Jeffrey Sachs is the author of numerous books including I heard what you said which calls for a revolution in education. He's also taught secondary English for 15 years and is now a senior teaching fellow at the University of Manchester so especially qualified for this debate. Jeffrey, let me get straight to it if you look at the wording of the national curriculum right? The phrase is the best that has been thought and said didn't come from nowhere that comes from somewhere - it actually comes from the Victorian era out of which our education system was born.
In recent years movements to change school curricula have argued that all students at schools and universities should be able to see themselves reflected in the books they read. But others argue that moves to recolonise the curriculum to include more diverse authors should be based on the universal value of their work rather than the identity of the individual. So how do we best go about updating those reading lists that include some of the most well-established classics in literature and academia? Jeffrey Boakye, former English teacher and author of the acclaimed memoir I Heard What You Said, and journalist Tomiwa Owolade are our guests for this debate to discuss this timely topic. Our chair is the writer, academic and broadcaster, Shahidha Bari.
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