Good Point very well made Emma re: diversity! (Thursday afternoon stress clearly blinded me) J

Like you say the consultancy aspect of this should be seen as a positive thing. A chance for all these worries to be aired- lets just hope someone listens!

Hi all

I'm not jumping on you Liz :) - but - in my view diversity is not just about ethnicity. A broad approach to diversity focuses on the richness and difference of people's experiences in the past - men, women, children, rich, poor, rural, urban, living in different places and contexts – and covers diversity within and between groups.

My fear with a very chronological fact-based approach is that teachers will end up falling back on rote learning - how else are they going to get time to teach all this? - and assessment will prioritise a superficial understanding of 'what happened next' rather than the deeper, more interesting questions of why, and how, and understanding how the accepted interpretations have been constructed in the first place.  There are deeper questions I fear will be missed out, and the curriculum as written risks failing to engage a generation of children in the past because many of them frankly won't see the relevance of a list of kings, rulers and constitutional events to their own lives.  The role of women in the past, for example, isn't even mentioned until the Victorians in KS3 other than of a couple of prominent individuals named in the KS2 schedule. Personally I think it sounds deadly, and I would class myself as a history geek, so how on earth you get a mixed ability, mixed heritage class of 14-year-olds interested in the enormous list of events that constitutes the KS3 curriculum is a challenge I frankly wouldn’t want to take on. I wonder if there’s been any consultation with young people? I’d love to see the reaction of an average Y9 class in a mixed inner-city school.

However, as has been pointed out, this is a draft for consultation only and there is an opportunity for us to have our say - we should take it.

Best wishes

Emma



Emma King
Museum Consultant
Tel: 01484 380149
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On 07/02/2013 16:15, "Liz Egan" <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Well this has caused some debate.
> Just wanted to put my  humble opinion in- Surely the issue here is not
> diversity. British History is what it is- and we need to educate the younger
> generations on the facts of exactly what happened in the past, in order for
> them to learn for the future. If there seems to be a focus on White England,
> then surely this is because (and I hesitate to write this in fear of being
> jumped upon)that is what this country was for many years.
> I for one am thankful that this country has changed and is a wonderful
> diverse place with so much heritage to offer, however surely it is important
> to look at how we got here and what lessons have been learned- which means
> that our children must learn about the 'white ruling classes' of our past.
> And as Don says, the slave trade and British Empire are quite rightly
> mentioned and surely it is impossible for these topics to be broached
> without diversity. Also the citizenship curriculum clearly mentions
> diversity as a key learning element.
> I do largely agree that this proposal does seem to cram a great deal into
> the curriculum but I for one feel that the chronological approach is a
> positive and logical approach. It will definitely mess up the offer we
> currently have here and I foresee a great deal of hard work to change and
> adapt  our led sessions but I feel maybe we should embrace these new ideas
> instead of immediately jumping on them.
> I will now retreat :)
> Thanks
>
> Liz
>
> Liz Egan
> Education Officer
>
> Thackray Museum
> Beckett Street
> Leeds
> LS9 7LN
> 01132444343
>  
> www.thackraymuseum.org
>
> please note I do not have an out of office assistant
>
> http://www.facebook.com/thackraymuseum
>
> http://www.justgiving.com/thackraymedicalmuseumltd/donate
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: List for discussion of issues in museum education in the UK.
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Don Henson
> Sent: 07 February 2013 16:00
> To: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Draft National Curriculum online HISTORY
>
> John,
>
> I largely agree - but at least the slave trade is still there and any
> teaching of the British Empire must involve teaching about diversity and the
> historical origins of modern British society. Any good teacher worth their
> salt can take this and teach imaginatively.
>
> Also, diversity is mentioned explicitly in the Citizenship curriculum.
>
> My main issue - echoing Dave - is the shear amount of chronology crammed
> into KS2.
>
> Don
>
> Don Henson
> Freelance Consultant in Public Archaeology and Education
>
> See my web pages at
> http://www.independent.academia.edu/DonHenson
> http://nowthenuk.wordpress.com
>
> and my new book, Doing Archaeology, at
> http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415602129/
>
> I am also Hon. Director of CASPAR
> Centre for Audio-Visual Study and Practice in Archaeology Institute of
> Archaeology University College London
>
> This is deeply depressing on many scores: it appears to be basically a white
> ruling class, Little Englander view of history as mainly great men and
> women, kings queens and government- as taught circa 1960?
>
> It ignores diversity, most of social history and culture and the wider
> world- and most developments in history teaching and cultural learning in
> the last 40 years.
>
> It seems designed to put generations of children off history and to ignore
> completely the reasons we (including through GEM and its representatives on
> the Schools Council and Dearing review) advocated change and museum/
> heritage content at various stages in the evolution of the NC. The evidence
> for all that is still there- and we can show the evidence for the benefits
> of what we in museums and heritage have done to inspire children and
> teachers since the introduction of the NC.
>
>  
>
> Perhaps the main issues we should concentrate on in our response are:
>
> The importance of starting children off from the local and tangible (the
> current local history element) and certainly not from prehistory- the most
> remote stretch of history which museums and heritage organisations find most
> challenging to bring to life.
>
> The proven success and stimulus of direct contact with the past and with the
> widest possible range of evidence-museums galleries sites photographs
> archives etc (as explicitly stated in the NC from the start)
>
> We could also argue as I'm sure the Historical Association will that you can
> develop a sense of chronology and time (admittedly a problem with the old
> NC) without plodding  through the whole of political and 'national' history.
>
>  
>
> We should also be prepared [if it goes through] to provide  a massive amount
> of CPD for (probably demoralised) teachers, as we did when the NC was first
> brought in- then the challenge was dealing with among others ancient Greece,
> Rome, Aztecs, Benin, China etc!
>
> We will have a crucial role to play in bringing large tracts of British
> history to life for children at KS1-3 so they still want to do History at
> KS4 and stay interested for the rest of their lives.
>
> John
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> From: List for discussion of issues in museum education in the UK.
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jane
> Sent: 07 February 2013 14:55
> To: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Draft National Curriculum online
>
>  
>
> Exactly my first thoughts Neil!
>
>  
>
> Jane
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: Neil Dymond-Green <mailto:[log in to unmask]>  
>
> To: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
>
> Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013 2:52 PM
>
> Subject: Re: Draft National Curriculum online
>
>  
>
> I presume it isn't only me who glanced over that document and wondered how
> on earth teachers are going to cover the quantity of KS2 stuff in any
> meaningful way.
>
>  
>
> And how well 6-7 year olds (KS1) are actually going to be able to cope with
> 'concepts such as civilisation, monarchy, parliament, democracy, and war and
> peace that are essential to understanding history'
>
>  
>
> Neil
>
>  
>
> On 7 February 2013 14:42, Willis, Josephine (ACS, Cultural Services)
> <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> History may not be compulsory, but the reorganisation of how it should be
> taught up to KS3 in a chronological order opens new potential all round, not
> only for the subjects we are used to promoting but also new historical
> periods.
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Jo Willis
>
> Senior Museum Learning Assistant
>
> The Commandery
>
> Sidbury, Worcester, WR1 2HU
>
>  
>
>  
>
> From: List for discussion of issues in museum education in the UK.
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lesley Walker
> Sent: 07 February 2013 13:04
> To: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Draft National Curriculum online
>
>  
>
> Thanks for sending this out to everyone Liz. Sadly no compulsory history for
> 14-16 year olds.
>
>  
>
> Museums should especially note - no Victorians at KS2!! and hopefully the
> six wives could be finally put to rest as well ...
>
>  
>
>  
>
> best wishes
>
> Lesley
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Dr Lesley Walker
>
> Heritage Learning and Interpretation
>
> 116 Castle St
>
> Woodbridge IP12 1HL Suffolk UK
>
> Landline +44 (0)1394 610420 <tel:%2B44%20%280%291394%20610420>
>
> Mobile +(0)7748500933
>
> [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> On 07/02/2013, at 12:21 PM, Liz Denton wrote:
>
>  
>
> Dear All
>
>  
>
> The new draft documents for  England has just been made available
>
>  
>
> http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/nationalc
> urriculum2014/b00220600/consultation-national-curriculum-pos
>
>  
>
>  
>
> http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/n/national%20curriculum%20con
> sultation%20-%20framework%20document.pdf
>
>
>  
>
> As the DfE website states
>
>  
>
> On 7 February 2013,
> <http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/n/national%20curriculum%20co
> nsultation%20-%20framework%20document.pdf>  draft programmes of study for
> all National Curriculum subjects in Key Stages 1 to 3, and draft programmes
> of study for citizenship, computing and PE in Key Stage 4, were published
> for consultation.
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> It makes for very interesting reading ,,,,,,particularly at KS2 History...
>
>  
>
> Best wishes
>
>  
>
> Liz

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