How will these resources help you?

Geography lessons often include references to ‘slums’ and ‘shanty towns’, partly due to the use of these terms in GCSE specifications and textbooks. The terms have negative connotations when comparing other places to settlements in the UK and can lead to misconceptions and promote a single story of a place. The resources below encourage teachers to think differently when teaching these settlements by challenging the language used and exploring examples of people fighting to protect their ‘slum’ homes. Readers will be prompted to critically evaluate their own use of language and examples in lessons. With many schools focussing on Rio and Lagos in their GCSE courses, including discussion of their ‘slums’ and related challenges, these texts are likely to be of practical and immediate use to classroom teachers.