The Francis Review: an evolution devoutly to be wished

What follows is the fourth in our series of posts about the review of the national curriculum – the Francis Review. Previous posts can be found here. As ever with NAEE blogs, the views expressed are not necessarily those of the Association.

As His Majesty’s Government announced that Professor Becky Francis would be conducting a review of curriculum and assessment, one can imagine the Department for Education (DfE) re-deploying a platoon to handle the incoming tsunami of helpful suggestions. This is after all, a rare opportunity, given a decade has passed since the last revision. That said, we should not expect transformation; the pragmatic Professor has promised “evolution not revolution,” (nothing wrong with evolution, I say; it helped us walk upright) but that’s not to say this shouldn’t be a transformative moment. A small but fundamental course correction in 2025 could leave us in a very different position in 2030. 

Accepting that any curriculum can only influence a specific group of people directly, England’s revised National Curriculum might well be evaluated by the extent to which it facilitates, if not demands, an education that promotes the health and wellbeing of all life on Earth. So, what are the chances for a rounder, more truly environmental education emerging from the Francis Review?

The review’s Terms of Reference mention “music, art, sport and drama, as well as vocational subjects,” they suggest that school leavers should be “ready for life” as well as work and foresee assessment methods beyond examinations, all of which look very promising. One point of concern, however, is the inevitable headline call to support “high and rising standards,” as if we will continue to do and measure exactly the same things as before, only better. 

It’s wonderful that school leavers will be ready for ‘life as well as work’ but is life on Earth ready for them? Will their literacy, numeracy, triple science, music, art, sport and drama help them to be any more attuned to the biophysical reality that we are all part of the same intricate web of life that our rising educational achievements have helped to unpick at an alarming rate? And if the answer is ‘yes’, will this realisation instil fear and anguish or will it become a source of awe, solace and the motivation to do better? The extent to which our school leavers emerge as true citizens of the world, eager to contribute to the regeneration of our living planet, is surely the most fundamental measure of any curriculum in the Twenty-first Century. 

This may sound like a major reorientation but it need not fall foul of the DfE’s curriculum guardians whose enduring challenge is, ‘what’s going to come out?’ That’s because a truly systemic reform, a repurposing no less, would not fiddle around with bolt-on extras. It would not, for example, concern itself with whether we should have a Natural History GCSE (of course we should but that’s beside the point). Instead, it would ensure that the context of our real, real world, including respect for the limits to growth and a grasp of the unstoppable nature of climate change, would inform multiple moments throughout the curriculum. 

Contrary to what many may think, I don’t see this task falling solely to a panel of sustainability education experts, rather it would require each of the curriculum review teams – and there will be several – to have a nominated member whose task it is to ensure that the curriculum is infused with content that informs our young people about– connects them to and immerses them in- and is underpinned by values for- a just, thriving, living planet

This shift need not look that dramatic, as the tracked changes curriculum prepared by Teach the Future demonstrates, but with attendant adjustments in teacher education, continuing professional development and school leadership training, this review could be the most significant evolutionary moment in education this epoch. 

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Paul Vare is Paul is Chair of the National Association for Environmental Education, a member of the Adult Advisory Board of Teach the Future and academic advisor to the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) Steering Committee on education for sustainable Development (ESD). He currently leads the Doctor of Education programme at the University of Gloucestershire where his research focuses on ESD. He was principle investigator of A Rounder Sense of Purpose, a six-year programme that developed a competence framework for sustainability educators, and can be contacted at: pvare@glos.ac.uk