Will the Curriculum Caterpillar Ever Learn to Fly?

ABSTRACT

This paper examines New Labour's curriculum policies since its election to office in May 1997. It begins with an overview of the curriculum legacy inherited by New Labour from the previous Conservative government. New Labour's curriculum polices are then analysed in relation to the continuities and disjunctures with those of its predecessor. It is argued that under New Labour ‘standards’ has replaced ‘curriculum’ as the discursive hub of educational policy making. This discursive shift has led to the government imposing greater control over classroom pedagogy in order to meet prespecified educational targets. Moreover, it has engendered policies that substantially erode the principle of a broad and balanced curriculum entitlement, generally regarded one of the redeeming features of the 1988 Education Reform Act. The paper concludes with some tentative suggestions for a conception of curriculum that will more effectively meet the challenges of the 21st century