Teachers union warns NEU classroom culture war | History

A teachers’ union is forming a partnership with education experts to “critically question” the government’s plans for a model history curriculum in England, as its leaders warn that a cultural war continues over what should be taught in the classroom.

Mary Bosted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said it was joining the Runnimid Trust and others to monitor changes in the history curriculum announced by the government as part of the Seville report on race and ethnic discrimination.

“We want to make sure that all aspects of black history, culture and perspectives are properly recognized throughout the year. And it must focus on the views of those who were colonists or their descendants, “Bosted told delegates at NEU’s annual conference in Bournemouth.

The Department of Education plans to create a model history curriculum for school use by 2024 with the help of “experts, historians and school leaders”. The ministers tried to reassure critics that the curriculum would be diversified in a way that was “meaningful, not tokenistic.”

Boosted said he was “mocked” by the right-wing media and endured a “storm of anger” on social media when he said he was not interested in a curriculum consisting only of the work of dead white men.

“All that shows me, personally, and all of us politically, is that the war of culture is furious and constantly furious, and they consume anyone who dares to challenge the narrow, single cultural foundation on which the current national curriculum, including all its hypotheses.” Based on strong knowledge, ”said Boosted.

The partnership with the Runnymede Trust and other education experts will serve as a “point of critical inquiry” into the government’s planned changes, Boosted said.

At its annual conference, union representatives had earlier passed a resolution calling for a campaign to colonize the school curriculum.

The UK Statistics Authority says it is investigating the use of DFE statistics by schools in white paper, following the announcement by NEU leaders that the union has made a formal complaint.

Kevin Courtney, NEU’s joint general secretary, said the union had complained to the Statistics Observatory about “this shameful, intentional misuse of statistics and deliberate suppression of relevant data” in DfE documents to support local authorities’ demand to convert schools into academies. Improved their offstead grade.

Boosted pledged to defeat the government’s goal of converting all public schools in England into academies by 2030, calling the White Paper a “final blow to zombie education ideologues with zombie education policy”.