Chief examiners as Prophet and Priest: relations between examination boards and school subjects, and possible implications for knowledge

Abstract

Evidence from an ethnographic study of three secondary school geography departments in England is drawn on to describe aspects of the relationships between examination boards and school subjects. This paper focuses on one department, in ‘Town Comprehensive’, and the argument is illustrated through a discussion of observed lessons with a teacher in this department. Ofqual (Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation) have recently announced that examination boards may continue to endorse commercially available teaching resources. The argument presented in this paper extends possible areas of ‘risk’ identified beyond those they currently consider. Specifically, it is argued that chief examiners play multiple roles in the recontextualisation of knowledge, holding substantial power over school subjects. The strong role of accreditation as a rationale is argued to restrict knowledge taught in school geography to horizontal discourses, limiting students’ access to powerful knowledge.

Keywords:

• geography
• powerful knowledge
• assessment
• secondary schools
• chief examiners

Acknowledgements

With thanks to Dr Alis Oancea, and Dr Roger Firth for their comments on early sections of this paper in the original context of my doctoral thesis. Thanks also to the anonymous reviewers for their assistance.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Steven Puttick

Steven Puttick is a Senior Lecturer in teacher development at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, and a DPhil (PhD) candidate at Oxford University.