Response to the Ofsted Curriculum Research Review: English and Media Centre

Posted by Sharon Morgan

9 June 2022

The English and Media Centre have published a critical response to the Ofsted Curriculum Research Review which raises several issues relating to:

The limited available subject-specific research evidence which underpins the Education Inspection Framework, and how this has impacted on the choice of research included in the review
Gaps in relation to important areas of the subject – notably poetry, drama, non-fiction, creative writing, media and media-literacy
The false separation of curriculum and pedagogy, and false linearity in conceptions of declarative (knowing that) and procedural (knowing how) knowledge
Damagingly uncritical presentations of language gap ideologies and associated discussions of the role of standard English
A continuing obsession with vocabulary
Narrow conceptions of reading and reading comprehension
Unsubstantiated claims for the role of grammar
A dated and racially insensitive approach to the discussion of literary text selection
Limited understanding of progression and sequencing in English
A confused and confusing representation of the concept of ‘foundational knowledge’ in English
A limited view of assessment
Factual errors
Presentation of editorial and opinion pieces as though they are ‘research’.