tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/kevin-donnelly-9005/articlesKevin Donnelly – The Conversation2014-12-10T19:33:57Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/351622014-12-10T19:33:57Z2014-12-10T19:33:57ZClaims of East Asia’s ‘chalk and talk’ teaching success are wrong, and short-sighted too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66588/original/image-20141208-16329-e5x2jr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">East Asian academic success is based on culture rather than teaching methods. And Australia can't, and shouldn't, imitate that culture. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=116494690&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQxODA0NDc1MCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTE2NDk0NjkwIiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDExNjQ5NDY5MCIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMTY0OTQ2OTAvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJoR2IzUlhjY3AxM0lNKzZvVXQrb01oOHkyWG8iXQ%2Fshutterstock_116494690.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=5cTlSv1jnwZO9IAlnDK9OQ-3-13">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since Shanghai, China, emerged at the top of international league tables of educational performance such as the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (<a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">PISA</a>), there have been repeated calls for Australia and other western countries to learn from East Asian countries. </p>
<p>One of the more recent comes from Kevin Donnelly, recently <a href="https://theconversation.com/chalk-and-talk-teaching-might-be-the-best-way-after-all-34478">published in The Conversation</a> and picked up by <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/11/25/the-chinese-have-some-important-things-to-teach-us-about-education/">The Washington Post</a> and the <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1651155/chinas-lesson-why-west-was-wrong-abandon-chalk-and-talk-teaching-methods?page=all">South China Morning Post</a>. This article advocated that we should learn from the “chalk and talk” teaching methods reported to be used in Shanghai, where a teacher directs instruction from the front of the class, and revive these in Australian schools.</p>
<p>The problem with such calls is the assumption that the success of East Asian countries is due to specific features of their education systems. Even at first glance, this assumption would seem to be dubious. The school systems in these countries are quite diverse and are certainly not universally characterised by the use of chalk and talk, or any other specific teaching method.</p>
<p>It was always possible that the success of East Asian students was primarily due to their commitment to educational success through hard work. <a href="http://www.ioe.ac.uk/newsEvents/104961.html">Recent work</a> has demonstrated that this alternative explanation is probably correct. This work compares the performance of children of East Asian ethnicity growing up in their country of origin with similar children growing up in Australia.</p>
<p>It is obvious that in migrating to Australia, these children did not bring their schools, their teachers and their teaching methods with them. So, if they continue to be high performers, what they left behind cannot provide the explanation.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66589/original/image-20141208-16317-1pnjk4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66589/original/image-20141208-16317-1pnjk4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66589/original/image-20141208-16317-1pnjk4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66589/original/image-20141208-16317-1pnjk4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66589/original/image-20141208-16317-1pnjk4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66589/original/image-20141208-16317-1pnjk4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66589/original/image-20141208-16317-1pnjk4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66589/original/image-20141208-16317-1pnjk4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Educational success in East Asian countries is based on a culture of hard work, not chalk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=157595639&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQxODA0NDk0MSwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTU3NTk1">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The <a href="http://www.ioe.ac.uk/newsEvents/104961.html">University of London study</a> found that Australian students with East Asian parents outperform those with Australian-born parents in mathematics by the equivalent of nearly three years of schooling. The results of students of East Asian ancestry in Australia were statistically similar to the average score of Shanghai students (613) and significantly higher than scores in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. Thus students of East Asian ancestry in Australia perform highly without access to the teachers and schools in their country of origin.</p>
<p>There is a lot of evidence pointing to the real factors involved, in particular long hours of out-of-school study. Homework starts early, often as early as pre-school, and increases as students proceed through school. Data from <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results-volume-IV.pdf">PISA 2012</a> show that a higher percentage of students from East Asia participate in out-of-school coaching classes than in Australia. They generally spend much longer on homework and study at home as well. These intense study patterns are continued by students of East Asian ancestry growing up in Australia.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02n680939.2014.892156#.VHvt1dKUd8E">smaller study</a> published in the Journal of Education Policy found similar results. It concluded that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>cultural background appears to be more consequential for the educational attainment of Chinese immigrant students than exposure to the educational systems of Australia or New Zealand.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>This success comes with costs Australia doesn’t want</h2>
<p>If the greater success of students of East Asian ancestry, both in East Asia and Australia, is a matter of cultural commitment to education, we need to ask if we should emulate the educational pressures imposed by East Asian parents and schools. There are two reasons for doubting that this is a sensible way to go, even if such a substantial cultural shift was feasible in a reasonable time-frame.</p>
<p>Firstly, while we may look to East Asia for lessons, most countries in East Asia are dissatisfied with their educational outcomes. They believe that they are not <a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/education/node/755">producing flexible and creative thinkers</a>, and often look to western education systems for a lead. </p>
<p>Secondly, we also need to look at the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/opinion/sunday/south-koreas-education-system-hurts-students.html?src=twr&_r=1">impact of the educational pressures</a> imposed in East Asia on the children. There are many reports of mental health and attitudinal issues associated with these pressures. One of the best documented is the emergence of an <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2960272-4/abstract">epidemic of myopia</a>, or short-sightedness, in precisely those countries in East Asia that score highly on both educational outcomes and out-of-school coaching and homework in PISA data. </p>
<p>In East Asia, <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2960272-4/abstract">around 80%</a> of students completing secondary school are short-sighted. <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2960272-4/abstract">Around 20%</a> have such severe myopia that they are at a markedly increased risk of irreversible vision loss later in life. <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2960272-4/abstract">Studies have linked these vision problems</a> with extended periods of time spent indoors studying. The human cost of East Asian educational success is very high.</p>
<p>All in all, there is not a lot for us to learn from East Asia on educational success, despite the commentators and policy-makers who follow this line. Instead, it may make more sense for East Asian countries to look at western countries such as Finland, Canada and even Australia and New Zealand. They manage to combine reasonably high educational outcomes with more rounded and balanced development of students, and without an epidemic of myopia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35162/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Morgan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Since Shanghai, China, emerged at the top of international league tables of educational performance such as the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), there have been repeated calls…Ian Morgan, Visiting Fellow, Research School of Biology and Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, CHina, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/351652014-12-09T19:36:05Z2014-12-09T19:36:05ZParing back the curriculum would be a difficult and unnecessary task<p>This week the ministers of education for the states and territories will consider recommendations from federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne to revise the Australian curriculum. These recommendations are likely to follow the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/36267">Australian government’s initial response</a> to the findings of the <a href="http://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/review-australian-curriculum">National Curriculum Review</a>, written by business academic Ken Wiltshire and education researcher Kevin Donnelly.</p>
<h2>How to resolve the overcrowded curriculum</h2>
