Girls are in large part absent from the questions, assets, and mark schemes that form how historical past is taught and assessed in faculties in England.
You most effective have to have a look contemporary examination papers to look the issue. For instance, when my colleague Catherine Gower and I surveyed 219 GCSE, AS and A-level historical past papers issued in the summertime of 2023, we discovered most effective 6% of 991 examination questions directed scholars to talk about ladies (37% directed scholars to talk about males).
A file by means of the charity Finish Sexism in Faculties, which performed a survey into the educating of girls in historical past in previous years at secondary faculty, discovered a an identical lack.
Unusually, the not too long ago launched Curriculum and Evaluate Evaluation of England’s nationwide curriculum can pay scant consideration to girls and women. Protection of gender-related problems within the curriculum as a complete was once disappointingly skinny.
Whilst the want to recognise a “wider range of perspectives” is cited within the curriculum overview, those references are unclear and don’t in particular deal with gender imbalance. There may be nonetheless no statutory requirement to incorporate ladies within the educating of historical past – although unrelated executive analysis means that misogyny is a major problem in faculties.
No instructional device can absolutely constitute the entire of human historical past. Designing curriculum content material is all the time a question of selection. Who and what we select to show about our shared pasts is significant to the improvement of younger other folks’s identities and empathy, in addition to their consciousness of native, nationwide and world connections and existence reviews dissimilar to their very own.
With out executive specification, in spite of the wealth of educational scholarship produced over the last 50 years on ladies and gender in historical past, there was no corresponding crucial to embed this inside of secondary faculties.
Whilst there are academics who’re willing to include ladies, they face systemic demanding situations. The exams set by means of examination forums, which might be influenced by means of the nationwide curriculum, play a a very powerful function right here. In an technology of league tables there’s intense power on academics to prioritise assessment-focused content material. If subjects when it comes to ladies aren’t going to be assessed, it may be a battle for academics to incorporate them.
Lacking ladies
Our analysis fascinated about examination papers throughout England, together with number one supply extracts and mark schemes. Some of the surprising findings was once that over one 3rd of the papers – 34.7% – contained no point out of any ladies in any respect. They weren’t discussed in questions, within the historic assets equipped for college students to inspect, or in mark schemes. Through comparability, just one paper out of 219 made no point out of guys.
Of the 991 historical past examination questions set in 2023, 357 featured a named person, however most effective 31 have been ladies – and 9 of the ones have been references to Elizabeth I or her reign. Actually, Elizabeth I used to be probably the most ceaselessly named lady throughout all examination content material, together with assets and mark schemes, showing in 55 circumstances. The highest 11 maximum referenced ladies incorporated 9 royal figures, six of whom have been queens of England. Non-elite ladies and the ones from outdoor the United Kingdom and Europe have been virtually completely absent.
A portray of Elizabeth I receiving Dutch ambassadors, attributed to Levina Teerlinc, a feminine artist on the Tudor court docket.
Wikimedia Commons
This imbalance isn’t just about who will get named. It’s about who will get observed, studied, remembered and valued. This skewed point of view additionally shapes the historic working out of 1000’s of scholars throughout England, 12 months on 12 months.
In mark schemes, the place the content material wanted to succeed in marks is specified, ladies most effective seemed in conceivable solutions for 22.8% of questions, in comparison to 83.1% for males. This issues as a result of scholars are each taught and assessed according to those mark schemes. It’s in large part males who’re offered because the “right” resolution.
Historical past tests additionally point out historians. Scholars are requested to reply to a historian’s standpoint, or anticipated to check with historians of their solutions. However out of 163 historians discussed in tests, assets or mark schemes, most effective 22 have been ladies. It is a downside: 47% of UK educational historians in 2023-24 have been ladies, and feminine scholars regularly outnumber male scholars in historical past at each point. Regardless of the glaring acclaim for the topic for feminine scholars, they can’t see themselves in examination exams.
The present evaluation device in England now not most effective fails to replicate the variety of historic revel in – it actively reinforces distorted, male-centric narratives. If we wish scholars to be told inclusive, consultant historical past, we will have to get started with the tests that regularly form what will get taught.
Provided with a better working out of their very own and every different’s pasts and the talents to unpack numerous varieties of proof, scholars could be higher knowledgeable to take care of conflicts and demanding situations in addition to to replicate on different issues of view.
Historical past isn’t just about kings and wars. It’s about other folks. And part of the ones other folks had been lacking from the tale for a ways too lengthy.
