It’s all about choice and consultation
In what is perhaps the most useful definition of curriculum, Denis Lawton (1975) suggested it was 'a selection from the culture of a society,'[1] which highlights two important points.
The first is that we cannot put everything we care about into the curriculum; choices about what to include and not to include need to be made.
The second is that to have legitimacy, the choices about what to include in the curriculum need to have the widest possible support. This will require extensive consultation with key stakeholders, and such consultation is more than a formality – it is, rather, a process of discovery about what commands the greatest possible consensus for the education of England’s young people.
For this reason, I offer no suggestions about what should – and should not – be in the national curriculum, but instead offer some principles that the review group may find helpful in its work.
Chesterton’s fence
In a short story first published in 1929, G.K. Chesterton suggested that any attempt at reform should first understand why things were as they are. For example, if there is a fence or gate across a road, someone who wants to remove it should be asked why it was put there in the first place. If they do not know, Chesterton’s response was: 'If you don't see the use of it, I certainly won't let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.'[2]