The strange disappearance of the national narrative in English schools 1960-present day

1. The strange disappearance of the national narrative in English schools 1960-present day Dr Nicola Sheldon, Institute of Historical Research, University of London History of Education Society Conference, London 26-28 November 2010

2. Outline of this presentation • Myths 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? N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

3. Myths in the National Psyche N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

4. The National Narrative in the Wider Culture Not a new phenomenon…. N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

5. Examples of the English national narrative in school work pre-1970s Courtesy of Muriel Longhurst 1947-50 and Ian Colwill 1960-67 N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

6. Outline of a typical history course for secondary pupils pre-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 1870-1945 A New Look at History (1976) p.26 N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

7. A Survey of British History (1951) N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

8. The curriculum in English schools • No central or nationally-legislated curriculum • No prescribed text books • ‘Advice’ given by Board of Education dwindled after 1945 • No central control over teacher training • Examinations controlled by university bodies • Majority of children never took leaving examinations pre-1965. N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

9. Why did teachers perpetuate 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) N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

10. Why do we need to do 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, freedom and new history’ N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

11. A history teacher remembers 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) N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

12. School work in ‘new’ history from the 1970s-80s Courtesy of Charlotte Crow, 1979-80 N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

13. The alternative(s) to the national narrative 1970s-80s Schools 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 N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

14. The backlash from government • 1988 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’. N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

15. The National Curriculum and the Welsh 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)) N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

16. The problem of identity in English school history 1970s- present 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? N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

17. The new narrative of school history?(refer to handout for Key Stage 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? N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

18. The Dutch canon and the re-birth of national narratives N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative