Training | 2009.09.13
Fears for future of history on curriculum
Secondary schools study warns the subject could disappear from the syllabus as pupils drop it at 13
Thousands of pupils are being allowed to drop history at the age of 13, according to a major study which is warning that the subject faces extinction in some state secondary schools.
Three out of 10 schools no longer teach history as a standalone subject to 11- and 12-year-olds, and teachers say medieval history has been squeezed out. There are fears that children are being left with "huge gaps" in their knowledge. The study of 700 history teachers\' experiences in almost 650 secondaries identified one school that admitted that it taught the whole of the key stage three curriculum – designed to span the first three years of secondary school – in just 38 hours.
The situation is worse in comprehensives and academies than in grammar and independent schools, says the research, which was conducted by the Historical Association. In many secondaries, the history curriculum had been reduced to just two years to provide catch-up classes for pupils entering with poor literacy skills or to fast-track pupils to GCSEs at 14.
Richard Harris, a co-author of the report and director of teacher training at Southampton University, said: "History is becoming more niche in grammars and independents. There is a pattern that some children are not being allowed to study history … If you have less than an hour a week, you may understand the concepts of the first world war but not its consequences."
The Liberal Democrat education spokesman, David Laws, has written to the schools secretary, Ed Balls, and the schools inspectorate Ofsted asking them to investigate the issue urgently.
Only 70% of the schools surveyed teach history as a separate subject for the first year of secondary school, year 7. Another 10% teach it within humanities courses and more in topic-based classes, but most teachers warned that this left pupils with a poorer historical understanding than in traditional classes. Only six in 10 academies surveyed teach history as a standalone subject, compared with 97% of independent schools.
A third of comprehensives and half of academies reported that the amount of time dedicated to history lessons in year seven had reduced, while 13% of grammar schools reported the amount of time had increased. Some 117 schools said teaching time for history was being reduced in year 9 and 5% had dropped it altogether. Only 30% of pupils go on to study history GCSE and they come disproportionately from independent schools.
History is a mandatory part of the key stage 3 curriculum spanning the first three years of secondary school. Students are expected to develop a chronological understanding of events by the time they choose whether to take it at GCSE. A statement from the Qualification and Curriculum Development Agency said: "Some schools will choose to teach a two-year rather than three-year key stage 3 programme of study. This allows flexibility for either a transitional year on entry to secondary education or for students to begin GCSEs earlier."
Delyth Morgan, the children\'s minister, denied that the subject was under threat. "Teachers asked us to make the secondary curriculum less prescriptive to give them more flexibility over how they teach and that\'s exactly what we have done. It is completely unacceptable … for students who want to study the subject being \'deliberately denied\' the option, as this report claims," she said.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009[...]/secondary-pupils-drop-history
