Thursday July 2nd 2026
School children attend event launching Glasgow slavery teaching curriculum last month (image: Glasgow City Council)
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Sarah Hilley
Glasgow school children are set to get more in depth lessons about the city’s links to slavery thanks to a university partnership.
Staff training to strengthen subject knowledge is part of the programme as well as the creation of high quality teaching materials.
The council’s education improvement service has been working with the University of Glasgow to bolster lessons on the city’s historic involvement in transatlantic slavery.
Glasgow was a major trade route for sugar and tobacco for the slave states of America and the West Indies and wealth from the exploitative labour flowed into the city.
Commenting on the bid to educate children on the past, Councillor Christina Cannon, city convener for education and early years, said: “This research-informed curriculum initiative, developed in partnership with the University of Glasgow, is a vital step in strengthening how we teach the city’s links to transatlantic slavery.
“It aims to improve historical accuracy, deepen critical understanding, and support anti-racist education. By acknowledging and learning from the past, we can equip our young people with the knowledge to shape a more informed future, embedding this learning meaningfully across the curriculum.”
Goals include improving “the accuracy, depth and confidence of teaching about Glasgow’s historical links to transatlantic slavery, and to ensure this learning is embedded within the school curriculum”, according to a council report.
University of Glasgow research will be used and pupils will be connected to the history through learning about the city’s streets, buildings and institutions.
The city has 62 streets and locations with historic connections to slavery – including Buchanan Street – as well as a number of buildings, while eight figures linked to the trade have been commemorated across monuments in the city.
The Teaching Glasgow’s Slavery Past (TGSP) partnership was launched last month at the city chambers.
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