What is on the history curriculum for schools at present?
Is it primarily world history or do pupils learn about great British events and people of which there are many. Is the peasants revolt in any curriculum for example, the Magna Carta, the civil war, the great monarchs? Are they taught to be proud of the country they live in?
Also in literature – do the pupils study British books and poetry and great authors – Orwell, Brontes, Austen, Shakespeare, Blake, Wordsworth etc.
I am referring to primary, secondary and high school education
Thanks Shannen – that is good to know.
Sean – it sounds better than I thought, very good in fact. No there is nothing wrong at all in learning world history as long as it is not at the expense of our own and there is a good balance. I was under the impression though that British history was not taught as much as you say it is. I am pleased with the answers to this question that have corrected my faulty idea.
In the school where I work (a large inner-London comprehensive where there is a vary vary large number of immigrant children and the children of immigrants) the children are taught British history, they are taught about Roman Britain, Medieval Britain (at the moment they are learning about the Plague and the Black Death in Year 8 (second form), they learn about the Tudors and Stuarts and the English Civil War, I accompanied a group of Year 12 Citizenship students to the Houses of Parliament and they had clearly learnt about the Magna Carta as when they saw it in the flesh as it were all knew exactly what it was, how important it was etc but all chorused their shock at how small and seemingly uncared for it is (if you don’t know it is in a rather non-descript frame hidden behind a display about it just inside a doorway in the Royal Apartments) they learn about the two world wars and yes they do learn about world history as well, they learn about the black people’s of America, the French Revolution and the Cold war, I am not sure that this is a bad thing. In English pretty much all of the greats are taught and all GCSE and GCE (A Level) students have to study Shakespeare, Chaucer, other greats are in there as well Orwell, Austen, Shelley, Bronte, Auden, Arden, Brooke, Sassoon, Golding, Owen etc. I think that all our students whether they were born British or even feel British when they join our school certainly are proud to have some part of Britain when they leave. Bring on the Citizenship oaths of allegiance I say.
