In attempting to establish my core values and intentions for my project, I assisted in delivering an educational workshop at the Black Cultural Archives for Year 5 students. I was able to examine the different cultural and visual languages used in teaching this history to children aged 9-10. This consisted of objects, photographs, PowerPoint presentations and reading sheets. Through analysing the ways in which the children interacted with the array of stimuli, I was able to see the effectiveness of design in education. For example, the children responded better to photographs of Connie Mark as opposed to an A4 sheet of plain text, detailing her role in World War II.

This experience was crucial in helping me to establish my key priorities and aims for my project – to find a way to invigorate Black British history. I wanted to create a form of visibility and empowerment for Black Brits, whilst emphasising its importance and relevance in today’s society. Although workshops are a good example of collectively engaging people with vital information and knowledge, I wanted to adopt a means by which this crucial knowledge could reach a larger, wider audience.