Cross-curricularity in the national curriculum: Reflections on metaphor and pedagogy in citizenship education through school geography

In policy-level discussion, the assumption is common that multi-faceted topics such as Health, Environment and Citizenship would benefit from (or should be experienced through) pedagogical approaches that bring together and draw on different curriculum traditions. While there is certainly some continuing interest in a range of such cross-curricular approaches, there are markedly differing degrees of support for such approaches from teachers faced with the responsibility of turning these ideals into fulfilling learning experiences for pupils. How teachers think about cross-curricular approaches per se, and their own practice in relation to them, varies widely. The authors explore why this is. They argue that, without an understanding of the variety of contexts for interpretation and support amongst specialist and non-specialist teachers, progress towards embedding cross-curricular objectives within national curricula is unlikely to be achieved as well, or as soon, as many policy-makers might hope or expect. They contend that such progress would be more likely if scholarship, policy-making and educational innovation focused on the content and the status of cross-curricular objectives, rather than the nature of the subjects that act as hosts for cross-curricular work.