The strange disappearance of The strange disappearance of the national narrative in the national narrative in

English schools 1960-present English schools 1960-present dayday

Dr Nicola Sheldon, Institute of Historical Research, University of London

History of Education Society Conference, London

26-28 November 2010

Outline of this Outline of this presentationpresentationMyths and icons and the English

national narrative in schools up to the 1970s;

Why did the national narrative disappear from the school curriculum in the 1970s and 80s?

Did the new National Curriculum of 1990 restore it?

To what extent is there a ‘new style’ national narrative in English schools?

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Myths in the National Myths in the National PsychePsyche

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The National Narrative in the The National Narrative in the Wider CultureWider Culture

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Not a new phenomenon….

Examples of the English Examples of the English national narrative in school national narrative in school work pre-1970swork pre-1970s

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Courtesy of Muriel Longhurst 1947-50 and Ian Colwill 1960-67

Outline of a typical history Outline of a typical history course for secondary pupils course for secondary pupils pre-1970spre-1970s

Age 11-12: Ancient World to Norman Conquest

Age 12-13: British History 1066-1485 Age 13-14: British, European and World

History 1485-17th,18th or 19th century…. Age 14-16:

British History 1815-1945 British/ European History 1789-1939 British Social and Economic History 1700-1945 Modern World History 1870-1945A New Look at History (1976) p.26

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A Survey of British History A Survey of British History (1951)(1951)

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N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

The curriculum in English The curriculum in English schoolsschools

No central or nationally-legislated curriculum

No prescribed text books‘Advice’ given by Board of Education

dwindled after 1945No central control over teacher trainingExaminations controlled by university

bodiesMajority of children never took leaving

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Why did teachers perpetuate Why did teachers perpetuate the national narrative?the national narrative? We never questioned it, you just did as

you were told, didn’t you? And I tried to make it as fun as possible. And the other thing is it succeeded, and teaching in those days was full of tricks…, memory games. You would teach a set content, an accepted content, a corpus, you would teach that in as interesting a way as you could find. … You had these little games and tricks that you played, the children loved them, and then they went away and learnt it and just then copied that, as much from memory as possible, for their exams. (Interview: J D Clare 7 April 2010)

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Why do we need to do Why do we need to do history? history?

Threats Comprehensive secondary schools by end of 1970s –

mixed ability classes and full ability range to cater for. New subjects crowded the curriculum. History seen as traditional and unpopular (surveys). Opportunities Post-war cohort of teachers + expanded training

colleges. 1964 Schools Council set up to fund curriculum

innovation. Response ‘Defensive innovation’ by history teachers:-

New curriculum, e.g. world history, social/local history A re-think of the rationale of the subject - ‘love,

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A history teacher remembers A history teacher remembers his youthful idealism …his youthful idealism … I got a job in Devon at Exmouth School,

which was the largest comprehensive in England at the time with 2,400 students. Great place … to learn. There were twelve NQTs (first appointment teachers) in the school the September I started. It was a time of huge excitement and we really thought that the world was going to change. It was 1969, the world was going to change, it was going to be a better place, there was going to be peace and love and better history and I expected and hoped to be part of that movement. (Interview: Chris Culpin, 22 September 2009)

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School work in ‘new’ history School work in ‘new’ history from the 1970s-80sfrom the 1970s-80s

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Courtesy of Charlotte Crow, 1979-80

The alternative(s) to the The alternative(s) to the national narrative 1970s-80snational narrative 1970s-80sSchools Council History Project based on

the ‘needs of the teenager’ What is History? - introductory

investigations History Around Us – local history study

including site visits (coursework = 20%) Study in Development – a theme

through a long period of time (Medicine Through Time)

Depth Study – Elizabethan England 1558-1603;or Britain 1815-1851; or The American West 1840-1890

Modern World Study – Communist China; or Arab-Israeli Conflict; or The Irish Question

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The backlash from The backlash from governmentgovernment1988 proposed introduction of the

National Curriculum in 10 subjects;History the most controversial – PM

wanted a core of factual information based on British history - a chronological national narrative;

History Working Group responded by constructing a curriculum for ‘social identity’ not ‘national identity’.

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The National Curriculum and the The National Curriculum and the Welsh national narrativeWelsh national narrative

Cultural identity at the heart:- ‘the centre of gravity of Welsh history

… has lain in the social, economic and broad cultural experiences of the people of Wales’

‘the awareness of the Welsh as a separate people rests… on a belief in the particularity of their own past and traditions… the teaching of the history of Wales … is a crucial aspect in safeguarding that identity.’ (Final Report of the History Committee for Wales, June 1990, paras. 4.2, 4.5))

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The problem of identity in The problem of identity in English school history 1970s- English school history 1970s- present daypresent day Old narrative out of date – end of

Empire; Multi-ethnic Britain challenges any

single narrative; Devolution and the problem of English

national identity; Uncertainty about the national

characteristics England/Britain should promote;

Cultural change since the 1960s – scepticism the basis of the new history?

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The new narrative of school The new narrative of school history?history?(refer to handout for Key Stage (refer to handout for Key Stage 3)3) The slave trade and the Holocaust the

only mandated topics in the National Curriculum (although most teachers still do a lot of British history)

(Be nice!) Tolerance and social cohesion the priority

Citizenship more prominent (history as a means of learning lessons for the present).

But…. No national narrative – so, have we lost our way or reached a new level of maturity in our study of history in schools?

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The Dutch canon and the re-The Dutch canon and the re-birth of national narrativesbirth of national narratives

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