Creative Potential within Policy: An Analysis of the 2013 English Literature Curriculum

This article takes as its focus Lefebvre's trialectic of conceived, perceived and lived spaces as a lens through which to scrutinise the 2013 English Literature Curriculum, and to explore the extent to which creative spaces might exist within that curriculum. The article analyses how the curriculum is envisaged by policymakers and how it might be expected to be translated into practice, utilising the wording of the policy document to facilitate an exploration of what its underlying intentions might be. Experiences of teaching a poem from the new curriculum are used to provide illustrative examples of the ways in which teachers’ and learners’ experiences of the curriculum might, in practice, diverge from the direction envisaged by policymakers as teachers negotiate creative spaces within their classrooms.