It is the final week of the experimental three-week programme.
Marc Fennell along with a team of educators will guide a class of primary school students as they learn about what racism is and how to stand up to it.
Returning to class having just spent the last 24 hours with a cardboard cut-out friend. The students have a chance to talk about how it feels to share their cultures and to learn about others and for some of the students, real life friendships and bonds develop as a result.
The students are now equipped with a more accurate account of each other, now they will be joined by former AFL player and Journalist, Tony Armstrong who will help the kids question the accuracy of the media as they explore race, sensationalism and how representation matters. The students will then be journalists for a day, where they will find out first-hand how racism affects people in their local neighbourhood.
With only days left in the programme the students have come to celebrate their differences. But what about their similarities? In a science class with a twist, the students will be shocked to discover how similar we really are. This lesson in biology is a steppingstone for the students to examine commonalities and values which goes to the core of who we are as human beings.
As the programme reaches the end the students will share what they have learned with the entire year. These moving and insightful speeches reveal how much the students have grown. Finally, we’ll re-test the students at the end and find out if this bold new experiment has been a success or a failure.
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.
