ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the roots of the views about English teaching that has underpinned the debates. The Oxford School of English was not established until 1894 in the face of strong opposition from the Classicists. The chapter explores the different and conflicting paradigms of English as a subject have influenced the National Curriculum for English. It was not until 1904 that the Board of Education (BoE) Regulations required all elementary and secondary schools to offer courses in English language and literature. For Matthew Arnold, poet and Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools (HMI), writing in 1871, English literature was 'the greatest power available in education'. The Circular's antipathy to novels lies in the growth of mass production. The first major evaluation of education after the First World War was carried out into The Teaching of English in England by the Newbolt Committee. Although the Newbolt Report's central philosophy mirrors earlier Board of Education publications, its approach to pedagogy is different.
