Brian Hudson is emeritus professor of education at the University of Sussex and convenor of the Curriculum Working Group of the Fabian Education Policy Group.

 

Since 2010 there have been extremely wide ranging and fundamentally significant reforms to the education system which have had negative impacts (Brighouse and Waters 2022). We need to understand the nature of the damage that has been done through inappropriate and excessive marketisation, centralisation and managerialism and indicate what and how needs to be done to establish, ambitiously and collaboratively, excellence. As a result of what has been done since 2010, schools are underfunded, have been subject to chaotic policy announcements, no longer have the support of local education authorities, work with weakened university departments of education and must compete against each other in a fragmented system subject to punitive inspections and with teachers unfairly criticised. The curriculum is a key feature of the school system, and we need to establish, realistically and positively, the knowledge, understanding and capabilities to which young people are entitled and we need to identify how the achievement of that valuable education that might be enabled. In proposing the need for a review of the curriculum in England, the Fabian Education Policy Group is adding its support to an established, high profile and growing call for action (e.g., https://www.thetimes.co.uk/society/education/education-commission)

 

As from September 2022 England became the only one of the four UK nations not to have an aims-based school curriculum (Reiss and White, 2013; White, 2022). Wales is the latest within the UK (following Northern Ireland and Scotland) in introducing an aims-based curriculum and is doing so by highlighting four broad purposes: to develop young people as: successful, capable learners; ethical, informed citizens; enterprising, creative contributors; and healthy, confident individuals. “Schools need a clear picture of what they in particular can best do” (Reiss and White, 2013, p.1) and in sharing that with parents and others may avoid the negative consequences that arise from the assumption that a dozen or so discrete subjects must be in place irrespective of the needs of young people.

 

In our recent paper from the Curriculum Working Group of the Fabian Education Policy Group (Hudson et al., 2022) we have identified ideas and issues about and for curriculum and recommend that a curriculum review in England should be initiated by the next Labour government as a matter of urgency. The Executive Summary of the paper is listed below:

Rationale for our proposal on the curriculum: In order to support a new approach to education by Labour and to respond to the damaging changes implemented by Conservative led governments since 2010 we propose that the next Labour government undertakes a review of the school curriculum in England based on principles of subsidiarity, collaboration and stakeholder involvement at all levels of the system.

Definition / characterisation of the curriculum: A school’s curriculum is extremely important as it consists of all those activities that promote the intellectual personal, social and physical development of its students

The purpose of the curriculum: Learning is not narrowly focused but rather has a variety of purposes attuned to what people need in order to play a full role in society and for their personal fulfilment. Equity, inclusivity and diversity are vital. It is positively developed in partnership between expert teachers, parents/carers, employers, inspectors, researchers and others.

‘Content’ (forms of knowledge): Through our curriculum all students will explore key areas – the sciences, arts, humanities, social science, languages, the personal and the physical – in exciting and engaging interactions with teachers and others.

Community focus: Our curriculum allows people to learn about the things that they need and that matter to them. Learners will work together with a variety of partners, including parents and carers, professionals and others, locally and globally, to achieve positive outcomes.

Teaching and learning: Our curriculum allows students and teachers to work in ways that are engaging, enjoyable and worthwhile, exploring knowledge that really matters.

Assessment: Our approach to assessment actively supports people in their learning and allow young people, employers, and others to know what young people know, understand and can do.

Support: Our curriculum will be supported through collaboration between key individuals and groups to allow for a collegial, world class system of education. Parents and carers, teachers, inspectors, researchers and others will be constructively and positively engaged in an active school improvement agenda. A review of the current curriculum in England is urgently needed.

 

The full paper can be accessed via this link Ideas and Issues about and for a new curriculum IN ENGLAND (fabianeducation.com).

References

 

Brighouse, T. and Waters, M. (2022). About our schools: improving on previous best. Carmarthen, Crown House Publishing.

 

Hudson, B., Davies, I., Lighthill, B., Rimmel, and Tully, M. (2022) Ideas and Issues about and for a New Curriculum in England: A policy proposal for the Curriculum Working Group of the Fabian Education Policy Group, November 2022 https://www.fabianeducation.com/_files/ugd/6e348a_16d586097a244eeeb9be36c01900e0ed.pdf

 

Reiss, M. and White, J. (2013). An Aims-based Curriculum: The Significance of Human Flourishing for Schools, (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280840026_An_Aims-based_Curriculum_The_Significance_of_Human_Flourishing_for_Schools accessed 3 December 2022)

 

White, J. (2022).  A deeper pocket? Forum, 64 (2), https://doi.org/10.3898/forum.2022.64.2.12