Making English : the National English Syllabus Committee and the re-defining of high school English in New Zealand, 1969-1983 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History, Massey University (Albany), New Zealand
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Date
2013
DOI
Open Access Location
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Massey University
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The Author
Abstract
The
English
curriculum
is
in
some
ways
at
the
forefront
of
high
school
educational
politics.
Language
and
literature
are
inherently
political
insofar
as
they
can
reflect,
challenge,
or
normalise
ways
of
thinking
about
or
seeing
the
world.
The
language
we
inherit,
learn,
imitate,
and
use
is
a
signifier
to
others
of
who
we
are,
where
we
have
come
from,
what
we
believe,
what
social
groupings
we
might
belong
to.
The
literature
we
study
reflects
the
values
of
our
societies
and
those
of
individuals
in
our
societies,
and
can
be
used
to
persuade,
challenge,
undermine,
or
reinforce
our
beliefs.
On
a
practical
level,
English
has
traditionally
been,
and
still
remains,
the
only
subject
in
which
a
certain
level
of
proficiency
is
required
for
entrance
into
tertiary
education,
and
the
national
demand
for
literacy
is
intrinsically
and
philosophically
bound
to
a
nation’s
perception
of
its
collective
intellectual
status.
Students
use
language
across
all
curriculum
areas
and
English
is
the
language
that
is
the
most
widely
understood
in
this
country;
as
a
result,
people
widely
link
proficiency
in
it
to
a
young
person’s
social
and
vocational
potential.
This
means
that,
historically,
high
school
English
syllabi
/
curricula
have
assumed
a
symbolic
role
in
reflecting
philosophical
and
political
directions
in
education
that
transcend
the
notion
of
subject-‐as-‐academic-‐discipline.
By
studying
the
process
of
English
syllabus
/
curriculum
development
and
the
agents
of
change,
we
can
better
understand
how,
and
to
what
extent,
such
factors
influence
our
educational
framework.
Description
Keywords
High school English, English curriculum, English syllabus, Secondary school English, English language study, English literature study, National English Syllabus Committee