David Walker, a representative from The Humanities Association, delves into the compelling reasons for integrating the humanities into school curriculums
A centralised national curriculum brings with it regular curriculum reviews. With reviews comes the continuing debate over some of the big questions in education. What is the purpose of a curriculum? What subjects should we teach? What sorts of knowledge should these subjects convey? It is generally accepted that the humanities are an essential part of the education of young people, serving as a cornerstone of a broad and balanced curriculum.
The humanities occupy that area of the curriculum which deals with human experience and culture; without them, the curriculum narrows and is unable to deliver its stated purpose of preparing young people for adult life. Although we can all agree on the need for the humanities, achieving consensus on what they consist of, what their importance may be in the 21st century, and their claim on curriculum time, is more difficult.
What are the boundaries of the humanities?
The boundaries of the humanities are porous, and humanities subjects vary across time, institutions and countries. The curriculum is a social product, and struggles over the curriculum resulted in the dominance of history and geography in the humanities area, later to be joined by citizenship in the English National Curriculum. (1) These subjects, although popular, have struggled to justify their curriculum slot due to pressure to secure good results in English and maths, alongside the focus on sciences.
Humanities subjects also have their own internal disagreements. Should history be a narrative of the past or an introduction to the methodology of historians? Geography often involves a sometimes uneasy relationship between the physical and human aspects of the subject. The selection of content for both subjects frequently reflects current issues, but educators may be reluctant to embrace the controversial.
The nature and purpose of the curriculum and more
We can clarify our thinking about the humanities by relating them to debates about the nature and purpose of the curriculum. There has been a political debate as to whether the curriculum should reflect a set of social values (2) or whether it should be solely about the delivery of centrally approved disciplines. (3)
Within curriculum theory, some approaches view subjects as providing ‘powerful knowledge’ and linked concepts that give access to the world of the discipline. (4) This knowledge is specialised, differentiated from pupils’ everyday knowledge and determined by communities of subject specialists. This stands opposed to relativist approaches, which recognise the importance of the everyday knowledge pupils bring with them to school and the social issues of the world they inhabit.
Finally, there is a debate over who controls the curriculum. Those who favour central control emphasise the importance of consistency, while those who argue for greater teacher autonomy see teachers as curriculum creators, not mere transmitters working within different contexts and phases.
The subject matter of the humanities means that they cannot be divorced from a consideration of the values we have as humans and our issues and concerns. Humanities subjects differ from others in their structure and organisation: their concepts are less precise, subject to debate, and not unique to individual subjects.
The language of the humanities corresponds to everyday life, and the concepts they employ permeate that life so that we cannot shut out pupils’ existing knowledge. Humanities subjects are also content-heavy, so that issues of selection are intrinsic. This, along with the changing nature of issues and concerns, highlights the importance of respecting teacher autonomy.
How do we justify the importance of the humanities?
How, then, do we justify the importance of the humanities? There is no shortage of claims made for the humanities. (5) They develop essential skills, such as investigation, evidence evaluation, analysis, and debate. This they undoubtedly do, but many subjects can make similar claims. We can list the key contemporary issues and concepts, such as democracy, identity, and equality, which the humanities develop, but so could other aspects of school life. The list could be a lengthy one, and those which we may wish to emphasise will change as new ones emerge.
The central importance of the humanities lies in the relationship between their subjects and everyday knowledge, as well as in the humanities’ openness to the exploration of social issues. Humanities subjects, through their concepts and accumulated knowledge, however shifting and contentious they may be, provide the basis for interrogating everyday knowledge and understanding. Teaching the humanities does not ignore the everyday knowledge and concepts pupils bring to school, but seeks to interrogate and work with them, using them as a starting point for the development of the curriculum.
Curriculum reviews may discuss the need for the curriculum to foster civil society, social cohesion, and sustain democracy, but they provide little real indication of how this is to be achieved, and there is little evidence of success. The subjects which come under the humanities umbrella provide a vehicle for this. Still, they need to be clear about their nature and radical in their design and organisation, respecting individual subjects whilst being prepared to make connections between them. A humanities which places the exploration of social issues and change at its heart will provide a powerful argument for its inclusion in the 21st-century curriculum.
References
1. ‘The future of the humanities in primary schools reflections in troubled times’,
Tony Eaude, Graham Butt, Simon Catling, Peter Vass – Education 3 -13th March
2017.
2. The Big Picture of the Curriculum, QCA 2008.
3. The importance of a knowledge-rich curriculum, speech by Nick Gibb, Social
Market Foundation panel event on raising school standards https://www.gov.uk/
government/speeches/the-importance-of-a-knowledge-rich-curriculum
4. ‘Bringing Knowledge Back In’, Michael F.D. Young, 2008, Routledge.
5. The Humanities as an Essential Element of a Balanced and Broadly Based
Primary Curriculum Tony Eaude Forum Volume 62, Number 1 2020.
