ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the politicisation of the curriculum, there is perhaps more to be said for the permeation of cross-curricular issues into a subject framework, than for the permeation of subjects into a cross-curricular 'areas of experience' framework. One of the main reasons for this view relates to the hidden and even unhidden sub-texts of the cross-curricular dimensions and themes, as defined in the National Curriculum. Much cross-curricular activity in schools has historically been offered under the banner of citizenship education. The key point was that for over a century a version of citizenship education openly pervaded geography and history teaching, and blatantly politicised their content. As another theme long thought of as meriting pervasion across the curriculum, health education has an equally vigorous history. Health education is justified in Curriculum Guidance 5 as helping to protect children from illnesses and risks, to promote the development of healthy life-styles, in turn improving the quality of life and the environment.
