Building verticality in subject English

Abstract

Subject English is just over a century old. The first university chairs in English were created in the second half of the nineteenth century, while by the turn of the century, subject English (as distinct from discrete areas of knowledge, such as 'spelling' or 'reading', Christie 2004a), had appeared in the programmes of the elementary schools. As the twentieth century unfolded, English was to become the most important subject in the school curriculum, its status rivalled only by the claims of mathematics, though arguments about both the contents of mathematics and its pedagogy have never rivalled those about subject English. In fact, subject English has always been a highly contested site in the school curriculum, not least because discussion about education in the national language has been intimately bound up with discussion of matters to do with the national psyche and identity, as well as with notions of me economic and social good of English-speaking countries. It was, for example, no accident that in the aftermath of the First World War, the English held their first inquiry into the teaching of English (the 'Newbolt Report'. 1921). The war had exposed problems to do with the literacy skills of the armed forces and there was an interest in improving citizens' capacities to read and write.