Power and the Primary Curriculum

By Emma Lennard

‘Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person.’

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

In her TEDGlobal Talk in 2009, the author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, talked about the danger that lies in the telling of a single story. If we only hear a single version of a story, we risk critical misunderstanding. She says, ‘show a people as one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.’

Recently we have been reflecting on misconceptions within our primary curriculum. What conclusions could children jump to in error? What views might they hold that are not accurate? How do we know and how do we correct this? Some of these misconceptions are easy to conclude and fairly easy to fix:

“I think that if I add another bulb to my circuit then they will get brighter.”

“I tried this with my circuit, the lights actually became dimmer.”

We can address misconceptions by reteaching, asking children to test their assumptions, proving them wrong, over-writing the mistakes and drawing new conclusions. We can go a step further and explain that changing our mind, seeing things differently, drawing different conclusions, are all integral parts of the process of learning. Fixing misconceptions is essential if we are to lead our pupils to truth.

But what about the misconceptions that are less straightforward to fix?

Our Primary Curriculum is packed. We teach Maths, English, Science, History, Geography, Computing, Art, P.E… the list goes on. In our quest to fit everything in, do we risk, as Adichie describes, telling a single story?

Could the primary children we teach hold misconceptions such as:

• Africa is a poor ‘country’
• The Vikings were all bloodthirsty warriors with horned helmets
• Kind white people put a stop to slavery
• Scientists are men in white coats with crazy hair who have ‘Eureka’ moments

As teachers, we may not think of ourselves as particularly powerful when we rush to grab a glass of water, go to the toilet, use the photocopier and eat our sandwich in a ten-minute window before the end of lunch time. We might have a handful of 45-minute lessons in which to teach our children about the continent of Africa and its 54 countries, 1.2 billion people, many cultures, races, histories. From tropical rainforest to savannah, deserts, swamps, highlands, rivers, waterfalls, its history, its politics, its challenges, resources… hold on we need to fit all of this in? So, by necessity, we simplify it, we pick some tasks that seem possible to achieve within the tight parameters of our school day. But we are the story tellers, we use our power to decide what our children will know. We decide which artists, musicians, explorers, astronomers, warriors, leaders, rebels, our children will learn about. We hold more power than we may realise.

These are some of the questions we are asking ourselves as we continue to develop the Primary Knowledge Curriculum;

• Which people do our children encounter in each subject? Have we included people of different gender, race, culture, religion?
• Which places do children learn about and what do they learn about those places?
• How do we build in diverse perspectives into our foundation subjects?
• How do we support children to think critically about sources they engage with across the foundation subjects?
• Which texts are children exposed to throughout the curriculum? Which stories do they hear?

Our curriculum can never be perfect, and it is never finished, but we can ensure that it is full of stories. By engaging with a range of stories, children are less likely to develop misconceptions. We can plan our curriculum carefully to ensure children hear from many voices, from many places, from many perspectives. We can align our pedagogy so that children learn and remember more over time, developing that vital critical perspective. We can recognise the power we hold and continually check on our offer to ensure our children receive an ambitious, coherent, and diverse primary curriculum. We can do this for our children now, it is important work and is a way to use the power we have for good.