Beyond the usual tug-of-war
In the ongoing discussions about potential reforms to England’s National Curriculum, it’s inevitable that there will be a tug-of-war between competing priorities: knowledge versus skills, tradition versus progress and the old versus the new. However, few are likely to suggest applying Émile Durkheim’s concepts of the sacred and the profane – terms more commonly associated with religion. Yet these ideas may offer a useful framework for thinking about education.[1]
Durkheim famously argued that society is shaped by the tension between the 'sacred' – those things that inspire awe and reverence – and the 'profane' – the ordinary, everyday concerns of life. The sacred represents collective values and ideals that transcend individual experience, while the profane deals with the mundane needs and desires of individuals. So, how does this philosophical distinction relate to curriculum reform?
The ‘profane’ legacy of the National Curriculum
The current iteration of the National Curriculum, shepherded in by the coalition Secretary of State, Michael Gove, marked a radical departure from the prior vision of what children should learn. It emphasises – and has been criticised for – placing knowledge of ‘the best that has been thought and said’ at the centre of the debate about what, and how, children should learn.
Previously, the NC had been focused on acquiring transferable skills that would, it was hoped, equip children for the uncertainties of a post-industrial future. Where the 2007 version of the NC had as its central concern a desire to enable students to contribute to changing economic realities, the 2014 update was drenched in Hirsch’s notion of ‘cultural literacy’ which – all too often – was reduced to being able to read broadsheet newspapers and participate in conversations with people who have been privately educated.[2]
These two different versions of instrumentalism saw the curriculum primarily as a means to an end. In our obsession with the profane – the drive to ensure students pass exams and contribute to the economy – this may be the outcome of this latest review, but we also have a precious opportunity to debate what makes education sacred.