<p>One of the main messages in the review, and the government response to the review, was that the curriculum is overcrowded. The review described the curriculum as having:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>far too much content than can be reasonably delivered by our schools and teachers, impacting on the quality of learning of our students.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This was particularly thought to be a problem in the early years of primary schooling, because it reduced the time that could be devoted to literacy and numeracy. To address this perceived problem the Wiltshire-Donnelly report identified two different ways of reducing content — two because the reviewers could not reach an agreement on a single proposal. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66696/original/image-20141209-6723-2xrhaw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66696/original/image-20141209-6723-2xrhaw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66696/original/image-20141209-6723-2xrhaw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66696/original/image-20141209-6723-2xrhaw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66696/original/image-20141209-6723-2xrhaw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66696/original/image-20141209-6723-2xrhaw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66696/original/image-20141209-6723-2xrhaw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66696/original/image-20141209-6723-2xrhaw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Everything in the curriculum has been put there for a reason - simply taking it out wouldn’t be wise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Wiltshire recommended that in the Foundation Year and Years 1 and 2 the curriculum have only two components — literacy and numeracy. More subjects would be added in Year 3 and again in Year 7. </p>
<p>In Donnelly’s model, maths, English, science and history would be compulsory from Foundation to Year 10. All other subjects would be electives. In other words, he advocates the same structure of compulsory and elective subjects for all years. </p>
<p>Both these recommendations involve major changes to the curriculum that is currently being introduced into schools across the country.</p>
<p>The assumption is that other subjects take time away from the teaching of literacy and numeracy. However, the recommendation to remove the cross-curriculum “general capabilities” to make room for literacy and numeracy makes little sense because these are capabilities that span a range of subjects, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-if-we-had-asked-teachers-to-do-the-curriculum-review-33027">not actual content</a>. Wiltshire recognises this by recommending that in the early years: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>teachers would use relevant content from disciplines as they develop literacy and numeracy content and skills.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet his model still proposes to remove this content from the curriculum.</p>
<h2>Is the curriculum actually overcrowded?</h2>
<p>The belief that the primary school curriculum is overcrowded is questionable. The international comparisons used by the Wiltshire-Donnelly review as benchmarks against which to judge the Australian curriculum do not support it.</p>
<p>In the first year of primary school in England <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/381344/Master_final_national_curriculum_28_Nov.pdf">the compulsory subjects are</a> English, mathematics, science, art and design, computing, design and technology, geography, history, music and physical education. These continue throughout the primary years, with a second language being added in Year 3.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/primary/curriculum/">Singapore</a> and <a href="http://www.oph.fi/english/curricula_and_qualifications/basic_education">Finland</a>, two other benchmark countries, have a similar breadth of content. So while there is scope to reduce the content of some subjects in the Australian curriculum, international comparisons do not suggest a need to reduce the number of subjects in the primary school years.</p>
<p>Wiltshire’s curriculum model further reduces content in these years by integrating history, geography and civics and citizenship into a combined humanities and social sciences subject. This is a surprising recommendation, because it would mean a return to Studies in Society and Environment (SOSE), which is being phased out as the Australian curriculum is progressively implemented. </p>
<p>This integrated subject gained a reputation for lack of rigour and depth and in the new Australian curriculum was split into its constituent disciplines. A reversion to SOSE is at odds with the final report’s support of a more rigorous curriculum based on discipline knowledge.</p>
<p>In the secondary school years, Wiltshire’s curriculum model makes a wide range of subjects compulsory up to the end of Year 10. Donnelly’s model, on the other hand, makes only four subjects compulsory from Foundation to Year 10, and the rest electives. No explanation is provided for the choice of the four subjects, and particularly for the choice of history as the only compulsory humanities and social sciences subject. </p>
<p>At present, SOSE, or its equivalent, is or has been a compulsory subject in most jurisdictions up to Year 10, and in Queensland up to Year 9. Whatever its failings, SOSE did teach students something about the contemporary world through elements from geography, economics and sociology. In Donnelly’s model this knowledge is seen as optional, and students’ understanding of the world around them would suffer as a consequence.</p>
<p>In narrowing the core curriculum, Donnelly appears to be advocating a different direction to many high-performing school systems in other countries. A recent report for the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175439/NCR-Expert_Panel_Report.pdf">Review of the National Curriculum in England</a> examined the structure of the curriculum in 12 countries or states/provinces, and concluded:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>International evidence supporting the provision of focused breadth at Key Stage 4 [i.e. Years 10 and 11] is extremely strong and it appears that England narrows its curriculum earlier than many of the high-performing jurisdictions. This has the consequence at Key Stage 4 of depriving many young people of access to powerful forms of knowledge and experience at a formative time in their lives, and foreclosing on some pathways and choices.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Depriving young people of information seems to be the exact opposite of what we want from a quality education system and a well-thought-out curriculum.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35165/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alaric Maude was employed by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority as Lead Writer and Writing Coach for the Australian geography curriculum.</span></em></p>This week the ministers of education for the states and territories will consider recommendations from federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne to revise the Australian curriculum. These recommendations…Alaric Maude, Associate Professor of Geography, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/338782014-11-12T19:29:49Z2014-11-12T19:29:49ZWill the curriculum review make it in to schools? It’s a political waiting game<p>The <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review_of_the_national_curriculum_final_report.pdf">Review of the Australian Curriculum</a> was released last month and the initial responses by the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/36267">federal government</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/national-curriculum-review-experts-respond-26913">others</a> soon followed. So what happens now for this review, an analysis of the national school curriculum by the government’s two appointed reviewers? Is it likely to have action messages for schools or state and territory systems? </p>
<p>The political process has not yet swung into action. State and territory education ministers and the federal minister, Christopher Pyne, are to discuss its recommendations at an Education Council meeting in December.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.liberal.org.au/latest-news/2014/10/12/curriculum-review-and-initial-government-response-released">Pyne noted in the government response</a> that he’d be consulting with his colleagues over the next few months:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is an opportunity for my state and territory colleagues to work with me to ensure the curriculum is delivering the outcomes we want for our students.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While this appears to centre his own role, the tone of the initial response invites discussion. That is essential in a context where states and territories retain control of the curriculum for their schools.</p>
<p>Most of the states and territories will have their curriculum authorities or policy branches developing briefings about response options for their ministers to take to Canberra. Each authority already has a well-developed strategy for dealing with the national curriculum, which started being adopted in 2011 in some jurisdictions. </p>
<p>ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority) oversees the development of the Australian Curriculum. An overview of the implementation timelines adopted by education jurisdictions to date on can be found on the <a href="http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/State_and_Territory_Senior_Secondary_Integration_and_Implementation_Plans.pdf#search=imPlementation%20timeline">ACARA website</a>. Even without the latest review, the Australian Curriculum is up to Version 7.2. </p>
<p>The smallest educational jurisdiction - ACT - fully adopted the national curriculum, given its tiny departmental infrastructure. Larger states such as NSW and Victoria adapted elements within their state curriculum frameworks. The diversity among the state, territory, Catholic and independent school sectors indicates that negotiations to date have not been straightforward.</p>
<h2>So when will the decisions be made?</h2>
