James Douglas
“This, then, is the great humanistic and historical task of the oppressed: to liberate themselves and their oppressors as well. The oppressors, who oppress, exploit, and rape by virtue of their power; cannot find in this power the strength to liberate either the oppressed or themselves. Only power that springs from the weakness of the oppressed will be sufficiently strong to free both. Any attempt to “soften” the power of the oppressor in deference to the weakness of the oppressed almost always manifests itself in the form of false generosity; indeed, the attempt never goes beyond this. In order to have the continued opportunity to express their “generosity,” the oppressors must perpetuate injustice as well. An unjust social order is the permanent fount of this “generosity” which is nourished by death, despair, and poverty. That is why the dispensers of false generosity become desperate at the slightest threat to its source” Paulo Freire1
“Curriculum for Excellence is intended to help children and young people gain the knowledge, skills and attributes needed for life in the 21st century, including skills for learning, life and work Its purpose is often summed up as helping children and young people to become:
- Successful learners
- Confident individuals
- Responsible citizens
- Effective contributors.
These are referred to as the four capacities”2
“know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’ understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed” Department for Education: History Programmes of Study;Key Stages 1 and 2
3AS WE TAKE the first tentative steps in to 2019 and pupils return to schools across England and Scotland ready to carry on their learning, much is in flux and much remains. As “the old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born” to liberally paraphrase Gramsci4 (and leaving previous education secretaries misguided views of his work out of it), whilst England and Scotland find themselves in the middle of major teacher union disputes and whilst media and politicians on all sides scream about concepts of identity, where does that leave our pupils? What do we mean when we talk of oppression and liberation and where is education? For all the pretty words of politicians and “staked claims” of ministers, the liberation of the oppressed, the true generosity that Freire speaks of seems far from the core of the curriculum across both nations.
The curriculum in Scottish schools varies vastly from that in English schools and whilst not introduced in a raft of sweeping changes that saw the national curriculum be initially introduced as part of the education reforms of 1988, it was introduced around the time of the McCrone agreement5, also known as “A Teaching Profession For The 21st Century”, an agreement which made a raft of changes in the working conditions of teachers in Scotland, including a 35 hour working week with set class contact, preparation and collaborative work hours.
In considering how curriculum for excellence can be a curriculum of the oppressed, we need to take a look at history and modern studies, subjects for which the national identity of Scotland, already contested in many ways, paints with a large brush. In examining this, we do not intend to consider the historic place of Scotland within the United Kingdom or the constitutional question, whether you are in West Lothian or otherwise.
Rather a look at what is set out in the history and modern studies curriculum is a basis for examining the class consciousness set out within or otherwise, for this is fundamentally the focus of Freire. This is also the fundamental question facing a nation where one in four children are in poverty. This is the question facing learners in Clydeside, Kelvinside and Morningside.
The Scottish history curriculum, in considering wars in which Scots have fought, takes it`s focus on just that. Deeper questions of what those wars were fought for and who was sent to die are glossed over for a focus on the nationality of those who fought.
The lived history of what happened at home whilst working class boys and men were fighting is covered but with nowhere near as much detail. For a nation that saw so much unrest around the first world war and social unrest which came to define not only “Red Clydeside” but the labour movement as a whole, this seems somewhat astounding.
The history of Scotland between 1914 and 1918 is as much the history of the rent strikes and Mary Barbour as it is General Haig.
‘The paternalistic attack on the history curriculum mirrors the Conservative Party`s paternalistic view of education.’
A curriculum which focused on that history would be a curriculum which showed that working class people can organise. It would be a curriculum which would show that working class people can stand up to and fight back against their oppressors. It would be a curriculum where George Square would be remembered more for being at the centre of a people’s movement rather than the statues of Victoria and Albert or Field Marshalls which can be found therein. It would be a curriculum for the oppressed.
It is another Scotsman who has been most vocal in recent years of the curriculum in English schools not being a curriculum of the oppressed. Edinburgh-born Michael Gove, in his time as education secretary led vociferous attacks on the teaching unions, not considering for a second their important role in shaping education in Britain and launched attacks on the history curriculum with articles for The Daily Mail with such screaming headlines as “Why does the Left insist on belittling true British heroes?”6
In a grossly simplified view of the history curriculum and a view of teaching which bore no resemblance to reality (which could be said to exemplify not only his term as education secretary but also the Daily Mail) Gove took aim at a “Blackadder” view of history. The article sets out his antipathy for any who dare question the view of the first world war as a “noble cause” led by Haig, the “patriotic leader grappling honestly with the new complexities of industrial warfare” before looking to defend Britain`s role in the world as “marked by nobility and courage”
In Pedagogy of the Oppressed7 , Freire states “Looking at the past must only be a means of understanding more clearly what and who they are so that they can more wisely build the future.” The Conservative view of education exists merely to look at the past and be thankful for the actions of those who went before you The paternalistic attack on the history curriculum mirrors the Conservative Party`s paternalistic view of education. A history curriculum that tells you to be thankful of the generals that heroically led the charge. A citizenship curriculum that tells you that being a good citizen rests simply in voting and understanding how government works without thinking how things can be changed. An education system that tells you to be thankful for the carpet salesman or used car salesman who has stepped in to save your school.
That Ruth Davidson and the Scottish Conservatives8, now finding themselves the party of opposition in Scotland have been echoing the words and sentiments of Gove on education reform less than five years later should cause concern for all involved in education in the nation.
This paternalistic view stands in opposition to the vision set out in Pedagogy of The Oppressed, where Freire sets out a vision of the working classes taking the tools to change the future for themselves in an act of love, a paternalistic view of education is top down, telling those working classes to be thankful for their act of “generosity” which is nourished by death, despair, and poverty. In the history, modern studies and citizenship curriculums of both nations, in the reforms pushed through in England and threatened in Scotland it is this paternalistic view that lingers.
- Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Continuum)
- Education Scotland: What Is Curriculum For Excellence? https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policyfor- scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-thestatement-appendix-incl-btc1-]5)/What%20is%20Curriculum%20for%20Excellence?
- Department For Education: History Programmes of Study; Key Stages 1 and 2 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/239035/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_History.pdf
- Gramsci, A. (1971) Selections from the Prison Notebooks (Lawrence & Wishart)
- Scottish Government (2001) A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century: Agreement reached following recommendations made in the McCrone Report https://www2.gov.scot/Publications/2001/01/7959/File-1
- Gove, M. (2014) Why does the Left insist on belittling true British heroes? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2532930/MICHAEL-GOVE-Why-does-Left-insist-belittling-true-British-heroes.html
- Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Continuum)
- Davidson, R. (2016) Education (BBC Scotland) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaiXVbySz6o