EMC_Free: The English Curriculum Gender – Learning from the Past (Download)

Materials produced by the English Centre in the 1980s on anti-sexist English teaching.

In the early 1980s the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) set up an initiative to examine the question of student achievement from the perspective of class, race and gender, with the aim of setting out firm proposals to improve the situation. English teachers across London were asked to contribute to discussions and think hard about their own practices in their departments and schools. The English and Media Centre (then the ILEA Teachers’ Centre for English Teachers) contributed significantly to this, producing resources for departmental discussion on all three aspects.

These resources have long been out of print. However, we have had them scanned in order to make them freely available again, as digital downloads. The second publication in this sequence is The English Curriculum: Gender – Material for Discussion. Offering in-depth insight into the issues around gender facing English teachers nearly 40 years ago, it also opens up space to reflect on the situation today: how much has changed, what remains to be challenged and what new issues are now faced.

What emerges particularly strongly from the pages is a passion for change and social justice. This shines through in the testimonies and case studies from individual teachers, and also in the articles and extracts taken from prominent writers and campaigners, such as Bel Hooks, Carol Dweck, Polly Toynbee and Beatrix Campbell.

The publication is divided into several easy-to-navigate sections, exploring gender in relation to:

• Anti-sexist pedagogy
• Language teaching
• Literature teaching
• Media teaching
• Assessment.

The wide-range of materials from multiple sources means that it is of interest to the general reader and to researchers looking at how historical material approached gender inclusivity, challenged sexual assumptions and stereotypes and advocated an intersectional approach to issues of sex, race and class.

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