Educators questioning how to broaden black history teaching year-round

By Joseph Quigley, CBC News

Natasha Henry, an educator and historian in Mississauga, Ont., has worked for years developing programs and workshops aimed at getting more teachers to add black history to their curriculum.

As February is Black History Month in Canada and the U.S., teachers across the country will be injecting more of the subject into their classrooms. But Henry wants people to get past limiting the teaching of black history to a single month.

“I really am pushing for teachers to get outside of that February box,” she said. “Facilitating workshops and doing presentations — these things can go beyond and outside of February.”

Henry is not alone in that sentiment. There is a debate in educational circles about whether Black History Month is an effective means to teach black history and, possibly, improve race relations — or whether the one-month focus hinders these things.