ABSTRACT
The Newbolt Report was shaped by a world and contexts very different to our own. Britain was still a significant—if waning—colonial power and the Report is, in many ways, imbued with colonial ideas. One hundred years on, schools and classrooms are much more diverse in their constitution, but the influence of a colonial conceptualisation of literature still forms the foundations of the English curriculum, assessment and classroom culture. This chapter seeks to critically engage with the Report, considering some ways in which we might be more critical of classroom practices and the content of English learning in order to create better conditions for the meaningful consideration of race and racism. The chapter concludes with some practical suggestions about how to construct more racially inclusive English learning and teaching in secondary schools.
