The arts and humanities and the ‘English Baccalaureate’: STEAM not STEM

There is something about a change of UK government that often seems to trigger a bout of reforming zeal on the part of new ministers to effect perceived ‘improvements’ in the English education system. Modification – radical or otherwise – seems to be endemic, perhaps because education always has been (and probably will continue to be) a contested concept. At present (2011), there are new initiatives to effect changes across all formal education sectors, from early childhood through to higher education. Among these are two that have a particular impact on my own professional life in the worlds of music education and teacher education, namely the review of the National Curriculum (NC) and the introduction of a so-called ‘English Baccalaureate’