<p>Decision-making on the national curriculum is quite convoluted because education remains a state responsibility. Currently, the ACARA board makes recommendations to the Australian Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs Senior Officials Committee (made up of the director-generals/secretaries/chief executives for school education and early childhood education and care in Australia) and the Standing Council on School Education and Early Childhood (made up of all Commonwealth, state and territory education ministers). The standing council, not ACARA, makes any final decision to endorse a curriculum document. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64180/original/q4rndcpf-1415667462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64180/original/q4rndcpf-1415667462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64180/original/q4rndcpf-1415667462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64180/original/q4rndcpf-1415667462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64180/original/q4rndcpf-1415667462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64180/original/q4rndcpf-1415667462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64180/original/q4rndcpf-1415667462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64180/original/q4rndcpf-1415667462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From review to blackboard, there’s a lot of politicking in between.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vblibrary/10432227963">Flickr/Enokson</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>As ACARA makes clear in its important <a href="http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/STATEMENT_Review_of_the_Australian_Curriculum_20140324.pdf">background statement to inform the review</a>, states and territories determine timelines for any implementation. These take into account the needs of their systems, schools and teachers. </p>
<p>Once the ministers have had their formal discussion in December, and presuming there is an agreement which will not founder on states’ rights by allowing for a sufficient variety of approaches, then the standing council is likely to refer its recommendations back to ACARA for further development. </p>
<p>This will be the tricky part that tests ACARA’s political and curriculum acumen, and its ability to turn any accepted review recommendations into curriculum documents. The review’s recommendations challenge the expert and professional processes ACARA has used for ensuring a good curriculum design. The recommendations include significant cutbacks to a small mandatory core for each subject, and the reduction of the “general competencies” and cross-curriculum priorities, which have been central to the current curriculum. </p>
<p>Making these complicated processes even more complex, the review also recommended major changes to ACARA’s mandate. The Australian government seemed to accept these recommendations in broad terms. Its response suggested it would use the legislatively mandated six-month review of ACARA starting in December to canvass the options and potentially change the legislation.</p>
<p>Thus it may be possible that only some of the recommendations – if agreed by the ministers – will be referred to ACARA for further work, awaiting the outcome of the federal government’s review of governance. Or maybe all recommendations will be held off.</p>
<p>ACARA has not made public statements about the review or the the government’s initial response. Like the ACARA board, the education community will need to wait and see what happens at the education ministers’ meeting in December. It is highly unlikely that any major changes will happen before 2016.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33878/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marie Brennan receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>The Review of the Australian Curriculum was released last month and the initial responses by the federal government and others soon followed. So what happens now for this review, an analysis of the national…Marie Brennan, Professor of Education, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/328712014-10-15T19:25:24Z2014-10-15T19:25:24ZHooked on the classics: literature in the English curriculum<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61729/original/znfkj3hb-1413329654.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The curriculum review called for more "Western literature". Given the curriculum is mostly Western literature already, perhaps we can take that to mean "more Bible". </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruth_w/4524261300">Flickr/Ruth_W</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://docs.education.gov.au/node/36269">National Curriculum Review</a> was released this week, with the reviewers calling for a greater focus on “Western” literature in the English classroom. </p>
<p>As former high school and primary English teachers, we were left wondering what reviewers Kevin Donnelly and Ken Wiltshire think our students are reading in classrooms across the country, if not Western literature. </p>
<h2>What exactly is “Western” literature?</h2>
<p>The call for an emphasis on Western literature is unsurprising, given in the past <a href="https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2010/05/the-ideology-of-the-national-english-curriculum/">Donnelly has argued</a> that </p>
<blockquote>
<p>no amount of politically correct clap-trap about the importance of indigenous and Asian texts can erase the fact that central to English as a subject are those enduring literary works that are part of the Western tradition.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So what is the literary canon according to Donnelly? Alongside Shakespeare and Dickens, the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-29/donnelly-the-bible-deserves-a-place-in-the-national-curriculum/3750156">Bible</a> takes centre stage.</p>
<p>Students already engage with a broad range of Western canonical and contemporary texts, both from Australia and abroad. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61730/original/ns5c8j43-1413329862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61730/original/ns5c8j43-1413329862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61730/original/ns5c8j43-1413329862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61730/original/ns5c8j43-1413329862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61730/original/ns5c8j43-1413329862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61730/original/ns5c8j43-1413329862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61730/original/ns5c8j43-1413329862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61730/original/ns5c8j43-1413329862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It doesn’t get much more Western, or influential than Charles Dickens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/41188800@N00/453620675">Flickr/Jeannie Fletcher</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, the <a href="http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/assets/global/files/english-k10-suggested-texts.pdf">NSW Curriculum</a> suggests using texts from authors such as Dickens, Eliot, Hemingway, Kipling and Orwell in Years 7 to 10.</p>
<p>When Victorian Year 12 students study for the <a href="http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/documents/notices/2013/notice27-2013-2014vceenglishealtextlist.pdf">VCE</a>, they are expected to engage with Western canon greats such as Shakespeare and Bronte.</p>
<p>Barry Spurr, a <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/arts/english/staff/profiles/barry.spurr.php">Poetry and Poetics</a> Professor at The University of Sydney, was chosen to review literature in the English curriculum. Some of his recommendations have made it through to the final report, including a </p>
<blockquote>
<p>greater emphasis on dealing with and introducing literature from the Western literary canon, especially poetry.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Spurr believes that an </p>
<blockquote>
<p>over-emphasis on 20th- and 21st-century texts produces an unbalanced curriculum, and certainly not a rigorous one, with regard to the discipline at large.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He goes on to declare that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the range of study must extend from Middle English lyrics and the works of Chaucer to the present, with acknowledgement and experience also of ancient texts from the classical world and of the Bible – sources that, through the centuries, have had an inestimable influence on the development of literature in English.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The reviewers endorse this position on page 159 of their report, claiming that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>knowledge of the Bible is vitally important for an appreciation of Western literature. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Donnelly has <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-29/donnelly-the-bible-deserves-a-place-in-the-national-curriculum/3750156">previously argued that we need the Bible</a> in our schools, prompting the question whether the review is free of ideology.</p>
<h2>Choosing quality literature in the English Classroom</h2>
<p>Currently, there is no prescribed literature in the Australian Curriculum. In its <a href="http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/english/advice-on-selection-of-literary-texts">advice</a> on selecting literary texts, the curriculum authority (ACARA) explains: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Teachers and schools are best placed to make decisions about the selection of texts in their teaching and learning programs that address the content in the Australian Curriculum while also meeting the needs of the students in their classes.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Australian Association for the Teaching of English <a href="https://submissions.deewr.gov.au/Forms/AustralianCurriculum/_layouts/SP.Submissions/ViewDoc.ashx?id=%7Baab90d68-0205-467a-a017-4216d25bb3d1%7D">submission</a> to the review commended the current situation, where </p>
<blockquote>
