ABSTRACT
Because of the way in which English literature is often presented as a body of historical texts, there is a notion that English as a subject spreads back into the mists of time. English as a recognisable school subject has existed since only the beginning of the twentieth century and the category of English literature as we know it is little more than a hundred years old (Gossman 1981, p. 341). The Oxford School of English was not established until 1894 in the face of strong opposition from the Classicists as the
quotation which opens this chapter indicates (Palmer 1965, pp. 104-117). Nevertheless, within the last century the centrality of English to the education of children was recognised and the subject now exists as part of the ‘core’ of the National Curriculum. However, the progress from new to established subject was not a smooth journey and, at times, the conflicting beliefs about the nature and purpose of English caused fierce debate, not least during the late 1980s when there were two national reports on the teaching of English: Kingman and Cox. The National Curriculum Order for English, produced in 1990, was revised in 1993, 1994 and 1999. This chapter explores the roots of
English is a subject suitable for women and the second-and third-rate men who are to become schoolmasters.
