Education secretary Michael Gove's plans to overhaul the national curriculum have been criticised by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).
The union said the government's curriculum plans are "full of impossible contradictions".
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL, commented: "On one hand he says teachers should be given more control over what and how they teach and on the other he is dictating exactly what they must teach with his lists of kings, queens and rivers.
"They might be great for pub quizzes, but rather less relevant for the rest of life. He is equally contradictory to dictate the curriculum for state-funded schools, but allow academies to ignore everything."
Furthermore, she said the union is "disappointed" that the curriculum review committee will not include any practising teachers.
The Department for Education revealed last week that the government is keen to replace the current "substandard" curriculum with a "world class" resource for teachers and pupils.
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