Secondary English curriculum ‘crowds out’ reading for pleasure

An “increasingly narrow” English curriculum and a focus on passing tests are squeezing out “reading for pleasure”, experts say.

The education committee is exploring the rapid decline in children reading for pleasure and looking at what steps the government can take.

At a hearing on Wednesday, Robert Eaglestone, a policy lead at the English Association, described how the secondary English curriculum was “crowding out” reading for pleasure.

He blamed a “teach for the test” and “knowledge-rich” approach to the curriculum and pedagogy.

“The English curriculum, bizarrely, has worked against reading for pleasure, despite the hard work of teachers and librarians.”

The curriculum had become increasingly narrow, he said, calling for a “widening out”, so pupils were given a broader selection of texts.

Call for Gove’s reforms to be scrapped

The curriculum and assessment review called for more diversity in the curriculum so children from diverse backgrounds could see “themselves represented in it”.

Yet the key stage 4 English literature curriculum required pupils to study Shakespeare, a 19th–century novel, fiction “from the British Isles from 1914 onwards”, and post-1789 poetry. 

Eaglestone said this “takes away the room” for diversity. He called for the “British Isles” requirement – introduced in 2015 following reforms by Michael Gove – to be abolished and for a return to global literature.

He also called for the 19th–century novel requirement to be removed, or expanded.

English was also being taught in a way that was at odds with “reading for pleasure” and is instead teaching “to the test”.

“Personal response” to texts had “taken a back seat”.

‘Reading time must be protected’

Roger McDonald, an associate professor of primary education at the University of Greenwich, urged the committee to help “protect” time for reading at schools.

He said reading for pleasure was something schools “need to make the time for, but with everything that teachers are up against…around accountability and the performance nature of some of the testing that children have to do, it does get moved out.”

Victoria Dilly, the chief executive of the School Libraries Association, agreed there was often little time for independent reading, especially in secondary school.

She said school libraries were the “best investment” for schools hoping to boost reading for pleasure.

The government has pledged more than £10 million to help ensure every primary school has a library. Research from last year suggests 1,700 primaries did not have one.

But Dilly said proper data-gathering was needed “so we can understand what the picture is.”

As there was no statutory requirement for school libraries, Dilly said they were often “at the mercy of cost-reduction strategies”.

“We’ve seen some of our members made redundant, we’ve seen hours reduced.”

Phonics ‘crowds out’ opportunities

The committee also heard how a focus on phonics in early years could “crowd out” opportunities for children to foster a love of reading.

The use of phonics to teach reading has become mainstream over the past 20 years, following a focus by both the New Labour and Conservative-led governments.

Julie Cigman, an early years consultant, stressed the need for young children to find “joy” in reading, to “be motivated to read”.

“You don’t teach children to learn to swim by putting them on dry land learning swimming strokes.

“It sometimes feels like we’re doing that with phonics, with some children. It’s decontextualised, and it’s away from anything that has meaning for them.”

Christine O’Farrelly, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, agreed the focus should be on “instilling a joy of books” and building familiarity.