Hello all,

This is just a brief summary of the debate on the future of history in schools held at the Institiute of Education on Monday evening.

The deabte was well attended from an end of term with the hall mostly full.

The most interesting part of the debate was the question on the role of academies and their impact on the teaching of history at secondary level and I was astounded to hear that History was being offered as a GCSE in only 71 out of 214 academies! No doubt this will have a huge impact on the teaching of the Black and Asian presence in British history. 

I asked this question on behalf of BASA to the panel: Should the long history of peoples of African origin/descent and those  from the Indian subcontinent in Britain be an integral part of British history taught in schools? And how would the panel envisage this being achieved?

Professor Chris Husbands advised the audience to read an article in the London Review of Books about national identity and seemed to suggest that 'prior' debates and decision making on what should be included in the curriculum would most likely lead to the exclusion of this 'narrative' and this would be even more likely with the squeezing out of history in the syllabus.

Lord Kenneth Baker discussed how Britain's diversity might make it difficult to create a 'national story' in history such as the Americans are attempting and with so many different cultures and ethnicities it might be best to let specific cultures tell their own histories at Saturday schools.

Professor Anne Curry discussed that in a global world she was worried by the continuance of Anglo-centric teaching.

Contributions from the floor discussed the flexibility of the curriculum as to what can be taught but also discussed the lack of time devoted to history as impacting on this.

Another teacher discussed how the marginalisation of ethnic histories in history would lead to divisions through the loss of different cultures being able to know and understand each others histories and cultures.

I had to rush off so I didn't stay for the wine and discussion!

Other BASA members who were there feel free to comment.

John Siblon