Here's the Draft National Curriculum for English Key Stages 1
and 2 First observation: the document is anonymous - just as the
National Literacy Strategy was! This is outrageous. What an
example of non-democracy at work! Those of us who teach in
universities, spend hours helping and reminding our students how
to 'reference' everything. This is part of the language of
academically reputable writing. It enables the reader to check
and re-check the 'provenance' (ie where the quote or book or
'text' came from). It enables the reader to check the author -
how does that particular author know this stuff, how does he or
she derive it, what is the context for the quote I am reading.
This is an important part of scholarship. It's an important
principle of a democratic society because it puts us all on an
equal footing. If, however, you want to be authoritarian (ironic
that that word includes the word 'author'!), if you want to be
non-answerable, then leave your name off the bottom of a piece
of writing. Second: we are