<p>schools have the professional freedom to implement the curriculum with texts that they assess as being suitable for their own student cohorts.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://submissions.deewr.gov.au/Forms/AustralianCurriculum/_layouts/SP.Submissions/ViewDoc.ashx?id=%7Bf75b7d57-17ee-4390-9341-b3adb4943077%7D">submission</a> made by the Primary English Teaching Association Australia also endorses the curriculum’s flexibility for teachers to have control over context-appropriate literature selection.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61732/original/67hrz34f-1413330055.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61732/original/67hrz34f-1413330055.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61732/original/67hrz34f-1413330055.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61732/original/67hrz34f-1413330055.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61732/original/67hrz34f-1413330055.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61732/original/67hrz34f-1413330055.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61732/original/67hrz34f-1413330055.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61732/original/67hrz34f-1413330055.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schools know best what students should study.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/satyrika/13405420734">Flickr/Roberta Cortese</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Calling for an emphasis on the Western literary canon makes the curriculum more, not less, prescriptive. This runs counter to the government’s rhetoric on <a href="http://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/school-autonomy">school autonomy</a>.</p>
<p>This kind of prescriptive approach to text selection is the focus of the so-called “culture wars” and has previously been focused on secondary schooling. </p>
<p>What is different in this review, and perhaps most troubling, is the suggestion that this “historical study of literature” should begin from the Foundation year, where memorising and reciting the texts will assist students in ingesting </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the flavoursome vocabulary of the simplest Medieval lyrics and the inventive conceptions of traditional fairy stories, myths and legends.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s questionable whether reciting and memorising Medieval poetry is appropriate for six year olds.</p>
<h2>A call for more literature and less imagination</h2>
<p>While the current English curriculum is not perfect, there are some groundbreaking and innovative features that seem to have become lost in the tired fights about phonics, skills and ideological warfare. One of these is the intertwining of three strands of content - Language, Literature and Literacy. </p>
<p>The Australian Literacy Educators’ Association <a href="https://submissions.deewr.gov.au/Forms/AustralianCurriculum/_layouts/SP.Submissions/ViewDoc.ashx?id=%7B79d1beee-0b47-4927-a18e-2bdff69aca9c%7D">submission</a> to the review commended the curriculum, saying: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The central place of literature in the English curriculum ensures learners are immersed in rich language and that excellent models of written language are used to inspire student writing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, the reviewers claim that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>during the early years to middle years of primary school, there should be less emphasis on children creating their own literature and more on becoming familiar with literary texts – both fiction and non-fiction – as exemplars of high-quality writing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This begs the question whether the NAPLAN Writing Task will continue to be sat by Year 3 and 5 students. After all, the composition of narrative and persuasive texts is a clear example of children creating their own literature.</p>
<p>In his analysis, Spurr declares that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the idea of pupils as ‘creators’ of literature in English needs to be kept firmly in check.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This position has been labelled by the South Australian English Teachers Association president, Alison Robertson, as <a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-english-teachers-association-blasts-national-curriculum-review/story-fni6uo1m-1227089287645">“crazy”</a>, with text comprehension and composition going hand-in-hand.</p>
<p>Teachers should be given the professional respect to understand the learning needs of their students and to select appropriate literature for inclusion in their English program. The curriculum already supports this.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Editor’s note: Both authors will be on hand for Author Q&A sessions today (October 16) – Eileen from 12:30 to 1:30pm and Stewart from 3 and 4pm AEDT. Post any questions about literature in the Australian curriculum in the comments below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32871/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The National Curriculum Review was released this week, with the reviewers calling for a greater focus on “Western” literature in the English classroom. As former high school and primary English teachers…Stewart Riddle, Lecturer in Literacies Education, University of Southern QueenslandEileen Honan, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/329472014-10-15T00:24:28Z2014-10-15T00:24:28ZThere’s more to education than spelling and numbers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61604/original/b93jm5k7-1413252284.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The current curriculum includes life skills that are taught across all subjects, but the review wants them only taught when "necessary".</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=55812871&size=huge&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQxMzI4MTAzNSwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfNTU4MTI4NzEiLCJwIjoidjF8MTAxMjc1ODh8NTU4MTI4NzEiLCJrIjoicGhvdG8vNTU4MTI4NzEvaHVnZS5qcGciLCJtIjoiMSIsImQiOiJzaHV0dGVyc3RvY2stbWVkaWEifSwiY2JpTkJmdlFiOWlQSlo1TE92TjkzaVNCVEJZIl0%2Fshutterstock_55812871.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=YlKqaRNOWTfKYRcGU0cPQg-1-40">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/education-review-overhaul-of-bloated-national-curriculum-widely-supported-20141012-114zkz.html">Headlines</a> in newspapers on Monday morning said much of the curriculum review has been welcomed across Australia. The removal of the four “general capabilities” from the curriculum is a travesty many are yet to recognise.</p>
<p>The four “general capabilities” are personal and social capability, critical and creative thinking, ethical understanding and intercultural understanding. Are thinking and creativity now considered irrelevant for education? </p>
<p><a href="http://sirkenrobinson.com/pdf/allourfutures.pdf">Research</a> suggests these are <a href="http://www.journalofplay.org/issues/5/3">critical skills</a> for innovation, problem-solving, empathy, evaluation, knowledge application and mental health. These skills are also necessary for the promotion of a democratic society. Young people need to be able to think for themselves and make up their own minds about their values, who they become and what they do. </p>
<p>The reduced focus on personal and social capability also makes little sense. Relationships are not the soft and fluffy end of education; they are the central plank of how we learn and how well we live our lives. They determine our ability to contribute to both the world of work and society. </p>
<p>Confederation of British Industry director-general John Cridland says that over <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/john-cridland/uk-education-system_b_5557210.html">half of British firms are concerned</a> about the self-management and resilience of school leavers, who must be better prepared for life outside the school gates.</p>
<p>Eton College headmaster Tony Little has <a href="http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-08-13/exams-arent-everything-says-eton-headmaster">expressed concern over the narrowing</a> of the curriculum:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A sharp focus on performance is a good thing, but there is a great deal more to an effective and good education than jostling for position in a league table … Most of us as parents want our children to become capable adults, able to look after themselves and their own families, but we want them to be good citizens, too.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The US Department of Defence funded research leading to the <a href="http://www.umass.edu/schoolcounseling/NLC/page3/page20/assets/Wingspread%20Declaration%20on%20School%20Connections.pdf">Wingspread Declaration on School Connections</a>, a document highlighting the need for a sense of belonging for effective education.</p>
<p>There is now a raft of <a href="http://www.aracy.org.au/projects/report-card-the-wellbeing-of-young-australians">Australian</a> and <a href="http://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/appendix_1_literature_review.pdf">international evidence</a> for what constitutes authentic well-being for young people and how a focus on student well-being underpins universal learning outcomes, mental health for the vulnerable and pro-social behaviour. Healthy relationships with teachers, families and peers are integral to this.</p>
<p>Many of our young people are not learning the values and skills needed outside of school. Most teachers are doing a great job, despite the pressures on them to focus on test results. The evidence for the benefit of social and emotional learning in the curriculum is overwhelming. In the US a <a href="http://dovetaillearning.org/dovetail/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/CASEL-UIC-SEL-Program-Meta-analysis_summary.pdf">meta-analysis of 213 social and emotional learning programs</a> showed that academic outcomes for participating students had an 11% improvement in academic skills compared to control groups. </p>
<p>It is hardly surprising that some of our most privileged and advantaged schools are taking student well-being - “learning to be” and “learning to live together” - seriously. Prestigious and successful schools such as Geelong Grammar, The Knox School and St Peters in Adelaide have a heavy focus on these attributes. </p>
<p>We need to go beyond the economic, rote-learning mindset, which is singularly concerned with the acquisition and regurgitation of facts. There is great concern that the race to the top in <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">PISA</a> rankings is undermining the education our children and our country really needs. What is the point of top marks in all subjects if you are unable to live a fulfilling life? </p>
