Experiencing the history National Curriculum 1991-2011: voices of veteran teachers

Journal article


Woolley, M. 2018. Experiencing the history National Curriculum 1991-2011: voices of veteran teachers. History of Education. 48 (2). https://doi.org/10.1080/0046760X.2018.1544668
AuthorsWoolley, M.
Abstract

In 2018 it is 30 years since the Educational Reform Act of 1988 introduced a National Curriculum to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This article questions whether this policy became something to be celebrated, commemorated or ignored. The National Curriculum for history has proved contentious in media and academic circles, but the focus has been on documentation over lived experience. In contrast, this research used an oral history approach to explore how 13 history teachers perceived, experienced and enacted the National Curriculum in their own classrooms between 1991 and 2011.

The findings show this period could be closely identified with increased prescription in the history classroom and, as a corollary, a potential loss of teacher autonomy. The National Curriculum played some part in that process but, after the initial shock, was not perceived as a restrictive force. Changing responses to the National Curriculum over four programmes of study illuminate changing experiences of history teaching from 1991 to 2011, a period fraught with developments in national educational
policy.

KeywordsNational curriculum; history curriculum; history teacher; enacting curriculum; historical content
Year2018
JournalHistory of Education
Journal citation48 (2)
PublisherTaylor & Francis
ISSN0046-760X
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/0046760X.2018.1544668
Publication dates
Online17 Dec 2018
Publication process dates
Deposited30 Jan 2019
Accepted01 Nov 2018
Accepted author manuscript
Output statusPublished
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https://repository.canterbury.ac.uk/item/88y8w/experiencing-the-history-national-curriculum-1991-2011-voices-of-veteran-teachers

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