Reconceptualising Mass Migration Within the Primary School History Curriculum Master Narrative for a Broader Sense of Connection and Belonging to England and English History

Abstract

The teaching for learning of English history in primary schools is argued as fundamental for developing a sense of national identity. It seeks to achieve this by presenting a version of the past for its recipients. However, it has also been argued that English history in primary schools via the national curriculum is constructed upon a master narrative that is exclusive in its presentation of a dominant Anglo-centric and nationalistic version of the past. After considering discourses surrounding this debate, the paper will draw upon significant research evidence which has uncovered how teachers of primary school history desire the inclusion of studies concerning a multi-cultural diverse England in the revised English national history curriculum. These findings will be discussed in considering the opportunities and the challenges faced by primary school teachers developing their practice and pedagogical approaches for reconceptualising the revised primary history curriculum. The teaching for learning of mass migration by minority-ethnic groups of people to England over the ages is presented as an example to illustrate how a focus on the broad and diverse experiences of these, through historical inquiry, could be made by primary school teachers and children to engage in developing a broader sense of connection and belonging to England and English history.