London Review of Education (Sep 2015)

Policy on the primary curriculum since 2010: The demise of the expert view

DOI
https://doi.org/10.18546/lre.13.2.05
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 2

Abstract

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This paper focuses on the review and subsequent revision of the primary curriculum that took place between 2010 and 2014. Three central contentions are made about the review process: (1) it ignored the need for dialogue and consensus among the various parties that make up the delicate and interlocking set of relationships in the English education system; (2) it at first purported to integrate the views of higher education and then ignored, marginalized, and dismissed them; and (3) despite claiming to be based on best practice in other 'jurisdictions', it failed to take account of alternative views about approaches to curriculum innovation and instead focused on a limited and instrumentalist view that was treated as being uncontestable.

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