Curriculum: An offer of what the best might be

England’s National Curriculum states, in an echo of Matthew Arnold’s words from his book Culture and Anarchy (Arnold, 1869), that teachers should provide ‘pupils with an introduction to the essential knowledge they need to be educated citizens. [And] introduce pupils to the best that has been thought and said, [engendering] an appreciation of human creativity and achievement’ (DfE, 2013); this seemingly innocuous aim is at odds with many approaches to curriculum design and might be impossible to achieve. Some take the task of providing ‘the best’ in their stride, happily embracing canonical works without a second thought, without even thinking of whether they are the best or not, as they just know what the best is. Many others are left asking the questions, ‘Whose knowledge?’, ‘Who says what the best is?’ and ‘What is “essential” knowledge?’ before deciding to teach critical thinking, creativity and collaboration, saying that arguments about what the bes