Is it possible to set schools free while demanding a beefed up teaching of our nation’s history? Both are topics close to the heart of the Education Secretary but eventually, he’s going to have to choose one over the other. Top-down orders on the History curriculum will undermine attempts to give schools and teachers more control over what they do. Tristram Hunt threw this curveball in this weeks magazine, where he states it is a example of the classic Tory struggle between liberalism and conservatism:
‘The self-inflicted challenge comes with delivering this national narrative of Britishness. Because at the crux of Gove’s schools revolution is the dismantling of national provision. The faith schools, the free schools, the studio schools and the academies have absolutely no obligation to obey the national curriculum’
The same could be said for all subjects but History strikes a particular chord with Tory MPs. It is their belief that favouring the teaching of Britain’s history — over say, the American struggle for civil rights — will lead to a revival in national pride and identity. But as Fraser recalls on this week’s podcast, a Labour education secretary once said that the ‘Minister knows nowt about curriculum.’ Gove should not lose sight that his reforms are designed specifically to address this issue.
Subscribers can read Tristram’s piece here. Non-subscribers can subscribe to the Spectator from a £1 an issue.
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