Dr Nicola Sheldon, Institute of Historical Research, LondonHEIRNET conference

Hunter College, City University of New York. 13-15 September 2010

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?

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

Not a new phenomenon….

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

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

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 c0ntr0lled by university

bodies Majority of children never took leaving

examinations pre-1965.22/04/23

N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

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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N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

Courtesy of Julie Johnson 1974-7

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)

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

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 New post-war cohort of teachers (and more of them

due to expansion of training colleges). 1964 Schools Council set up to fund curriculum

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

New curriculum, e.g. world history, social history, local history

A re-think of the rationale of the subject - ‘love, freedom and new history’

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

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)

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

Courtesy of Charlotte Crow, 1979-80

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

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

1988 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’.

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the 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))

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

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?

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

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?

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative

22/04/23N.Sheldon The Strange Disappearance of the National Narrative