Overhaul of ‘faddish, politicised’ NSW curriculum long overdue

FOR too long now our children have been subjected to ‘faddish and politicised nonsense’ in the classroom which is why news of an overhaul of the HSC curriculum is such cheering news writes James Morrow.

The Chandos Portrait of William Shakespeare National Gallery, London Image supplied

• Academics at loggerheads over HSC changes
• HSC syllabus shake-up: The Bard is back!

A FEW years ago, my oldest son tested into the selective stream at the local high school and was thrilled by the prospect of finally being able to study real literature in the classroom.

A big reader in his own time, he was horrified when he was saddled with a teacher who spent six weeks teaching the class to dissect greeting cards and toy catalogues for “gender bias” before taking the rest of term to critically analyse that masterwork of the Western canon, “Bend It Like Beckham”.

His story is just one illustration of a phenomenon that has long been obvious in NSW.

Namely, that in too many schools and too many classrooms in this state, faddish and politicised nonsense is being passed off for education.

Which is why it is such cheering news that the state’s HSC syllabus is being overhauled in a “back to basics” move that not only aims to give students the skills they need to compete in the workplace but which also returns the likes of Joseph Conrad, Charles Dickens and, yes, William Shakespeare to pride of place in the English curriculum.

With the likes of Charles Dickens back in the classroom it will be a return to the best of times.

It’s a move that could not have come soon enough.

Because along with being sure to horrify legions of progressive educators who see classrooms as labs in which to remake society along lines more to their liking, bringing Shakespeare back is sure to be great for high schoolers.

For those who say that Shakespeare is irrelevant or the language is all too hard and fusty, ask yourself this: Is there any better lesson to teach an adolescent caught up in the throes of peak narcissism than that people have been going through the exact same nonsense since the dawn of time?

From lovesick sonnets to the intergenerational angst of King Lear to the dilemmas of conscience of Macbeth, it’s all there.

And teachers still keen to push a multicultural barrow can always give the class Othello or The Merchant of Venice.

More than this, Shakespeare is part of our common heritage as English speakers, and gives us a window into popular expressions ranging from “all that glitters is not gold” to “hoist on his own petard.”

Studying the Bard’s works makes for students who are far better able to communicate and understand the world — and themselves — than those raised on the diet of grievance studies and politicised “young adult” literature that has for too long passed for the study of English.

James Morrow is the Daily Telegraph’s Opinion Editor.