It's going to be interesting to see the political dimensions of the new curriculum and how particular topics are framed, and guidance given to teachers in terms of how they approach the teaching of particular areas of Natural History linked with the management of landscapes and environments.
At the moment, the ideas and results of the original consultation are sitting with an Education Minister who has not responded in enough time to keep to the original timetable for first teaching from 2025.
A group of people as yet unknown have been working on draft subject criteria for the new specification which are long awaited, and there is no sign as yet of when we might expect some sort of action with few updates being provided despite the need to get cracking if all the support material that is needed to teach an entire specification is going to be produced in anything less than a great big rush.
One can imagine the ministers who see the document wanting to ensure that particular elements of the course are looked at for their potential political implications. The particular dogma that political parties in government follow are not always sympathetic to the environment. We have also seen lots of broken promises on the benefits of Brexit for farmers, none of which have been seen, and the end result has been a lot of food producers going out of business or deciding to sell up due to the economics of farming. It would be difficult to teach some of the proposed topics without referencing a lack of action, removal of funding or some other outcome which is the result of years of the same party in Government.
The Government has made a number of decisions on topics which will have a direct impact on the economy, including the use of chemicals which are harmful to bees in order to protect sugar beet crops.
They appointed Therese Coffey to the vital role of Environment Secretary. She has little understanding of the key topics such as nutrient neutrality. Her recent comments on the impacts of Storm Ciaran and the fact that the wind was coming from an unfamiliar direction drew rightful criticism. The state of our rivers, including local chalk streams has also been the subject of campaigning by Feargal Sharkey and others. Protections are being removed and legislation watered down. None of this is in doubt. The Government also recently said that species reintroductions were not a priority.
“The UK is officially cited as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. A major study recently found that a shocking one in six species is now at risk of extinction – and the huge decline in abundance of most species bodes very badly for us all – whether through the lack of pollinators for crops or thriving habitats to filter water and store carbon. Nature’s buzz and song is disappearing from our lives and so are the huge range of other benefits that nature brings us. The UK Government has recognised the need for urgent action and it has made big commitments – but has failed to keep them. That’s why we’re publishing a list of this Government’s broken promises – it’s a wake-up call to us all.”
Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts
The Wildlife Trusts website features ten broken promises. Many of them are directly relevant to the GCSE Natural History development in some way.
The ninth of these references the Natural History GCSE directly:
