‘What does it mean to diversify the curriculum?’ A provocation
By Dr John Perry
Few people believe that the current English curriculum is sufficiently diverse, particularly in terms of subject content. While Ofsted grudgingly accept that ‘It is beneficial for pupils to see people similar to them represented as the heroes and protagonists in the books they read.’ (Ofsted, 2022, np), they also warn against ‘significant, influential texts being removed from the curriculum or texts being included only because they address contemporary issues rather than due literary merit.’ (ibid.), without offering any evidence for this actually happening in schools.
My research is located in secondary schools in the ex-industrial communities of the East Midlands of England, the so-called ‘red wall’ constituencies. In some ways these are communities and schools un-representative of the range of diversities found in the city schools which make up the majority of academic research. These are communities where 90% or more of adults identified as White British in the most recent national census, compared with 35% in London. However, my research clearly demonstrates that English teachers in such communities are as committed as city-based teachers when it comes to diversifying the English curriculum. They recognize the inadequacies of the current curriculum and they are acting to produce curricular models to challenge prevailing social attitudes in their communities, with signs of a positive impact.
The challenge they face is how to produce a coherent curriculum in the face of other demands, particularly the policy demands of a school system predicated on performativity. One solution would be to completely reimagine the English curriculum, along with the nature of assessment, so that we have a curriculum which allows pupils to celebrate and grow their culture, whatever form that culture takes; we need a curriculum for cultural growth.
Dr John Perry (Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham) joined the University of Nottingham in 2017, following a career teaching English in secondary schools for over 20 years, including several years as a headteacher. Since joining the School of Education at the University of Nottingham, John has led the Secondary English PGCE; led on the University’s SCITT partnerships; taught on different Masters courses; and held various leadership roles including Deputy Director of Education and Student Experience. John’s doctorate focused on the place, purpose and production of English in secondary schools, and he has published many articles and book chapters about this subject. His current research focusses on school leadership and sustainability. John lives in the East Midlands of England with his family.
