Anti-slavery school linking project

Plan worked with the National Museums Liverpool and Aduna connecting schools along the triangular slave route. Pupils from Brazil, England, Haiti, Senegal and Sierra Leone worked together using an online communication system exploring three core questions:

• What is slavery?
• What does it mean to be free?
• How can we safeguard liberty?

Through a nine-lesson plan, the pupils looked at the experiences of countries directly affected by the transatlantic slave trade and how this shared history has shaped their country.

They also examined contemporary slavery in its various forms using a number of case studies and looked at ways in which slavery can be tackled and prevented from happening in the future.

As well as creating mind maps and charters of rights, they communicated with each other and discussed their ideas through forums and emails.

The offline component of the project involved the schools interpreting the issues themselves. The outputs from this side included sculpture and film from Haitian students, capoeira, graffiti and dance in Brazil, music in Sierra Leone, and film in England and Senegal.

The project culminated in August 2007 when three international students visited Liverpool to mark opening of Liverpool’s new International Slavery Museum, and to showcase their work. The videos they made during the project are now a permanent fixture in the Antony Walker education centre at the International Slavery Museum.

Visit the Learning Centre to download the Make the Link, Break the Chain lesson plans and resources or have a look in the Project gallery to see their work.

Read the Education Guardian’s pages on the project.

Make the Link, Break the Chain project scoops Museums and Heritage Award for Excellence 2008