The Cox Models Revisited: English Teachers’ Views of their Subject and the National Curriculum

Abstract

This article examines the views of the English Teaching Profession about the current National Curriculum for English, the Cox Models of English and the rationale for their subject. It compares the results of a survey in 1997 with an earlier study in 1991, revealing that English teachers are increasingly opposed to the dogmatic and prescriptive nationalistic Cultural Heritage model enshrined in the current Orders for English. The curriculum is perceived as irrelevant and impersonal. Teachers are holding on to their faith in Personal Growth and the value of literature in developing personal responses. However, they are also increasingly adopting a more Cultural Analysis stance to their teaching, chiefly through their advocacy of the importance of media education. This change is embroiled with tensions and uncertainties and English remains an arena of conflict in which debate and controversy are rife.