<p>And what about valuing all of those children who are never going to be academic stars, but have other things to offer? Don’t they count? </p>
<p>Our education system is about the future of Australia, our democracy, our future mental health and our ability to contribute within our community. Relationships matter, resilience matters. Teachers, researchers and many parents know this, so why don’t the reviewers?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32947/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue Roffey is Chair of Wellbeing Australia and co Lead Convenor of the Student Wellbeing Action Network which is part of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth </span></em></p>Headlines in newspapers on Monday morning said much of the curriculum review has been welcomed across Australia. The removal of the four “general capabilities” from the curriculum is a travesty many are…Sue Roffey, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Education, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/328702014-10-14T19:31:22Z2014-10-14T19:31:22ZCurriculum review filled with contradictions<p>A close reading of Dr Kevin Donnelly and Professor Ken Wiltshire’s <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/36269">review of the Australian Curriculum</a> reveals contradictory messages regarding the future curriculum for primary and secondary schools.</p>
<p>The reviewers acknowledge that Australia is the first federal country in the world to have a comprehensive national curriculum that includes knowledge, standards and capabilities.</p>
<p>They admit there is strong support and appreciation across the country for what ACARA (the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority) has achieved in developing the curriculum, in spite of some initial doubts and resistance. </p>
<p>While they cannot agree on the way ahead for schools, they argue the curriculum needs to be pared back, but also should have more depth.</p>
<p>They recommend that the focus in the early years of primary school should be on literacy and numeracy, but also that schools should include a more holistic approach, with a focus on values, morals and an increased emphasis on spirituality and student well-being.</p>
<p>These goals are already included in the “<a href="http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/ethical-understanding/introduction/introduction">general capabilities</a>” that are part of the current curriculum and which outline things students should be learning that aren’t necessarily maths or English. These include personal and social capabilities, critical and creative thinking, and ethical and cultural understanding, which should be present in the teaching of all subjects.</p>
<p>Yet the reviewers recommend:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>With the exception of literacy, numeracy and ICT, which continue as they are in the Australian curriculum, the remaining four general capabilities are no longer treated in a cross-curricular fashion.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They undermine the general capabilities further in the recommendation that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability, and intercultural understanding should be embedded only in those subjects and areas of learning where relevant.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These crucial life lessons for young Australians can’t be developed in a lesson or two. This learning is achieved through planning by educators educating the whole person beyond just subject-based learning.</p>
<p>On the one hand, the reviewers recommend a “back-to-basics approach”, but admit they are</p>
<blockquote>
<p>persuaded that the lack of integration of the curriculum in the primary years – particularly in the humanities and social sciences – has exacerbated the issue of an overcrowded curriculum.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Further, they conclude that education authorities should implement the content of the Australian Curriculum with some flexibility in how it is sequenced and delivered.</p>
<p>They recognise the importance of the independence of schools to offer a tailored curriculum that meets the specific and local needs of the school’s population. But they then offer a reductionist view that emphasises the core learning areas of English, maths and science in the primary years.</p>
<p>The reviewers criticise inquiry and constructivist learning, which are methods of teaching that encourage students to take charge of their own learning with questions and problem solving, but also say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Of course there is nothing wrong with diversity in approaches to curriculum delivery. Indeed, it is to be applauded given the scope for adaptation to different school contexts, populations and locations, not to mention the benefits of innovation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In spite of comments throughout the review reporting satisfaction with the Australian curriculum, and even the conclusion that the cross-curriculum priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and sustainability, should be retained (with some revisions), there is very limited discussion of these priorities and advice on the way ahead for them.</p>
<p>The findings of “new”, “fresh” subject specialists included in the review seem to hold more sway than the diverse submissions of 1,600 education authorities and curriculum organisations. For example, the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Science Teachers Association express support for the science curriculum and its inclusion in the early years of education. But “subject specialist” Professor Igor Bray suggests that science should not be introduced until Year 3. </p>
<p>The subject matter specialist commissioned to consider the geography curriculum, Mr Alan Hill, suggests a major rewrite and restructure of content in the geography curriculum to address his perception of an imbalance between physical and human geography. Yet the expert panel who advised on the curriculum felt that the balance was correct. At the end of it all, we are left with little clarity about what’s next.</p>
<p>Both reviewers conclude that in years 9 and 10, 11 subjects are to be studied - language, history, geography, economics, business, civics and citizenship, health and physical education, technologies, the arts, science and maths - at the discretion of the education authorities. The cross-curriculum priorities will be retained as well. This increases rather than pares back what students will study at these levels.</p>
<p>So Education Minister Christopher Pyne still has much work to do when he sits down with state and territory education ministers in December to ponder the review findings. The contradictions and suggestions in the review may well encourage the states and territories to develop the curriculum in their own varied ways and undermine the progress that had been made with the curriculum.</p>
<p>We are left wondering if implementing the current online Australian curriculum might be a more helpful way ahead for schools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Libby Tudball does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A close reading of Dr Kevin Donnelly and Professor Ken Wiltshire’s review of the Australian Curriculum reveals contradictory messages regarding the future curriculum for primary and secondary schools…Libby Tudball, Senior Lecturer , Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/269132014-10-12T07:14:23Z2014-10-12T07:14:23ZNational curriculum review: experts respond<p>The much awaited <a href="http://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review_of_the_national_curriculum_final_report.pdf">review of the National Curriculum</a> has finally been released with the reviewers calling for more of a focus on Western literature, and recognition of Australia’s “Judeo-Christian” heritage.</p>
<p>They reported the foundations of Australia’s heritage were being neglected, along with lessons on morals and spirituality.</p>
<p>The review, undertaken by former teacher and education researcher Kevin Donnelly and business academic Ken Wiltshire, <a href="http://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/review-australian-curriculum">was to</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>consider the robustness, independence and balance of the Australian Curriculum</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The review offers 30 recommendations in total, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>More emphasis on our Judeo-Christian heritage, the role of Western civilisation in contributing to our society, and the influence of our British system of government</li>
<li>more emphasis on morals, values and spirituality </li>
<li>there should be a renewed focus on monitoring students’ progress</li>
<li>a smaller, more parent-friendly curriculum should be developed</li>
<li>examples of A to E standards of work should be created as markers of quality</li>
<li>the amount of content in the curriculum should be reduced, especially in the primary years. Prep to Year 2 should focus on literacy and numeracy</li>
<li>more research should be undertaken into different methods of teaching, with the results to inform future evaluations of the curriculum</li>
<li>a restructure of the curriculum authority, ACARA, should take place so it is “at arm’s length” from education ministers and the education department</li>
<li>the curriculum should be reviewed every five years.</li>
</ul>
<p>We asked a panel of experts to comment on the findings. </p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Stewart Riddle, Lecturer in Literacies Education, University of Southern Queensland</strong></p>
<p>This is a review where the outcome was pre-determined by the minister’s choice of reviewers and a long-running media campaign of promoting a “back to the basics” approach.</p>
<p>Yet, reading through this “balanced” and “fair” review, the first thing that struck me was the staggering lack of engagement with empirical research. Apart from government reports and curriculum documents, there are only a handful of references to research literature. Given the scope and scale of this review, such a limited engagement with evidence is troubling.</p>
