Education since 2010: Hirstian echoes

Abstract

Abstract Although Paul Hirst was no longer working in the educational field between 2010 and 2020, echoes of his ideas resonate through the decade. I look at three examples. [1] The National Curriculum. In the 1990s Hirst had been critical of the newly introduced National Curriculum of 1988, built as it was around ten foundation subjects rather than practices of everyday life. While curricular reforms under the Labour governments of 1997–2010 came somewhat closer to his ideas, there has been a reversion since then to a subject-centred curriculum, with tests and examinations based on it much to the fore. But calls for more attention to social issues like climate change and ethnic diversity have Hirstian resonances, as have critical comments on the status quo from leading figures in politics and the inspectorate. [2] ‘Powerful knowledge.’ This notion, closely associated with the sociologist Michael Young, has been widely influential in educational circles since 2010. Its original definition in terms of bodies of knowledge with their own systems of concepts, is reminiscent of Hirst's celebrated and later abandoned ‘forms of knowledge’ theory. The paper speculates on possible biographical explanations of this commonality. [3] Teacher education. In 2017 HMCI Amanda Spielman commented on the need to improve teachers’ poor understanding of curriculum theory and notes that in the past it was better. This chimes with comments of Paul Hirst in 1994, although it is not clear how far Spielman would support his view that this work should first be rooted in practical teaching experience.