Towards Understanding Slavery: Past and Present workshops have been devised to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Slave Trade Act, which was passed in Britain in 1807.

The free workshops, the first of their kind to be offered by a local authority in Scotland, are suitable for P6-S6 pupils and are open to schools all over the country.

Available at the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, they look at the role religion and Glasgow played in the slave trade story. They also explore human rights and crimes against humanity as well as the work of organisations such as Amnesty International and the Fair Trade movement.

Curriculum ties include religion and moral education, history, citizenship and modern studies.

“The new workshops show the significant role that Glasgow played in the slave trade story, not just the dark side but the positive side, when it became a strong abolitionist city,” says Kiran Singh, Glasgow Museums’

education and access curator, who is based at St Mungo Museum.

“It’s important that young people and teachers are given support to study this aspect of history and that’s what the workshops will offer. They will look at slavery over a period of hundreds of years, from early times to present day forms, such as child labour, using historic objects that have a connection to slavery and human rights.”

The workshops begin with a discussion led by museum staff, who start by asking pupils what slavery is and what basic human rights are, in order to find out what classes already know about the subject.

“These are thought-provoking workshops, aimed at showing that we can learn from the past and that we all can play a part in shaping the world we live in, like the ordinary citizens of Glasgow 200 years ago who fought successfully for the abolition of the slave trade.”

To book a workshop or for details, tel: 0141 276 9506 or 0141 553 2557