ABSTRACT
Why? The short answer is the coalition government’s education policies, experimental and ideological initiatives driven by Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education at the time. These include the introduction of the ‘English Baccalaureate’, a ‘root and branch’ review of the National Curriculum, proposed far-reaching changes to initial teacher education and student funding. Further concerns include the possible outcome of a Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) review of ‘Cultural Education’ and the consequences of the decision by the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) to stop all money for teaching the arts and humanities in universities and specialist higher education institutions. All this is compounded by little evidence of any joined-up government thinking and a long list of likely unintended – or possibly intended – consequences. Each of these concerns is addressed in turn in this chapter.
