Contrasting views: embedding cultural diversity in the FE Art and Design curriculum

Abstract

Exploring the interface between curriculum practicalities and policy agendas, this paper rationalises the need to embed cultural diversity in the further education (FE) curriculum and explores processes whereby this may take place. It offers a personal view of the national context of recent policy change and debate around education for cultural diversity and inclusivity. This sets the context for the application of these processes in a case study of developments to a History of Art FE curriculum, in which issues of race and ethnicity were brought to the surface of the subject matter through additional and modified content and through modifications to established approaches to teaching the theme of modernism. The conclusion, drawn from the outcomes of the case study, includes recommendations on both practical and policy levels, advocating applicability of the method to other subject areas, substantiating a need for further developmental opportunities with national and institutional support, while cautioning a hasty implementation. The values our children learn at school will shape the kind of country Britain becomes (Alan Johnson quoted in BBC 2007 BBC News. 2007. Schools ‘must teach Britishness’. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6294643.stm (accessed 2 April 2007) [Google Scholar]).

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