The Development of the Secondary Curriculum

Originally published in 1986. This book's focus is on English secondary schooling in the late 19th and 20th Centuries, during which the definition of a general 'secondary' education was itself negotiated and consolidated before the development of secondary modern and then comprehensive schools. In each chapter, a specialist contributor considers the changing ideology, shape and status of one of the seven traditional academic subjects, namely Classics, Modern Languages, English, History, Geography, Mathematics and Science. These seven school subjects have dominated the academic school curriculum since the nineteenth century and continue to exert a powerful influence upon the contemporary school curriculum today despite the emergence of various rivals and the growing status of 'practical' subjects.

1. Introduction: Curriculum History and English Secondary Schools, 1870-1940 Michael Price 2. Culture or Discipline? The Redefinition of Classical Education Christopher Stray 3. English Teaching: Classics in the Vernacular Eleanor Wright 4. Modern Languages: The Retreat from Reform William Rowlinson 5. The Perry Movement in School Mathematics Michael Price 6. Science for Professionals: Scientific Method and Secondary Education Edgar Jenkins 7. The Royal Geographical Society and Geography in Secondary Education William Marsden 8. From a Test of Memory to a Training for Life: The Teaching of History Gordon Batho 9. Conclusion Michael Price