Recently the general public has reacted
with outrage at the planned changes to the English Literature curriculum in the
UK. These changes will mean the novels being taught to GCSE students will
consist solely of British literature such as the works of Dickens and Austen.
This means that classic books such as ‘Of Mice and Men’; ‘To Kill a
Mockingbird’ and ‘The Crucible’ will no longer be taught.
The changes have been first introduced by
the changes to the OCR syllabus but further exam boards are expected to follow
suit. These changes at first seemed to have stemmed directly from the education
secretary Michael Gove’s personal preference for patriotic literature. This
caused an outcry from the public that Gove was acting in a dictatorial fashion,
messing with the learning of an entire nation simply as a result of whimsy.
This impression was further worsened when Paul Dodd, the OCR head of exam
change, told the Sunday Times that “Michael Gove really dislikes” ‘Of Mice and
Men’, suggesting that Gove was simply changing the syllabus – affecting
thousands of pupils – merely due to his own biased opinions.
Seeing as 90% of pupils taking English
Literature GCSE currently study ‘Of Mice and Men’, these changes will have a
dramatic effect on the teaching of literature throughout the country. This
could suggest why there has been such an intense backlash to the changes, as
many people will have studied these books themselves while at school and thus
will hold them close to their heart. The extent of the protests could be seen
on Twitter: when the changes were first announced the hashtag “mockingbird”
trended worldwide, underlining how important these books are to the people of
Britain. Interestingly, the sales of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ sky rocketed,
reaching number nine on the best selling list.
If it were true that American novels were
being banned simply for their nationality, I would describe the changes as
laughable at best and sinister at worst. The lessons of tolerance and
acceptance that would be taught to future pupils in the content of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
would not only be kept from a large majority of the later generations but the
exact opposite of these lessons would be being demonstrated to them by their
own government.
However, the public’s first impression that
these books have been directly threatened seems to have been at least slightly
exaggerated. In actuality, the changes to the English Literature syllabus state
that the
category of "prose from different cultures" will be removed and replaced
with "modern works from Britain" which will include ‘Never Let Me Go’
by Kazuo Ishiguro. Though American novels are no longer part of the syllabus,
American poetry can still be studied. However, though particular books are not
being banned, teachers are still protesting that choice is being removed due to
the extreme narrowing of the curriculum. Gove directly
refuted these claims, however, telling The Daily Telegraph, “all we are doing
is asking exam boards to broaden – not narrow – the books young people study
for GCSE”.
In conclusion, though the initial furor
that specific books would be banned from the curriculum due to some absurd
personal xenophobia of education officials proved to be untrue, the curriculum
is still being narrowed and diminishing the choice of books available for
pupils to study. Whether this has negative effects or whether the spotlight on
future British classics will incite a greater enthusiasm for reading and
writing their own creative work in the nation’s students remains to be seen.