<p>It seems that the whole curriculum review, from its announcement through to release, has been little more than a political distraction from addressing serious concerns about equity in our schools. For example, the review highlights the importance of addressing educational needs for students with a disability, while the government is cutting $100 million from disability programs. </p>
<p>There is an irony, perhaps lost on the reviewers, that they criticise a supposed ideological bias towards “whole language” in the English curriculum, yet adhere to a liberal-humanist vision of education, when <a href="http://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review_of_the_national_curriculum_final_report.pdf">they say</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Defining the purpose of education in terms of strengthening equity and social justice is warranted. At the same time, adopting a politically correct approach in areas like sustainability, Asia and Indigenous histories and cultures, and in subjects like history and civics and citizenship compromises the integrity of a liberal–humanist view.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is unsurprising that the review calls for more emphasis on the Western literary canon. This has been Donnelly’s <a href="http://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2010/5/the-ideology-of-the-national-english-curriculum/">position</a> for a long time. Nor is it a surprise that the review calls for greater emphasis on a mythologised <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-29/donnelly-the-bible-deserves-a-place-in-the-national-curriculum/3750156">Judeo-Christian heritage</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, how much the curriculum is altered depends on how much of this review gets taken up by the various education ministers and their departments. No doubt, the existential challenges facing the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) will also be important over the coming months.</p>
<p>However, one thing is certain; any changes won’t be implemented in time for the 2015 school year, as Mr Pyne so optimistically predicted.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Misty Adoniou, Language and Literacy Researcher, University of Canberra</strong></p>
<p>Many of the review’s “findings” are no surprise because they were “found” <a href="http://ministers.education.gov.au/pyne/press-conference-adelaide-1">back in January</a> before the review commenced.</p>
<p>The broad recommendations are to get rid of four of the seven general capabilities, and the three cross curriculum priorities of sustainability, engagement with Asia, and indigenous culture, and reduce the number of subjects studied in primary schools. </p>
<p>In the English curriculum the recommendations are to <a href="http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/pyne-calls-for-return-of-phonics/story-fnj4f7k1-1226772141014">increase the amount of phonics</a> taught and <a href="http://www.therecord.com.au/news/national-curriculum-to-recognise-christian-roots/">increase the focus on Western literature</a> - just as they said they would be.</p>
<p>Perhaps the recommendation that was less predictable is the proposed restructuring of the early years curriculum - and it would appear the two curriculum reviewers have different ideas on what this might look like.</p>
<p>Dr Donnelly is suggesting Foundation to Year 2 be taught only English, Maths, History and Science. It appears Dr Donnelly is happy with the Foundation to Year 2 English curriculum as it is - but he’d like more focus on phonics teaching and less focus on “whole language”. Given that the current curriculum makes not one mention of “whole language”, and 10 of the 30 Foundation content descriptors are about phonics, and another 15 are about the linguistics of English it shouldn’t be too hard to achieve Dr Donnelly’s vision.</p>
<p>Dr Wiltshire is suggesting Foundation to Year 2 be taught only literacy and numeracy. His proposed model will be appealing to many early childhood educators as he is proposing that literacy and numeracy can be taught</p>
<blockquote>
<p>incorporating important areas of child development such as play-based learning, socialisation and movement and coordination</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The review doesn’t make it clear how Dr Wiltshire’s model would be enacted. Literacy isn’t a “subject” to be studied, it is a capability. It is how we communicate content. Dr Wiltshire does recognise this, stating </p>
<blockquote>
<p>teachers would use relevant content from disciplines as they develop literacy and numeracy content and skills</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, given that his model includes no discipline content for Foundation to Year 2 it is not clear where this discipline content would come from. Perhaps it is up to the teachers themselves? That would be a novel idea.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Bill Louden, Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Western Australia</strong></p>
<p>Getting the national school curriculum right is a serious business, so it is good news that the Donnelly/Wiltshire Review has taken a serious look at the strengths and weaknesses of the current Australian Curriculum.</p>
<p>It was a pleasant surprise to see the current Australian Curriculum described as “a significant achievement,” considering the florid remarks made by the reviewers before the review began.</p>
<p>The review offers a few of the expected free kicks about the lack of focus on Australia’s Judeo-Christian heritage and the impact and significance of Western civilisation, but on the whole it is a fair and thoughtful response to the many submissions received.</p>
<p>The review endorses the widely held view that overcrowding - too much content - is the most serious problem with the current Australian Curriculum.</p>
<p>It acknowledges that the compromises required to satisfy the range of stakeholders’ views have not been enough to deliver a truly national curriculum.</p>
<p>And it draws attention to a design weakness observable from the beginning: the absence of an overarching framework.</p>
<p>The recommendation that the “cross-curriculum priorities” and “general capabilities” be more firmly anchored in subject content will not please everyone, but it will help simplify the curriculum.</p>
<p>Similarly, there will be mixed views about the comments about the basics in English.</p>
<p>Professional associations were typically satisfied with the amount of emphasis on phonics and phonemic awareness in the teaching of reading, and the review has acknowledged that the Australian Curriculum deals with these issues in a more balanced way than earlier curriculum documents.</p>
<p>But given the fundamental importance of these decoding skills as the gateway to literacy and to much of the rest of the school curriculum, it seems reasonable to recommend that there be some further review of approaches to teaching reading in the early years of schooling.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>David Zyngier, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Education at Monash University</strong></p>
<p>The review states that claims that the Australian Curriculum has been developed to world’s best practice are wide of the mark – especially in the lack of an explicit values foundation, set of design principles, and holistic approach to schooling.</p>
<p>It finds a number of significant flaws in its conceptualisation and design making claims that it is “world class” or “best practice” questionable.</p>
<p>It suggests that </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the single-minded adherence to the prescriptions of the <a href="http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf">Melbourne Declaration</a> and the failure to initially consider how all the elements of the curriculum would fit together has led to a monolithic, inflexible and unwieldy curriculum. It is imperative that this is addressed as a matter of urgency.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is however a pleasant surprise to find that the review agrees that there is strong support for students being taught about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and sustainability. </p>
<p>Yet the reviewers are not convinced of the efficacy of having a cross-curriculum “dimension” of the curriculum that does not clearly anchor these so-called priorities in the content of learning areas and subjects, and recommend that a complete reconceptualisation of the teaching of the cross-curriculum priorities be undertaken.</p>
<p>However it is of no surprise that Donnelly and Wiltshire find that constructivist teaching – pedagogies which are now being taught throughout Australia and to new teachers in our faculties of education need to be rebalanced with more “back to the basics” teaching through direct and explicit instruction. </p>
<p>Constructivist pedagogy is incorrectly termed “student-centred inquiry learning” by the reviewers which is a total misunderstanding of constructivism which is based on extensive evidence based research about “what works” for all children not just those from the middle class.</p>
<p>Simply put constructivism is the theory that humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences of the real world with others and their own ideas and is supported by learning psychologists as diverse as Dewey, Piaget, Bruner and Vygostsky. I seriously doubt that Wiltshire and Donnelly rank in their league!</p>
<p>A case in point is The Civics & Citizenship Education (CCE) Curriculum. This area of study, for example, is critiqued not by an educator or someone expert in the development of CCE but a professor of constitutional law who states that she is categorically against the inclusion of the cross-curriculum priorities “as a general principle”.</p>
<p>Her view, accepted by the reviewers is that CCE should be more focused on an instrumentalist and content based curriculum teaching about democracy but not teaching for democracy. The review understands CCE in thin electoral terms with a focus on system of government and purposively rejects any discussion of diversity as too ideological. The “expert” recommends that dealing </p>
<blockquote>
