Hosted by Walkley award-winning journalist, Marc Fennell, The School That Tried to End Racism, explores a ground-breaking pilot program designed to provide school children with the tools to identify racial bias and make positive change.
Filmed in a NSW primary school, a team of inspirational educators, and leading expert Professor Fiona White, attempt to reverse the racial bias in an ordinary multicultural class of 9 to 11-year-old students. Using a bold new programme for the first time in Australia, the series follows the students and their families as they confront racism head on in an effort to unpack the status quo.
Experts believe that addressing racism at an early age may be a simple solution. If we can fix racial bias in childhood, then perhaps we can fix racial inequality in adulthood.
Over three weeks the students go through a series of entertaining and eye-opening activities in and out of class that challenges everything they thought they knew about race. Each activity is designed to get them thinking about stereotyping, prejudice and anti-racism.
During the program, the students learn the personal impact of racism and how it affects not only themselves but also their classmates.
Beyond the classroom the students meet Comedian Nazeem Hussain, Writer and ABC Sports Reporter Tony Armstrong and Olympian Bendere Oboya who share their experiences and knowledge to assist the students with their understanding of racism.
At the end of the three weeks, Professor Fiona White measures the students racial bias to find out if this new approach actually works.
Production credits: The School That Tried To End Racism is a Screentime Australia production for the ABC. Major production investment from the ABC in association with Screen Australia. Financed with support from Screen NSW. Screentime Executive Producers: Deborah Spinocchia and Johnny Lowry. Series Director: John Karabelas. ABC Commissioning Editor: Julie Hanna. ABC Managing Editor Factual: Richard Huddleston. ABC Head of Factual and Culture: Jennifer Collins.
Based on The School That Tried to End Racism: an original programme by Proper Content Limited licensed and distributed by Banijay Rights Limited.
Excellent initiative.