The British government has announced a trial plan to stop testing secondary school students over the works of William Shakespeare.
Students are currently tested on one of three Shakespeare plays although the requirement is being reduced next year to just two plays. The students are tested on extracts from “The Tempest” and “Romeo and Juliet” which are announced prior to the exams.
Under the new proposal being introduced by the Department of Children Schools and Families, students would still study two plays. But instead of formal tests, they would be assessed by their teachers on their understanding of the plays after performing them, studying them in ‘larger cultural context’ and writing essays.
The trial curriculum will be tested, starting in September, in 400 schools across the country. A spokesman for the DCSF says, “These tasks, which are currently under development, will encourage lively and active approaches to Shakespeare that engage with the text as something to be performed; involve the study of the whole play; and consider Shakespeare in a wider cultural and literary context.” The DCSF says the proposal has the backing of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Globe Education.
The proposals have already run into political controversy. Michael Gove, the Shadow Children’s Secretary, said, “The father of English literature is being downgraded yet again. We already know that the English GCSE course is going to have less literature in the future and we’re slipping down the international league tables for literacy. People will ask why this Government prefers politically correct meddling to high standards.”
However, the current curriculum has been a source of controversy for more than a decade.
Secondary school testing over Shakespeare was introduced in 1993 by John Patten, a former Conservative education secretary. Since then, critics have called on the government to replace the tests with teacher assessment. They say the tests reduce Shakespeare’s works to a series of sterile scenes which students were forced to study in isolation.
The new curriculum could become the national standard by 2010 if the trials are deemed successful.
One Comment
About time too - one of the reasons tests of Shakespeare were brought in was the ‘continuous assessment option’ (much used prior to Mr Patten, et al) was too expensive - it had little to do with standards or a need for increasing the amount of Shakespeare studied (in my experience testing actually reduced the depth and amount studied).