. As I have said many times before, studying the history and histories of Wales is an important element in meeting the four purposes of our new curriculum. The new curriculum framework reflects Wales: our cultural heritage and diversity; our languages and our values; and the histories and traditions of each one of our communities and all of our people.

I am happy, Presiding Officer, to clarify that the new curriculum will contain mandatory elements, including the statements of what matters for each area of learning and experience. Therefore, every school's curriculum will be required, by statute, to include learning in each of the statements of what matters. And within the humanities area, this must include cultivating a sense of cynefin—a place and a sense of belonging—an appreciation of identity and heritage; a consistent exposure to the story of their locality and the story of Wales; developing an understanding of the complex, pluralistic and diverse nature of societies, both past and present; and engagement with the past, contemporary, and anticipated challenges and opportunities facing them as citizens, their communities and their nation. These will be non-negotiable elements of every school's curriculum, for every learner at every stage. It will simply not be possible to ignore the central and critical role of all of our histories, our local and national stories, including black history, in a school's curriculum. 

Now, we have all agreed that learning must be inclusive and draw on the experiences, the perspectives and the cultural heritage of contemporary Wales. Confidence in their identities helps learners appreciate the contribution they and others can make within their different communities, and to develop and explore their response to local, national and global matters. This will also help learners to explore, make connections and develop understanding within a diverse society. The curriculum recognises that our society is not a uniform entity but encompasses a range of values, perspectives, cultures and histories that includes everybody who lives in Wales. And let me be clear: cynefin is not simply local but provides a foundation for a national and international citizenship. As part of the mandatory statements of what matters in humanities, all schools will have to include learning on the appreciation of the diverse nature of societies, as well as understanding diversity itself.

In the summer, I appointed Professor Charlotte Williams to lead a working group that will provide advice and recommendations about the teaching of themes related to black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and experiences, and I'm glad that the Chair of the Petitions Committee has welcomed that work. Now, this, it is crucial to say, is not limited to history; it covers all parts of the school curriculum, and I am very much looking forward to receiving the interim report later this month, which will focus on learning resources. The group has developed this work in the context of the new curriculum framework, which avoids prescribing a full list of specific topics or activities. Guidance sets out the concepts that should underpin a range of different topics, learning activities and the acquisition of knowledge, and learners of all ages will be exposed to a range of historical periods on a local and national level. They will consider how local, Welsh and world history are connected, shaped and appreciated, through events such as Glyndŵr's uprising, the Spanish civil war, and the world wars of the twentieth century. This is already set out in the guidance that we published earlier this year.

I recognise that we need to continue to support teachers with their professional learning to help them move forward with identifying resources, topics and connections. In order to allow time and space for practitioners to work together across schools to prepare for the new curriculum, we have heavily invested in professional learning, with some £31 million already awarded directly to schools, and we will continue to build upon these strong professional learning foundations as we move closer to implementation of the curriculum in 2022. Therefore, I am confident that the resources, support and guidance being developed will empower schools to deliver meaningful learning about the histories of Wales and its diverse communities in every area of learning and experience right across the curriculum.

Schools will be supported to engage with heritage professionals, museums and galleries, as well as community and cultural leaders when designing their curriculum in order to enrich the learning and experiences of each and every pupil. So, within the parameters set out in the guidance, teachers will have the flexibility to tailor the content of lessons to allow learners to explore their cynefin. We believe that that is the best way forward for them to understand how their local identities, landscapes and histories connect with those on a national and international stage.

Teachers will have the freedom to teach the many and diverse histories of Wales and the wider world, and, as I have said before, exploring the stories of the people and communities of Wales should not simply be limited to history lessons. The whole purpose and design behind the curriculum for Wales encourages learners to explore themes across the curriculum. The diverse histories of the people of Wales can be taught not only in the areas of humanities, but also in languages, literature and communication, and in science and technology. We will create further resources that will refer to key events and topics in the histories of Wales and the world as we move forward to implementation, and these resources will be there to enable teachers to develop their own curricula.

As I mentioned earlier, the working group chaired by Professor Williams has reviewed existing resources to support the teaching of themes relating to BAME experience and contributions right the way across our curriculum, and, as has also been referenced, Estyn will also report on their review on the teaching of Welsh history and diversity in schools next year. Its findings will further help us to commission resources to ensure that teachers have the support that they need to deliver the curriculum successfully.

However, we recognise that access to good-quality learning resources will not necessarily be enough by itself and that teachers will need to be provided with the relevant professional learning and development. Early next year, I expect to receive a second report from Professor Williams's working group, which will be considering the professional learning and development needs of staff in our schools in the coming months. The group will provide recommendations on how to ensure that teachers across the curriculum can competently deliver learning related to black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and experiences. And forgive me, Llywydd, I can't recall which of my colleagues made the point, but Professor Williams is very clear to me that when learning about black history, it must go simply beyond learning about concepts of slavery. There is much, much more to talk about, and the Member that talked about BAME communities' positive contribution to Wales—that point was very well made indeed.

So, in summary, as part of the mandatory statements of what matters in humanities, all schools will have to include learning on and an appreciation of the diverse nature of societies, as well as understanding the concept of diversity itself, and an appreciation of their cynefin. We are continuing to work on the content of the curriculum to ensure that it encompasses experiences and histories that represent the diverse nature of societies that we have here in Wales and across the world. But I thank the Members once again. I always find these debates to be some of the best that we have in the Chamber, and today has been no exception, as I said. Diolch yn fawr.

The Chair of the Petitions Committee to reply to the debate—Janet Finch-Saunders.

Thank you, Minister, for your contribution in responding to this debate, and a serious thank you to all the Members who have participated today. I just want to echo, really, that there have been some really thoughtful and some really good contributions here today. So, in concluding, I want to thank both petitioners and everyone who supported those petitions in order to get them to this point. I'd like to thank my colleagues on the Petitions Committee and the committee clerking team. The mere fact that petitions can result in these issues being discussed in our Welsh Parliament, albeit virtually in this case, I believe, actually goes to prove and demonstrate the value of the petitions process. This debate has enabled some very important issues to be raised, and these two petitions in particular will be considered further by our committee. In taking the petitions forward, of course, we will be mindful of the scrutiny being given to the curriculum elsewhere and to the young people who will be greatly affected by any outcomes of these petitions. The work that's under way by the working group and Estyn and Professor Charlotte Williams has been also mentioned here today, and, really, I think it's been a fantastic debate, and I'm sure that anybody watching who may have started the petitions or signed those petitions will be greatly heartened by the interest that these petitions have attracted today. Thank you, Llywydd. Diolch.

The proposal is to note the petitions. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I see that there is an objection, and I will therefore defer voting until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.

Before we move to voting time, we will take a five-minute break in accordance with Standing Order 34.14D. We will reconvene to hold voting time in five minutes. 

Plenary was suspended at 17:10.

The Senedd reconvened at 17:18, with the Llywydd in the Chair.