A NATIONAL CURRICULUM AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF HIGHER ABILITY LEARNERS

Over the past half-century, the British education system has undergone three major changes in relation to higher ability pupils: an extensio n of opportunity for very able working class children to attend select ive, state-funded grammar schools; a leveling out of opportunities wit hin state-funded schools by abolishing the 11-plus examination, the pu rpose of which was to select higher ability pupils for grammar school entry; and the introduction of a National Curriculum, imposing statuto ry curriculum requirements for all state funded schools. The main focu s of this paper is on the last of the three and the way in which Briti sh teachers perceive how the National Curriculum may have affected edu cational opportunities and sovereignty of higher ability pupils.