The topic of diversity in the A-Level MFL syllabuses

At this fraught moment, with racism raising its ugly head yet again, educators are being challenged to tackle the issue. I thought it might be worth recalling that the A-level syllabuses in modern languages have an honourable record when it comes to dealing with issues such as diversity, immigration and integration. 

I always thought that the exam boards (and in recent times Ofqual) took an enlightened approach to their choice of curriculum content. In the distant past the developing world featured. The environment has, until recently, been a staple topic. Diversity, immigration, integration and racism have also been in the specs for years. I was always happy with this and I believe my students enjoyed listening, reading and talking about these issues. In a subject like ours it seems only right that we should be educating students about such matters and fostering attitudes of understanding and tolerance (in the best sense of that word).

That said, I have occasionally read or heard of language teachers who grumble at the fact that A-level covers the same old "tired topics", whether it be environment, poverty, crime or diversity. Teachers who express this view may feel we have over-indulged in politically correct themes, bordering on indoctrination. I hope you agree with me that that’s nonsense.

To digress for a moment, like many other teachers, I was disappointed to see the environment disappear from A-level in 2016. This was only partly the fault of the awarding bodies, in fact, since Ofqual/DfE imposed limitations regarding what topics could be covered. The exam boards felt that the environment could not be shoe-horned into the requirements of AO4 (target language country-specific topics - even though AQA did put the sub-theme of cyber-society into the French specification, which is a challenge to relate specifically to France and French-speaking countries.)

So back to my main point, today’s A-level specifications feature strongly issues which are relevant to today’s discussions and demonstrations about racism.

Here is a glimpse of what the awarding bodies include in the A-level French courses, as copied from the specs:

AQA

Positive features of a diverse society (Les aspects positifs d'une société diverse)

• L'enrichissement dû à la mixité ethnique
• Diversité, tolérance et respect 
• Diversité – un apprentissage pour la vie

Pearson/ Edexcel

Theme 3: L’immigration et la société multiculturelle française. Theme 3 is set in the context of France only. This theme covers social issues and trends.

• L’impact positifdel’immigration sur lasociété française
• Les contributions des immigrés à l’économie et à la culture.
• Répondre aux défis de l’immigration et de l’intégration en France
• Les activités des communautés; la marginalisation et l’aliénation du point de vue des immigrés.
• L’extrême droite
• La montée du Front National (sic); les leaders du Front National; l’opinion publique.

Eduqas 

• Diversity and difference
• Migration and integration
• Reasons for migration; factors which make migration/integration easy/difficult
• Cultural identity and marginalisation
• Reasons for marginalisation; ways to eliminate marginalisation
• Cultural enrichment and celebrating difference
• The positive aspects of a diverse society
• Discrimination and diversity
• Life for those who are discriminated against

Then, of course, we need to keep in mind the books and films chosen by the exam boards, which also occasionally get into issues like diversity.

So I don’t think the awarding bodies need feel any guilt about their commitment to these worthy issues - at least as far as A-Level is concerned. The same is not true of GCSE where I think there may be scope for something more. I know there are teachers out there who would like to see less about topics such as holidays, healthy living and the like, and some more meaty topics relating specifically to the TL culture. If anyone still has that sneaking suspicion that the inclusion of diversity and racism is somehow too political, then we’ll have to agree to disagree. I think it’s through educating young people to value diversity that we reduce the likelihood of stupid and dangerous talk and behaviour in the future and help develop responsible, educated citizens.