Francis highlighted how the 1945 play is widely taught for GCSE English literature because it is “tried and tested," but that said a “frequent issue” is getting teachers to move away from such well-worn material, as teaching well-known texts is “easier on the ground to replicate," and that there may be a "pushing" of more "diverse texts" in schools.
Francis made the comments when she spoke at the Wellington College Festival of Education in Berkshire, where she said “challenging discrimination” is “very important” to the panel. “It's part of our terms of reference to ensure that every young person can see themselves within the curriculum,” Francis said, according to The Daily Mail.
“That, of course, includes ethnic diversity, but also gender, disability, and, of course, social class as well, and we take that very seriously.” She continued, “The issue is about representation. That's important for curriculum efficacy, but also receiving engagement.”
Francis explained that while exam boards offer the option to include more diverse texts, many schools stick with familiar ones.
“Actually, in the present English curriculum, what we've heard is it's perfectly possible, from an exam board perspective, to be able to introduce more diverse texts, but often, because certain texts are so tried and tested, it's easiest on the ground to just replicate them, and carrying on doing same thing,” she explained.
"So for us, it's trying to find what is the responsibility of different agencies in this," she continued. "And then being able to think, what is it that we want to achieve in terms of signaling or pushing particular behaviors on the ground."
Francis made the remarks in response to an audience comment from members of the Advocacy Academy, which suggested that “anti-racist” materials should be added to the curriculum and criticized schools for only “celebrating” white ancestors.