<p>with ideological issues concerning the formation of identity, respect for others, shared values and belonging, would be more usefully included in the formative primary years, while in the secondary years, it would be more appropriate to teach the elements of the curriculum that require analytical thought and greater technical understanding of the system of government.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is in fact what many experts in CCE research suggest is and has been wrong with our historic teaching of civics and what actually turns students off this subject – the focus on how government works in the secondary school classroom instead of deep discussions about how democratic systems can be made more democratic by enhanced participation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26913/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The much awaited review of the National Curriculum has finally been released with the reviewers calling for more of a focus on Western literature, and recognition of Australia’s “Judeo-Christian” heritage…Misty Adoniou, Senior Lecturer in Language, Literacy and TESL, University of CanberraBill Louden, Emeritus Professor of Education, The University of Western AustraliaDavid Zyngier, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Education, Monash UniversityStewart Riddle, Lecturer in Literacies Education, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/293192014-07-23T20:18:02Z2014-07-23T20:18:02ZAustralian curriculum review: what the submissions say<p>The Donnelly-Wiltshire <a href="http://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/review-australian-curriculum">Review of the Australian Curriculum</a> is due at the end of the month. We know a bit about what the reviewers thought before they began, but what have submissions to the review told them?</p>
<p>Before his appointment, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/education-never-very-high-on-pms-agenda/story-e6frgd0x-1226679817009#">Professor Ken Wiltshire</a> described the curriculum as “poor and patchy” and “condemned by experts in just about every discipline”. </p>
<p>The other reviewer, Dr Kevin Donnelly, has argued that the Australian Curriculum is ideologically biased. He has said that the <a href="http://www.edstandards.com.au/index.php?education_standards_institute=102&archive=267">history curriculum</a> is “hostile to Western civilisation” and that <a href="http://www.edstandards.com.au/index.php?education_standards_institute=102&archive=279">English</a> is “nodding in the direction of phonics” but favours progressive reading teaching “where children are taught to look and guess”. </p>
<p>Submissions will not be published on the review website until the final report is released, but many of them are available on their organisations’ websites. What do they say?</p>
<h2>Condemned by experts?</h2>
<p>Everyone’s a curriculum critic – we’ve all been to school – but there is strong support for the Australian Curriculum from the subject experts: the national teachers’ associations.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.aamt.edu.au/Media/Files/AAMT-submission-to-Curric-Review_final">mathematics teachers’ association</a> argues that the Australian Curriculum “provides a world-class vision for mathematics in schooling”. The <a href="http://asta.edu.au/about/australian_curriculum_review">science teachers’ association</a> describes the curriculum as “truly comprehensive” and “academically rigorous”. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.htansw.asn.au/htansw/HTAASumbission_AustCurricReview_Feb2014.pdf">history teachers’ association</a> says that the development process had resulted in “a dynamic, engaging, flexible and balanced curriculum”. The national <a href="http://www.aate.org.au/documents/item/69">English teachers’ association</a> describes the curriculum as “robust”, providing “a rich resource to guide teacher planning and professional development”.</p>
<p>There are legitimate differences of opinion among well-informed people about the ideal scope and sequences of learning in school subjects. But the art of curriculum development is to strike a balance among these sincerely held but conflicting views.</p>
<h2>Poor and patchy?</h2>
<p>School sector submissions say less about the individual subjects but - with the clear exception of <a href="http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/australian-curriculum/review-aust-curriculum-bostes-submission.html">New South Wales</a> - are satisfied with the development and consultation processes. <a href="http://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/internet/_Documents/General/WA_Submission_to_the_Review_Australian_Curriculum.pdf">Western Australia</a>, a state that has always been sceptical about the national curriculum project, describes the consultative process as “comprehensive and thorough”, involving “extensive checks and balances”. </p>
<p>One of the checks and balances was an <a href="http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/International_Mapping_Project_Phase_4a_v1_file_2.pdf">independent comparison</a> with the English, mathematics and science taught in high-performing systems (New Zealand, Ontario, Finland and Singapore). The review concluded that the differences between the Australian Curriculum and high-performing comparators are slight.</p>
<p>Content topics were common across the jurisdictions, but there were small differences in order and emphasis. In science, for example, evolution is studied earlier in Ontario, Canada, than in Australia. There was more emphasis on analysis and less emphasis on procedures than in Finland.</p>
<h2>Biased in History?</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.edstandards.com.au/index.php?education_standards_institute=102&archive=267">Dr Donnelly</a> has characterised the history curriculum as: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>hostile towards the institutions, beliefs and grand narrative associated with Western civilisation that make this nation unique.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="http://www.acl.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/140228-ACL-Submission-to-the-Review-of-the-Australian-Curriculum.pdf">Australian Christian Lobby</a> and the <a href="http://www.ipa.org.au/portal/uploads/IPA_Submission-National_Curriculum_Review-March_2014.pdf">Institute of Public Affairs</a> were among the few organisations whose publicly available submissions supported this view.</p>
<p>In contrast, the national <a href="http://www.htansw.asn.au/htansw/HTAASumbission_AustCurricReview_Feb2014.pdf">history teachers’ association</a> has argued that the curriculum has been developed “with a high degree of independence and balance” and that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the existing depth of studies provide all students with the opportunity to understand the emergence of Western civilisation and democratic principles as well as Australia’s rich history.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In addition, the influential <a href="http://www.appa.asn.au/submissions/Review-of-Australian-curriculum.pdf">Australian Primary Principals Association</a> has explicitly ruled out bias in the history curriculum, arguing that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the current document provides a good account of the kind of historical understanding and practice that young Australians should learn.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Nodding towards the basics?</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.edstandards.com.au/index.php?education_standards_institute=102&archive=279">Dr Donnelly</a> criticised the English curriculum for merely “nodding in the direction of teaching phonics and phonemic awareness”. I’ve written <a href="https://theconversation.com/direct-instruction-and-the-teaching-of-reading-29157">elsewhere</a> about the importance of explicit teaching of reading and I am satisfied that the Australian Curriculum meets the requirements laid out by the <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/tll_misc/5/">Rowe Review</a> of the teaching of reading in Australia. </p>
<p>This is confirmed by an <a href="http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/International_Mapping_Project_Phase_4a_v1_file_2.pdf">external comparison</a> of the national English curriculum with the state and territory curriculum documents. This review concluded there were quite high levels of agreement between state and national English syllabuses, with the exception of South Australia. Compared with the national curriculum, South Australia had: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>very low relative ratings in: ‘Phonemic awareness’, ‘Phonics’, ‘Vocabulary’ and ‘Text and print features’ and to some extent in ‘Fluency’, all areas in which the South Australian materials were ‘not explicit’. </p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/auscurric/comparison/English_F-10_key_differences_between_AC_and_VELS.pdf">More recently</a>, documents prepared to assist teachers to move from the Victorian Essential Learning Standards to the Australian Curriculum have noted that the latter “contains more detailed reference to specific reading strategies, including phonics”, “more specific reference to language features and functions” and “more specific references to literary and multi-modal texts, and to use of ICT” than the curriculum that preceded it.</p>
<h2>Overcrowded?</h2>
<p>One by one, more than a dozen subject associations have said that they are satisfied with the curriculum developed in their own subjects, but many other stakeholders think that the sum of these subjects has led to an overcrowded curriculum. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.appa.asn.au/submissions/Review-of-Australian-curriculum.pdf">Australian Primary Principals Association</a> reminds the reviewers that it has been warning since 2008 that there’s too much content for children and teachers to cover. </p>
<p>Most of the school system and sector submissions agree. The <a href="http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/approach/ac_qld_response_review.pdf">Queensland Studies Authority</a> submission, for example, is satisfied with consultation on each subject but argues that there has been “too little discussion about how it all fits together”. <a href="http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/australian-curriculum/review-aust-curriculum-bostes-submission.html">New South Wales</a> has argued that overcrowding is a consequence of the original decision to develop a curriculum in four subjects, rather than designing from “an overall curriculum blueprint”. </p>
