Whither Ancient History?

Photo (cc) mushroom and rooster

This weekend the Guardian blogs had Tom Holland post on the proposed abolition of Ancient History. It’s lead to some debate. There’s a follow-up with letters from Peter Jones and Thomas Harrison. In the comments there seem to be defences of scrapping Ancient History, but they seem to be based on false premises. The first is that if numbers drop that Ancient History ceases to be economically viable. From the OCR’s own report on Ancient History in June 2006:

There continues to be a pleasing increase in the number of candidates at both AS and A2 along with an increase in the number of centres which are offering Ancient History, especially among state schools and colleges. The inclusiveness of the subject is one of its strengths and one of the reasons why, in the round of discussions for the new specification, we do want to ensure these centres are catered for both in terms of expertise and resources.

I don’t think this is a helpful point to argue though because the basic premise is flawed. Gujarati, I’m told, had 45 entries nationwide last year. That could be interpreted as Gujarati being uneconomic. Alternatively it could be symptom of market failure. Where the argument goes wrong is the idea that the market is the sole arbitor of the value of an education and this misunderstands the value of education.

For those who have passed through the state school the prior state of education seems to have been unthinkable. Education is not a natural right, it is something that has been fought for. Mass education is a recent event. Before this a basic education was given to people to fulfill their role in life rather than a means of aspiration or self-improvement hence the rise of charities like the WEA in the early twentieth century. Education had been a precious commodity.

The value of mass education is that it’s a public good. If you’re educated then I benefit. If you live in a democracy then how does it function if access to the education system is rationed to empowered minority? Unfortunately, having benefited from a free education, the Baby Boomers really aren’t keen on paying for the next generation and so education becomes a commodity again.

It’s an attitude endemic in parliament. We’ve had an Education Secretary who’s stated that he thinks the desire to be more educated is “a bit dodgy“. On the other side, in the THES last year Shadow Higher Education Secretary Boris Johnson said that education should be paid for by those who benefit from it and thought this was an argument for him to pay less tax and students to pay higher fees.

Is there a public value to Ancient History?

Martin Rundvist recently posted a link to an interesting paper he gave on the value of Archaeology. It’s well worth reading as it’s an honest assessment of the value of archaeology. He thinks its sole value is that it’s fun. by and large he’s right but he misses one factor. What is education for?

The opinion of some British politicians appears to be that a school is a creche where hopefully basic literacy will be be picked up. There are plans to hold children in school till 18, and so keep them from counting in the unemployment statistics. Education should be much more.

In the case of archaeology and ancient history it’s natural for people to try and explain where they come from. What the study of these two subjects at university achieves is that it established that knowledge is not just a matter of opinion. There are knowable facts and opinions can be wrong. Not different or contingent or a personal opinion. Wrong. Whatever you get out of Ancient History, Archaeology, French Literature or Physics, the process should establish that you don’t just take someone’s word for it. You can check facts and expect reasoning.

The fate of Ancient History and presumably other non-vocational A-levels now sits with the QCA. Ultimately the question is about the principle of education. What citizens should an educational system produce for society? One is the citizens should be trained to be useful workers. Where once work was where you learned vocational skills, now the school becomes the factory which produces the workers. Another option is that the citizen should be equipped with the skills necessary to question received wisdom, take part in a democracy and attempt to fulfill their own potential.

There are also thoughts at Why Don’t You Blog?