The Curriculum and Assessment Review team has just released an interim report into its initial findings.
The report recognises the importance of representation and the ability of students to ‘see themselves’ in the lessons they are taught. However, End Sexism in Schools is very disappointed to find no mention of the need to introduce a gender-balanced curriculum.
End Sexism in Schools fed into the consultation process, taking part in events and submitting a dossier of evidence on the invisibility of women in the National Curriculum and how it reinforces and reproduces misogyny and violence against women and girls. However this compelling evidence seems to have been ignored.
It seems that it has taken the Netflix drama Adolescence to highlight this issue, rather than real life violence against girls.
In Adolescence, Jamie and Katie, the girl Jamie stabs to death, are in the same Year 9 English class – the top set. Our research found that 82% of novels taught in English at Key Stage 3 have a male protagonist and 99% of the plays taught are by men.
Jamie would not have had the chance to explore female perspectives of the world in his lessons. Instead, he is exposed to ‘incel’ culture online – with no counter-narrative and violent consequences. Boys will continue to be radicalised against girls and girls will continue to be abused and killed if we don’t act to change this narrative.
All pupils would benefit from seeing women and girls represented throughout the everyday curriculum – from women as authors and protagonists in literature, as the focus of study in the humanities, as scientists, artists, philosophers, musicians, and in sports. Girls would ‘see themselves’ and boys would be informed about the value and humanity of girls and women. This in turn would contribute towards breaking the cycle of male violence in our society.
At the moment, schools predominantly teach about the male perspective. Hardly a broad and balanced curriculum, more one that is a narrow and biased.
Experts propose a range of means to counteract harmful messages from the ‘Manosphere’ – from smartphone bans, to introducing positive male role models and Relationship and Sex Education lessons.
All these approaches are important, but positive depictions of women and girls in everyday lessons is an essential, yet missing, piece of the puzzle. As long as women and girls remain invisible, boys are not being taught to empathise with female perspectives or learn about their achievements and contributions.
We are told that the next stage of the Curriculum and Assessment Review will take a closer look at specific subjects to identify problems, then explore and test a range of solutions.
At End Sexism in Schools, we hope this will mean scrutinising the gender balance of texts taught and tackling the invisibility of women in every subject. Disappointingly there is no mention in the interim report of this intention.