<h2>Timing?</h2>
<p>There are things to be fixed in the current version of the Australian Curriculum. At least in the primary years the most recently developed subjects – geography, civics and citizenship, economics and business, the arts – seem to be crowding out the space left over after English, mathematics, science and history. </p>
<p>This needs to be fixed, either by reducing content and time allocations in some subjects, beginning some subjects later in the primary years when the obligations of literacy and numeracy have been met, or adopting a core-plus-options strategy. </p>
<p>But if there is one thing that almost all of the submissions agree on, it is too soon for major rewriting of the curriculum. Stakeholders have spent too much time and effort negotiating the current version. As the <a href="http://www.ais.sa.edu.au/__files/f/178578/Review%20of%20the%20Australian%20Curriculum.pdf">South Australian independent schools’</a> submission put it, the “overriding message” from their schools is “do not mess with too much too soon”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29319/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Louden represented Western Australia on the Board of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority from 2008 to 2012.</span></em></p>The Donnelly-Wiltshire Review of the Australian Curriculum is due at the end of the month. We know a bit about what the reviewers thought before they began, but what have submissions to the review told…Bill Louden, Emeritus Professor of Education, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/232602014-02-17T04:03:55Z2014-02-17T04:03:55ZAustralian schools must promote LGBT-inclusive education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41568/original/frhpwkhg-1392377125.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Education minister Christopher Pyne's national curriculum review has the potential to erase the realities and lives of LGBT people and the discrimination they face from our classrooms.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Stefan Postles</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Earlier this month, it was <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/uproar-over-school-curriculum-experts-sex-comments-20140202-31v5i.html">revealed</a> that Kevin Donnelly, one of the men tasked with <a href="https://theconversation.com/national-curriculum-the-latest-target-of-coalitions-culture-wars-21910">reviewing Australia’s national curriculum</a>, had argued in a 2004 book that “many parents” think the “sexual practices” of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals are “decidedly unnatural”.</p>
<p>In 2005, Donnelly <a href="http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=2263">also wrote</a> that it was:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… wrong to introduce students to sensitive sexual matters about which most parents might be concerned and that the wider community might find unacceptable.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Upon appointing Donnelly and Ken Wiltshire to review the national curriculum in January, education minister Christopher Pyne <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/putting-critical-content-back-into-curriculum/story-e6frgd0x-1226798485952">said</a> that the review would ensure the curriculum is “balanced in its content, free of partisan bias and deals with real-world issues”.</p>
<p>But in order to safeguard the learning and social experiences of all Australian students, LGBT content and insights should be critical parts of the curriculum. If Australian schools are to deal with real-world issues, we must promote inclusive education practices.</p>
<p>Given Donnelly’s already-stated views, the national curriculum review has the potential to erase the realities and lives of LGBT people and the discrimination they face from our classrooms. In particular, a further revision to the health and physical education curriculum serves to undermine the work of the many professionals who lent their time and expertise to the drafting process. </p>
<p>The curriculum has an impact not only on LGBT individuals; it affects the knowledge, beliefs and experiences of all people.</p>
<h2>What the research says</h2>
<p>Research shows that homophobia is rampant in many Australian schools. A 2012 La Trobe University <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681811.2012.677211">study</a> of over 3000 students who identify as LGBT found that 60% of those surveyed had experienced verbal abuse and 30% had experienced physical abuse. Most of it happened in school. </p>
<p>The researchers concluded that for these students:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… the message that their sexual or gender identity is something to be ashamed of, and even physically beaten out of them, is a poignant form of school sexuality education beyond ‘official’ lessons.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="http://glsen.org/nscs">Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Research Network</a> highlights the impact on LGBT students’ lives of schools’ failure to keep them safe. In addition to poorer psychological well-being and increased absenteeism, students who have been harassed due to their sexual orientation have lower educational aspirations and reduced school achievement. </p>
<p>Today, it is legal for religious schools to discriminate against LGBT teachers and students. While LGBT individuals are afforded protection under federal law, both the Commonwealth <a href="http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2013A00098">Sex Discrimination Amendment</a> and the New South Wales <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/aa1977204/">Anti-Discrimination Act 1977</a> include notable exceptions that allow religious organisations to engage in discrimination. </p>
<p>Discrimination can be also perpetuated by what is present – and what is notably absent – in the curriculum. According to a <a href="http://www.ashhna.org.au/documents/SexEducationinAustSecondarySchoolsApril2011.pdf">2011 survey</a> of teachers of sexuality education, the most commonly cited barrier to their inclusion of LGBT topics is fear of parental complaint and concern. But prior research suggests that teachers’ fears may be based more on a sense of media-fuelled moral panic than on actual parental views. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19917202">Research</a> conducted in 2009 with nearly 200 parents from the Sydney region revealed that 97% felt that homosexuality should be included in sexual health education. The majority of parents suggested the late primary and secondary school years as the appropriate time for teaching such content.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41639/original/srqzkkh3-1392599036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41639/original/srqzkkh3-1392599036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41639/original/srqzkkh3-1392599036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41639/original/srqzkkh3-1392599036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41639/original/srqzkkh3-1392599036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41639/original/srqzkkh3-1392599036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41639/original/srqzkkh3-1392599036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students who have been harassed due to their sexual orientation have lower educational aspirations and reduced school achievement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Nikki Short</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Research from overseas confirms the benefits of LGBT curricular inclusions for the entire school community. A <a href="http://www.casafeschools.org/FactSheet-curriculum.pdf">2006 survey</a> of more than 2400 Californian high school students found that in schools offering LGBT-inclusive curriculum content, all students felt safer overall and reported less harassment. </p>
<p>Related findings echo the links between a school environment that is explicitly inclusive of LGBT topics and a safer school climate that features a stronger sense of belonging and perceived care at the whole school level.</p>
<h2>What does work?</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, even when schools address bullying and harassment, their approach is often ineffective. Simply put, the common “protect and punish” approach is not enough. By emphasising the need to protect the victimised student and punish the bully, American education scholar <a href="http://sexualitystudies.osu.edu/people/blackburn">Mollie Blackburn</a> argues that we fail to address the systemic problem of homophobia.</p>
<p>What can we do to properly teach students about the lives of LGBT people and eradicate the discrimination they face from Australia’s classrooms? </p>
<p>First, education policies must prohibit discrimination against LGBT students and teachers.</p>
<p>Second, the national curriculum also needs to include the histories, perspectives and works of LGBT individuals. While it is vital that the health and physical education curriculum include LGBT-inclusive material, the same holds true for every other subject, including English, History, Science, Civics and the Arts. </p>
<p>Finally, as a society, we can no longer idly bear witness to homophobia. As activists and allies, as parents and community members, we must provide an inclusive and positive school experience for all Australian students.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23260/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Earlier this month, it was revealed that Kevin Donnelly, one of the men tasked with reviewing Australia’s national curriculum, had argued in a 2004 book that “many parents” think the “sexual practices…Jen Scott Curwood, Senior Lecturer, English Education and Media Studies, University of SydneyJacqueline Ullman, Lecturer in Adolescent Development, Behaviour and Wellbeing, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.