New Government and Politics A Level

[sashh]

The new spec for A Level G and P has no mention of feminism. If you want to comment there are details of how to do so on the link along with what is going to be taught.

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/gcse-and-a-level-reform-geology-and-politics-pe-short-course

That is not my field of expertise, so ... does this mean children will not learn about feminism in school at all?

I suppose I should be shocked, but I recently met someone who told me that she didn't know about the Suffragettes before she read about the new movie.
So, this is apparently already not taught in schools, at least not everywhere.

It is more of the same, isn't it? Erasing women's history ...

If we're looking at the same pdf, page 6 specifically mentions suffragists and suffragettes, under the "pressure groups" heading.

The Suffragettes would presumably be covered in constitutional and political reform?

I don't think Politics was even an examinable subject when I sat my Highers in the 70'. We covered British political history and franchise reform in History Higher , from the Great Reform Act of 1832 to universal suffrage. The Suffragette movement was included.

Suffragettes is part of the protest section of GCSE History.

Not everyone will learn about them because a. not everyone does GCSE History and b. some schools do a different History option, often medicine through time.

I haven't read the links, so forgive me, but does the new spec include study of ideology?

Because when I did it, it didn't. It was just straightforward political systems. I don't think that is a problem.

If it does include the study of ideology, but leaves out feminism, that is worth complaining about. Likewise I hope post-colonialism gets a look in too.

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473150/Politics_GCE_AS_and_A_level.pdf

I wouldn't say feminism was an ideology in any other way than socialism or Marxism are. It's a political movement like they are.

I never learnt anything about feminism or the suffragettes at school either. And I went to an all girls school .

If we must compare feminism to anything, then I'd compare it to the Civil Rights Movement.

And I remember learning about that, so why not feminism?

We learnt about the French Revolution even though I am not from France ... should one not know how democracy came about in one's own country?

Grrr - good article about this in tonight's Standard, and about women being written out of history. I have just read about a Holy Roman Empire/France peace treaty negotiated between two women in 1528, (la paix des dames) but have never heard of it or indeed the two women concerned before. We are indeed written out.

I wouldn't say feminism was an ideology

No, you are right. The word I was looking for was theory. That is the category that feminism (and post colonialism) come under in the academic study of politics. I have an A Level, undergraduate and postgraduate degree in the subject, and I still couldn't get that right!

In my defence, it was a long time ago

Here's an article in The Telegraph about it. There's also a link to a petition you can sign. To me it's one more way of silencing women's voices.

www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/the-government-is-planning-to-drop-feminism-from-the-politics-a/