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ABSTRACT
Just after the First World War the English Association published The Teaching of English in Schools. It argues that developing children’s ‘creative spirit’ is fundamental to maintaining peace in Europe. Seventy years later, the first National Curriculum promotes a creative, unitary English appropriate for ‘a European context’.
In contrast, today’s national curriculum contains no reference to the role of English in international relations; simultaneously, all references to creativity have disappeared.
As Britain struggles to cope with the fallout from Brexit, this paper – written from a hermeneutic perspective – discusses the correlation between how each of the three documents positions English in an international context and how they value creativity. Without wishing to over–simplify complex issues, it questions how to what extent a curriculum might echo or shape national politics. It calls for a new curriculum that embraces a creative, internationalist view of English to inspire communities of the future.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. This literature review is one in the ‘Creativity, Culture and Education’ series. It is worth noting that the author, Professor Ken Jones, was a member of the Education Network of the European Social Forum.
2. The children of the working class were taught in public elementary schools by non-subject specialists. Support for these teachers came in the form of a series of books launched in 1905, Suggestions for the consideration of teachers and others concerned in the work of the public elementary schools, officially sanctioned by His Majesty’s Stationery Office (Smith Citation2018a).
3. This is the first use of the noun ‘creativity’ in an English policy document.
4. The third and fourth National Curricula (DfEE/QCA Citation1999; DES/QCA Citation2004), introduced by the New Labour government, retain the prescriptivism and were accompanied by official guidance on pedagogy (DfES Citation2004).
5. Programme for International Student Assessment and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study: note that scores are for the whole of Great Britain rather than England.
6. General Certificate of Secondary Education.
7. Key stage 4 is the period of preparation for the General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations (typically for ages 14–16).
8. I am indebted to one of the original reviewers of this article for alerting me to this point.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Lorna Smith
Lorna Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Education and leads the PGCE English programme. Her research interests include the impact of the current national curriculum for English on creativity in secondary English classrooms, and the history of subject English. She is vice-chair of NATE’s ITE committee and runs a popular Teachers as Writers group.
For further information, please see: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/education/people/lorna-a-smith/index.html